S06.E21: The Final Battle Part 1 / S06.E22: The Final Battle Part 2

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Henry awakens to a cursed Storybrooke and discovers Emma has been in the mental hospital, and the Black Fairy is the new mayor. Henry attempts to help Emma regain her memory while Gold tries to find out what has really happened to Belle. Meanwhile, Snow, Charming, Regina, Zelena and Hook are trapped in a crumbling Fairy Tale Land and desperately try to figure out a way to be reunited with Emma and Henry.

 

[Worsel]

I enjoyed these episodes.  Great season (and multi-season arc) wrap up in rather spectacular fashion.  Nice symmetry between season 1 and now with Emma going from “unbeliever” to “believer” and TLK between Henry and Emma saving the day. Worked well as a series ending.  And it was nice to see the different realms restored and everyone’s Happy Endings.  The very last tableau with the table at Granny’s was beautiful.

 

Yay! For the Dwarves sighting.  And a Robin Hood sounding/voice over.

 

Random Thoughts:

 

The Black Fairy needed lessons on how to retouch photos, the photos of Belle traveling the world were pretty bad.

 

Emma’s Boston apartment looked suspiciously similar to her NYC apartment.

 

So now that Rumple made the right choice and got his Happy Ending, is he still cursed with dark magic, or did he change the magic to light?  Or maybe this will be addressed in the next season?

[InsertWordHere]

Goodbye my Charming Family. I will forever wonder what you could have been in the hands of writers who didn't always cast you aside for shinier toys. 

These characters deserved better. 

OMG did they really just frame that dinner as The Last Supper? I can't. 

[jcin617]

 Didn't they know that all they had to do to stop the Nothing was give the Child-Like Empress a new name?

[Daisy]

They couldn't even let Hook give Emma a TLK. Once.

[Spartan Girl]

Oh for crying out loud....

My only positive comment is I liked Jasmine's outfit.

But I'm just gonna ignore those last few seconds and pretend that was the series finale. Ciao, y'all.

[TigerLynx]

So they decided to rip off both Terminator Two and the Neverending Story.

Hook and Charming were fun.  Zelena's looks at Regina and the Evil Queen were priceless.

Gold finally did what he should have done several episodes ago and killed the Black Fairy.

The erase someone's or everyone's memories SL has been so over done.

[Guest]

I have a feeling these episodes would have been better if you don’t think too hard about them.  I was thinking way too hard about them.  I was trying not too but I was kind of bored.  Things weren’t moving fast enough to avoid it.

So I was hung up on:

Emma’s uselessness as a Savior.  Apparently, this whole series was all about Henry being the hero who makes Emma believe because she’s the child of true love but otherwise mostly an empty vessel.

What a dick move it was to separate Captain Swan and Rumpbelle until the last twenty minutes, considering.

The WTF of Emma not believing in a land that existed before she was born causing it to disintegrate.  And apparently like a dozen people from all fairy tales still existed and then were miraculously undeaded.

The show can’t even fake a believable photo of Belle’s travels.  It must be a fond callback to terrible CGI.

The total letdown of the final battle which we’ve seen all season long.

If I wanted a former villain to talk to themselves it would have been the three versions of Hook.

Of course, Henry TLKs Emma and not Hook.  Of course. FU show.  FU.

The Captain Swan part of the montage was cute.  The whole thing became kind of preposterous when it became clear that they were doing the Last Supper.  But I guess Emma is Jesus or BSG’s Six depending on the version you are thinking of.  Really, I was laughing hard.  Really hard.

Shocking, new guy is grown up Henry…said no one ever.

Edited May 15, 2017 by ParadoxLost

[Sarcastica]

I want to get a lawyer and sue Adam and Eddy. 

[LaChavalina]

Aww, I'm glad I watched that. I thought they did a nice job, for the most part.

Rumple turning his mom to fairy dust was pretty satisfying to watch. She was getting a little... Oedipal on Rumple and Gideon for a while there.

[Curio]

I'm glad we spent an entire freaking episode on an adventure to retrieve a magic bean that wasn't even used. There was literally no point in retrieving the bean since Rumple breaking the curse is what sent them home anyways. However, I guess I'll let that terrible storytelling slide just for the visual of Captain Hook wielding giant silverware.

Just one True Love's Kiss. That's all I wanted for Captain Swan. I took the show's advice and had Hope™ it would happen. Five years. Goddamnit.

[AmeliaBedelia]

This show did not need to be renewed!

The first ep had some fun moments (Hook and Charming on the beanstalk), but the second one was so boring.

THAT was the final battle? Emma barely did anything.

I liked seeing the other worlds briefly, but the coda wasn't enough to save it for me.

[Artsda]

I kind of loved the ending with the montage and the book closing on "happily ever after." It would have been a perfect finale.

Going to miss the interaction of Hook with his in-laws. That was great this episode.

I was kind of confused after the battle and Emma woke up. Charming was wearing a tux and Emma looked pregnant to me. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by Artsda

[Last Time Lord]

I'm not going to lie, if this was the very end, I would have been very satisfied with that.

Here we go again, and I cannot wait for the ride!

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Worsel said:

Emma’s Boston apartment looked suspiciously similar to her NYC apartment.

Oh,  and Emma has been in a mental institution for two years but still has an apartment and job waiting.

[Chicken Wing]

I haven't made up my mind on whether to come back next season, but if this is going to be my series finale they wrapped everything up pretty nicely for me. I mean, the whole "final battle" was lame as hell, but I enjoyed the coda, seeing everyone's happily ever afters. It's a nice way to end the story. The "cliffhanger" of picking up years later with Grown Up Henry being tracked down by his supposed daughter does nothing to hook me in for next season. 

[Worsel]

Just now, ParadoxLost said:

Oh,  and Emma has been in a mental institution for two years but still has an apartment and job waiting.

I guess it is the power of "magic" - explains many plot holes and other impossible things

[mtlchick]

So...that happened.  Tuned in and out in the back half of the season so at least I have the summer to get through the 8 episodes I have on the PVR.

In terms of framing though, they would really need to explain why Rumple, Regina and Hook come back without their beloved ones next season.  With the final scene set up as the Last Supper, Grown Up Henry will have 1 mom, his grandpa and his stepdad. And a precocious kid.

 

Faaaaabulous. 

[justmythoughts]

That is It! This show ended 2 min before the "oficial" season ending for me. My happy ending was that last supper scene (quite resembling of the religious thing... Was Emma Jesus? lol).

How are A&E not ruining all this happines with no JMo, Gosh, Bex, Emilie and with a grown and bitter Henry? I don't trust them. 

Only liked the final minutes, the happy ending, all the rest was shenanigans to waste my time. 

BF was easily erased from earth... see Rumple, easy as breathing. And Rumple is  miracously forgiven and all his mistakes repeated, rinsed, repeated again forgotten. Sigh.

Now, I'll pretend they are all happy and nothing else will happen, but more happines and love. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by justmythoughts

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, TigerLynx said:

So they decided to rip off both Terminator Two and the Neverending Story.

I was thinking it was just Peter Pan.  Well, I was clapping in hopes of that making them reunite the characters earlier in the episode.  But alas, I don't believe.

[Daisy]

Things that came through my mind when watching the episode. 

Who is this little girl. Why is this little girl in Enchanted Forest, what's the deal? Why is Tiger Lily a fairy again? 
I don't think i'm supposed to cheer loudly when Fiona pushed Henry down the stairs. 
I don't think I should be crushed when Henry actually survived. 

Why is Emma's belief paramount to all realms. How does that... why am I even bothering? Like seriously. 

What was the point of having Emma + Hook be a thing at all. They never had true loves kiss, I never got the belief that Emma loves Hook as much as Hook Loves Emma, and once again Emma doesn't remember Hook. At all. And when she does remember, it's not "Where's my husband? " it's "Oh hey Dad! Mom!" and a side hug for her brand new he could have been eradicated husband. 

Having Gidot do the Final Battle was Pointless. 

Having Emma, Buffy that ending was sweet... had you made it stick, show. (and I know Jen is gone, so her one episode if it made sense, could just be bringing her back, and allowing her to have a memory-less, magic-less filled life in Boston with Hook. a true happy ending). 

Though... I think I predicted the final ending. sort of. Mine was better.  so basically. Henry is now Emma, Henry married someone awesome, had this girl who lived in the enchanted forest who Tiger Lily is her fairy god ma, and has to save everyone.. because they lost their memory. 

again. 

Why not. you've only milked this six times now, Show. 

[Writing Wrongs]

I enjoyed it for the most part.

Questions: I thought Tiny was the last giant and the fields and castle were destroyed, so who was living there?

In the special, they showed a clip of Henry and Violet kissing by lockers and Snow is there. Was that in an episode? 

The Last Supper was a bit much.

[Panopticon]

I stopped watching a few months ago and was completely unspoiled. Turned on the television by accident, saw Charming and Hook at the beanstalk, and decided to watch.

This show always did give good season finale, especially if, as was said above, you don't think too much. So I appreciated the callbacks and the musical cues and the happy ending. (I had no idea whether it had been renewed and thought it must be a series finale, not just a season finale, until the ending made it clear that there's an insta-reboot.)

It did scream out to me that there was no Emma/Hook TLK. Mirroring the Emma/Henry TLK from the original curse was nice, but jeez they could have done a better payoff for the lead character's romance. The need to make Regina Emma's partner was, as always, obnoxious.

[Curio]

As bitter as I am that Emma and Hook barely exchanged three words to each other over the course of this two-episode finale and won't be together next season, I'll admit this was one of the better episodes in the entire series. I wish A&E had the ability to write like this all the time. I shockingly even enjoyed Henry for the first time in years. 

[Rumsy4]

I missed the first half hour. I'll have to catch it later. The episode was underwhelming for a "series" sort-of finale. There were some nice parts--the Captain Charming stuff and Snowing.

But the final battle was idiotic. Or should I say, Gidiotic? Why exactly didn't Emma die when he stabbed her?

No Captain Swan TLK. I figured from spoilers, but it still rankles. Though why TLK is working on random injuries is beyond me.

Rumple killing his mother was anticlimactic. I can't believe Rumbelle gets a HEA and a do-over with Gideon. But he's still the Dark One.

The two Reginas get to be Queen in either the EF or in Storybrooke. Wonderful. This is what I was waiting for for 6 years? Yuck.

The final montage was underwhelming. I am very disappointed. I could care less about Henry Mills 2.0 and the little girl. 

[sharky]

I kind of feel like I get the renewal and what they'll try to do next year and will go along for the ride. It's like when you watched the Star Wars trilogy and thought it was about Luke Skywalker but then you add in the prequels and realize the story is about Anakin. So all along we thought this story was about Emma but maybe it's about Henry. I could get behind that if they don't screw up next season. My fingers are crossed for Colin at least.

I'm pissed we never got a Captain Hook TLK but I'm OK with Henry breaking the curse. I loved the call backs like that this episode. Henry/Emma TLK. The Snowing kiss made me gasp with glee. The beanstalk!!!!! Like daughter, like father.

Anyways, it was bittersweet but made me happy. And the ending montage was beautiful. So I'm going to view this as the end of this book. They lived happily ever after, the end. And next season is a different book both literally and figuratively. It won't be our Emma Swan story and that will be alright. I'll be OK with that and give the new show a shot. And it is a new show, not another season of this one. It'll be OK. 

[Katherine]

Well...this was a good finale in that it had a good set-up and got my hopes up but then failed to live up to its potential, just like every story arc in the last few seasons. I actually found myself excited during the first hour. I thought there was a chance that Hook might be the one to go get Emma in Boston. I thought there might even be a TLK to help her get her memories back. Fool me once, writers, shame on you...fool me for the past three seasons, shame on me.

I didn't like the pacing in this episode, as per usual. They spent so much time on the boring Black Fairy stuff that I didn't care about, and then didn't leave themselves enough time for the conclusion of six seasons' worth of stories/characters. Wrapping everything up with a dinner party and a "they lived happily ever after" isn't satisfying when it doesn't feel earned. And once again, that sums up the last few seasons of the show. Good ideas, bad execution.

I'll be watching next season because I'm a masochist, but I have no idea how this show can possibly work without Emma. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by Katherine

[OnceUponAJen]

I have to say, I enjoyed the callbacks to S1 and loved seeing Charming climb the beanstalk with Hook this time. I haven't seen "Neverending Story" in a loooong time,  so I may have to rewatch sometime soon to get the parallels. 

I was really hoping for a Captain Swan TLK. I guess we'll have to be satisfied with True Love's Tackle.....unless they can work it into the S7 premiere. Since JMo will be coming back for that,  can we make the premiere a 2-hour episode, too?

At least they get "several years" before fresh hell descends upon them again. So, how old is Henry supposed to be at the end?

[Chicken Wing]

I do appreciate that the temporary return to the Enchanted Forest meant that Snow got to be dressed in something besides a tablecloth for the first time in like three seasons.

[sharky]

7 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Oh,  and Emma has been in a mental institution for two years but still has an apartment and job waiting.

It's just a city away from Neal's place so it's fine!

[Last Time Lord]

4 minutes ago, Panopticon said:

Mirroring the Emma/Henry TLK from the original curse was nice, but jeez they could have done a better payoff for the lead character's romance.

I would say they did with the love between mother and son.

[InsertWordHere]

1 minute ago, Rumsy4 said:

The two Reginas get to be Queen in either the EF or in Storybrooke.

OMG I forgot. Yes it's so touching that the dwarves are now bowing down to the queen. Wonderful. I'm super happy for her. 

[CCTC]

16 minutes ago, InsertWordHere said:

OMG did they really just frame that dinner as The Last Supper? I can'

I was wondering if I was imagining that.  I actually like the scene otherwise (I was really worried they were going to end with that solo shot of Regina, so I was relieved.  Still, I think the wedding would have been a better ending and a more prolonged scene of people dancing and mixing it up.  It does make me wish we had more scenes of people interacting like that the last few years  It was a nice closing scene for the original cast.

 

16 minutes ago, Daisy said:

 

They couldn't even let Hook give Emma a TLK. Once.

 

I understand they wanted the symmetry with Emma kissing Henry in season 1, but that might have been a good time to have Hook kiss her.  Despite the bean stalk adventure, he really was not heavily factored into the episode.

Overall, I thought it was not bad - not great - but not bad.  I don't think Rumple should have gotten a happy ending, and Belle should have had a bigger part.  Even when they brought her in she fell and had to be left behind.  I also found the Black Fairy more annoying than scary.  

I did get a chuckle with David's pause when he called Hook his son......in-law.

I don't feel overly compelled to watch next year, but will probably check it out.  For a reboot, it seems like they are following the exact same blue print as part one -- just reversing the sex of the child and the disbelieving parent.  Too little seen to judge the girl on her acting, but I was getting the potential  of overly precocious and cute vibes from her.

It wasn't a bad way to close out the story for the original cast.  I was actually a little sad to think I won't be seeing a lot of those characters again, even if it might have been time.

Edited May 15, 2017 by CCTC

[LaChavalina]

6 minutes ago, Daisy said:

Though... I think I predicted the final ending. sort of. Mine was better.  so basically. Henry is now Emma, Henry married someone awesome, had this girl who lived in the enchanted forest who Tiger Lily is her fairy god ma...

Yeah, and I guess we can safely conclude from this episode that Henry and Violet don't live happily ever after. *smirk*

[StaceyNotStacie]

I enjoyed this.  I didn't mind that Henry gave him the TLK. I really want to know how he ended up in the Enchanted Forest and who Lucy's mother is (I'm assuming Violet). 

That ending was like a cross between the end of the Parenthood movie and Episode 6 of Star Wars where all of the different galaxies were celebrating peace after the deaths of Vader and the Emperor. 

[Panopticon]

1 minute ago, Last Time Lord said:

I would say they did with the love between mother and son.

As I said, I appreciate the mirroring there, but that's her familial love, not her romantic love. They could have honored both and opted not to.

[Last Time Lord]

5 minutes ago, OnceUponAJen said:

At least they get "several years" before fresh hell descends upon them again. So, how old is Henry supposed to be at the end?

I'm going to assume 28 for the parallel.

[Chaos Theory]

Here is the thing.  If this really was the series finale I would have really liked it.  It was corny as all hell but it fit with the show as a whole.  I liked the idea of the curse being about Emma's faith but the final battle only being won when good and evil both do the right thing.  Corny as hell but it fit with the show's mythology.   

It all just made me wonder all the more why there is going to be  season seven.   

Edited May 15, 2017 by Chaos Theory

[Rumsy4]

2 minutes ago, InsertWordHere said:

OMG I forgot. Yes it's so touching that the dwarves are now bowing down to the queen. Wonderful. I'm super happy for her. 

Aren't we all?? ;-p

[Daisy]

1 minute ago, LaChavalina said:

Yeah, and I guess we can safely conclude from this episode that Henry and Violet don't live happily ever after. *smirk*

In a plot twist, Henry is actually in love with Wendy. Violet couldn't handle it and got outta dodge. 

1 minute ago, Panopticon said:

As I said, I appreciate the mirroring there, but that's her familial love, not her romantic love. They could have honored both and opted not to.

very true. Henry could have kissed her in the curse world, and Hook could have kissed her when she somehow got stabbed.... and became a glow worm. 

[Worsel]

5 minutes ago, CCTC said:

 

Overall, I thought it was not bad - not great - but not bad.  I don't think Rumple should have gotten a happy ending, and Belle should have had a bigger part.  Even when they brought her in she fell and had to be left behind.  I also found the Black Fairy more annoying than scary.  

 

After thinking about it, I believe they left Belle behind so Rumple could make the decision to do the right thing on his own, and not because Belle asked him to do so.  The Black Fairy had taunted Rumple about this earlier in the episode, that he only did good things because of Belle.  

[Curio]

1 minute ago, Panopticon said:

As I said, I appreciate the mirroring there, but that's her familial love, not her romantic love. They could have honored both and opted not to.

Yeah, especially since Henry already had a "win" earlier in the episode when he got Emma to believe and leave Boston when he created the second storybook for her. So he got two crucial moments in the episode. And then they went and gave Snow and Charming a quasi-TLK at the beanstalk. Are we supposed to assume Emma reviving Hook in Season 3 after Zelena drowned him was a TLK now? It might have been nice to see all of Emma's family help bring her back to life, kind of like what happened with the town waking up Snow and Charming.

[tennisgurl]

So...that was that. I have some serious mixed feelings, mainly due to the fact that the show is actually going to be continuing. Like, this is it, the story is over. The book has literally been closed on the story. The episode was cheesy and silly, but that's this show for you, and why I like it (as long as we keep Henry away from fountains) and I find it endearing. The ending sequence and all the call backs to previous episodes and arcs were giving me serious Feels, and they actually got me tearing up here and there. But...it ended. Its done. No more story. What in the world could be the point of continuing? Unless its a totally new spin off show like Wonderland was, there's no point in continuing without half the cast, with everyone's stories complete.

I'm just going to hold off on my complaints, and focus on things like Charming calling Hook his son...in law, and Emma and Hook ending up together, and seeing the glimpses of the other lands, and other stuff I liked. My complaints will come, but I want to focus on the good for now.

Edited May 15, 2017 by tennisgurl

[Blue Plastic]

This is tedious.  Everyone just sits idly and attends a wedding while the Black Fairy prepares to do who knows what to all of them.  I don’t know about you, but I’d be outta town so fast I’d just be a blur.  Of course, the rules as to whether or not the citizens can leave town varies from episode to episode, so who knows if that was supposed to be an option this time.

Then everyone wakes up in their new surroundings and stupid Henry screws everything up by falling down the stairs and the BF mugs evilly at everyone and Emma’s in a “nuthouse” as Hook calls it and WTF who cares at this point?  Really?  We have to go back to the same old boring curse that we’ve heard about on this show ad nauseam since the beginning?  There isn’t anything else a villain could do instead?  Maybe they are trying to make the story seem like it’s coming full circle but really there has to be something more interesting than this.

Emma has abandonment issues.  Someone casts the same old curse.  Henry has to convince Emma to “believe” again.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

What was the place with the doorways to all the different realms where you could see them winking out as Emma lost belief?  It seemed contrived as that stupid realm-hopping hat.

Okay, the beanstalk/bean retrieval scene with Hook and Charming was relatively cute.

Evil Queen is going to keep back the Realm Rot from around the whole castle by just shooting a few purple lightning bolts at it?  Okay…

When did Henry have time to draw and write scenes from the storybook into a notebook?

Oh, Mr. Gold is going to make BF pay?  Why didn’t he do that before?  What an idiot.  It makes sense now that Gideon is so stupid.  It’s double genetic since he has two half-wits for parents.

What the heck was cursed Belle whimpering about?  I didn’t understand that scene.

Why does BF get to keep her magic inside the curse/land without magic?  Regina didn’t get to.  Contrived.

What was the point of Gold asking “the mayor” to reopen the investigation into Belle’s supposed disappearance?  (Shouldn’t that be a police matter, not a mayoral matter, anyway?)  He was “awake” and new full well that mommy dearest sent Belle away.

Ah, I was wondering how all the Enchanted Forest-ites were going to get off that platform.  I thought the idea of Emma’s belief keeping all the magical realms alive was stupid.  Does the same go for other “saviors,” now that we know there are others.

Ginnifer Goodwin looks way better in her Snow outfits, bad wig notwithstanding, IMO.

Okay, this Light-destroys-Light idea is pretty cockamamie.  Magic doesn’t allow you to kill someone who is attacking you without becoming dark yourself, simply because the attempted killer is actually a good person but operating under evil magic orders?  I hate how Emma’s not even allowed to defend herself, like ever, without becoming “dark.”  Seriously.  Couldn't they just magically disable the idiot until they find his heart and put it back?

Whoa!  Mr. Gold’s “Dark One” hallucination is himself/Rumple?  Wasn’t expecting that one.

Ooh, fighting!  So Matrix-y!  Okay, now Henry returns the apple tart kiss favor.  Okay, now Gideon turns into a baby again!  That’s not strange at all!  And I guess Belle is just going to be a-okay with Gold now, even though he betrayed her and Gideon vis-a-vis not killing the Black Fairy when he said he would.

Nice to see that little snippet of Arendelle and Sven but totally didn’t need the others.  Oh, now nice, the Evil Queen gets restored for her good deed.  Oh, and look, Robin proposes to her without actually being on screen!

I sort of wish I could live in Storybooke the way they showed it at the end, though!  Everybody knows everybody, everybody gets to do a job they love with people they love.  That’d be nice.  It would have been nice if the show had concentrated on that aspect a little more throughout the seasons but whatever!

Okay, what’s going on with the bits at the beginning and end?  Somehow Henry was living in the Enchanted Forest but now he’s in Seattle?  That doesn’t make any sense.

[StaceyNotStacie]

1 minute ago, Curio said:

It might have been nice to see all of Emma's family help bring her back to life, kind of like what happened with the town waking up Snow and Charming.

I was surprised that they didn't do that. 

I do like that Gideon became a baby again, giving him a fresh start with Belle. I just wish they would have aged Neal and Robin with Emma sporting a tiny bump. 

I lol'd when Hook called Snow "mommy". 

[InsertWordHere]

The problem with the Henry/Emma TLK is that it didn't show us anything new and it was in the same episode as the Snowing TLK Pilot callback. One would have been cute, but having them both simply makes the audience aware that this show is trying to recreate what those moments made us feel in the first season, one of which was the very first scene of the entire series. Paired with the blatant placement of Henry as the "new" Emma at the end, it comes across as kind of cheap storytelling. Even Rumbelle's end scene was a recycled moment from Season Four. 

This finale did nothing for me and I wanted it to. 

[CCTC]

Hook did have a nice moment explaining why he had to save Emma and why he had to fight for their love which was special even if it was not some pre-destined fairy tale love.  I suppose it would have been nice if the scene was with Emma and not Charming, or if he actually would have gotten back to help restore her memory, but it was a nice scene none-the-less.

I was happy for Belle that she gets to raise Gideon from infanthood - which in Storybook can last about three years.

[Senna]

This was actually pretty enjoyable, even though multiple times I caught myself saying, "That's stupid" and had to actively not think about it.  I liked the callbacks to previous seasons.  I think this would've been a fine series finale; even if not everything added up (like Rumpel suddenly being redeemed because he wasn't a dick for once) and we never got a Hook/Emma TLK, it did have a nice, cheesy flourish (with the "totally-not-the-Last-Supper" painting).  Buuuut.  It's not.  So we'll see about this season 7 thing.  I will probably be back, but I'm gonna pretend whatever happens is more fanfic than canon.

Since when do TLK's revive people from death?  Cuz that would've been useful a few times ...

[Last Time Lord]

1 minute ago, Senna said:

Since when do TLK's revive people from death?  Cuz that would've been useful a few times ...

They clearly didn't love them enough, in those cases.

[Guest]

They billed this one as wrapping up the story and next season would be a reboot.

I think as usual, they got wrapped up in the new shiny and let it overwhelm them.  I think that was a lot of why this was so Henry focused.  Henry was always the one to believe so they needed a giant reminder of that to set up next year when he doesn't.  And in doing so forgot that Emma wasn't just an empty vessel created by true love.

Edited May 15, 2017 by ParadoxLost