ABC/AUTUMN DE WILDESpoiler Alert: Do not read the following article if you've yet to watch Once Upon a Time's season finale tonight. Seriously, you've been warned, so don't be that guy who complains about spoilers in the comments because everyone hates that guy!
We're not in Storybrooke anymore!
Once Upon a Time closed out its second season in true OUAT fashion: By turning the ABC fantasy hit completely on its head!
Plus, fans were introduced to season three's big bad, enemies came together and one of our main character's lives is in danger...
Second Star to the Right: Though Tamara (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Greg (Ethan Embry) believed they were in Storybrooke to destroy magic, their true mission is revealed by the end of the hour: They are supposed to kidnap Henry for Peter Pan! The duo nab Henry (Jared Gilmore) after Regina (Lana Parrilla) and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) combine their magic to save Storybrooke from their "trigger," and open a portal to Neverland, but luckily, Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) has a moment of heroism (or just not thinking only about himself for once!) and gives up the last bean to follow the trio through the portal.
So yes, by finale's end, all of our main characters, including Prince Charming (Josh Dallas), Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Archie (Raphael Sbarge), board Hook's ship (The Jolly Roger, of course!)...other than Belle (Emilie de Ravin), who stays behind in order to keep the town safe by shielding it with a spell. "I must save him," Rumple says of Henry, who is prophesized to be his downfall. "The boy is my undoing, but he is also my grandson." (Side-note: Hell to the yes to Rumple finally getting Lacey to drink the potion, so Belle could come back. We missed you, gurl!)
The Boy Who Didn't Want to Grow Up: As for Peter Pan? We don't get to meet him, but we do learn a bit about season three's big bad (we assume): "He rips your shadow right from your body," a Lost Boy (aka one of Pan's lackeys) tells Hook, and that he's been looking for Henry for quite some time. And the boys he does snatch on his quest to find Henry? Well, there's OUAT's take on the Lost Boys! Oh, and "Peter Pan never fails." Yikes!
Flashback Friendship: Via flashbacks, we see Captain Hook take a liking to Baelfire, despite the fact that he is Rumple's son. The two bond over steering the ship and being abandoned by their fathers, but Bae soon finds a drawing of his dead mother and accuses Hook of being the pirate who killed her. When Hook tells Bae the truth, that Rumple killed her, he makes a generous offer: "This ship can be your home, your family...it's not too late to start over. I can change, Bae, for you." Of course, Bae is a sullen kid and tells Hook he'll never change as he only thinks about himself. Cue nice guy turn at the end of the episode.
Also, this adds a super interesting dynamic to the Hook-Emma-Neal love triangle, no? Especially when you take into consideration Hook's reaction to learning that Neal is Henry's father. So Bae's one-time father figure at sea is now also interested in the mother of his child? Oh, Once Upon a Time, you dirty show!
Neal Lives: Though Emma, Henry and Rumple spent the episode mourning Neal's loss (or trying to as all the craziness was going down), it turns out their tears are for naught as he ends the finale with Aurora (Sara Bolger), Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Philip (Julian Morris) in Fairy Tale Land!
What did you think of Once Upon a Time's season finale? Are you excited to go to Neverland? Sound off in the comments!