Once Upon A Time Ends With A Happily Ever After

The series finale of Once Upon A Time finally aired after seven magical years.
We have wept, laughed and learned throughout the seasons.

The series has taught devoted Oncers:

• To have hope and forgiveness
• To take a leap of faith
• To believe that anything is possible
• That love is the most powerful form of magic
• Family is everything
• Anyone is redeemable
• Good always wins

...and as the story finally comes to an end, we take a look back at the incredible journeys that the most villainous characters have trekked and examine the characters who have taught us the most over the years;  

The Evil Queen/Regina Mills: 

If any character has taught us the most during the past seven years, its the Evil Queen/Regina Mills (played by Lana Parrilla). When we first meet Regina in season one, she is very much full of revenge, hate and envy - she constantly tries to destroy the lives of many characters by making them as miserable as she can - the reason why she cast the Dark Curse in the first place. 

Throughout the seasons we have seen her try to destroy happiness and callously try to rip the lives of Snow White and Prince Charming apart.

However, we have also seen the Queen at her most vulnerable - craving love and happiness of her own. 

The first big step she took to redeeming herself, was when she adopted baby Henry. From that very moment, we have seen Regina try to fight the darkness for Henry's sake and with a bit of encouragement, Regina Mills excepted and forgave Snow White. 

The Evil Queen was finally no more in season 6, when Regina finally learned to accept her darker half instead of fighting it; after which the character declared that she had learnt to 'love herself.' This was an incredible turning point for the character - teaching Oncers that you only become your best self when you learn to love yourself and your 'uglies.'

Regina's incredible journey of redemption has been the best character development that I have ever seen in a television series. The character found peace with herself and because of this, she found happiness and fulfillment - with the acceptance of other people. That is why, because of her amazing journey, she was finally crowned as the Good Queen in the series finale. 

Regina Mills truly is the picture of redemption and self-love, inspiring so many viewers to accept themselves for who they are if they really want to be the best version of themselves. 

Rumpelstiltskin/ Mr Gold: 

We learn in the early stages of the series that Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle), only became the Dark One because he considered himself a coward - he was too scared to fight in the Ogre War and attempted to flee with son Baelfire and when his wife left him for Captain Hook, he was also too afraid to fight for her and win her back. 

Accepting that he was a coward, he became the Dark One and eventually craved power and darkness -  growing into a 'monster' who only helped others at a price. 

However, when Rumpelstiltskin meets Belle and falls in love, we see him try to fight the darkness and try to dispose of the Dark One Dagger. We have seen Rumple at his best and at his worst, and although there was a constant power struggle between him and the darkness, we finally saw a change in Rumple during season six and seven. 

We saw him grow and make a home with Belle, allowing himself to be happy until Belle eventually died in season seven. During the final season, we have watched Rumple as he tried to find a way to get back to Belle and to rid himself of the dagger. 

He faced the darkest version of himself and overcame him, he sacrificed his own life so Captain Hook could live, and we watched as he was finally rewarded by being reunited with Belle in the afterlife. 

The one thing that changed Rumple from being the darkest and most cruelest version of himself was love, and this has taught us that love is the most powerful type of magic and because of it, we have watched as Rumple transformed from being selfish to selfless. 

His final sacrifice in the finale made me weep and it was so fresh to see a reformed villain have his happy ending.  

Captain Hook/Killian Jones:

When we meet Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) he is selfish, vengeful, greedy and to be honest; a playboy. He only cared about his ship 'The Jolly Roger,' himself, and skinning a 'crocodile' aka Rumpelstiltskin. He was a troubled character, full of revenge and hate after Rumple murdered his lover, Milah. 

However, we watched as the Captain fell in love with Emma Swan and eventually changed his ways throughout the seasons. Emma, like Belle, changed and reformed her lover to be more caring and forgiving until Hook actually became a Hero. 

He helped the team of Heroes when they traveled to Neverland to help save Henry, he tried to help save Emma from the darkness in Camelot, he sacrificed his life to destroy the darkness by allowing Emma to stab and 'kill' him in season five, and he is sent to the Underworld to be tortured by Hades because of his heroic actions. Eventually, Hook is rewarded by Zeus and revived so that he can be reunited with Emma. 

We have seen Hook go above and beyond because of his love for Emma, until he becomes a Hero and a totally different man from the one we first meet. 

Like Rumple, Hook is reformed because of the power of love and he now lives happily ever after with Emma and a newborn baby in Storybrooke. 

Wicked Witch/Zelena: 

Zelena (Rebecca Mader) is a character who is literally green with envy when she makes her first appearance in season three. She has a rough upbringing after her adoptive Mother passes away and when she learns that her biological sister is Regina, she is jealous that Rumple is teaching her how to use magic. 

We watch as the two sisters go to war with each other;  Zelena tries to cast a spell to reverse time and she does everything she can to try and hurt Regina - even by tricking Robin Hood into getting her pregnant. 

Zelena is a jealous and spiteful character, who eventually learns that Regina is the only family member that she has left and tries to redeem herself. By season seven, the two sisters are as thick as thieves and share a caring sisterly bond for each other. 

Like the Evil Queen, Zelena carried a grudge that stopped her from being happy and the one life lesson that the Witch learnt was forgiveness. Zelena came to forgive her sister and eventually found happiness with a family that she always wanted. 

It was a joy to watch Zelena be nothing but a Mother to her daughter throughout season seven and to watch the character lead a normal life - changing for the better.  

 It has been a joy to watch the four most damaged and troublesome characters become their best selves throughout the past seven years and its even more rewarding to watch each of them get the happy ending that they most desired. 

I'm going to miss Once Upon A Time for its hidden life lessons and joyous adventures that it brought to the screen. 

It has been a magical seven years and knowing that each character has their own happy ending - even reformed villains, is a comforting and unique ending to the series. 

We should always carry the life lessons that Once Upon A Time has taught us and maybe, we might even get happy endings of our own. This series was about more than just entertainment, it was about overcoming evil and showing us that there is power in love and that is the one thing this world needs most...