Directed by Ralph Hemecker and written by series co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, it premiered on ABC in the United States on October 6, 2017.
Seattle's backdrop and the Space Needle are featured, alongside a new set of animations and transitions for the title logo, as well as a modified opening of the theme song.
Though Regina worries he's too young to be leaving home, he assures her that he will be fine, taking August's motorcycle with him as he uses a magic bean (given to him by Tiny as a graduation present) to open a portal into another realm.
Years later, as Henry rides through a forest, he narrowly avoids a collision with an oncoming carriage, resulting in the woman inside being thrown to the ground.
When questioned why she is doing this, she explains to Drizella that magic has no power compared to fear, a point she drives home by destroying the Fairy Godmother.
When pressed about why she stole his bike and a dagger of his, she admits that she had an ulterior motive for coming to the ball; she plans on killing the prince, as vengeance for ruining her family and driving her father to an early death.
As the guards close in, Henry breaks out of his trance and helps Cinderella to escape, reiterating his offer and telling her to meet him where her carriage crashed.
The next day, Jacinda, Lucy's mother, shows up late for work at Cluck's Chicken, but quits when calling out her boss for his bad temper.
Afterwards, Lucy meets him at the garden, and attempts to convince him about the curse, only for Henry to reveal that his wife and child perished in a fire years ago.
Finding that his car has been stolen, Henry goes to the nearby police station, and reports it missing to a cursed Killian Jones, who now lives as Officer Rogers with no memories of his past life.
In another part of town, Tilly enters an abandoned warehouse to find her boss, Rumpelstiltskin, now living under the cursed identity of Detective Weaver, and informs him of Henry's arrival.
When they arrive at the town line, Jacinda's car breaks down and the elevator to the docks has been closed, which Lucy believes means they're trapped in Hyperion Heights, much like the residents of Storybrooke were.
In July, the first promo of the season revealed that Killian was a Seattle police officer with the last name Rogers, who is living with an unexplained sense of loss.
Cox would be portraying Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, while Reynolds would be playing an alternate version of Alice, a character previously featured in the spin-off Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
[11] Liam Hall (the Prince), Jillian Fargey (the Fairy Godmother) and Darcy Laurie (Louie) also appeared in co-starring roles.
Paul Dailly of TV Fanatic wrote a positive review for the episode, giving it a 4.2 out of 5 stars rating and stating, "With a new location and characters, the show is returning to its former glory.
[18] Emmaline Harvey of SpoilerTV eulogized the previous timeline, saying, "I felt Once was starting to get repetitive the last few seasons, and while this is nearly identical to the plot in the pilot, I'm really encouraged by the new characters.