Once Upon a Time: Everything we know about season 7

On this weekend of San Diego Comic Con, spoilers on the series arrive in big waves, especially for Once Upon a Time. It's time to take stock of this new season! 

Warning, spoilers ! If you don't know which characters are returning or not for season 7, and you don't want to know, go your way and go watch the blooper of season 6 instead. 

Let's start at the beginning: the synopsis…

"After six seasons, the inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest face their greatest challenge.
Evil Queen, Hook and Rumplestiltskin unite with Henry Mills and his daughter Lucy in an epic quest to bring hope back to their world and ours. 
Along the way, new fairy tale characters and old-timers seek true love, find adventure, and embark on the fight of good against evil, as the classic tales are once again revamped.

Due to a new curse, Henry had to leave the enchanted forest where he lived with his daughter, leaving her in charge of the famous storybook. But when Lucy comes to meet Henry in Seattle, he has forgotten what he was. 

Dissemination

• Season 7 will have 22 episodes and will air from October 6. 
• The broadcast is shifted to Friday. The episodes will no longer be available on Monday in France, but on Saturday. 
• Filming began in July 2017 and will end in April 2018.
• The title of the first episode is Hyperion Heights. 

Characters returning or leaving the series

• Many main actors have announced that they are leaving the series: Jennifer Morrison (Emma), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow), Josh Dallas (Charming), Emilie de Ravin (Belle), Rebecca Mader (Zelena) and Jared Gilmore (Henry). 
• The actors who renewed their contracts are Lana Parrilla (Regina), Robert Carlyle (Rumple) and Colin O'Donoghue (Hook)
• Some actors who have not renewed their contract will however return for an episode, to say goodbye: Jennifer Morrison will return during the 7×02 and Emilie de Ravin for the 7×04. Ginnifer and Josh are not averse to the idea of one day being invited, and Jared Gilmore was spotted on the set of 7×01 and 2. Even if characters don't reappear, we'll know what became of them.
• The main characters are now Regina, Rumple, Hook, Lucy and Henry (see below). 

New characters

• Henry : Even though Jared Gilmore, who played this stubborn and cunning boy for six seasons, leaves, his character remains on the show and becomes even more important than before. Henry is now an adult (portrayed by Andrew J. West), has a daughter, Lucy (Alison Fernandez) and is no longer the devout believer he once was. He no longer remembers his past, and his daughter will try to remind him of it. 
  He had an epic love affair with Lucy's mother, who is none other than… Cinderella. 

• Lucy : Played by Alison Fernandez, she will do everything to make her father remember magic. Lili the Tigress sent her to fetch her mother to give her the storybook. 

• Cinderella : In season 1, we knew Cinderella as a lost girl as she was coming to the end of her pregnancy, but forget this blonde! This new Cinderella has nothing to envy to the old one. Actress Dania Ramirez (Devious Maids) will take on the lead role. It's not a cast change, but another Cinderella we'll see, with the producers describing this season as a "new book, with new stories." It will therefore be possible to see other characters already known… but totally different.
  Cinderella is a strong, big-hearted, independent and very sensitive woman. 
  In Seattle, her name is Jacinda and she may also be a police officer, although the latter information has not been confirmed. 

• Some new characters will be regular or recurring:
  • Lady Tremaine (regular) as Gabrielle Anwar
  • Javotte (recurring) as Adelaide Kane
  • Tiana (recurring) as Mekia Cox
  • Alice (Wonderland) (recurring) as Rose Reynolds

New identities for old characters

• Regina is now a bartender, and is always ready to help the people she loves. 
• Hook is a police officer.
   
  

New places

• Storybrooke will no longer be at the center of the plot, but will not disappear. 
• The story now takes place in Seattle, where the Hyperion Heights neighborhood will hold an important place. 
• We will see new worlds.

Miscellaneous information

• We will still have a flashback system during this season. 
• The happy endings of season 6 are real and will not be changed, but the characters have new challenges to overcome.
• Even though the end scene of season 6 was similar to the first meeting between Henry and Emma, the story will not be the same. It will be a new adventure. 
• The reason why Henry grew up and not the other characters (Regina, Rumple and Hook) will be explained at the beginning of the season. 
• Season 7 can be watched without having seen the previous six seasons. It's a whole new story. 
• We'll know if Emma and Hook had a child. 
• The 7×02 will be centered on Hook. Even if Emma leaves the show, Hook only has eyes for her and shouldn't be with anyone else. 
• There will be a new LGBT story.
• There will be a new savior. 

The farewell scene between Henry and Regina

• Young Henry and Regina are in front of their house. He wants to find his own story, and decides to go discover new books he found in the Author's mansion. After saying goodbye, he leaves on a motorcycle through a portal. 

First trailer of season 7

See you soon for new spoilers! 

*Translation source: series-parlotte.eu