Once Upon a Time season 6 finale is coming! We searched the “Pilot” for clues that may reveal what the Final Battle will bring.

Many things are different since the Once Upon a Time pilot aired in 2011. But some things stay the same. Recently, Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis made sure that fans knew to look backwards to know what lies ahead.

“The Final Battle will test Emma’s beliefs in a way we haven’t seen since the pilot,” Kitsis says.

“We’re going to go back to places we haven’t been since the pilot,” adds Horowitz.

And with that, we went back to the “Pilot.” A time when Granny’s gruffness was at a minimum. When Rumpelstiltskin traded his visions of the future for Emma’s name. And a place where time stood still.

Here are four key themes we believe will be important in the upcoming Once Upon a Time season 6 finale, “The Final Battle.”

1. ‘The Final Battle’

“The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety. On her 28th birthday the child will return and find you. And the final battle will begin!” That is the direction Snow receives from Rumpelstiltskin before she gives birth to Emma.

Now, six seasons and many, many battles later, the actual final battle is about to take place. It is the one that Henry must write and Emma must fight.

Although “The Black Fairy” episode revealed that Rumple was at one time the Savior, it is likely still Emma’s battle to fight.

As Henry says to Emma in his castle, “I’m not fighting any battles. It’s your destiny you can bring back the happy endings.”

2. Your best chance

“Stories are a way for us to deal with our world, one that always doesn’t make sense. [Henry] wrestles with that most basic question– why would anyone give me away?”

Snow hits Emma hard when they meet in Storybrooke. Watching Emma and Snow tip-toe around their hidden family secret in their first scenes of the “Pilot” were harder to watch with six seasons worth of baggage. Knowing the journey that they are about to go on, elevates the weight of the question– Why would anyone give me away?

In the present day, Emma understands her parents’ sacrifice. However, that does not erase the years of feeling outcast and unwanted. Her wedding day is likely to bring up these buried emotions once more.

She has someone waiting for her at the end of the aisle, the two people walking her down the aisle are giving her away but keeping her close, and the people filling the room are all a part of her family.

The “Pilot” sets up a few questions for the series– What does it mean to be the Savior? Why would anyone sacrifice their child? Can anyone have a happy ending?

“The Final Battle” season 6 finale will deliver answers to most if not all of these questions for Emma Swan.

3. Let’s make a deal

Remember when Rumpelstiltskin was a strange little man locked away in Prince Charming and Snow White’s dungeon? His cunning language and knack for making deals remains intact six seasons later. However, his visions of the future are a little cloudy in Storybrooke.

The premiere episode of Once Upon a Time sees Snow and Charming trading away their daughter’s name for the Evil Queen’s plan. Rumpel knows of the Savior and the magic that exists inside of Snow’s unborn child. He also knows that her destiny is the break the Dark Curse.

The mythology of the Savior is still a bit of a riddle. We know that Emma is the product of true love and linked that to why she of all people was to become this bearer of light magic. But we now know that Rumpel, Aladdin, and plenty of other children were born into many realms without true love playing a part in their lives.

What makes Emma special? The answer may lie in what Rumple knows of the Dark Curse, its origins, and the Savior mythology as a whole. Keep an eye on the Dark One. He’s not showing his full hand just yet.

4. What are you willing to sacrifice?

Imagine Once Upon a Time is a ship. If the U.S.S. Storybrooke is going down, who would you save first? The children, of course. For they are the future’s best hope. (Unless you are baby Neal, because who knows where that child is anymore.)

Regina already has a plan in place for Henry’s safe departure from Storybrooke should things go horribly wrong. And, as the “Pilot” shows, mothers and fathers are all about preserving the future of their land. Emma Swan goes into a wardrobe.

The Gold family tree, try as they might, never quite got the hang of what sacrifice means. The Black Fairy stalks the entire realm looking to destroy the threat to her son. Noble, but she is willing to banish all children to another world to do so. Rumple’s obsession with power lost him everything he holds dear, including Baelfire.

Taking stock of how far the characters have come since the “Pilot,” it’s hard to imagine the final battle will end without a grand gesture. With one promised death in the finale, it might be high time for Rumple to put an end to the Black Fairy’s hold on the world.

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And now for one not-so important moment from the Once Upon a Time pilot that has nothing to do with the finale whatsoever…

GRAHAM

We miss you.

What are you looking for in the ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 6 finale?

The Once Upon a Time season 6 two-hour finale airs Sunday, May 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.