But happy tears. Happy tears.

"Once Upon a Time" is ending after seven seasons as of the May 18 episode called "Leaving Storybrooke." Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas left the ABC show after Season 6, but they and many other originals are returning for the big farewell.

Ginny and Josh met while playing Snow White and Prince Charming, then got married, and now have kids together. The show has changed their lives. They talked to Entertainment Weekly about the whole journey, and specifically about what fans can expect from the finale.

Ginnifer sounds especially excited for the Evil Queen's (Lana Parrilla) character arc to play out. Here's what she said when asked to describe the series fianle, and how it compares to past OUAT season ends:

Ginny: I will say that, for the Evil Queen, there is a definitive change in this episode in what she really reveals she has learned, what she has taken to heart. I find it to be so powerful that I cried. That's part of why I cried all through yesterday.

She continued on that theme when she and Josh were asked about the ending for their characters and how it comes full circle to Season 1:

Ginny: The pitch for the whole show was, "What would a world look like in which the Evil Queen got her happy ending?" And we feel that we've finally figured out what that would look like. Josh and I talked in the few minutes we were still awake after yesterday, we talked and talked about what an honor it was to be part of her happy ending. It was beyond satisfying. It was emotional, it was thrilling. It was dreamy. It's where we always hoped it would go, but it has taken the Evil Queen ... like her journey has been so dramatic. That circle has been so dramatic and she's gone so far, she's grown so much, that to see the fruits of the writers' labors was really satisfying. I can't imagine the fans won't gobble it up.

Josh: It was really emotional, actually. The story began with Snow and the Evil Queen and Charming. We're ending it with Snow, the Evil Queen, and Charming. The idea that Regina gets her happy ending is really emotional, that it's finally come full circle, [it shows that] you just gotta keep at it and you have to keep believing.

Ginny: I love that the ending is open-ended. I feel that even our coming back just exemplifies the fact that nothing is ever over. Despite my devastation that we are ending the show in general, I do feel like we're leaving it in a way that we could do those specials we discussed, that we could come back in five years, in 10 years, and revisit this. I fantasize about a special miniseries we could do — streaming, I don't know. I think the revisitation is appropriate. This is the epitome of a Once Upon a Time episode, this is an old-school, nostalgic Once Upon a Time episode.

Read their full interview for a lot more. It would be great to revisit the characters in five or 10 years, or consider that miniseries idea she teased above.

Here are some posts from Josh and Lana from the end of filming:

Jennifer Morrison, who plays the Charmings' daughter Emma Swan, also returned for the finale, and posted from her last day on the set. For many fans, the show was about Emma even more than the Evil Queen or the Charmings. But that's part of what made "Once" special -- we all had our favorites, and there were many to choose from.

The "Once Upon a Time" series finale starts this Friday, May 11 and ends Friday, May 18, at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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