In “Once Upon a Time,” Season 1 , Episode 7, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” Sheriff Graham is in agony over his inability to feel anything. There is a reason for this, stemming from the fact that he is the Huntsman in fairy tale land.
Spoilers follow.
The story of the Huntsman and Snow White is familiar to most people. As usual the show applies a little twist. In this version, Snow is the Evil Queen’s step-daughter. The show opens with the Evil Queen comforting Snow upon the death of her dad, not informing her that she caused it. Now she wants to kill Snow and casts around for someone to do it. It seems that step daughter let loose a secret and it had dire consequences.
The man she has in mind is the Huntsman, a man who was raised by wolves but cries over his kills, thanking them for their sacrifice. He is said to have no heart. So, with the promise of instituting a ban on hunting wolves, the Huntsman is decked out in armor as a knight and is assigned to escort Snow through the forest. Snow notes that the Huntsman is not a knight and, putting two and two together, makes a run for it.
The Huntsman catches up with Snow writing a letter. It is an apology to the Evil Queen with the wish that, with her death, her need for revenge will be assuaged. Moved, the Huntsman frees Snow and cuts the heart out of a deer to bring it as “proof” that Snow is dead.
Unfortunately, the Queen is having none of it. Instead, she snatches the heart out of the Huntsman’s chest. He is hers now and must obey, lest she crush the heart and kills him.
Back in the real world, Graham is starting to have dreams and visions of a wolf with one red eye and one black eye. Prompted by Mr. Gold and also Henry reading from his story book about the Huntsman, he searches an old tomb, causes an altercation between Emma, the Mayor, and himself. He announced that he and the Mayor, who have been carrying on, are done.
The Mayor opens a secret passage in the tomb, underneath the coffin said to be that of her father. In a basement below are small caskets containing human hearts. She selects the one belonging to Graham and crushes it into powder.
Graham announces that he remembers everything. Then he dies in Emma’s arms, murdered for his knowledge and defiance.
Source: Once Upon a Time, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, TV.Rage