Tiny – ONCE080

The writers pretty much confirmed in the official podcast that Regina was herself during this episode and not Cora as disguise. They didn’t explicitly say so for Regina’s scenes with Anton and Hook, but they did for her scene at the Charmings. I suspect that if Cora ever starts impersonating other characters again, that they’ll make it obvious to the audience that she’s doing so just as they did in The Lady of the Lake and The Cricket Game. Otherwise, it’d be too messy from a narrative standpoint if we were constantly left guessing who had really done what.

As for Regina’s quick reversion to her evil self, I think her efforts to reform were doomed to fail from the very beginning because she lacked the internal motivation to make real, lasting changes. If magic truly is an addiction, then the old adage that no one can achieve real sobriety for someone else’s sake, that it takes someone really wanting it for herself, likely holds true. Regina may have been sincere in wanting to become the kind of person Henry could accept as a mother, but she showed few signs that she actually wanted to become a better person for the sake of improving herself. There was no obvious remorse for crimes, no apologies, or attempts to make amends. To me, that said that Regina was always one step away from relapsing. Even sharing custody of Henry with Emma might not have been enough to keep her from falling off the wagon. Until Regina chooses goodness because that’s who she truly wants to be inside, for herself, there will always be a part of herself looking for excuses to go back to her old ways. And she found that with her mom.

You guys where mentioning the different kingdoms and I recently watch The Outsider episode and I think Mulans realm is another kingdom she mention an emperor and I notice that back in Story Brooke when David and Marry Margaret are at granny’s there is an asian waiter in the back so Mulans realm might be another kingdom