Miler’s Daughter make you more sympathetic or less

I feel sorry for what could have been if only Cora had chosen love instead of power. It’s hard to say what she might have been like if she hadn’t ripped out her own heart- she did make that decision while she still had one, and Regina has done terrible things and yet always still had a heart. But mostly, I feel sorry for Rumple who has his heart (figuratively) crushed again and again. Is it any wonder he thought Belle was tricking him?

I agree, BeastWhisperer. It was good to see her back story, although I don’t completely sympathize with her ripping her heart out – it was by choice and it was to gain power, not to save a life or for any noble motive. I guess that once she took it out, she never had the motivation to put it back, since only her heart would have given her than motivation. I’m surprised Regina didn’t think about doing that (putting the heart back inside Cora) on her own. Maybe she didn’t know her mother’s heart was not in her body until she came to Storybrooke? Do we know that?

Somewhat.I’m sad that Cora was not wise enough to choose love over power.But I’m kind of glad she left Rumple because then Belle came into his life!!!!! I feel where Cora is coming from–anger,humiliation,need for love–but it does not justify her reactions to those situations.So her background wasn’t really what did it for me;it was the fact that she realized too late that love is better than power.She finally loved her daughter truly and then died.

I think we understand her a little better, but I think there is more to the story–more between her and Rumple, and more between her and Eva. This was only the start of what happened between them.

I did feel like it showed us that she wasn’t some pure heart corrupted by magic, which I appreciated; Rumple was happy to give her what she wanted, and she demanded more, eager for more power. She was already a fairly hardened woman and her bitterness came from her situation and being taken advantage of by those who had power. She was also already manipulative and clever, as we see at the ball before she even meets Rumple. I like that those things were consistent with her character, as was her adaptability and intelligence. Magic and removing her heart made her worse, no doubt, but she was Cora when Rumple met her, and Rumple of 40 B.C. found her intelligence and sass fascinating, since not many could be his equal and even fewer would dare to try.

(I’m in the camp that he fell for Belle because of her intelligence as well as her bravery and caring nature…and I suspect that while he might not respect David’s intelligence that much, he does admire his bravery and steadfastness; David actually got a hit in when they were swordfighting, and David was behind his imprisonment in FTL. He respects Emma for the same reasons: She’s smart and not scared of him. And while their relationship has mostly become hatred, I don’t think he sees Regina as a complete dupe either–he’s even said she’s a smart woman. As a very smart man, he respects the smarts; as a coward, he respects bravery; as the Dark One, he’s been in a position to suss both out very, very quickly.)