Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

It occurred to me there is a stirking similarity between Regina’s brief redemption arc in S2 and Hook’s current redemption arc in S3. In both instances, Regina and Hook try to change for someone else, Henry and Emma, respectively. Yet, Regina realized that holding onto someone too tightly doesn’t make that person love you in return, and then she sadly relapsed into her Evil Queen mode when Cora came calling. Part of that is because Regina didn’t have a proper support system, but part of it is also because Regina didn’t want to change for her own sake, but rather as the result of trying to please someone else. I wonder if Hook’s situation is similar to Regina’s in that he’s been trying so hard to impress Emma so that she’d like him in return, but he is still failing to grasp what real honor is. While I think Hook wants to be a man of honor, after 250 years of living by his own pirate code, I fear his views of what honor looks like have been skewed. In my estimation, helping others like Charming or Henry, while still expecting a “reward” like self-gain in the form of favors from Emma,  falls short of real honor. Neal, by contrast, is helping Charming and Henry because it’s “the right thing to do” in and of itself.