- Once Upon a Time podcast forums

December 22, 2014 at 4:10 pm #293857

Participant

I agree with Keb and Obisgirl. Regina was at fault for her Evil Queen stage. To take away her culpability is to take away Regina’s need for redemption. Also painting Regina as a victim all her life is a major disservice to her character.

Nah ah ah….I do agree that the moment Regina looked into that mirror and declared “Long Live The Evil Queen”…at least 75% of whatever she did afterwards goes to her, so that’s a lot of evil. However…I’m simply stating that we must look at not only the other 25% percent who are responsible for creating the Evil Queen in the first place.

And a Victim all her life you say? Oh I don’t have to paint it…they’ve shown it, she grew up with a physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive mother and a cowardly father who did nothing but stand aside. Her true love was killed, and she was forced to not only marry a man thrice her age, but raise the very girl who put her in that situation in the first place. Manipulated and polluted by Rumpelstilskin, whose been concocting this heinous plot to darken her heart even before the girl was born, all so that she could cast his curse. And even after all is said and done, she still lost her true love Daniel again, lost her mother, lost her sister, and now has lost her soul mate! The only reason she hasn’t lost Henry is because he’s the Savior’s son too perhaps!

So yeah….Regina’s more of a victim of life more than anyone else on the show, the only one who can come close to her level of pain and sorrow is perhaps either Emma Swan or Rumpelstilskin. And before anyone brings up the “Well Emma wouldn’t have had such a bad life had Regina not cast the curse?” Well, heck, Emma should really thank Regina for casting the dark curse because as she said “It got them their son!” Yes, Emma’s life sucked, but it’s paying off in the end….she gets to live in a modern day world, something we’ve seen she prefers than the Enchanted Forest.

Keb wrote:

To place the blame for Marian’s almost murder on Marian just doesn’t sit well with me in any way. She was being a hero, and sacrificing for others, including her family.

Marian is a hero and the reason why she didn’t lie to the Evil Queen was because it isn’t in her nature. She’s not a coward. It would be against her nature if she pointed the finger at another innocent. That’s not who she is. If she believes something is worth fighting for, she will fight for it because it’s a cause worth fighting for.

Here we go…Marian understood the choice well. Squeal or Die…she remained silent and chose death knowing she had a family to get back to. Every choice has it’s consequence…it all depends on whose paying the price. Marian had A LOT more to lose, and she let it be taken from her because she was a stubborn, prideful woman. It’s not about if it’s in her nature or not, and it sure as heck doesn’t make her a coward! It’s called survival…you do whatever it takes to survive. And if lying is what it takes to survive, then so be it.

Is Marian a survivor….given the woman’s cheated death more times than Rumple has said “Dearie” I’d say yes, but she’s always been saved by someone, whether it be Rumple, Robin, or Regina. If they want to paint the picture Regina killed this woman in cold blood, then Regina shouldn’t have given Marian a choice. And since she was going to die anyway, what would have been so bad with pointing in the wrong direction, and just saying “She went that way!” That might have just saved her life! I wonder what a certain 500 year old vampire whose spent her entire life running from her thousand enemies would have done…..

And if Regina was truly the hero from the beginning, seriously, the woman would not even need a redemption arc. Lastly, there is such a thing as free will and choices. True, Regina was manipulated a lot when she was younger but no one held a dagger to her throat when she decided to waste the town that hid Snow White in the Evil Queen (2×20). She did a lot of damage to pretty much the whole kingdom. I don’t think it mattered if she wasn’t the Queen of Robin’s realm or not. Most everyone was familiar with her and her reputation.

Truthfully….it was probably never Regina’s fate to be dark….that was probably supposed to be Zelena’s, the first born. Hence Zelena’s natural ability for dark magic, and Regina’s natural ability for light magic, which might I add Glinda declared “Only the strongest purveyor of light magic” could defeat the highest dark magic Zelena possessed. But Rumple realized that Zelena could never do, and decided to stay with the one he’s already corrupted. Couldn’t let good corruption go to waste now could he?

Of course no one would have to hold a dagger to Regina’s throat to do the evil things she did…the damage was already done to her, and the darkness had already seeped in and taken root in her heart. Cora & Snow planted the seeds, and Rumple harvested.

Most everyone was familiar with her and her reputation? Then Robin and the Merry Men should not have been traveling through an Evil Queen’s realm. Much like everyone in the Enchanted Forest, if you knew you wouldn’t survive under Regina’s reign, pack up and move to Cinderella’s kingdom or Prince Eric’s kingdom. Unless Regina had some spell that trapped all her subjects in her land.

And to answer the question…of course Regina takes most responsibility for Marian’s death, but the left over responsibility does go to Marian for not even trying to get herself out of the situation.

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