Reply To: Love and Romance on OUAT: What's the Message?

[WickedRegal]

WickedRegal wrote:

BUT….the Leopold….nooooo….that I can’t give. I have absolutely NO sympathy for Leopold’s death! The man was a sixty something year old jerk who WILLINGLY married his ex-fiancée’s eighteen year old daughter. And then didn’t even marry her for love…he just wanted to find a baby sitter/mother for Snow White, and didn’t even have the decency to get Regina’s answer instead of just accepting whatever his ex-fiancée/Cora answer. Then he blatantly ignored Regina, imprisoned her within the kingdom, and only showed her off as a “trophy wife” at grand events and celebrations, and once that was over, he pretty much locked her back up in the castle, because as Regina told Sydney/Genie in the Forbidden Fruit episode…King Leopold was a jealous man.

While I like Regina, especially since her transformation in S3, I don’t think her unhappy marriage morally justifies her decision to murder Leo. I argued above that Zelena didn’t deserve cold-blooded murder, and she’d actually done morally dangerous things like killing people. While Leo was a lech for marrying a woman only 8 years older than his daughter and unwise to ignore Regina’s emotional plight, I don’t think he was pure evil. Instead, I think he was a man who was self-absorbed and still in mourning for her dead wife, whom Cora murdered. No matter how miserable Regina was in the marriage, no matter how heavily into the dark arts she became thanks to Rumple, the cold-blooded murder of Leo was not the answer. 

He may not have been pure evil….but he was obviously veryyyyy possessive. Evidence of such….Regina could barely leave the castle, and could never step foot outside the kingdom. Only Leopold and his dear daughter Snow could do such.

Maybe, just maybe, if young Regina had gone to Leopold and confessed her unhappiness, he would have released her of their marriage contract before they married. If Regina had wanted, she could’ve had Leo lock away Rumple in a magic cell so as not to influence her, as Prince Charming and Snow later did. I’m just trying to say there were better options than murder. Regina could’ve walked away from that marriage since she’d already pushed Cora through a mirror. People always have another choice, even when they think they don’t. She didn’t have to go through with the marriage to man she didn’t love. However, Regina did go through with marrying Leo. That was her choice, even if she was guided by people around her. She married Leo and was unhappy in that union.

Had she gone to Leopold, and confessed such feelings…I’m very sure that he wouldn’t have given two cents. At the end of the day, he needed a baby sitter/mother for Snow White, the Kingdom needed a Queen, and Regina being the fairest in the land along with being some strange, very twisted chance with his ex fiancée’s daughter….Leopold would not have let her go.

Other chances than murder…I really wish I could say that I agree, but in those circumstances, I don’t see no other route Regina could have taken. Rumple was locked away because he wanted to be locked away….and his curse wasn’t cast, so I doubt he’d let Leo lock him away. Now that I think about it….I can’t say that Regina would have made it far had she not listened to Rumple, and actually left. She was exactly what Leo needed, and he may have just attempted to track her down. But…the tragic death of Daniel more than likely heavily influenced Regina, which maybe a reason as to how Rumple could so easily persuade her.

 Let’s say that Regina had taken Tinkerbell’s advice and followed through with meeting Robin Hood that night in the tavern. That was after Regina had married Leopold. Now, I’m not one to condone extra marital affairs, but let’s say Regina, a young queen, had fallen in love with a thief. It may have been tricky yes, not to mention socially unacceptable, for Regina to have a relationship with him. Yet, jut maybe Leo would’ve heard her out if she’d presented her case to him. Now, people may say divorce just was not an option, but Leo seemed on the whole, not as evil as say King George. Maybe he would’ve heard Regina’s request to leave their marriage and let her go, or at the very least, found a reason to divorce Regina quietly and after a set time, given Regina her leave to do as she pleased and take up with Robin Hood.

As I said above….Regina falling in love with Robin Hood would have been wonderful, but nine times out of ten tragic. The Queen leaving the King and the Kingdom for a noble thief who robs the rich to give to the poor…..yeah, the mortification of that alone would have stemmed enough rage out of any King. Now, I’m not just saying this just because I’m an Evil Regal, but I cannot say that Leopold wouldn’t have tried to track Regina down, drag her back home, and either kill Robin Hood for treason, or hand him over to King John. And more than likely…he’d believe her to probably be kidnapped, only intensifying his rage, and would’ve searched every kingdom and land to bring back his trophy wife as well as Snow’s mother/baby sitter.

So….running from the tavern was the best decision Regina could have done for both her and Robin.