Regina has been through a lot of pain, but she caused a lot more. Her idea of a happy ending was to tear families apart (Jefferson & Grace, the Charmings and Emma, Abigail and Frederick, and yes, Hansel & Gretel and their father, Geppetto and Pinocchio–all were separated by the curse for 28 years, and if she’d had her way, it would have been perpetual). She may not have killed kids directly, but she definitely orphaned Owen–and that’s a kid she liked. She also killed Snow’s father, orphaning her own stepdaughter. Her parents died, yes, but recall that she actively killed her father and sent Hook as a hitman for her mother–and then tried to kill Cora again when she discovered Cora was trying to get to Storybrooke. Yeah, her sister was taken from her, but she spent a year of her life trying to, in her own words, destroy Zelena first, and suggested that she’d happily kill the woman multiple times–including during their last meeting when she offered Zelena a second chance.
In her time as the Evil Queen, she killed rather indiscriminately. She’s hurt just about everyone in town in one way or another, many of them on flimsy excuses about their hurting her first, but many just because. (Like, her insurance policy with Belle–who never did anything to her.)
Yes, she has changed significantly and grown a lot, and the heroes who matter to our story (our main cast) have mostly accepted her as a fellow hero at this point. That’s a lot to ask of people she hurt, lied to, tried to kill, killed relatives/friends of, imprisoned, tortured, etc etc etc. Her spurts of heroism are indeed worthy of admiration, but they alone do not atone for all her evils. Redemption is a bumpy road. Obviously, reality is not much of a barrier in this world of Once and there’s no reason not to love Regina (or Rumple, whose rap-sheet is just as bad) in spite of her flaws, or even because of them. But if she were properly tried for even one of the many murders she’s committed, the death penalty would be considered quite reasonable in many real societies (and even was almost applied in her own at one point).
She’s going to have to go a lot further than a few sacrificial moments of heroism and a couple of apologies to truly atone for her crimes. And I want to see that happen. I’d like to see her really earn a happy ending. She can’t earn it by taking it from someone else, though–that was always her mistake, believing that was the only way to get one.
Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing