Regina’s redemption for me starts with the apologies we’re seeing from her–she has apologized to Henry for making him feel like he was crazy and lying to him before the curse was broken, to Emma, to Belle, and come to a sort of understanding with Snow at last. Those moments actually mean more, coming from Regina, than the dramatic ones where she’s willing to sacrifice her life (mainly to save Henry, of course). Those are the moments when we see her really changing toward good.
There are some apologies that were genuine and heartfelt and I applaud those, though I have some issues with Regina’s apology to Belle (it was an apology but it was also more about getting something from Belle, not something that she exactly felt)
But this isn’t just Regina. We’ve been focusing on her, but none of the “villains” have apologized. I have quite a few problems with people who have done heinous things not giving genuine apologies and expecting to just skate by on either no apology or an “apology” that is really anything but.