If anyone should have dealt with their past in this arc it was Regina. The thousands of slaughtered villagers filled with the blood of men, women, and children that she killed. I’m sure would have loved to meet her in the Underworld. But instead of her dealing with her past crimes, they just had her spend time with her family. Talk about getting the easy way out.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait one minute….
First of all, Regina did not kill thousands, she killed just a couple of hundred. Second of all, Hook is at least two to three hundred years older than Regina, so he’s been in the villain game far longer than she ever was! So that’s who should probably be getting around the thousand count number….especially if he was running around being Peter Pan’s errand boy.
Thirdly, although the original plan was for all three villains, Regina, Rumple, and Hook to face their dark pasts, obviously last minute changes were made to this arc. But out of those three villains, it was Regina who ended up assisting her son in finding Underworld Citizens, some who were her victims, and giving them their unfinished business in Firebird….least till Cruella and Blind Witch showed up to the party.
And do you really want to talk about the easy way out? I mean really….because from Season 1 all the way to Season 5, Regina has been suffering every arc in some form or fashion, which Adam and Eddy simply call “Karmic Debt”? Even Rumplestilskin had to pay his karmic debt, as he spent centuries looking for his son only to hold him in the end as he died. Just what did Hook have to give up besides a ship that he eventually got back?
Meanwhile Hook died 3 times. Sacrificing everything for his family and true love. He wears the rings of the people he’s killed on his hand as a reminder to not go down that route again. He was infused with the darkest magic of all and in the end ultimately conquered the darkness and CHOSE to save everyone by sacrificing his life. Nobody stopped his plan, he did it himself. Which is more than I can say for Regina and Rumple. I’ve never thought of a time where they actually chose to stop what they started. The Failsafe was cause Greg and Tamara stole it from her, and I mean Rumple….do we even have to list those?
Wearing the rings of the people he’s killed is the equivalent of Regina’s Heart Collection & Rumplestilskin Pawn Store, only difference is Regina and Rumplestilskin’s collections are still alive. As for that plan of his, yeah, I’m pretty sure it was Regina reminding of his past mistakes and asking him what sort of man he really wanted to be, that sort of jogged his senses back in. And if you’re not willing to count Regina nearly sacrificing herself and stopping that Fail Safe to save Storybrooke simply because she started it, then how can we count Hook sacrificing himself and stopping his plan to send Emma’s entire family, including her son, to Hell when he was the one who started it?
And if we want to talk about who saved the day the most between the three villains, I don’t really think that needs to be up for discussion because all Season 3, & 4B pretty much sets the record so far….and new anti-hero Zelena just earned her first one with 5B.
Can we also stop with the Hook only cares for Emma crud, it’s completely false. He cares a lot for Henry(enough to plan an entire operation with him), he’s got his bromance with Charming, sibling relationship with Regina, friendships with Snow and Belle and the latter he even comforted her when she kicked Rumple over the townline. He could have mocked Rumple, or made him look worse then he was but he was there for Belle and told her that even though he was a bastard, he truly loved her. So he’s grown to care for all of these characters very much. Don’t let one decision when he was engulfed with the darkest of magic unwillingly cloud those facts please. .
I’m willing to let you have this one, mostly because some of it is in fact true. Colin O’Donoghue is a great guy with great talent, however that character of his literally is the creator’s pet, just like Rumple is the creator’s scapegoat and Regina is the creator’s favorite victim.
And truth be told, Killian Jones really does have some wasted potential. This past episode sort of proved it when he wasn’t glued to Emma’s side. Had Hook not been written at the expense of other characters, he probably could have grown on more people.
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor