The very little we did in the last few moments of the episode suggest there’s no change at all, really. She was still Regina in all the ways we recognize her. She stood up to Hyde; she was snarky; she was helpful in restoring magic to SB; she was with her son and her family and had no noticeable differences.
True. Pity. I always thought that her snarkiness and feistiness largely came from the EQ part of her.
IDK…Maybe the writers haven’t thought that far ahead..
My cynicism says that the fans will give this topic far more deep thought than the writers will. Like with all the complex and fascinating themes that they touch on, they will either treat it very simplistically or set it up nicely only to never deliver a pay off.