@hjbau wrote:
I think they are both equally evil. Though i do think that all of Regina’s evil will be laid squarely at Rumpel’s feet. Meaning none of what happened to her would have happened without his intervention. I think Regina is redeemed and Rumpel is not.
Yes, I’m not sure if that’s what is going to happen in “We Are Both”, but it does feel that way. I really wish they wouldn’t go there because I think as we saw in “Stable Boy”, she made her own choices to choose evil. However, I think that they want people to keep guessing, so things will be reversed from last season. Just going by the promos I feel that Rumple will be the bigger bad this season while Regina may team up with the Charmings or at least refrain from harming them directly. However, she won’t be redeemed forever because there was a spoiler last season about how Emma would have to battle Regina in her Evil Queen mode, and since we haven't gotten that and probably won't get that this season, chances are good that Regina will go bad again probably by the end of the season to set up season 3 because I don't see her lasting that long trying to not harm the Charmings. I can just see Emma and Snow returning, and at first everyone sort of uneasily getting along, but she'll soon get jealous over Henry's affection towards his mom and grandmom, and something will cause her to snap again.
Plus, I think that after Rumple meets Bae again, things will go differently for him. I’m not saying that he won’t be evil anymore, but I think that moment will be similar to Regina’s moment with Henry at the end of “Broken”. I think Bae is going to be disgusted with his father’s actions, and hopefully that will make Rumple see the consequences of his actions. Right now he’s just so obsessed with reuniting with Bae that he can’t allow himself to think about anything else ever until that happens. It would serve him right if Bae turned out to have died before they’re reunited, but I think that would cause the end of whatever little humanity remains in Rumple now, so he won’t go that dark this early.
Of course, he won’t be redeemed either at least not yet, but I think that could be the tipping point for him so that next season he can either choose power again or start to let it go. Plus, if Bae is Henry’s father, he’ll at least leave the Charmings alone from now on and really become their ally instead of someone who helps them because it helps him, but I don’t think Regina could ever truly ally with Snow. They might be temporary allies sometime this season, but I think her hate for Snow will always be greater than any love she might have for Henry, so in the end she’ll make the wrong choices again. Not that Rumple won’t too, but Regina was someone who ripped out the heart of her own father even though he loved her, and he was the thing that she loved most, so I don’t really think one ever comes back from that no matter what the writers say about now that void is filled in her heart. Plus, even though Rumple isn’t excused for some of his actions against the Charmings, he’s at least also done some things to assist them even if he was doing so for his gain whereas Regina has always been against them.
Later on, I could see Regina sacrificing herself for Henry or even Snow, but even then while others might see it as her having been redeemed for her actions, it depends on how it happens and why as to whether I think she was truly redeemed even if she did sacrifice herself. Like she can’t just do it because the rest of her life is hopeless that she decides to martyr herself, you know, well at least to me I don’t think that would make her a redeemed character.
I could also see Rumple sacrificing himself to redeem himself, but like Josephine, I think if that happens, Belle will bring him back to life just like in the animated movie. Of course, this year I think that things will be reversed in that Rumple will seem worse, but by the end of the series, I really can’t see Regina ever truly having a happy ending unless she’s reunited with Daniel which means that she’s going to have to die either through her sacrifice or an ironic villain death whereas Rumple can still have a happy ending by surviving.