Reply To: Tv Guide -Regina's love interest

[Slurpeez]

Wow, lots has been said since my last post! Forgive me if I’ve missed something important or repeat something that’s already been said.

But, in my opinion, putting Regina with someone that we would label “good” and thus turning her into this “good” person and negating her Evil Queen-ness almost makes her like Snow and Charming and it isn’t true to her character.  

Hoping that Regina could truly reform or that she’ll one day find her HEA doesn’t negate all the evil she’s done. True redemption is realizing the errors of one’s ways and then repenting of the pain done unto others. She’s going to have to work really hard all the rest of her days and  ask for forgiveness from those she has wronged, especially from the Charmings. Then she is going to have truly change her ways, and, in my opinion, really avoid doing anything magical. A true addict can recover but only by really abstaining and wanting to do so for one’s own sake. Also, any potential love interest would need to support her in this. (If anyone has ever seen When a Man Loves a Woman, the husband tries really hard, first the wrong way, and then the right way to help his wife, who is an alcoholic. It’s a really powerful movie).

Even when she was Regina in “Stable Boy” she was still somewhat defiant. She was willing to defy her mother, go against class and social norms. And yes, it was in the name of love, and thus commendable, but still wasn’t a compliant person. She wanted what she wanted.

I agree that Regina has always wanted freedom from her mother, and she saw Daniel as her ticket to freedom. While she was willing to risk all by running away with Daniel, she was still compliant and having to sneak around, mostly because she feared what her mother would do if she found out. As a victim of abuse, Regina feared her mother’s retribution because she had been punished her whole life by her mother. Yet, when Cora, murdered Daniel before her eyes, Regina lashed out at Snow, a weak target, rather than taking out her anger directly at her mother. And so, the cycle of abuse has continued, with Regina the abused becoming the abuser. She can learn to break the cycle with Henry, but it’s going to take untold effort on Regina’s part, and that, I believe means giving up the magic to which she has become addicted.

Snow, on the other hand, generally puts people before herself. That’s one of her character traits. Even when she wanted her mother to live, she couldn’t bring herself to kill another person. Snow was willing to die because she felt that she had ruined Regina’s life. Snow and Regina were vastly different even before all their own drama together. We can’t expect Regina to convert to being Snow, which is almost what is sounds like Phee is proposing, a sort of sweeping character development that takes her to saint-like status, such as Snow it.

To be fair, I don’t think that Phee was proposing Regina could just suddenly flip an automatic switch and magically erase her past. She was suggesting that Regina, with the support of a love interest, could eventually learn to channel her magic and power for the good of her people. While I have disagreed that Regina could learn to control her magic for good, since she’s an addict, I do agree that Regina could eventually be redeemed if she really wanted it for herself and for the sake of others. But Regina would need to have true contriteness and actually feel remorse for what’s she done and then need to choose to change for real. That, I believe, means giving up the magic.

One more point, the idea of a man influencing her. This makes me cringe a bit because it almost sounds like she Regina has no agency and can’t change unless someone is there directing her. This was the MAJOR issues I had with “We are Both” where it many people started to claim that Regina was only the way she was because of her Mother and Rumple. But that’s not true. In the end, she chose magic and power, even though she didn’t want to become her mother; she became Cora, right down to the heart collecting. There was something in her that longed for that power, much like Rumple, to deal with feeling powerless in other aspects of their life. Rumple was the village coward and Regina was emotionally beaten by Cora but she still CHOSE to become what she did. She has her own agency and I don’t think you’re trying to take it away, but I really need her to redeem, as much as any addict can and still be true to the character they are, I need her to do it on her own. Which is why I think it’s better for a man who is equally “gray” morally to be there. They’ll understand each other. He won’t be constantly pushing her toward “white-hat good” because she had never been that and to ask her to be that is removing her own agency and forcing her into a mold to which she does not belong.

I agree here. If Regina is ever going to change, she needs to take responsibility for her actions! No person, man, woman or child can make her change or force her to realize her past sins. Regina is a free agent who can choose to do right or wrong. So, she alone is going to have to reform her ways. Yet, I do think that having the aid of a loving person to help spur you and give you “tough love” and support is the way to go. Regina needs someone to call forth the best from her and to be there for her even as she grapples and wrestles whether to take another swig of the bottle, so to speak. So, someone who has morally struggled before might understand where she is coming from and what she is wrestling with. Who knows? Maybe this version of RH will have shades of grey to him. While he is a noble character who does things for the good of others, maybe he is a “reformed highwayman” who used to steal and plunder for himself but then he “saw the light” and started to steal from the rich to give away to the poor. While a bandit, RH has since become a heroic figure. That would sorta meet my desire for a “reformed pirate” type for Regina (yes, I’m still bemoaning the dwindling possibility of HookedQueen).

I kind of see it somewhere in the middle. In my head, Regina needs someone who doesn’t vilify her for using magic, but doesn’t always approve of how she uses it. Someone who doesn’t care that she’s the queen, but someone who respects her as her own person. Someone who allows her to be who she is, but deep down sees a part of her that is still Regina, and brings out the part of Regina that is still in her. Someone that is strong enough to stand up to her, and someone who she will respect and listen to. Someone who won’t be controlled or try to control her. Someone who can love her for who she is, and still call her on her.. shenanigans. In other words, a real 50/50 relationship. I dont know who that is or will end up being, just the type of person I imagine for her.

This! Yes, please! A good man (or woman) is hard to find! Here’s hoping that Regina could be lucky enough in love (twice) to find a true love such as this. May we all be so fortunate in life!

Maybe find a great soulmate for Regina if she’d only let love in. 

Thanks for sharing those timely tweets! Yes, if only Regina would let love in, then she might actually feel like someone cared enough for her to be herself, the Regina she lost touch with so long ago. I agree that True Love can make us go the distance and help motivate people to change. I wonder if that tweet about Robin Hood following that other tweet could be a hint that he’s “the one” for Regina. I just hope that means Regina doesn’t kill any long lost child of RH! That would really screw things up.