"I’m taking back my son"

[Killian Jones]

Last line of the night, we all knew it was coming there was gonna be a point where Emma couldn’t let Regina have custody of her son anymore. This custody thing is what’s gonna be the thing I’m looking forward to most, I don’t see Emma winning that battle without Rumple helping her but really I don’t want to see her win like that. She’s suppose to be the hero so at some point I want to see Emma take a stand against Regina and win without having Mr. Gold fight her battles for her. Getting custody of Henry is an issue on a more personal level, Emma taking a stand for her son. That’s why I hope it one battle she fights and wins on her own. I love that last scene she had with Regina “MY kid;” “I’m taking back MY son” and then Henry in the promo defiantly standing with his family?! Wow

[fairytaleprincess]

Oh I know! Gold may offer his assistance to Emma but after the Mary Margret case I doubt she will want his help.

However it doesn’t help that she is doubting herself these days. She needs to get a strong grip on her own life again before the courts will hand her back her child.

She also needs a strong case, not just “This lady is psycho.” She needs people that know Henry like Archie and Mary Margret plus strong people to back her up like Granny.

[Killian Jones]

Proving Regina was behind the frame up job would have gone along way to getting custody I thought that’s where they’d go with this but I just don’t think Sydney will allow her to take the fall. He was really eager to fall on that sword. I think if desperate enough Emma will ask for Rumple’s help again and this will lead to a desperate situation but I’d just rather not see it go down that way. Rumple definitely came in handy during the election and also seeing Mary Margaret set free but his methods are suspect at best. It’ll mean more for Henry to end up with Emma if it comes from her own volition

[weedith]

Emma has absolutely no grounds to take Henry from Regina. Even if she proved the attempted frame job, unless Regina goes to prison, no court would take him. Even if Archie says she is unbalanced, they would have to prove that she is actually a danger to Henry. AND even if by some miracle they proved Regina was unfit, there is no way Emma, with her transience and criminal history would be considered an appropriate placement.

And if we arent thinking reality, but SB reality, it will never happen because Regina owns every authority there is. Unless Emma takes Henry extra-legally and counts on not getting arrested because she is the law in town.

[hjbau]

It really is not that simple. A lot of parents have criminal histories and still have custody of their children. And Emma has turned her life around. That was a juvy record from when she was a kid and should not pertain to this case at all and should not even be known to the judge. And Emma is the Sheriff. She has clearly turned her life around. And Henry wants to be with Emma. Custody cases are very complicated and don’t always go the same way for everyone.

Though i really think at this point Emma needs to get Henry away from Regina because she is crazy and it has come to the point where if she can’t get him the court system way then she needs to go the gun wielding taking by force sort of way. She only has to get him past the city line. And in the real world it should never come to that, but in a world where the adopted mother is the mass murdering Evil Queen it is about time.

[Slurpeez]

Recall in episode 4 that Mr. Gold probably procured Henry for Regina similarly to how he tried to procure baby Alexandra from Cinderella/Ashley. Emma called Mr. Gold’s bluff.

Emma: You know, no jury will put a woman in jail whose only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child. I’m willing to roll the dice that contract stands up. Are you? Not to mention what might come out about you in the process. Somehow I suspect that there’s more to you than a simple pawnbroker. You really want to start that fight?

The procurement of a child does not constitute a legal adoption. He gets paid to procure children for would-be parents. I don’t think Regina has a real legal claim to Henry.

Also, in episode 8, Mr. Gold himself threatened Regina that Henry didn’t really belong to her.

Mr. Gold: Never underestimate someone who’s acting for their child.
Regina: He’s not her child, not legally anyway.
Mr. Gold: Oh, now who’s trifling with technicalities?

Emma may need Mr. Gold on her side and his help to regain custody of her son. Mr. Gold favors her though, so he’d do it for her. It’s just a matter of whether she’d side with him again.

Also, from the summary for episode 20 states that August may play a role in regaining custody of Henry.

“August promises to enlighten Emma and take her on a journey that will show her how she can beat Regina, and possibly take custody of Henry.”

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[killianhookfan]

I will be very interested to see how they handle this situation.

I have now had two of my friends who have adopted children talk to me about their concerns about last night’s episode. One has a son my age who asked his mom “Can that really happen?” when Emma confronted Regina and told her she was going to get her son back. The other has a younger child who doesn’t watch the show but didn’t like how it was handled at all.

I find this especially interesting considering that one of the stats they quoted at Paley Fest was that OUaT is the number one show that parents watch with their kids. This is a really difficult topic to put in a show that families are watching together.

[Killian Jones]

@weedith wrote:

Emma has absolutely no grounds to take Henry from Regina. Even if she proved the attempted frame job, unless Regina goes to prison, no court would take him. Even if Archie says she is unbalanced, they would have to prove that she is actually a danger to Henry. AND even if by some miracle they proved Regina was unfit, there is no way Emma, with her transience and criminal history would be considered an appropriate placement.

And if we arent thinking reality, but SB reality, it will never happen because Regina owns every authority there is. Unless Emma takes Henry extra-legally and counts on not getting arrested because she is the law in town.

I think if she proved the frame up job that does land Regina in a cell but like I said before Sydney’s already gonna take the rap for that so I don’t see an easy avenue for Emma to actually get custody unless. The adoption that Gold set up wasn’t exactly strictly speaking legal. That’s why Gold is gonna have to come into play here. If there is some weak link in the chain Gold would know since he set it up. As far as Emma’s criminal history I would say since it was a sealed juvie record it shouldn’t come into play here. At this point I think Emma’s gonna end up doing something like reviving her own parents memories before she gets custody away from Regina.

[romantic_sheep]

I’ve been seeing this debate all over tumblr for the last day, so I’m glad to see it’s being discussed here too.

@weedith wrote:

Emma has absolutely no grounds to take Henry from Regina.

I completely agree with this, both logically and emotionally (In the interests of full disclosure, I should probably admit here that I’m a bit of a Regina fan). While she’s done some heinous things, she hasn’t done anything to hurt Henry. She’s strict and emotionally distant, but these certainly aren’t things that merit taking a child away, and I do believe she loves him as much as she is capable (Emma’s highly unreliable lie-detecting aside).

@weedith wrote:

And if we arent thinking reality, but SB reality, it will never happen because Regina owns every authority there is.

Another great point here – which judge is going to rule in Emma’s favour if Regina has them all under her power? It’d certainly be interesting to see how that played out.

While I have no direct experience with adoption, I do have a bit of a problem with the way the show is portraying things and playing into the evil stepmother/adoptive mother trope. I can’t help but feel slightly weird about Emma calling Henry “her” kid. Biologically it’s true, and he definitely seems to like her better, but it feels a little dismissive to ignore the fact that it was a closed adoption, and Regina did raise him.
I’ve seen people argue that this isn’t an issue because it’s all because Regina is evil, not because she’s his adoptive mother. Even if it’s unintentional, it’s still an unfortunate implication and I hope the show addresses this at some point.

Another heavily debated point that hasn’t been raised yet is Emma’s motivations.”And now, I’m going to take away someone you love.” I’m not disputing that she cares for Henry a great deal, but it doesn’t exactly make it seem like her sudden desire for custody is coming from a good, selfless place.

Anyway those are my thoughts. I’d be interested to hear from more people who have different opinions about all of this.

[Daniel J. Lewis]

Emma may have a difficult time trying to win Henry back. No matter how many good or honorable deeds Emma has done in her adult life, the law will always be against her because of her past criminal record. Sad, but unfortunately true.

[Author]

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