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1) Has Regina truly let the “Evil Queen” go? And is it possible to ever do such a thing?
I feel like she has. Season three Regina is worlds away from season two and season one. Old Regina would not have accepted personal responsibility of Daniel’s death. Old Regina always blamed Snow. And she accepted that she was wrong about the curse too. Admitting those things were huge.
2) Has Regina demonstrated enough regret and remorse for the actions of the past? And does she need to?
I think she has, in Storybrooke and in the Enchanted Forest during the lost year. Take the casting of the curse part three in A Curious Thing. She wasn’t happy to see Charming die and even admitted worry that splitting Snow’s heart in half might kill her.
I think it’s important that she shows remorse towards people whom she thinks wronged her like Snow. Do I think it necessary for her to apologize to everyone? No. If she wanted to, she could summon them all to the town hall and make a grand announcement but that’s overkill.
3)Is Regina simply a victim of fate/Rumple’s machinations or did she have a hand in her own descent into darkness?
I think it’s both. Daniel would not have needed to die if Cora hadn’t removed her heart and made power a priority over love. If Daniel hadn’t died, she wouldn’t become the evil queen or have a vendetta against Snow. Rumple putting it into Regina’s head that anger was all she had and basically breaking her hope for a happy ending didn’t help either. He used mind game manipulation on her in the worst way.
We know why he manipulated her but it doesn’t make it right either.
Regina classifies herself as a hero at the end of S3B (at least for today). Does she deserve such a moniker? Is it possible that she’ll never truly be “a hero” (off shoot of this question, since I know it’ll come up but what does a “hero” even mean??)
I was not a fan of Regina in season one and didn’t really get or understand her until The Stable Boy. I could kind of relate to her. I love my mom but sometimes, she can be manipulative and meddle in my personal life in a way that I don’t like. So I was able to relate to young Regina in that way, minus the magic abuse.
I also did not believe that Regina could truly be redeemable after season two but season three proved me wrong in the way that she accepted responsibility for a lot of things and felt remorse.
I think Regina might be closer to being an anti-hero than a hero. I’d have to look up the definition to be sure. From what we know of her history, she started out good and due to tragic circumstances, became evil. But there were times that she wanted to be good again.
Charming and Snow to our knowledge, for the most part, have always had goodness inside of them but they’re even flawed to a degree.
I remember watching a story on 60 Minutes, addressing if good is born and not made. I think research showed that babies inherently from a young age have a perception of good and what is bad and choose good over bad behavior. I thought the psychology of that was fascinating.
How will Regina act in S4 based on her past and the lessons she’s learned over the course of 3 seasons?
I think despite Regina’s losses this season (Robin and Zelena) I think based on her recent character development, she’ll have a more mature reaction in season four. I think it would be horrible for the writers to have her revert back to season one Regina after she’s made so many strides as a character in general. Reverting would be the easy route, IMO, because it means she wouldn’t take responsibility for things she’s done.
So I hope the writers don’t go that route.
[adrotate group="5"]Before I start…let me just start pouring the glasses as this is bound to get very heated…
Alright….now that that’s done. Let’s get started.
1) Has Regina truly let the “Evil Queen” go? And is it possible to ever do such a thing?
The Evil Queen is someone who will always be a part of Regina….that’s without a doubt. It’s how she uses the Evil Queen is how SB will view her. As we saw in Season 3, the Evil Queen was a great hero who saved the day in both arcs of the story, rather than the terrible villainess she who wrecked havoc in Season 1. So I see the Evil Queen moniker as being more of a super hero title now, like when she needs to be Regina, she’ll be Regina, but when it’s time to be the Evil Queen, she’ll be the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen is neither evil nor good, but will gain results no matter what. She’s sort of the “Bad Cop” of the Charming Family, who mainly gets what needs to be done, done.
2) Has Regina demonstrated enough regret and remorse for the actions of the past? And does she need to?
Regina’s actions show more than her emotions. Actions speak louder than words, and this woman has literally saved the day, and Storybrooke. Therefore, by defeating not only Pan in NL, but her sister in SB…she has shown that her loyalty lies with her family, and I think now, no matter where they may say or do, she realizes that The Charmings are her family. She’s Snow White’s step mother, David’s step mother in law, Emma’s step-grandma, and Henry’s mom/step-great-grandma. They’re family, and Regina’s the Family Matriarch, and the Family Matriarch defends their family at all costs.
3) Is Regina simply a victim of fate/Rumple’s machinations or did she have a hand in her own descent into darkness
Now….you all know my response to this. I do believe that Regina was unknowingly Rumple’s puppet in the EF. We saw even before Regina’s birth that Rumple planned to turn a pure soul into his, and I quote “Monster”. Does Rumple deserve all the credit for everything the Evil Queen did, no, some of that credit is placed upon Henry Sr, for not protecting his daughter, and Cora, who physically and mentally abused her daughter. And small credit is due to Snow White, for telling Regina’s secret. Now I do believe that Fate offered Regina a chance to escape her future by prepping her to meet Robin Hood, but Rumpelstilskin, possibly foreseeing the whole Tinkerbelle Fiasco, placed it in Regina’s head that her fate to be evil was sealed, and that she had no power to change it. The thought of her being powerless to avoid being evil had a massive effect on Regina, that scared her out of going into that Tavern. And we can see evidence of Rumple’s influence being the cause of Regina running from Robin, in 3×03 where Regina tells Tinkerbelle that “the darkness and anger was all I had? What would I be without it?” This shows by Rumple telling her those exact words that it haunted her.
4) Regina classifies herself as a hero at the end of S3B (at least for today). Does she deserve such a moniker? Is it possible that she’ll never truly be “a hero” (off shoot of this question, since I know it’ll come up but what does a “hero” eve mean??)
A hero…to me a Hero is someone who does whatever it takes to save the people you love. Regina deserved the title of Hero more than anyone else in S3, as she is the one who defeated Peter Pan in NL, Saved Henry, Got them home, and had to give up Henry, and then reverse the curse to send them all back to EF, where her life had been a living (beep) 24/7. Then she had to go to war with her sister, break the second curse, and defeat her sister, thus saving the lives of everyone in SB. So yeah….Season 3 is Regina’s Hero Season. Period. Point. Blank.
5) How will Regina act in S4 based on her past and the lessons she’s learned over the course of 3 seasons?
I truly think Regina won’t be evil again, but more so overcome with depression over losing her soul mate. We’re going to see a crying, isolated, broken Queen in S4. And I believe that will be the thing her and Elsa can bond over, as far as I can see, Regina is the one character Elsa has the most in common with. Isolated Queens who longed for freedom, losing sisters, and both have a run in with Rumpelstilskin.
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor
I’ll answer my own questions now
1) Has Regina truly let the “Evil Queen” go? And is it possible to ever do such a thing?
I don’t think identity is that simple. You are not either THIS or THAT. Even if she moves past the stage where she wants to torch everyone who wrongs her (and I would say that she has), the dependency on magic is still there. Maybe not to squash her enemies but to make her life easier and to get what she wants. The show has done a good job of showing that magic is a drug; if we take that metaphor to it’s full extent then it’s like any other drug that someone gives up. You’re still an alcoholic even if you haven’t had a drink for 10 years; you’re just in recovery. There is every chance that you could give in at any moment. I think Regina will struggle, always, with wanting to use her magic to take away pain or trauma in her life. So the Evil Queen isn’t so much “dead” as repressed.
2) Has Regina demonstrated enough regret and remorse for the actions of the past? And does she need to?
This is a hard question and I suspect it might be the one that brings the most debate. First, Regina has no regrets. She says that very clearly at the the “Tree-o-Regret” in NL. Now, I understand her reasoning for not having regret–it got her Henry, who like Emma counts him as the true love of her life. My issue is not so much about regret, but remorse. Is Regina remorseful about the pain she has caused. I don’t think she is. I think part of her still sees herself as a victim who was acting from a wounded place, nothing more. Now, yes, she was wounded but she has yet to understand what she put everyone through. She’s never lost her identity (only a year of her memories), she’s never been cursed or separated from her true love.
And this is where I think S4 comes in. If Regina’s new shiny identity is Reformed! Regina, which means being in a relationship with Robin and having unity between her family and Snow/Emma, then identity got crushed in the last few moments of the show with Marian. I think we’re going to see Regina go through what Snow and Charming did; unable to be with the one you love because of an external force. Emma may have thought she was doing something good (and I think she was) but the consequences of Emma’s actions are going to open Regina’s eyes to the sort of suffering she inflicted on others.
Is calling a giant town meeting overkill? Yes, maybe. But Regina has yet to really see the fault of her actions, only how her faults PLUS the faults of others (Snow, Eva) contributed to the mess. She needs to see her own faults apart from others.
3) Is Regina simply a victim of fate/Rumple’s machinations or did she have a hand in her own descent into darkness?
This show likes to play with fate and free will. I do think that Rumple pushed and pushed and did everything in his power to make sure that Regina would cast the curse. But at every opportunity, Regina made her own choices. Rumple had nothing to do with her hatred for Snow, or for Regina placing the blame for Daniel’s death on the WRONG shoulders. Cora has agency. Cora is a grown woman. Cora CHOSE to go out to that barn after she learned information from a 10 yr old and kill Daniel. Baby Snow did not twist her arm. But Regina chose to ignore all that. She chose to put the blame on Snow.
Then as she was leaving the castle after she shoved Cora through a mirror, she chose to go back. The call of magic was powerful. Did Rumple push? Of course he did. But he did not magic her back to the castle and lock her chains. He gave her a choice. You could run or you could learn. Regina chose to learn.
Then Tink gave her an out with Robin. And Regina chose not to go into that tavern. Did Rumple have a hand? Yes. But he did not POOF her out of there and force her to do his bidding.
And the biggest one of all for me–she chose to kill her father. His last moment he said that she could be happy again, she didn’t need to do this. But Regina chose patricide. Was she miserable and unhappy and desperate? Yup. But she chose. Just like Rumple chose to spend 300 years looking for a way to find his son. Desperate souls may do desperate things but that doesn’t negate the doing of the thing.
So, Regina is definitely a byproduct of Rumple’s interference, but she also made all her own choices.
4) Regina classifies herself as a hero at the end of S3B (at least for today). Does she deserve such a moniker? Is it possible that she’ll never truly be “a hero” (off shoot of this question, since I know it’ll come up but what does a “hero” eve mean??)
Yes, but with the caveat that she flits back and forth a lot. I think Regina will always be in the anti-hero category. She’ll never be Charming, the white knight, or Snow, the perfect Queen. She’ll always have a bit of darkness to her; and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It makes her more realistic and more human/likable (side note but when we get to Snow in a week, I intend to bring this back up)
Also, I think there is something to be said about Lana being born to play the role of the EQ or at least Snarky Dark but semi-reformed Regina.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"The Evil Queen & The Snow Queen….Best Friends Forever or Royal Cousins…..
C’mon…..the similarities are just….like they’re there! There’s no denying it! I’m crossing my fingers for Royal Cousins!
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor
1) Has Regina truly let the “Evil Queen” go? And is it possible to ever do such a thing?
No. The Evil Queen will always be a part of Regina just like the Dark One will always be a part of Rumple. Regina may not go full on Evil Queen again, but she’s not going to turn into Snow White Mark 2. There will always be that darkness in Regina and them temptation to use that darkness to her advantage at times. Being the “Evil Queen” enables Regina to do the things that might not be right but are necessary in order to achieve a goal. For example, taking Devin’s heart in Neverland so that they could communicate with Henry and let him know they were coming for him. Regina couldn’t have done that if she was no longer the Evil Queen in some way. Regina threatened to kill Zelena in Kansas (showing that she still has an Evil Queen side) and also took on lessons that she learnt from Cora such as “Never bring your heart to a witch fight”. Regina knows that being the Evil Queen can have it’s strengths as well as it’s weaknesses. Regina’s challenge isn’t whether to be the Evil Queen or not but to find a balance between the light and the darkness and to not let it consume you. Rumple has this challenge as well.
2) Has Regina demonstrated enough regret and remorse for the actions of the past? And does she need to?
I think there is a difference between remorse and regret but they can also go hand in hand. You can feel remorse and regret, remorse but no regret, however you can’t feel regret without remorse.
Does Regina feel regret for her actions? No. She looks at the big picture of things. Her actions led her to get Henry and she is never ever going to regret having Henry in her life.
Does Regina feel remorse for her actions? Yes and no. She wasn’t happy at having to watch Snow pull out Charming’s heart then take Snow’s heart and split it which could’ve potentially killed Snow as well despite killing Snow being her main agenda in season 1 so it’s likely she does feel remorse for the history between her and Snow. However, her apology to Belle only came about because Belle had something Regina wanted and Belle wasn’t going to give it up easily. Regina also used emotional blackmail against Belle by bringing up how Rumple was being controlled by Zelena and how helping Regina would help defeat Zelena and free him. Regina didn’t apologise because she felt bad for what she did to Belle, she apologised because Belle was being uncooperative because of how Regina had treated her. Even right before the apology, Regina was referring to Belle as “bookworm”. “The bookworm has teeth” isn’t a compliment but is rather condescending and demeaning hence Belle’s reaction of “Get Out!”
So whilst Regina may feel remorse for her actions towards Snowing, she doesn’t feel remorse for her actions towards other people unless they have something that she wants/needs.
3) Is Regina simply a victim of fate/Rumple’s machinations or did she have a hand in her own descent into darkness?
Regina made her own choices in life. To blame everything on fate/Rumple is to take away Regina’s accountability for her own misdeeds and actually diminishes Regina’s character. Why would Regina need to redeem herself if she wasn’t to blame to begin with? Rumple may have directed Regina towards certain choices in life but he certainly didn’t hold a gun to her head and force her to do what she’s done. He especially didn’t make her take Graham’s heart and then use him as a love slave. Fate is nothing more than choices, outcomes and coincidences. Every character decides their own fate by the choices they make. Some characters also make decisions on the fate of other characters. Fate is not a predestined scenario.
4) Regina classifies herself as a hero at the end of S3B (at least for today). Does she deserve such a moniker? Is it possible that she’ll never truly be “a hero” (off shoot of this question, since I know it’ll come up but what does a “hero” eve mean??)
This is a difficult one. I don’t think Regina is quite a hero yet. She can do heroic things, she can die as a hero but she can’t live as one. When Rumple killed Pan and himself, he died a hero, he committed a heroic act, but you wouldn’t call Rumple a hero right now.
Being a hero means constantly doing the right thing, even when you gain nothing from it or it is even detrimental to you. For example, Rumple killing Pan. Rumple gained nothing from it, he’d be killed, but it meant Belle and Bae were safe from Pan.
Charming is a hero because he sacrificed himself in order to save everyone from Zelena, even though it would’ve meant he never got to see his son. Charming is constantly doing the right thing.
I would class Regina and Rumple as antiheroes. They are not afraid to go dark and do less than moral things when they need to thus making themselves “not heroes”. However, they do the bad things so the “heroes” don’t have to. Regina and Rumple morally corrupt themselves so that the “heroes” can remain incorruptible. That in itself is a heroic act.
5) How will Regina act in S4 based on her past and the lessons she’s learned over the course of 3 seasons?
I hope Regina continues to struggle to do the right thing. I think she will be tempted to resort to underhand tactics to get what she wants and to get Robin back but will ultimately decide that she doesn’t want to “make” Robin love her but will let him choose to genuinely love her or stay with Marian, even though doing the “right” thing poses the risk that she may not come out the winner.
I think Regina will back off from Robin and give Robin and Marian space. Her being in their faces isn’t going to help matters and would actually weaken and damage Regina’s position in the triangle.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixAll good points guy 🙂 I’m waiting for that article or interview that states Regina and Elsa are kindred spirits. I never thought of it that way but it makes sense.
Being a hero means constantly doing the right thing, even when you gain nothing from it or it is even detrimental to you. For example, Rumple killing Pan. Rumple gained nothing from it, he’d be killed, but it meant Belle and Bae were safe from Pan.
Interesting definition and may be an interesting conversation unto itself. So are there heroes AT ALL in ONCE?
(side note: you give an example of Charming….interesting. I’ll come back to that in like a two weeks when we tackle him)
I hope Regina continues to struggle to do the right thing. I think she will be tempted to resort to underhand tactics to get what she wants and to get Robin back but will ultimately decide that she doesn’t want to “make” Robin love her but will let him choose to genuinely love her or stay with Marian, even though doing the “right” thing poses the risk that she may not come out the winner.
I hope you’re right but I have to wonder if Regina has learned enough to simply sit back and wait. It’s never been her strong suit. She wants the stuff she wants NOW. She’s can go charging into a situation, guns blazing.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"True RG but I think she’s matured past that kind of child-like behavior. I would be very sad and disappointed in her character if she reverted back-then again, we’ve also seen that true loves don’t handle loss well.
True RG but I think she’s matured past that kind of child-like behavior. I would be very sad and disappointed in her character if she reverted back-then again, we’ve also seen that true loves don’t handle loss well.
Well I hope so too. But I think it’s telling that Regina’s first instinct when she realized what Emma had done was to blame her in the exact manner that she blamed Snow, all those years ago. Now, maybe she just needs time to cool off and think but her first reaction was “this is happening all over again.”
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"True RG but I think she’s matured past that kind of child-like behavior. I would be very sad and disappointed in her character if she reverted back-then again, we’ve also seen that true loves don’t handle loss well.
Well I hope so too. But I think it’s telling that Regina’s first instinct when she realized what Emma had done was to blame her in the exact manner that she blamed Snow, all those years ago. Now, maybe she just needs time to cool off and think but her first reaction was “this is happening all over again.”
And personally, I don’t think Regina will go all Evil Queen again….because she has Henry, and she knows it would disappoint him. However, that doesn’t mean Emma is free from the Mayor Mills lashings, sassiness…it’d basically be S1 Regina and Emma without the whole killing/getting rid of you plot. Least for the first half, and I truly hope that Emma is able to right her wrong. And I think Regina will go a tad easier on Emma, but harder at the same time. Easy because unlike Snow White, Robin wasn’t killed like Daniel was, and harder because unlike 10 year old Snow White, Emma is 30 years old, and was warned to not touch anything in the past by Rumple.
"If you go as far as you can see...you will then see enough to go even further." - Finn Balor
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