Regina's Regret

[RumplesGirl]

RG: I get what you are saying but after becoming a mother I understand where Regina is coming from. Sure before I had my son I had regrets about joining the army and leaving college. However, if I had not done that I would not have met my husband and I would not be waking up to a sweet little boy every morning. So in a sense I hate that she doesn’t regret the pain she has caused but I can see how she reasons what happened with the outcome of having Henry.

Thanks for that perspective.

I’m not a parent and as someone who pretty much regrets every decision she’s ever made and really wants to find “the right path” it’s perplexing to me that Regina doesn’t get that she has to take certain steps first.

But like I said, Regina’s mistakes and ill deeds got her something beautiful and if maybe if nothing was gained then she would regret more.

[Phee]

“I did cast a Curse that devastated an entire population. I have tortured and murdered. I’ve done some terrible things. I should be overflowing with regret, but…I’m not. Because it got me my son.”

She’s very “end justifies the means,” but her means were about as mean as you can get, and can she really admit to herself and accept how truly horrible many of her actions have been? I think if she could admit and accept that, then she would have some regret.

[storyteller]

Admitting the truth that she has no regrets is a sign of her evolution towards redemption.  To paraphrase Malcolm X, she must first become acceptable to herself before she can be acceptable to others.   I hesitate to say more till we get a plot synopsis but intuition tells me she’ll retreat back to her house after they get home

Custodian of Graham's darts, Rumple's spindle and Robin's quiver

[truidia]

So I don’t think this is a back pedal. There is a big difference between feeling regret and remorse. You can feel guilty about an action but at the same time not regret that it happened. Especially if something good came out of all of that.

When Regina was tied to the tree talking about all that she’s done, the murder, torture, etc, she actually did sound remorseful. She knew that stuff was wrong and she acknowledged that without Henry she would have felt regret for all the destruction she caused. But she doesn’t because without the curse, and the murder, and the torture, Snow doesn’t meet Charming, Emma isn’t born, and Henry doesn’t exist. And she will happily choose her son over anything else in the world. To me that was one of her most self aware moments in the entire series.

People are complaining that she’s ruined her redemption, but I’m lets be honest here. What kind of redemption are you expecting? She was literally Hitler to the enchanted forest. Bat *&^% insane for 15ish years.  You don’t just wash that darkness off your soul. Could she perhaps join the good guys and become some sort of anti-hero? Perhaps. Is that what she wants as a character? I really don’t know. Since the curse broke she’d pretty much been focused on getting Henry back. Once they return to Storybrooke and everything settles down (LOL it’s never going to settle down), then perhaps she can go see Archie and figure out who and what she wants to be. But at this moment, she doesn’t care about redemption or her own happy ending. She just wants her son home and safe.

Now in terms of the promo, I think it has to deal more with the towns issues with Regina, and not her choosing evil again,  i.e. perhaps the dwarves are not happy that suddenly Regina is on team Charming.

[truidia]

“I did cast a Curse that devastated an entire population. I have tortured and murdered. I’ve done some terrible things. I should be overflowing with regret, but…I’m not. Because it got me my son.” She’s very “end justifies the means,” but her means were about as mean as you can get, and can she really admit to herself and accept how truly horrible many of her actions have been? I think if she could admit and accept that, then she would have some regret.

No, she would have remorse. There is a difference.

[theevilone]

So I don’t think this is a back pedal. There is a big difference between feeling regret and remorse. You can feel guilty about an action but at the same time not regret that it happened. Especially if something good came out of all of that.

When Regina was tied to the tree talking about all that she’s done, the murder, torture, etc, she actually did sound remorseful. She knew that stuff was wrong and she acknowledged that without Henry she would have felt regret for all the destruction she caused. But she doesn’t because without the curse, and the murder, and the torture, Snow doesn’t meet Charming, Emma isn’t born, and Henry doesn’t exist. And she will happily choose her son over anything else in the world. To me that was one of her most self aware moments in the entire series.

People are complaining that she’s ruined her redemption, but I’m lets be honest here. What kind of redemption are you expecting? She was literally Hitler to the enchanted forest. Bat *&^% insane for 15ish years. You don’t just wash that darkness off your soul. Could she perhaps join the good guys and become some sort of anti-hero? Perhaps. Is that what she wants as a character? I really don’t know. Since the curse broke she’d pretty much been focused on getting Henry back. Once they return to Storybrooke and everything settles down (LOL it’s never going to settle down), then perhaps she can go see Archie and figure out who and what she wants to be. But at this moment, she doesn’t care about redemption or her own happy ending. She just wants her son home and safe.

Now in terms of the promo, I think it has to deal more with the towns issues with Regina, and not her choosing evil again, i.e. perhaps the dwarves are not happy that suddenly Regina is on team Charming.

Completely and utterly agree with you on this. If this is not the case perhaps the writers didn’t do their job and just messed up entirely. I am sure the writers looked in on this, so yeah… Also, on the old rivalries that was mentioned in the promo, I think that it is regarding the people of the town probably not liking that Regina is now part of their princess and princes’family. I mean Charming looked pretty pleased on how everyone worked together but who knows.

[timespacer]

I thought Regina’s line about regret fit perfectly into her redemption arc and was not backpedaling at all. I agree completely that true redemption will require her to express remorse, but she’s not there yet.   Her statement was an insight into where her progress toward redemption is at the moment.

 

I love the story of Regina’s redemption precisely because it has been a gradual development and not a sudden, 180 degree reversal. We’ve seen her go from full, Evil Queen mode just before she cast the curse, to showing compassion mixed with cruelty by letting Owen go just before she killed his father, to tonight choosing to keep Henry despite the risk he posed to the curse, to trying to help Emma save Henry at the end of the first season even though Gold told her that sacrificing Henry would be the price to keep the curse unbroken, to expressing remorse for what she had done to one person (Henry) in “We Are Both”, to trying to improve her behavior in order to win Henry’s approval in the first half of season two, to being willing to sacrifice her life for everyone else in the second season finale (although that was probably more out of concern that Henry not be left alone than concern for everyone else.)

The point is, all of these things are steps in her redemption. The difference between regret and remorse is significant, but even if we say she has no remorse (instead of no regret), I still don’t think she is backsliding like she did when Cora came to Storybrooke. I just think remorse is a stage she hasn’t yet reached. She is making great progress but that doesn’t mean she is there yet. It’s the slow but steady progress that makes the character fascinating. It would be unrealistic if she suddenly jumped from being so evil to being good. Likewise, it would be annoyingly bad writing if she constantly oscillated back and forth from good to evil, but a steady, two steps forward and occasional one step back progress from evil to good is much more interesting and it mirrors her earlier transition from good to evil. At least, that’s how I see it.

[PriceofMagic]

I agree that Regina can feel remorseful about her actions without regretting them. Regret and remorse can coincide but they also can be different things, and that was the key, the tree would kill them with their regrets not their remorse.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[RumplesGirl]

I agree that Regina can feel remorseful about her actions without regretting them. Regret and remorse can coincide but they also can be different things, and that was the key, the tree would kill them with their regrets not their remorse.

So the real question–for the present–is does Regina feel remorseful over her actions?

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Sarah Cayer]

For a long time I have wanted to see Regina show regret and atone for her sins. I was extremely disappointed last season when after Cora showed up in Storybrooke, Regina just gave up on redemption. That being said, I don’t know if Regina CAN atone for her sins. How do you say i’m sorry and ask for forgiveness for murdering entire villages, killing your own father, killing your husband and tearing Snow and Charming away from their daughter for 28 years and everyone else from their entire lives?

I think even if she was truly repentant, i doubt anyone could truly forgive her. Don’t get me wrong, I love Regina’s character but she has done some truly horrible things. I think that’s why she chooses not to have any regrets. She knows deep down that there is no going back, no forgiveness for what she did so instead of being sorry for what she did, she is thankful for what it brought her which is Henry.

I still wish though that Regina and Mary Margaret could have a heartfelt conversation. If Regina is going to apologize to anyone or feel regret for hurting anyone I think she should feel regret for hurting Snow since they did love each other once. Perhaps she may even feel regret and shame for what Emma had to go through as a child as a result of the curse. I think Snow has more than atoned for her sin against Regina (in revealing her secret) 1. because she was a child 2. because Regina killed her father, chased Snow away and hunted her down 3. Snow spared Regina from execution. 4. Snow willing ate the apple. She has yet to atone for murdering Cora. I think for that though she needs to forgive herself, not look to Regina for forgiveness.

[Author]

Posts