T'Lynn

Yes ...

And the episode with her relationship with Regina ... allow me to speculate a bit...

So Rumple is on Team QoD and is guiding them to corrupt the savior. For whatever reason Emma is the key to the villains getting their happy endings. If that means Regina as well then she is going to be VERY torn about whether she would want to help Emma or help the QoD.

Without their scenes in 4x05 and the shots in 4x11 and Emma joining Operation Mongoose no one would believe that Regina would ever go out of her way to help Emma, right?

Also, I think leaving the Emma and Hook storyline without a big epic declaration was done so the question can still be there about how deep their feelings are for each other ...

Yup, me too! I think splitting the seasons works really well but it can also backfire and make people treat them as two separate seasons ...

fox24

I do think splitting the seasons has made things more organized as supposed to the mess we had in 2b. I do this season some sls have overlapped

FAU

That could also work in its favor like it did with the Wicked arc last season after there were complaints about the Neverland arc.

fox24

I think there are pros and cons to it.
example
Pro
The arc is more cohesive.
Con
It can get rushed

T'Lynn

I think the toughest part is ... is it two seasons or one? I mean, we know it's one but the long hiatus and the different villains makes fans feel like there should have been more answers.

But when you can rewatch later and view it as a whole it does make more sense.

scififan2009

If the QoD believe the game is rigged does that mean making the heroes into villains is being done so that they can become the heroes and get their happy endings?

fox24

Plus even in s3 Pan causing the curse caushed Regina to unleash it which caused Zelena to wreck havoc in the Neverengers life's

CityGal

That he is. So is he using the 3QoD for his own ends, and they just don't know it. Or he is pursuing the same ends with them. Rumple is not big on team play so I have a hard time with seeming to team up for the long term.

wild sage growing

3A and 3B always felt like totally independent (and unrelated) stories until I binge-watched both in succession a few weeks ago. Everything tied together nicely when I was able to approach it as one, complete season.

As for the promo, I can't say I'm surprised. I've always viewed Emma and Regina as foils of each other, and like it or not, we all know Rumple has a talent for "creating monsters."

CityGal

Ding, ding, ding!! Me too. IMHO, they are written as foils of each other since the pilot. So I've always understood why SQ shippers see a "connection" between the two, but it is as protagonist vs. antagonists - just not romantically.

Which is why, for me, the mere fact Emma is on this trip with Regina makes the hair on the back of my neck rise. Unless the relationship changes (and it could in the future), it doesn't bode well for Emma in the short term.

wild sage growing

I very politely disagree.

I think there's a good chance we'll see Regina offering Emma some advice wrt to the way Rumple has manipulated her in the past. And yes, they are foils, but that doesn't automatically mean they'll always make the same choice when it comes down to a tough call.

There's a huge difference between having an evil thought and doing something evil. The reaction is everything. I think the great distinction will be that Emma will reject the temptation that Regina once embraced. Or, unlike Regina when she was young, Emma will benefit from having a bunch of people on her side to talk her down from the ledge (her parents, Hook, Henry, Regina, etc.). Having support when you're in a bad place is so important. More foilage!

OhRightTheConscienceThing

I agree. Regina's father was too weak to offer her support. Rumple's cruelty and manipulations destroyed Regina's soul bit by bit. ( it's what Rumple does best -- he destroyed the souls of Zelena, Ingrid, made attempts with Anna, and I believe we'll see he had a hand in ruining these three queens if darkness )

But no longer can Rumple affect Regina in the same manner. We saw this when he tried to persuade her to harm Marian at the town line. She's grown and healed in the past couple of seasons with the love and friendship from her family -- Snow, Emma, Henry, Charming, and Robin.

Further, Regina loves Henry far too much to harm his other mother.

scififan2009

Amazing how Belle's soul still remains intact.

wild sage growing

Poor bb doesn't even have the screen time for a "tempted by the evil" arch.

scififan2009

Which would be interesting, considering who she's married to.