koodles

There was literally no other alternative for Snow though. Cora was minutes away from becoming the DO and being a huge threat to all of them. Cora was willing to let Regina die to get the dagger so she would have been a threat to Regina too IMO. Snow made a very difficult decision but she really saved them all.

But I agree Belle probably wouldn't be able to forgive herself for killing someone just like Snow expressed a lot of remorse over Cora's death and even asked Regina to kill her. Belle would probably be just as depressed.

T'Lynn

^ I don't see it that way. Cora becoming the Dark One would have just been another villain they had face. Using her own daughter to kill her was the easy way out at the time and caused Snow a lot of regret. She had another choice. It might not have been much of a choice but she had one.

wild sage growing

Cora's death was most certainly necessary. The way it was done was messy af, but I don't remember there being an alternative at the time. Snow's reasoning was sound, but her guilt wasn't out of character.

That whole scene was paralleled in season three, when Regina decided not to kill Zelena despite having manifold reason to tear her heart out. "Heroes don't kill," she said, and that has been the basis for many villain redemption arcs ever since. It's worth noting that Rumple's spiral began with his secret murder of Zelena--heroes don't kill, but villains do.

The lesson the show has taught us (up until recently) is that villains kill their enemies without consequence, but heroes rise above murder and look for other solutions. Killing Cora so ruthlessly was very contrary to the Snow we saw excusing Regina's execution--don't you think Regina had just as much of a reason to die back then as Cora did in season two?

It's a very black and white way to look at the world, and I think they're using their Author arc to prove how flawed this outlook is.

Austenphile

I actually think Rumple has as much reason to die at the time as Cora (unpopular I know). I think of David's speech to Snow at the graveyard. Cora might need to be stopped but not out of revenge. Snow killed out of revenge not self-defense and usibg Regina was horrible. She did need to die to be stopped (like Pan) but not in that manner. Although looking back, they could have put her uncursed heart back in, let Rumple die so no more Dark One, and then problem solved for 2 villains.

I don't want Zelena to die. But if she does, I would rather it be Belle that kills her than anyone else. Belle needs a story. And I cannot believe she doesn't have major PTSD.

koodles

Yeah but Neal and as a result Emma weren't going to let Rumple die just to solve the problem of the DO.

I do think you have a point that at least part of the reason Snow killed Cora was revenge. I agree but I think she also did it to save everyone.

I agree. I hope the arc successfully gets this message across. When Snowing sort of opened this season by calling Ursala and Cruella the villains and "we're the heroes." It felt so flawed - I didn't like that perspective at all. So I hope the finale turns that on its head.

T'Lynn

I think many of the villains have deserved to die. But I don't think any character has the right to take justice into their own hands. The most justifiable death actually would have been Regina because it appears she at least had a trial!

wild sage growing

Back in season two, I really wanted Regina to be the one to kill Cora. It made a ton of sense to me at the time, and I thought it would be cathartic for her to eventually realize that her own mother had used her as a pawn for so long (as did Rumple, but that's a different topic), and stopping Cora from helping to turn Regina into a monster a second time would have been the perfect way to kick start her redemption arc.

And then she did, but as Snow's pawn instead.

I'm at least 90% certain that line was meant to turn us off!

Belleislove

Killing someone to stop them from hurting someone else doesn't make you a villain.

Plus this is a story full of fairy tale characters where villains are killed all the time.

Is Dorothy from Wizard of Oz a killer? I think even in real life sometimes these would be considered justifiable. Snow's killing of Cora was certainly justifiable homicide.

But for fantasy and fairy tale characters I just think it's not a big moral issue.

T'Lynn

I kind of agree with you but to me Zelena's crimes weren't deserving of death anymore than the other villains. If Belle is justified in killing Zelena then it makes a slippery slope. Emma should kill Rumple for Hook, Charming should have killed Regina for Snow, etc. What the show tries to do is show that everyone deserves a second chance.

koodles

I actually really wouldn't have liked to see Regina kill Cora. Even if she was justified in doing it. Killing a parent, child or spouse or abandoning either of the three is the worst thing a character can do on this show and it's portrayed as such. It takes A LOT for a character to come back from that. I think it would have been a huge step back for Regina.

Belleislove

Well I get what you're saying but again these are FT characters who came from a medieval world.

The Zelena situation I know is controversial. She's responsible for two deaths. In the real world she would possibly be executed. As far as Neal she led him to his death. If someone knows there's a bomb in a building for instance and lures someone there where the person doesn't know they will definitely die but thf person luring them does? At the very least it's manslaughter but a case could be made for first degree murder if it was planned.

I think in Gold's situation you could make a good case for PTSD and the fact that this person tortured, molested and caged/kidnapped him and he snapped. I mean Regina murdered her father , husband and lover. Rumple murdered his wife. So killing Zelena wasn't that big of a deal to me personally. It's not real life.

In the real world Regina also would have gotten the death penalty many times over ANC Rumple as well for things that happened in the Ef.

But in the world these people came from and lived and the fact that its fantasy that we're not really supposed to have all these moral issues with the characters.

People in movies and tv kill others all the time and no one bats an eye.

Austenphile

She already did kill her father and basically her spouse. I don't think it would be any different (talking season 2 Regina not Regina now).

wild sage growing

Yeah, I don't either. And she basically did kill Cora indirectly, even if Snow was responsible.

I also think Cora was a different case. She wasn't just Regina's mother, she was Regina's abuser.

Belleislove

I think some people deserve a second chance and some don't.

But again in the real world Regina, Rumple and Hook would all be in jail. And I don't see Rumple getting revenge by killing Zelena is different from Hook stabbing Rumple to get revenge for Milah.m
People got over that so I think they can get over Rumple killing Zelena.

koodles

For me, the reason I don't like Zelena at all and don't think she is worthy of redemption is because we have never seen her do anything good, not once. At least with Regina and a Rumple we saw they were both good characters with good intentions at one point and even in present day they have done selfless, brave acts. I thought Zelena was a fun character to watch until her back story was revealed. I was heavily disturbed that she instantly hated Regina just because she had pretty clothes and lived in luxury. She basically instantly wanted to murder Regina out of pure jealousy.

And now with the most recent episode we know that Zelena wasn't going to take Regina up on her second chance. In fact, she used her second chance to try to ruin Regina's life AGAIN. I actually would have found Zelena to be a more sympathetic character if she came back to get revenge on Rumple - he killed her after all. But I'm super disgusted she once again tried to ruin Regina's life for some of the most shallow reasons we have seen a character so determined to ruin another character. Regina is the only character who truly believed in her.

I don't see her having any chance to be good. Her level of delusional is really frightening to me.