Zimane

Thank you for the new thread.

Neverlight

They forget about many characters.

Koda

Sad but true. I'm still bitter about how they're ignoring Kathryn and Frederick. They always reminded me a bit of Regina and Daniel and I really wanted to see their happy ending play out on screen.

GrhmLz

I don't think Pinocchio will be stuck in a child's body, I think the BF gave him the chance to start over again with his dad, Gepetto {because of everything they missed out on together and he was indeed brave, selfless, and true ~ his unique set of conditions for remaining real}, but since Emma broke the curse, I think time is moving forward again inspite of Gold releasing magic into SB. So, I think he'll age again from this point on, but that's just my interpretation. I actually wasn't too bothered that August got turned back, I thought it was fitting for him and his father for their own happy ending after they got separated the way they were.

With Daniel dead, and if he was indeed her true love, I won't lie that I'm having a hard time seeing what Regina's happy ending could ever be. Henry really isn't hers anymore, Daniel is gone, and so are her parents.

rastaban

Was the new episode good? I can watch it only tomorrow.

Neverlight

It had only two Regina scenes.

Koda

I suppose they will try to give her a new love interest eventually, but I do believe the key to her happy ending is Henry. There is absolutely no way that Regina will ever be truly, deeply happy again if she can't save the relationship with her son and have him in her life on some kind of steady basis. I think the show has really hammered that point home by now. Ironically enough that's probably also at least part of the reason why the writers currently insist on keeping him from her.

The thing is, though, while many of use most likely don't mind a slow sense of progress in the Regina and Henry relationship, since there is a lot of hurt and betrayal to work through, a lot of trust issues that cannot be solved over night, we need a little more to go on than they're giving us now. At this point, Regina and Henry don't even have any real kind of relationship. Henry just gets thrown back into Regina's life whenever the plots demands it. Not because there is a steady build-up in their relationship based on how they should develop if they, and especially Henry, were treated as real characters.

They need to fix this because if they don't Regina's happy ending and the emotional payoff that should come along with it won't ring true anymore. And while I do want Regina to find happiness on more than level, this is, at the end of the day, a relationship that will always be of a unique kind of importance. She's his mother, he's her son. I don't think she will ever be able to give up on him and I don't think that the show wants her to either.

It'll be interesting to see how Regina deals with Neal and having to share Henry with him, too. I still think Regina and Emma would eventually be able to work things out between the two of them and could reach a point where the fact that Henry now has two mommies would no longer prevent them from finding a sense of happiness and peace. But a third parents coming into play long before Regina and Emma have sorted out their relationship? Disaster waiting to happen, I'm afraid.

Neverlight

My terms are quite simple. Your death.

aeverett

If Regina has to share Henry, it's not really a happy ending is it? Happy endings don't have to be shared with anyone, particularly people you dislike. No, it's once again, Regina has to settle for less. Any man or woman she ends up with romantically will be a step down from Daniel. Regina might find happiness, but she'll never have a happy ending.

GrhmLz

Yeah, this is basically the problem that I see. Personally, I'm not as sold as some others might be that the creators even care that much about the relationship in the way that some of us do. I just don't believe it the way everything was just dropped for them. There is no development, not even stepping stones to hint at it. Personally, I feel like they're more interested and invested in the father-son bonding element {Bae with Rumple; Neal with Henry}. So, after the Owen|Greg story is resolved, I have no idea what Regina's main focus will even be come S3. I fear she is soon on her way to becoming more like poor Belle, either hardly featured inside the season or takes the backseat as more a background main|regular character, who only pops up when they need her to cause some drama for the other characters.

At this point, I'm not even confident that Regina and Emma will be working anything out. I receive the impression the writers feel Henry is right where he belongs: with Emma. I predict the writing to square right on Emma and Neal working things out about Henry.

Regina is the bad influence, remember?! The one who subjected and supposedly made him the product of Dark Magic?!

Anyway, for Regina's sake, I'm feeling like too bad they didn't initially go a different route with Henry at this point. Like he was the kid she had with Daniel in FTL or something and only got him back because of the Dark Curse, but he didn't know that. He just always believed he was her adopted son while in SB. Because this season kind of makes me wish The Savior's kid was someone else, and not Henry. Not the kid Regina had to adopt. I mean, the foundation for S1!Regina of SB IS Henry. And now it's being treated like all of that doesn't matter.

Unfortunately, as of right now, that is how the Henry situation is being presented to me: Regina will be settling, if even that. I don't see how Henry can become the main focus of a happy ending for Regina when his character is written to always give the Charming clan priority. It's treated as if Henry has his real parents, Neal and Emma, and Regina is like the equivalent to an absentee 'non-custodial' parent who's lucky to see the kid on a random visit. *sighs* ~ I don't know.

As of right now, I'm not even convinced they'll give her somebody else romantically either. I think they're going to milk the EVIL EQ for all it's worth in the series, even if it becomes boring and stale in plot along the way. Which, with Tamara now on the scene, I don't really get the point of it unless they just want another fancy showdown of a big FTL baddie duking it out magically with a baddie from our world.

At this point, if we're lucky, I think the only true happiness we'll ever see for Regina, that belongs solely to Regina, is from any more possible flashbacks that feature her with Daniel, before she became the EQ.

miss.sunshine

Both makes sense. Even so because Henry's happy ending is also his family getting along. I know that it doesn't look like Regina is part of his family right now, giving the way he's treating her and all. But deep down, I like to believe he still loves Regina. And maybe he'll grow to respect her, but most importantly, love her in a way he never actually did.
Yes, I agree, I think the writers keeping pushing Henr away from Regina because they want to delay as much as possible her happy ending. Maybe in their minds, they think that f Regina is happy, she's not the villain anymore, so what's the point of everything? Wich is ridiculous, but whatever.

That is so very true. And that makes me angry, because it doesn't even makes sense! The things that happened with the adoption, Henry shutting Regina and choosing Emma (whom he knew for about 5 min), then starting calling Neal (whom he also knew for about 2 min) dad and Rumple by grandpa... I mean, those things don't happen in real life! Okay, it's fantasy show, but that's not the point. It looks like the writing is getting done just because is has to be done.

And this is ANOTHER thing that the writer could have explored sooner. I mean, Neal already arrived town. It's a small town and Regina knows everything about it. She probably already knows that he is Henry's biological father. And it's been, what, 2 episodes? It's like, "writers, aren't you forgetting something?".

Yeah, I guess that's right. Wich, AGAIN, it doesn't make any sense because the season started with Regina wanting to be better for Henry, wanting to be worthy of his love and afection. And she is still driven by that idea, but it doesn't matter because Henry only wants to be with his new daddy. Don't get me wrong, I really want to see him working things out with Regina, I want to see them in a happy relationship more than anything; but Regina is way too a powerful character to have just that. I guess that's why I want to see her in love. And I want it to be with someone that will fight for her. I'm tired of people giving up on her, it isn't fair.

I guess it can be. Happy endings are not only to be with your loved ones for yourself, but realize what make them happy and work on it. I'm optimistc enough for all of us to think, to know, that Regina WILL have her happy ending.
And about the romance situation, I like to believe Regina will truly love again. And it won't be a step down from Daniel. It will be completely different, because she is another person, she's changed, she's seen things, she's more mature. I'm not sying that her love with Daniel was childish, absolutely not. But it can't be compared, you know.

aeverett

Henry moving between two families might be HENRY's happy ending, but it can never be Regina's. Regina will always be pining for the days when she was Henry's only mommy and dreaming of what might have been had Henry not found Emma and bonded with her. That was why Cora was able to twist her daughter so easily. She KNEW what was in Regina's heart.

As for a love other than Daniel, she may care for another man (or woman), but she will never love him (or her) with the same intensity as she did Daniel. In college I took a class in demography and one thing they drum into you is that first generation immigrants and second generation immigrants differ completely in outlook and cultural identity. First generation immigrants cling to the traditions and perspective of the old country. When they adopt new behaviors, it's for practical reasons, but internally they will always remain culturally grounded to where they grew up. Regina is a product of the Enchanted Forest. In our world, that sort of settling and compromise for a mature love is normal, but to ANYONE who comes from the Enchanted Forest, it would be hamburger compared to steak. It would always be lesser and incomplete. That's just human nature.

miss.sunshine

Yes, maybe at first. But Regina will never be happy again unless she can accept the fact that the days where she was Henry's one and only mommy are in the past, they'll never come back. And although it hurts her, she'll see that her only chance of being happy is to accept that Henry is not only ners anymore. It will be extremely difficult, I know that. And of course, it will require a major change from Henry too. But I'm confident that it will happen, even if only at the very end.

Your analysis is fair, it can actually make sense. But you see, when you move to somewhere else, no matter how strong are your roots, you have to, at least, try and adjust to it. In FTL true love might be something unique, but in our world, we know very well that it isn't. You can have more than one. See Emma, for example... Henry is obviously her true love, for they broke the curse. But the writers would never let the saviour without a romantic true love. I mean, is just inconsiveble. So there it is. And the same goes for Regina. She had a true love once, but it was taken from her. Now, it will definitely take some time, but she can find a new one. She'll never get over Daniel, I don't want it to, but she can have someone and love that person with all her heart again.

aeverett

There is no another 'true love' for Regina. That's my point. She can settle and maybe find happiness, but that man or woman will never give her a happy ending. The same thing goes for her relationship with Henry. She will never get over her losses, but she'll learn to take what she can get. She'll be beaten down and settle rather than fight and continually loose. That's the tragedy. Happy endings are inherently selfish. There is no compromise, not adaptation to the harshness of reality. That's why they are reserved for fairytales.

GrhmLz

Yeah, I get what you're saying, aeverett.

Regina learning to compromise with Emma over Henry, is what is in Henry's best interests, it's not really about what is better for Emma and Regina. Because without Henry in the middle, let's be real, Regina and Emma would be more than happy to never have to lay eyes on each other again. Sharing 'Henry' is not a true happy ending for Regina, heck, it can even be classified as one for Emma either.

That's why as the series is progressing on, hindsight is now 20|20 for me, and I'm turned off to the idea that Henry had to be the Savior's kid inside the plot, instead of just being some normal human boy from our world who was adopted by Regina, discovered the truth, and sought out the Savior {aka. Emma}. After Daniel was taken from her inside the FTL storyline later on in S1, and again in S2,, she really needed a relationship arc to truly call her own. And since the child|parent relationship is what Regina's focus was for S1, and her obsessions with not losing him, it should have been fitting that her child remained 'her child' for the series {focus should have been working through their issues, not turned into who's a better mommy competition}.

I know this is all water under the bridge because it is what it is, but still. It's hard not to be disappointed with what we are seeing and not at least reflect on what could have been.

I'm just really fed up with the underlying insinuations in canon that Regina basically has to learn to let go of everything. Some of it is for her own good, sure, but the other stuff is just ripping off her ability to have a real happy ending:

1) it's insinuated that she has to let go of Daniel and move on
2) it's being insinuated to me that she has to learn to let go of Henry
3) it's insinuated that she needs to get over Cora, her own mother, because she was evil anyway
4) it's been insinuated that she needs to let go of her quest for vengence {maybe the only healthy direction I see}.

Why?! Everyone else gets to meet and keep their true loves, everyone else either gets to have their kid back {Emma|Neal} or will be presented with a second chance {Rumple|Bae} and it gets to be 'theirs.'