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Part Two: Regina/The Evil Queen.

Regina’s earliest appearance is, like Snow White, in “The Stable Boy.” She is much softer and nicer, but has a mother, Cora, who is evil and powerful. Regina is in love with the stable boy and one day, on a romantic rendezvous with him, saves Snow White from a runaway horse. Snow’s father proposes to Regina and her mother accepts on her behalf. Regina makes plans to runaway with the stable boy, Daniel, but Snow White overhears. Regina explains to Snow White about true love and that this is what she has with Daniel. Snow understands and happily supports Regina. Regina has her promise never to reveal the plan. After Snow accidentally reveals the truth to Cora, Cora kills Daniel and has Regina ready herself to marry the king. When Regina is getting ready for the wedding she learns it was Snow who told Cora about Daniel. Regina hides her hatred and thirst for revenge by not telling Snow about Daniel’s death and begins to plot her revenge. 

In “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree,” she manipulates the genie’s love for her and gets him to murder the king. When the king is dead in “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” she hires the huntsman to kill Snow White. When she discovers he didn’t do it she rips out his heart. She now has complete control over him and can kill him just by squeezing his heart into dust.

We see the queen in four other episodes in the middle of the other back-stories and chronologically I believe they go like this. In “Hat Trick” she manipulates the Mad Hatter into saving her father from the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland, trapping the Mad Hatter there as a result. We see her in “Heart of Darkness” riding in her carriage for a moment through the woods when Snow White almost kills her. She also makes a small appearance in “Skin Deep” when she tells Belle that true love’s kiss will break the curse on Rumplestiltskin. After Belle has left Rumplestiltskin the queen comes to taunt him. Then in “True North” Regina separates Hansel and Gretel from their father and has them retrieve the infamous poison apple from a blind witch who lives in a sugary, death-trap house.

In the “Pilot” Regina interrupts Snow White’s wedding day and vows to unleash a curse that will doom them all. Now let’s bounce to the next episode, “The Thing You Love Most” where Regina actually plans for the curse. She retrieves the curse from Maleficent, (of “Sleeping Beauty”), but it won’t work. She goes to see Rumplestiltskin and he tells her she must sacrifice that which she loves most in order for it to work. He also has her promise to make him powerful in the new world the curse will put them in and, once there, Regina must always do what he asks when he says “please.” Sadly, Regina kills the only person she loves, her father, to make the curse work, and it does. Back at the end of the “Pilot” the curse takes hold and she and her henchman storm Snow White’s castle. She stands triumphantly over Snow and her fallen prince as the curse takes hold.

In Storybrooke Regina is the most powerful person in town as the mayor that everyone is afraid of. She has adopted Henry as her son and named him after her late father. Regina immediately sees Emma as a threat to her, as Henry’s real mother, even though Regina may not know exactly who Emma really is in terms of the curse. Regina tries many ways to kick Emma out of Storybrooke, including getting her arrested. 

Regina is sleeping with Storybrooke’s Sheriff, (Huntsman from the past). When he sides with Emma, his new deputy, as memories of his past come back, Regina has a nasty confrontation with Emma. Later Regina goes under her father’s burial site, retrieves the huntsman’s heart, and squeezes it causing him to die. This confirms that she obviously is aware of the curse and still has all her memories, which we were uncertain about before. As deputy, Emma is up for the Sheriff position, but Regina does everything she can to try and prevent that. In the end Emma does get it though. Regina has an odd relationship with Mr. Gold, (Rumplestiltskin), who seems to sometimes be on her team and other times be playing against her. She confronts him in “Skin Deep” and gets him to reveal he too remembers the past as she suspected. Regina also gets her little henchman, Sydney, to earn Emma’s trust and work as a spy for Regina.

Regina continues to try and keep her archenemy Snow White/Mary Margaret from being happy with her true love, David/Prince Charming. When Mary Margaret and David are having their affair, Regina consistently tries to break them up, befriends David’s wife, Kathryn, and eventually tells Kathryn about the affair. When Kathryn’s heart is found in the woods and Mary Margaret is accused Regina relishes Mary Margaret’s suffering. We know that Regina obviously did it from the get go, who else rips out people’s hearts? And we know she is framing Mary Margaret. Emma finds evidence that links Regina to the crime, but Regina makes it disappear before Emma gets a warrant and comes for it. To tie up loose ends, Regina makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin to ensure Mary Margaret is convicted and happily taunts Mary Margaret. Now that Kathryn has turned up again though, there will be no smiling for Regina as she likely goes and confronts Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin about breaking their deal.

Reach staff reporter Geanna Culbertson here

For part one featuring Snow White, click here