Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-28162607-20180101191335/@comment-25926288-20180112190415

Let me give a spirited defense of Regina's arc. (joking)

I sort of put it in my response, but I think Regina's (as is Rumple, etc) is due to conflicting desires. If you noticed closely, while Adam and Eddy spurred Regina's change, they (usually Eddy) would bring up how great the Evil Queen is. Eddy asked a crowd, "Who wants to see Regina?" Cheers and applause. Then he asked, "Who wants to see the Evil Queen?".......(less cheers, mumbling confusion)

Similarly with most of the bunch, I think the writers chose fun over practicality. After all, how many theives with a heart of gold do we have? (Neal, Emma, Robin, etc).

As for Ursula, I think they implied that she did a little murdering (but then again, she did that before turning "evil" and she's a different species). I think sadly they wanted someone to face early redemption aka getting the short end of the stick. I think her story departure was partially due to a fun Cruella and Mal's major story role.