Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170429134340/@comment-31828520-20170514193144

Eskaver wrote: Now, we can debate if Regina is actually stronger than Zelena (unamped) due to light magic and whatever, but Zelena was the better magic practioner. Regina was Rumple's best student because it was his only student that did as he wished. There are many examples, but here are a few:

1. Regina goes to Zelena to figure out what else is necessary to create a portal to get to Emma.

2. Zelena easily figured out a way to break Blue's singing spell, while Regina was running around clueless.

If anything, Zelena is a tad bit more talented than Regina (besides Zelena's natural talent as Regina struggled with magic for years). Saying "Zelena couldn't break the EQ's spells" is a fallacy as I'm certain that she never tried. Even if there was an example of that, some spells take time to break, because even Regina sometimes have to figure out how to break her own spells. Examples below....

A. Regina put up a containement spell (4x10) and couldn't remove it. Emma later removed it.

B. Regina put a protection spell on Snow and David's hearts. EQ never attempted to do it herself.

C. Regina says she didn't know how to break the town protection spell (which she made) and Regina took weeks to figure out how to break it.

I mean, is Regina less skilled than herself? At the very least, I don't think we've seen any magic user perform spells that do not know how to resolve. Regina didn't go to Zelena to figure out what else was necessary in order to open the portal to Emma. They went to Zelena because they needed a dark magic user and they believed at the time, as Hook said, that Regina was no longer dark enough (that she had done too much good). It was proven in a later episode that the ONLY reason why Regina wasn't able to use the wand in the begining was because of her confidence level and then she sent Zelena back to Oz.

Everything else you mention goes back to the writers. They make Regina look stupid for the plot and the plot alone. In the first two seasons Regina/EQ was basically unstoppable but once she became a hero they toned down her abilities.

Also, Regina was able to break Zelena's protection spell on her castle. So that's one example of her breaking a magic spell/barrier of someone who is supposedly stronger than her.