Regina Mills


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Evil Queen.''
 * ''This article focuses on Regina Mills' Storybrooke persona. For her Enchanted Forest counterpart, see
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"Have you ever considered that, perhaps, maybe, I am good? I was always the Queen, it was you who added "Evil" to my name."

- Regina to Mary Margaret Blanchard

Regina Mills is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the first season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Lana Parrilla, and is the Storybrooke counterpart of the Evil Queen.

History
For events occurring before the casting of the Dark Curse, see Evil Queen.

During the Curse
After the enacting of the curse, Regina wakes up in a new world, and realizes she now has everything she has ever wanted. She is mayor of the town Storybrooke, and spends the first few days of her new life adapting to the town. She visits school teacher Mary Margaret, and shows her to the hospital's coma patient, John Doe, and asks her if she knows who that is. Mary Margaret has no recollection of who that man is, and expresses hope perhaps someone who loves him will find him someday. Smiling at the irony, Regina agrees that would be great for him, but not likely.

At Granny's Diner, she is served some apple pancakes when Sheriff Graham stops by. He shows interest in Regina, and asks if she wants him to stop by at night. Just as Regina is about to respond, a small hand tugs at her. She looks down to see a young boy commenting that he likes apple pancakes, too. Surprised at the unfamiliar face, she asks who child he is. Nearby, diner customer Marco answers he was never so blessed to have a child. A man states the boy is his son, and introduces himself as Kurt Flynn. Kurt and his son, Owen have decided to stay in town for a bit while their car is getting fixed.

Regina reenter the diner later to see Owen sitting in her usual seat. Though she tries to get him to give up the seat to her, Owen states plainly he is already sitting in it. Giving up, she takes the seat next to Owen and tells Kurt the car will be fixed in a week. Kurt is surprised, and was told it might take two weeks, but Regina smiles wryly and says things are sped up now that she as mayor has spoken up. Kurt is extremely grateful, and he and Owen proceed to leave the diner. Just before Owen heads out the door, he decides to give his handmade lanyard keychain to Regina. She is confused at his gesture, but Owen says it's a gift for allowing him to sit in her seat. Touched, Regina accepts the gift and twirls it in her hands.

The euphoria of the first few days begins to wear off for Regina, and she grows quite unhappy. She goes to see pawnshop owner, Mr. Gold, to discuss the deal they made in the previous land; she as the Queen and he as Rumplestiltskin. However, Mr. Gold is confused and does not understand what "deal" she is talking about. She explains the town is not what she wanted; everyone in it obeys and does what she wants not because they truly want to, but because they have no choice, and therefore none of it counts as "real".

Lonely and craving company, she calls to have Owen and Kurt over for dinner. Despite that Owen doesn't liker her lasagna, she takes it in stride and has a fondness for him. Regina sends him off to the kitchen sink to pick out the healthy apples to make apple turnovers for dessert. After Owen is gone from the room, Kurt chuckles at Owen's responses to Regina; describing him as a "free spirit", which he got from his mother. Regina learns Owen's mother passed away six months ago. This is the reason Kurt brought Owen on a camping trip; in the hopes new surroundings might help his son take his mind off things, but it hasn't worked. Regina remarks she, too, is looking to start over, but hasn't turned out how she wanted it to be because even with a new life she has no one to share it with. Their discussion is interrupted by Owen calling from the kitchen to make dessert.

Later, Owen watches as Regina places the turnovers into the oven to bake. As she takes off her chef's uniform, Owen asks why she isn't a mother. Startled by the spontaneous question, she responds it just didn't work out that way. Owen says it's too bad because she would be a good mother. Regina beams at his praise. They talk as the turnovers are baking. Owen opens up to her about how much he dislikes being around the other kids at school, and they treat him differently since his mother died. He is frustrated no one gets "it", which is how his mother's passing affected him, and in Regina's words, "it's like a part of your heart is missing".

Soon after, Regina suggests to Kurt that they could stay in town permanently. Owen is excited at the prospect, but Kurt turns down her offer. Regina appears to understand, but tries to find another way to delay their leave. She asks the local mechanic, Billy, to stall the fixing of Kurt's car for a longer period. But, Billy states that is not possible as Kurt already came to pick up his car. Regina is shocked, and asks when that was. Billy says it was ten minutes ago.

With no other option left, Regina resorts to using Graham's heart to manipulate him into arresting Kurt for the false charges of drunk driving. Just as she finishes giving the command and turns around in her chair, Regina sees Kurt; who has overheard everything she said. Desperately, she tries to explain, but Kurt is uneasy and says a hasty goodbye. As he is backing away to the office exit, Sheriff Graham bursts in to wrestle and pin him against the desk. Kurt yells at Graham about Regina controlling him in some form, and manages to knock the box containing Graham's heart to the floor. The heart presumably hits the floor, and as Graham gasps in pain as his grip on Kurt loosens as well; allowing him to get away.

In Graham's sheriff police car, he and Regina follow Kurt's car as Kurt attempts to drive out of town. Momentarily, Kurt is able to lose them and nearly makes it to the town border, but Graham's car speeds out of nowhere and blocks the way out. Eventually, Kurt distracts Graham and allows himself to be cuffed whilst he shouts for Owen to run and not look back. Owen is hesitant to leave his father behind, and stops in horror when he sees Sheriff Graham cuffing his father. Regina approaches him slowly, and tries to calm him down. Owen questions why she is doing this. She only wants him to stay with her, but reluctantly lets him go after he says he doesn't want to; not like this. She understands, and watches as he runs out of the town border.

Later on, Owen brings police officers to the border of Storybrooke in the hopes of finding his father. Alas, the police officers cannot see the town at all despite Owen's stubbornness in continuing the search. Regina, on inside of Storybrooke's border, watches with tears in her eyes at Owen's sorrow. Her hand almost passes the town barrier to touch Owen, but she draws back after the police officers pull him away. Regina, with the help of Mr. Gold, at some point adopts an infant who she names Henry Mills. Years later, Henry runs away from Storybrooke to Boston and seeks out his birth mother, Emma Swan. Emma brings Henry back to Storybrooke, and Regina meets her for the first time; still unaware of Emma's blood relation to Henry. She thanks Emma for returning him to her, then invites her in for a glass of apple cider. They have a quick discussion about Henry, and Regina becomes concerned once she realizes that Emma is Henry's birth mother.

The next day, Henry disappears from Regina's sight once more, and Emma again brings him back to Regina's house. Regina tells him to get inside and thanks Emma again. In just a matter of spending time with Henry for a few hours, Emma grows attached to him. She begins telling Regina about him, but the mayor cuts her off midway and warns her to stay away from Henry, which catches Emma off-guard. That day is the beginning of their rivalry. Regina goes out of her way to have Emma arrested, revoke her privileges (like putting a boot on her car), and making her feel like she is not the best choice to be Henry's "real" mother. With each attempt, Emma becomes more intent on staying in Storybrooke.

After another threat, Regina finds Emma in her backyard cutting down her apple tree with a chainsaw. When confronted, Emma tells her to leave her alone because the mayor has no idea what she is capable of. She warns if Regina threatens her again, she will come back for the rest of the apple tree. The coma patient, John Doe, who recently awoke and wandered out of his hospital room into the town forest is found and resumes his stay in the hospital to recover from the ordeal. Regina shows up with a blonde woman, Kathryn Nolan, John Doe's wife, who has been anxiously searching for him. John Doe's real name is David Nolan. The reunion of Kathryn and David stirs something within Regina and she tells Emma that she is willing to look past all previous encounters and forgive everything, to Emma's disbelief. Later, at a party celebrating David's return, Regina finds an upset Kathryn hiding out in the kitchen. After some prodding, Kathryn admits that she is afraid that despite her best efforts, David is drifting farther and farther away from her instead of the two growing closer. Regina encourages her to go after David, telling her about her previous love and how she lost it because she did not fight for it. They become friends over their similarities.

Regina quickly grows suspicious of the growing relationship between David and Mary Margaret. When David runs into her on his way to visit Mary Margaret, she purposefully gives him the wrong directions. As a result, he goes into Mr. Gold's shop and remembers his past life - that is, his life with Kathryn before he became John Doe.

That night, Emma takes Graham's shift and patrols the streets. She passes Regina's house, and is stunned to see what she thinks is a burglar climbing out of the second story window. Once the unknown person jumps down, Emma apprehends him and sees it is Graham. She catches on quickly that he is having an affair with the mayor. Graham ends up falling for Emma and kisses her, which make his memories of his fairy tale life in the Enchanted Forest surface. Emma rejects him, and in his confusion, he seeks solace in Regina.

That night, he wakes up in Regina's bed after a nightmare and tells her about his recurring dreams; dreams that feature a wolf, Mary Margaret, and a forest. She tries to convince him that it is just a dream, but he disagrees with her and tells her that it feels like a memory. Graham decides to go get some air, and sees the wolf he saw in his dreams. The next day, he enlists Emma's help and she reluctantly agrees to help him "find his heart." Henry tells Graham that Regina took his heart and hid it in her vault, so he and Emma are led by the wolf to the cemetery where they are kept.

Regina catches them snooping around her father's tomb, and Graham proceeds to end his affair with her. Regina is devastated and, after a brief discussion with Emma, the two have a scuffle. Graham pulls Emma away and they leave. Regina, meanwhile, puts her flowers on her father's grave, pushes the tomb aside and descends into her vault. She takes out Graham's heart and squeezes it to dust, killing him. Two weeks after Graham's death, Regina fires Emma Swan as deputy and appoints Sidney Glass as Sheriff of Storybrooke. Emma challenges this action, and the two end up in an election for sheriff. Emma wins after exposing Mr. Gold for setting up a fire that had endangered both hers and Regina's lives previously, which causes the mayor to fire Sidney from his position as editor of the Storybrooke Daily Mirror. A few days after that, Regina comes to Mr. Clark's store after he reports Henry shoplifting. She realizes that Henry did not steal the candy and pins the blame on two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer. She instructs Emma to take them home, which she does. Then she and Emma have an argument after both of them find out that the two are orphans. She wants to send them to a foster system in Boston while Emma wants time to find their father.

Regina forces the deputy to take them to Boston, but just as they are leaving Storybrooke, Emma's car breaks down. She calls Michael Tillman, the orphans' father, and he comes and, after much persuading, takes the two children home with them. The next morning, a mysterious stranger is fixing his bike in front of Regina's house. Henry questions him and is spotted by the mayor, who becomes anxious about the man's sudden appearance in Storybrooke. She orders Emma to gather some information on him. Then she runs into Mary Margaret and tells her to stay out of Kathryn Nolan and her husband's personal lives. The next day, she witnesses Mary Margaret and David Nolan kissing in the street. Later, she and Emma get into another argument in the diner, leaving Emma upset at the table. Sidney Glass suddenly sits across from her, obviously drunk, and proposes that the two join forces to show the town what Regina's true nature is like. He reveals that he was fired after he lost the election, and has hated her ever since. Emma is hesitant and does not want to collaborate with him.

Later, she witnesses Regina tearing down Henry's castle for "safety concerns" and grows angry. She calls Sidney and says that she agrees with him; the mayor needed to be exposed. The two meet up in a tunnel, where Sidney reveals that $50,000 is missing from Storybrooke's treasury. They later bug her desk, discover plans for a new "house" that Regina is building in the middle of the woods, and publicly expose Regina's greed at the town hall meeting.

The "house" is actually an up-to-date, modern playground for the children of Storybrooke. Emma and Sidney leave the meeting, dejected and humiliated. Regina confronts her outside of the town hall and threatens her with a restraining order if she does not stay away from her or Henry.

Emma goes back to the diner and is joined by Sidney. They agree to become allies and clink beer glasses, vowing that they will expose Regina next time. However, only a few hours later, Sidney is replaying their conversation to Regina, who praises him on his efforts. The whole thing has been a hoax to embarrass Emma, and Sidney is all too willing to help Regina spy on her. With Emma out of the picture, Regina focuses on a more important enemy: Mr. Gold. She deliberately corners him, hoping to ask him some questions, but Mr. Gold repeatedly dodges her with a well-placed "please", which is the enchantment Rumplestiltskin asked to have in his new life in exchange for telling her how to cast the Dark Curse. Whenever Mr. Gold ends a command directed at Regina with "please", she has no choice but to obey him.

Regina has her suspicions about who Mr. Gold really is, and comes up with a plan to get the truth out of him. She witnesses Mr. Gold take away Moe French's flower delivery service truck due to not paying the rent on time, and deliberately coaxes him to steal some of Mr. Gold's things. Seemingly as payback, Mr. Gold later sees some of his things missing, and suspects Moe French stole them. Mr. Gold enlists the help of Emma to get his things back, but he expresses extreme dissatisfaction when he notices one of the items in particular is missing.

Mr. Gold takes it into his own hands to sort out the problem, and confronts Mr. French by kidnapping and tying him up. He takes him to a shed, and interrogates him about the missing item. Simultaneously, while berating him about someone he only names as "she", he beats Moe French into a pulp until Emma storms in. Emma arrests him for physical battery when she sees his anger towards Moe stems far deeper than just over a missing item. Mr. Gold is placed in the Sheriff's office jail cell. Regina visits, and distracts Emma by giving her an hour's worth of free time with Henry so she can be alone with Mr. Gold.

Only then does Regina come clean about having subtly suggested to Moe French about stealing some of Mr. Gold's precious belongings to get back at him. But she also says her intention in doing so is because she wanted to know something. Regina asks for his name, and he says it has always been Mr. Gold in his entire lifetime.

But when she questions, "What about places elsewhere?" Mr. Gold pauses, and declares, "Rumplestiltskin", showing that he, too, harbors memories of his life in the Enchanted Forest. Regina mockingly hands back the chipped teacup he was searching for, which was Mr. Gold's motivation in beating Moe French because the item is very important to him.

Mr. Gold tells her nothing has changed from the previous world, and that he is still more powerful than she is. Ironically, Regina does have one upper hand he does not know about. After leaving, she goes to the psychiatric ward of Storybrooke's hospital, where she checks up on a mental patient. She is the girl Mr. Gold met in his previous life as Rumplestiltskin, and his chipped teacup is his only lasting memento of her. Mr. Gold believes her to be dead since Regina—as Evil Queen—had told him the girl killed herself. A few days later, she gives Henry a video game from the 1990s as an apology for tearing down his "unstable" playhouse. Henry is unenthusiastic, but accepts her apology, and their conversation is stopped short by Kathryn. When they are alone, Kathryn tells Regina about David deciding to leave her, to which Regina replies, "that home wrecker."

Confused, Kathryn asks what she means, and she reveals that Mary Margaret and David had been having an affair. Kathryn becomes furious and accuses the mayor of lying to her, which was something that friends did not do, and leaves her office.

Kathryn confronts Mary Margaret at her school about the affair, and sometime after cooling down, she returns to Regina and apologizes for her behavior. She tells her that she was accepted into a law school in Boston and casually drops hints about the Dark Curse - that she had always been afraid to leave Storybrooke, that she and David never really felt right to her, etc. She also reveals that she had left a letter for her ex-husband to find at her house; encouraging his and Mary Margaret's relationship.

Regina becomes alarmed and, after Kathryn leaves for Boston, enters her house using her skull keys located in her desk. She takes the letter and burns it. Kathryn mysteriously disappears the moment the letter is gone. During the Miner's Day Festival, Mary Margaret is publicly shunned by the residents for the scandal between her and David. In secret, Regina takes a can of red spray paint and sprays "TRAMP" on Mary Margaret's car window for the whole town to see. Emma Swan later discovers Kathryn's car wreck and determines her to be missing. At first, all evidence points to David Nolan, Kathryn's estranged husband.

Regina confronts Emma over David's arrest several times. At the beginning of the investigation, Regina implies that she will have her fired if she discovers that she is shielding David from the justice of the law. When David is found in a trance-like state, Regina is called, as she is still his emergency contact, and demands his arrest.

However, Emma defies her and sends Ruby, her new found assistant, to the Toll Bridge in search of more evidence. Ruby discovers a box with a human heart in it. Emma runs some tests, which confirm that the heart belongs to Kathryn and that Mary Margaret's fingerprints are on it. Emma takes mug shots of Mary Margaret, and has no choice but interrogate her with Regina as the third party to make sure she remains unbiased. Regina hints that Mary Margaret was very capable of murder, and leaves.

Shortly after this, Regina makes a deal with Mr. Gold—she will keep him out of prison for beating Moe French if he swears that he will get Mary Margaret out of Storybrooke. Mr. Gold agrees. They plant a key to the cell in Mary Margaret's cell, and she escapes. Emma finds the missing Mary Margaret, and convinces her to return to the cell before the deadline of eight o'clock the next morning, to Regina's dismay. She manipulates Mary Margaret into agreeing for an interview with the District Attorney, Albert Spencer. Albert tricks Mary Margaret into accidentally giving a false confession of killing Kathryn, and they schedule for the trial to be the next day. Regina visits Mary Margaret in the dead of night; only to find her sobbing on her cot.

When Mary Margaret notices her, she bursts into tears again because Regina believes she is guilty, and apologizes for anything she might have done to her. Regina refuses to forgive her, and Mary Margaret loudly insists that she is innocent. When she says that she did not kill Kathryn, Regina assures her that she knows she did not, leaving Mary Margaret in a stunned silence.

The next morning, Emma Swan knocks on her door and asks to search her garage. Regina reluctantly leads her to the garage, where the shovel that she used to plant the jewelry box containing the heart by the Toll Bridge was located. Emma approaches the shovel box, but discovers that the shovel is gone. Disappointed, Emma leaves a triumphant Regina behind to go back to the sheriff's office, where she finds a bug planted by Sidney Glass in her office vase.

The day of the trial, she fingers a makeshift ring and whispers, "We got her, Daniel. We finally got her." The trial is halted by the reemergence of Kathryn Nolan. With her latest scheme to destroy Mary Margaret ruined, a livid Regina confronts Mr Gold. She claims that he broke their deal and set her up, as all the falsified evidence is traceable back to her. Gold counters that Regina did not specify she wanted Kathryn dead; merely that something tragic was to befall her. He also claims that he only ever broke one deal and this was not it. When Regina demands to know why Gold has turned on her, he retorts that she should be smart enough to figure it out for herself. Later that day, Regina comes to the sheriff's station to speak with Emma. Regina sets Sidney up to give a false confession in her place of exactly how he kidnapped Kathryn and why he did it. Emma does not believe any of it and tells Regina that she intends to take Henry away from her. Some days later, Mary Margaret sees Regina at school for the first time since her release. Regina sticks to the story of Sidney being the one who framed Mary Margaret for murder. Mary Margaret does not buy it, and forgives Regina for all she has done to her. She even pities the mayor for being lonely if her only joy comes from destroying other people's happiness. A stunned Regina finds Henry and attempts to force him to switch classes so that Mary Margaret will not be his teacher, but he flatly refuses and tells her that in the end she will lose and the curse will be broken. Later that day, Regina lures David Nolan to her house in hopes of seducing him to get back at Mary Margaret. While he does stay for dinner, he rebuffs her advances saying that he just wants to be friends. A furious Regina smashes her mirror with her wine glass in frustration after David has left. That night, Regina and Henry are having dinner when the doorbell rings. A furious Emma and several of the town's residents drag Regina out the house and tie her to the withering apple tree. They seek vengeance for what she has done to all of them as the Evil Queen. Regina begs Henry to help her, but he merely says she has brought this on herself. Emma proceeds to behead her with a sword when Regina wakes up screaming from the nightmare. The following day, she notices her apple tree is starting to die.

Regina storms into Mr. Gold's shop and demands to know why her apple tree is dying; he jokes that she should change her fertilizer. The mayor however believes that this is a sign that the curse is about to end and that Emma is to blame. Mr. Gold also gets her to admit that Emma wants custody over Henry, and suggests that giving up Henry might just be the price to keep the curse working. Regina refuses to accept this and wants to get rid of Emma. Mr Gold says that killing Emma would be the end of the curse. When Regina asks why he designed the curse like this, Mr. Gold does not answer. He also refuses any future assistance as the mayor no longer has anything he desires. Mr. Gold as good as admits he wants the curse broken so he can go on a trip. Finally, Mr. Gold advises Regina to leave town as well because if the townsfolk were to remember everything, they will want her dead. She leaves, and seeks to draw out Jefferson by sticking a card on the bicycle of his daughter, Paige. Jefferson comes into her office; annoyed that she calls for him. He goes on to say that he should kill her, but Regina mocks him countering that if he wanted her dead he would have done so 28 years ago. She offers him a deal: to use his hat and the last ounce of magic she has to retrieve something from the Enchanted Forest, in return she will reunite him with his daughter.

The plan works and Regina is able to obtain a poisonous apple from the past Enchanted Forest. She bakes it into an apple turnover intended for Emma. She intends for Emma to take a bite of the apple turnover, and fall under the effects of the Sleeping Curse. As luck would have it, Emma pays Regina a visit announcing her departure from Storybrooke. She agrees to give up the custody battle over Henry if she gets visitation rights. Regina, of course, accepts the offer and later smugly tells Mr. Gold that she is victorious at last and that he will not be going anywhere. Alas for Regina, it is Henry who end up eating the apple turnover and falls into an enchanted slumber. When Regina hears the terrible news, she rushes to the hospital only to be assaulted by a livid Emma who finally believes. Regina admits that she is fact the Evil Queen and everything Henry has been saying is true. Both women decide to ask Mr. Gold for help. He tells them a true love potion can save Henry from death with its magical properties, which exist even in this world. He smuggled a bottle of the substance--made from the entwined hairs of Snow White and Prince Charming--into this reality inside Regina's former friend, Maleficent. Emma and Regina go to the library where Maleficent is held captive in her dragon form. Emma goes down the elevator while Regina operates the shaft switch. Mr. Gold has his own plans for the potion, so he sneaks up on Regina, ties her up and waits for Emma to return. He asks Emma to throw the potion up when she is unable to get back up the elevator shaft. Emma climbs back up, and only then she finds out Mr. Gold tricked her. They are both paged by the hospital, and hurry back. Upon arrival, Dr. Whale announces that Henry has died. A grief-stricken Emma tells Henry she loves him and kissed his brow. This revives Henry and breaks the curse forcing Regina to flee for her very life, but not before assuring Henry that she does truly love him.

A demoralized Regina is seen crying alone in Henry's room until she notices Mr. Gold's magic storm--created by the true love potion and the waters of the wishing well--coming towards town at which point she smiles triumphantly.

After the Curse
Shortly after the Dark Curse has been broken, Dr. Whale leads a mob of angry townspeople to Regina's door. Regina attempts to use magic to scare the crowd, but is not able to use magic. Emma, David, Mary Margaret, and Henry intervene, instead locking her in a cell in the sheriff station. They depart, and Mr. Gold pays her a visit. In an act of revenge, he marks Regina with a medallion that sets a wraith after her.

Regina is rescued from the wraith by David, Mary Margaret, and Emma. She explains to them that the Wraith cannot be killed, but it can be sent away. In her office in town hall, Regina produces Jefferson's magical hat. At first she cannot get it to work, but gets it working just in time just as Emma touches the hat. The group draw the Wraith into the portal, but it also sucks in Emma, and Mary Margaret jumps in after her. David attempts to follow, but the portal closes before he is able to do so. In a rage, he confronts Regina, who successfully uses magic to pin him to the wall. As she prepares to kill him, Ruby and Henry arrive. Henry tells her he wants nothing to do with her until she brings back Emma and Mary Margaret, and leaves with David and Ruby. Some time later, Regina is visited by David. He wants information about Jefferson's hat, so he can reunite his family. Regina is surprised that David would dare face her alone. He counters that Regina's earlier burst of magic must have been an anomaly. Otherwise, she surely would have made Storybrooke feel her wrath. David also informs the former queen that Henry is the only reason she is still alive. Regina feigns ignorance about the hat and angrily states that Prince Charming's place is with his grandson. Sensing her frustration, David says that Regina is merely getting her just desserts. Regina states that although she is powerless now, she does not intend to remain that way. Once her powers have been restored, she will claim her son. Seeing that he is getting nowhere, David leaves Regina with a thought: If she has to use magic to get her son, she has never really had him to begin with.

The mayor quietly leaves her mansion but is halted by Dr. Hopper. He offers to help her get through her issues. Regina says that she does not require his assistance and leaves. Regina goes to Mr. Gold's shop and starts rifling through his books. When he catches her in the act, she asks for the grimoire so she can jump start her powers. Mr. Gold refuses because it is not in his best interests to have Regina be powerful once again, so he ask her to "please" leave. Without the curse, however, Regina is not forced to obey his commands that end with "please". She also threatens to reveal the fact that their land still exists. Rumplestiltskin gives in and conjures the grimoire but warns that all magic comes at a price, which Regina simply does not care.

Regina makes a grand entrance during the town meeting. She frightens everyone with her newly gained powers until Henry agrees to accompany her home. Once there, the boy locks himself in his old room. When he undertakes an elaborate escape attempt, Regina tells him she cast an anti-escape spell to keep Henry with her. Henry asks how long he will remain a prisoner. Regina says that she loves him. As of now, she can give him his every hearts' desire with her magic, and even offers to teach her son all she knows. Henry does not want to become like her. Regina is genuinely hurt and remembers once a long time ago she said the same to her own mother. While leafing through her spell book, Regina is accosted at sword point by David. She surprises him by allowing Henry to go with him. Regina also apologizes for treating Henry badly and even tells David that the Enchanted Forest still exists. Regina has been asked to step down as mayor of Storybrooke. While packing up her things, she received a phone call from Henry. Regina is ecstatic Henry wants to meet her for lunch and runs out of her office. But, she is stood up by Henry, and goes to check the office to find her keys missing. She guesses correctly that Henry planned to sneak into her vault looking for something to bring Emma and Mary Margaret back. Regina sends David to fetch Henry back as she knows he would never go with her. Regina reluctantly goes see Archie Hopper for therapy, and shows up at the door of his office. She tells Archie that she has not used magic in two days and is finding it difficult not to do so. She sits on the couch and begins to talk with him, but is interrupted when Dr. Whale bursts into Archie's office, and wants Regina send him back to his world. Regina responds she cannot and that she only brought who she wanted to this world. Dr. Whale storms out of the office after being rebuked by Archie. Continuing with the therapy session, he asks Regina if there is anything holding her back from moving forward, and she explains her history with her true love, Daniel and that she preserved his body in the hope of resurrecting him someday. Archie tells her that if she cannot let go of the past, she will not move forward. This is too much for Regina to handle, and she leaves abruptly. Outside, in the rainy night, she spies Daniel on the street, and is about to get out of the car when she looks again and he is not there.

The next day, she goes to her vault in the Storybrooke cemetery, and discovers that the glass coffin that contained Daniel's body has been emptied, and Daniel is nowhere in sight. Putting two and two together, Regina rushes to hospital and down to the mental ward, where she goes to the end of the hall and into a laboratory. She enters and finds Dr. Whale's dismembered arm, then finds Dr. Whale in extreme pain. She asks Dr. Whale if he brought Daniel back, to which he responds yes, but now Daniel is a monster.

In the waiting room of the hospital, Regina paces outside of Dr. Whale's recovery room when David shows up. David confronts her on why Dr. Whale is in the hospital bed. Regina tells him about what Dr. Whale did to Daniel. Remembering that he went to the Troll Bridge when he was awakened from his coma, David asks Regina if Daniel had a place he would have gone after waking up for its familiarity. Regina remembers the stables, and David exclaims that Henry is there. The two rush to the stables to find Daniel choking Henry, and Regina screams at him to stop. Daniel lets go of Henry and David rushes him out of the stall. Regina is overjoyed to see Daniel, but Daniel moves to choke her as David slams the stall door in his face. Outside, David states he will shoot Daniel, but Regina begs him not to, stating that she can get through to him if she can just talk to her fiancée. Despite his reservations, David lets her.

When the stall door opens, Regina goes to embrace Daniel, but Daniel puts his hand around her throat and begins to choke her. Regina gasps out that she loves Daniel, and Daniel returns to himself, releasing Regina. However, he is in intense pain, and begs for Regina to let him go and for her to love again. As Daniel moves to attack her once again, Regina freezes him with her magic, and dissolves Daniel to dust. She collapses in tears.

She then drives to Archie's office, where she confesses she used magic for the first time that same day. He escorts her into his office for another therapy session. Regina comes to watch over Henry when David leaves to go the Storybrooke mines. While she is watching him sleep, Henry wakes up screaming. Regina comforts him and notices the burn on his arm from his dream. She then calls upon Mr. Gold to come and help Henry. Mr. Gold informs Regina that what Henry is experiencing is another world, between life and death, and that it is a side effect of the sleeping curse. He tells Regina he's surprised she did not know this, and Regina retorts that she did not think of what happened to her victims after they woke up from the sleeping curse since they were not intended to be woken up. Mr. Gold gives Henry an amulet that will allow him to control his actions in the world, but Regina stops him, asking him what he wants in return. Mr. Gold says he wants nothing, and that it is for Henry. Regina and David awake to Henry's screams, and he tells them that Mary Margaret and Emma are alive. He also tells them that Regina's mother is coming to Storybrooke. She stops by Granny's Diner interrupting a date between Belle and Mr. Gold. He is annoyed until she mentions that Cora may come to Storybrooke and come after Belle.

Regina brings Henry his blanket as he prepares to return to the netherworld, Mr. Gold tells Henry about how he has more of the squid ink from his quill in his old jail cell in the Enchanted Forest that can be used to stop Cora. Some time passes and the group fall asleep after Henry does. He wakes up from the fiery netherworld screaming. Regina is concerned about the serious burns along Henry's arm. Mr. Gold remedies them, and insists Henry go back to sleep. Regina and David refuse to send him. David asks if Mr. Gold and Regina will put him under a sleeping curse, so he can try to contact Mary Margaret.

While Regina combines the magical ingredients to make the sleeping curse. Henry approaches her and asks if he can be the one to contact Aurora. Regina refuses. Henry begins questioning her and asks if she has stopped using magic. Regina says yes, although she admits to using magic on Daniel and that she has been trying to stop. Henry is pleased by this and sees that she is helping others. After the curse is completed she gives it to Mr. Gold who combines it with a needle for David to prick his finger on. At the last minute David shows signs of regret but Regina and Mr. Gold tell him he must if he wants to bring back his family. Regina and Mr. Gold meet in his shop. She tells him that David's condition is not improving, that he needs true love's kiss. After Mr. Gold persuades her, they both come to the conclusion that it is more likely that Cora will be coming through the portal and not Mary Margaret and Emma. Regina originally has doubts, and fears that if they block the portal and Mary Margaret and Emma come through they would die. Mr. Gold persuades her by mentioning that if Cora comes through then they will have stopped a powerful woman thereby protecting Henry, but if Emma and Mary Margaret come through then Regina will be the only mother in Henry's life.

She finds Henry watching over David and asks him to stay there for awhile. She lies and says she and Mr. Gold are preparing for Emma and Mary Margaret's arrival and she will do anything in her power to keep them safe.

She and Mr. Gold then travel through the mines to the discovered fairy dust diamonds. Gold uses the Fairy Godmother's wand to collect their power. The two then go to the wishing well where Mr. Gold is certain the portal will be located. Using the wand's power, Mr. Gold creates a trap over the portal that will kill anyone coming through. Ruby and Henry arrive after realizing what Mr. Gold and Regina are planning. Henry is angry Regina lied to him. She reasons she is only trying to protect him from her mother, who will destroy everything she loves, including Henry. After Henry pleads with her, Regina lifts the enchantment from the portal and Mary Margaret and Emma emerge from it.

A dejected Regina is present in Mr. Gold's shop when David is awoken by true love's kiss. Henry hugs her, telling her she really has changed, and thanks her. The group, except Regina, leave for lunch at Granny's Diner. A welcome home dinner is thrown for Emma and Mary Margaret at Granny's. Emma invites Regina, which displeases some of the other guests. At the party, Regina asks that she be allowed to spend more time with Henry, but Emma does not think it is a good idea, and she tells Regina that Dr. Hopper has shared with her that she is trying to change in order to get closer to Henry.

At the dock, Regina is visibly upset at Archie for letting Emma know about their therapy sessions. She warns Archie it's a good thing she has changed, and therefore will not try to get even with magic. Ruby witnesses the confrontation, but Regina dismisses her.

That night in his office, Archie is visited by "Regina", who is actually Cora in disguise.

Due to Ruby seeing Regina's fight with Archie earlier, Regina is accused of murdering the town psychologist. Regina is arrested and brought to the police station. David and Mary Margaret want to kill Regina, but Emma decides to let her go as there is no evidence and she believes Regina is changing for the better.

Emma, David and Mary Margaret go to see Mr. Gold, who gives Emma the dream catcher which allows her to see into Pongo's memories from last night. The dream catcher revisits from Pongo's point of view the image of Regina strangling Archie to death. With the memory as proof, Emma strongly believes in Regina's guilt.

Because Regina has magic now and will be very difficult to contain, Mary Margaret and David suggest they trap her once more with fairy dust. The group goes to Regina's home where Emma tells her that they know she is guilty of Archie's death. Regina denies having harmed anyone, and please for Henry to hear her side of the story. Emma refuses to listen and queues Mother Superior to throw the fairy dust on Regina, but she catches it in midair and tosses it aside harmlessly. Emma remarks that Henry will never forgive her after this, and a broken Regina disappears in a cloud of smoke.

When Emma tells Henry about Archie's murder, he hugs Emma; unaware that Regina is watching them from her car and she breaks down in tears. Regina's house is raided by her mother, who takes time to sniff her clothes and check her cabinets. She goes to Henry's room, and finds a giant hand print made out of ceramics, painted red, and with the words "For Mommy" on it. Cora grins and then leaves. Later, Regina discovers Henry is in her father's tomb. Regina opens the door, but the Henry disguise comes off and Cora shows herself. Cora admits to framing her daughter for Archie's death, and expresses remorse for all the things she has forced Regina to do in the past. She wants to make up and start over; Regina replies that this is not possible. Regina wants go into town so that Cora can tell the townsfolk that she killed Archie, not her. Regina informs her she was trying hard not to use magic for Henry's sake, and now Cora has damaged that. Cora agrees to do anything for her. As they are driving into town, Cora states that she finds the "horseless carriage" they are riding in strange, and then pulls out Henry's arts and craft gift to Regina. Cora uses this to break Regina down, and tells her that she will do anything to help Regina reunite with Henry. Regina goes into her mother's arms, crying, and asks how. Cora grins wickedly and says she has a few ideas. Regina shows up at Mary Margaret's apartment and David and Mary Margaret answer the door. She lies about not knowing Archie is alive and not knowing her mother is in town. When she asks to see Henry, Mary Margaret tells her that Henry has left Storybrooke with Emma and Mr. Gold. This angers Regina, who leaves.

Hook tries to contact Cora with the Queen of Hearts card, but Regina appears to Hook. She tells him that Cora does not want to be seen in public due to the possible repercussions. Although Cora and Regina have made up, Regina still blames Hook for not killing her. Hook tells her about the giant aboard his ship who is now loose in Storybrooke; letting Regina know about the giant's hatred for David Nolan. When Regina learns of this, she sees it as the perfect distraction.

The giant is alone until Regina approaches him. At first, he does not want to be around her because she is human. She draws his attention by stating she also dislikes David Nolan, and he warms up a bit. She offers the giant a piece of mushroom to enable him to become his former size and cause chaos in the streets of Storybrooke. Later, Regina sits in a bedroom in her house with Cora by her side. Regina confides in Cora that she is concerned that Emma and Mr. Gold have left Storybrooke with Henry, and she does not know where they went. Cora tells Regina that once Mr. Gold's business is done, he and Emma will return to Storybrooke with Henry. A heartbroken Regina responds that Henry will not be with her. Hook barges in on the tender moment, asking if Rumplestiltskin is truly no longer in Storybrooke. Regina and Cora confirm this, and Hook is eager to leave Storybrooke and seek him out to kill him. Cora responds that he will have his vengeance, but to do so, Hook must team up with her and Regina to find the one thing that can control Mr. Gold--his dagger.

Regina goes to the hospital to see Belle. She inquires about Rumplestiltskin and Mr. Gold, but Belle does not know what she is talking about. This helps confirm to Regina that Belle truly has lost her memories. She uses her magic to knock Belle unconscious and another spell to levitate the items out of Belle's purse. Regina plucks a yellow card out of the items, which has a library book call number. She goes to the library, and Cora and Hook meet her there to search for the book indicated on the yellow index card. They do not find a book, but Cora pulls out a map left in the book's empty spot. Hook states that they are lucky that he knows how to handle a treasure map, and he proceeds to outline the area where the dagger is located. As the trio make to leave, Cora uses her magic to fling Hook against the back wall of books, knocking him unconscious. She tells Regina that the dagger would be wasted on Hook, and that once she and Regina have the dagger, they can control Mr. Gold to kill Mary Margaret, David Nolan, and Emma, and Regina will be blameless in Henry's eyes. Regina listens with a wicked gleam in her eye. Regina and her mother search for Mr. Gold's dagger in the woods of Storybrooke. Cora fears that Hook may have mislead them, but Regina keeps digging with her shovel. Soon Cora assures her that they will find the dagger, and that she can translate the map, but it will take her more time. What they do not know is that Mary Margaret is listening from behind a tree, and hears Cora tell Regina that they will use the dagger to kill whoever they like. Regina meets with Mary Margaret at Granny's Diner to discuss Henry, but Mary Margaret had only told her that so she would come. She tells Regina she knows that she has been lying about Cora. Mary Margaret does not approve of Regina's methods, and decides to give her one last chance to do the right thing. A hurt Regina rejects the offer saying that she has been good. In response, Mary Margaret tells her that good doesn't do the evil things she has done. Regina ignores her words, and says she is also giving Mary Margaret one last chance to stay out of her way. As Regina gets up to leave, Mary Margaret pleas that Cora does not care about her or Henry. Regina gives her a bitter smile; wondering what she knows about mothers; considering Mary Margaret lost hers a long time ago. Cora and Regina follow Mary Margaret and David to the clock tower where the dagger is hidden on one of the hands of the clock face. When Mary Margaret refuses to surrender the dagger, Regina summons a captive Johanna, ripping out her heart, and forcing Mary Margaret to choose. In the midst of this, Mary Margaret realizes Cora is the one who poisoned her mother, Queen Eva to death. Cora freely admits to it, whilst Regina listens. She does not bend to their wishes, so Regina on Cora's command begins to squeeze Johanna's heart. Mary Margaret cannot stand to see Johanna in pain, and in desperation falls to the ground letting the dagger drop. Regina relents and stuffs the heart back in Johanna's chest. As Johanna runs to meet Mary Margaret's embrace, Cora uses magic to fling her out the glass of the clock face and onto the ground below. Regina and Cora teleport away in a haze of smoke back to Regina's office. Once inside, Regina talks to Cora about the revelation of her having killed Queen Eva in order to put Regina herself on the throne. She puts the pieces together in the puzzle and realizes Cora orchestrated setting Snow White's horse astray so that Regina would save her; setting off the chain reaction of the marriage proposal, her confidence in Snow White about her secret, and Daniel's death. Cora brushes it off; she does not think that information is relevant to the present. Regina says her only concern is Henry now. Regina and Cora are sitting in the mayor's office listening to a phone tap of David and Mary Margaret's phone conversation. After Cora hears Mary Margaret call her a "wicked woman", she becomes so upset she knocks the phone tap on the floor. Regina states that Mr. Gold is injured, however, Cora notices his name vanishing from the dagger and states that he is dying. Cora tells Regina of her plans to kill Mr. Gold with his dagger and become the Dark One herself. Regina again questions the motives behind her mothers action, but Cora tells her that she is doing it all to protect their family. Regina and Cora make their way to Mr. Golds shop where he is hiding inside protected by a protection spell cast by Emma, but they combine their powers and are able to break down the barrier easily. They both enter the shop, and Neal, Emma, David and Mary Margaret are standing in their way prepared to fight. Emma tries to convince Regina against killing Mr. Gold but she doesn't listen, however no one realizes Mary Margaret secretly sneaks out of the door to run to Regina's vault with the intention of grabbing Cora's heart. Regina tries to throw a fireball at Emma but David gets in her way, and then she throws David out of the shop; closing the door behind him. Regina corners Emma and starts to strangle her, but she gets distracted by her mother's fight with Neal and Emma breaks free to grab hold of a weapon. In the midst of Cora's battle with Neal, she drops the dagger. Threateningly, Emma holds the weapon to Regina's neck, and Cora realizes she must choose between the dagger or her daughter. Regina calls for her mother; hoping Cora will help her with Emma instead of getting the dagger. After a second of hesitation and Neal's words to "choose wisely", she levitates the dagger to herself. Thinking quickly, Emma throws Regina at Cora causing them both to fly across the glass counter. Emma and Neal escape behind some invisible chalk. After reassembling themselves, Cora asks for Regina's help in taking down Mr. Gold first, but suddenly senses someone has entered Regina's vault where her heart resides. Regina goes to make sure that no harm comes to the heart.

Just as Regina hurries down the steps of the vault, she sees Mary Margaret holding her mother's heart. Mary Margaret convinces Regina that she was going to give the heart to Regina because without a heart Cora can't love her daughter. Mary Margaret states that she wants Regina to be loved. Regina believes Mary Margaret, and takes the heart to head back to Mr. Gold's shop. She makes her way to the backroom of Mr. Gold's shop where Cora is just about to stab Mr. Gold to death with the dagger, but in the nick of time she places the heart back in Cora's chest. Cora looks shocked at the return of heart while Regina gives her a tentative smile. Slowly but surely, Cora appears to feel different now that she has her heart, and gives a genuine smile back. But, the moment is cut short as Cora collapses to the ground. A wound appears at her chest while the wound on Mr. Gold disappears. She mutters the last words, "This would have been enough... You would've been enough" to Regina with her last breaths. Regina is horror stricken, and berates Mr. Gold for somehow stealing her mother's life. Mr. Gold states he did no such thing, and then Mary Margaret runs into the room yelling for Regina not to put the heart back. Mary Margaret halts at the sight of Cora's unmoving body. With great rage, Regina states Mary Margaret killed her mother. Regina goes to her mother's grave and mourns her death. Mr. Gold joins her; saying, "Even though we had our differences, Cora will always have a place in my heart." He tries to get Regina to stop the cycle of revenge and tells her where revenge has got her and her mother. She proceeds to get a spell that will get Henry to love her and gathers up all the necessary ingredients except for the heart of the one she hates most; Mary Margaret. She attempts to enter Mary Margaret's apartment with the intent of ripping her heart out, but Mr. Gold blocks her from getting any closer. Regina has no choice but to leave, but states to Mary Margaret she can't be protected forever.

Greg contacts Regina to inform her of Henry looking upset and running off to somewhere in the woods by himself. She finds Henry at the wishing well and sees he is trying to get rid of magic by blowing up the well with dynamite. He moves to light it, but with a wave she makes the dynamite vanish. They are interrupted by the arrival of Emma, David and Neal. Both sides are about to attack when Henry stands between them and asks everyone to stop using magic to solve their issues. He asks Regina to give up magic, but she replies she cannot do such a thing. Instead, she is convinced enough by Henry's words that she drops the spell page into a summoned fireball, burning it.

Later, Mary Margaret goes to see Regina at her house. Mary Margaret begs Regina kill her for what she has done. Regina reaches into her chest and pulls out Mary Margaret's heart. She examines it and notes a dark black spot in the middle of it. Regina notes Mary Margaret did that to herself; that there is now darkness in her heart, and it will only grow with time so that the perfect family she worked so hard to save will fall apart. Again, Mary Margaret asks for everything to end with her heart being crushed, but Regina only smiles and says she will have what she want thanks to Mary Margaret. She shoves the heart back in, and commands Mary Margaret to leave. Regina walks away and slams the door closed. Unbeknownst to either, Greg has recorded the entire scenario on camera.

Trivia

 * "Regina" is Latin, Italian and Romanian for "Queen" and 'Mills" sounds very much like "Mal-" which is Latin for "Evil". This means "Regina Mills" could be taken to actually mean "Evil Queen".
 * Regina's mother Cora is the miller's daughter from the Rumplestiltskin fairytale. Her surname in Storybrooke, "Mills", may be a reference to this.
 * Regina named Henry, her adoptive son, after her deceased father, who was her valet.
 * She retains a small amount of magic via items she carried over from the Enchanted Forest, including her apple tree.
 * The door to her secret collection of human hearts is hidden in her family crypt, inside a false tomb dedicated to her father.
 * Nearly every room in her house has a mirror, in reference to the Evil Queen's Magic Mirror, who was able to look through other mirrors to spy on people.
 * There is a ceramic horse sculpture on Regina's mantel above her fireplace. This is likely in homage to the prized steed of the Evil Queen, whose heart she tried to use to enact the Dark Curse.
 * As the Evil Queen, she possessed a silver chest, which she has retained in her house in Storybrooke.
 * Her house in Storybrooke is white; complementary to her palace, which was black.

Appearances
Regina Mills Regina Mills Regina Mills Regina Mills Regina Mills Regina Mills