Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26971388-20160506013943/@comment-24674051-20160912172457

Ok, First, if you want to look at this as making excuses, that's your choice. I'm simply stating my side of the conversation.

1. Henry was forced to marry Cora. he had absolutely no say in the matter. And given Cora's powers, he knew that any chance that he had to protect his daughter depended on dealing very carefully with Cora.

2. Over the years, he did what he could to try and protect Regina from the evils and controls of Cora. Henry had no magic,nor did he have a murderous heart, so there was little that he could do to stop Cora. But he could counter Cora's influence, and I think to a large part he did exactly that.

3. After Cora was gone, we do see Henry trying to stop Regina from going down the dark path. He coiuld not do much (he did not have magic), other than show his love, which is what he did. We see him risking his relationship by preventing Regina from killing Snow after Cora had obtained Snow's heart. And while we don't see much at other times, we see enough that he tried to be that voice of reason, when no one else could. (Consider the conversation at the beginning of "Mother", or when she was imprisoned and sentenced to execution)

4. Additionally, we see the relationship that Henry and Regina had. Henry was the one person that was able to keep the small spark of the Old (and Good) Regina alive as she descended the dark path. Henry was the one thing that Regina loved. and, in my opinion, it was Regina's love for Henry, Sr, which she transfered to Henry at adoption, that finally started to melt her dark heart, and open her up to the possibility of redemption. And we see the culmination of that in "Souls of the Departed", when it was Henry's love for Regina, and her love for her father in return, that allowed him to finally move on, and allowed Regina to finally stand up to her mother.

5. CDA brought up the Agrabahn viper. Ok, that one is a little tricky, but allow me to point out something. I don't think Henry was aware of Regina's scheming in murdering Leopold and Framing the Genie. His words, when he gave the vipers to the Genie to deliver, were that he wanted to "set her free from this wretched life". He thought that Regina wanted to kill herself, and while I don't personally agree with the decision, I can see where Henry might have come to the point where he thought that was a good idea, that it was the best of all available options. His actions were not murderous, but were from what I would call a twisted compassion.

The point of all of this is that he did try to help Regina stay away from the darkness (and failed, admittedly). He did not just stand by and watch, he was just powerless to do much else. But he did love Regina, and love her unconditionally, when absolutely no one else would. Not even Snow, though she was close. And being able to unconditionally love is, to me, the sign of a pure heart.