Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-25701646-20141211121734

So, Avatar Alpha asked what we'd like to change about the show and that got me thinking of some things. I think Regina seems to want to change, but I don't know if she's thought enough about things to be sorry enough. I know some people might think of this as Regina-bashing, but she's murdered, not just innocent people, but villages, sent children to their deaths, raped Graham and threatened to rape charming, kept Sidney prisoner, screwed up everyone who so much as dared to be loyal to Snow White's lives, and more. In real-life, if someone had committed all those crimes, they probably would be a stone-cold psychopath who had less than 1% chance at changing and who, even if she did, most would want her kept in jail just in case it's an act. Now, the show shows her demonstrating enough guilt and drive to change that I think she really wants to change. But she doesn't seem to quite get what she's done.

Last season, she was able to hurt Pan because she didn't regret any of her actions. Since then, it has shown her apologize to Belle and maybe one or two other things. However, she never seemed burdened with guilt. One would thing, given the enormity of her crimes, Regina would be unable to forgive herself. Most humans have at least one or two biggest regrets that are nothing compared to Regina's crimes, yet we can't let go of. However, she seems to feel entitled to a happy ending, feel little to no guilt about killing her true love's wife and Roland's mother (in the past). I'm not saying she hasn't changed and she shouldn't be forgiven. But I don't see any instance where she's like, "What have I done?" It seems more like, "I'm sorry. Now, can we move on to the next thing?" There are some things that a simple "I'm sorry" and a bit of guilt doesn't really cover.  