Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20161205015930/@comment-28162607-20170102230549

I almost did not even watch the episode (which is why this took so long).

As an Emma fan, this episode is a slap in the face. The whole  message of this is that Emma is only a strong, capable, resilient woman becuause she endured abuse (or to use the writers' words, she "grew up with challenges"). Whatever happened to "love is strength"? Apparently if you are raised with love, you grow into a weak and spineless fool who prances through the flowers and hides behind trees and cries "Mommy, Daddy, help!" (seriously? she's a 30 year old woman with a child) and that version of you "sucks". To hear Emma say that was just all kinds of gross. Sorry but the pain does not "make me me" it is how she reacted to it. This is not only insulting to Emma fans but to abuse victims, becuase it pushes the toxic 'pain makes you strong' mentality.

Are these writers really trying to pull off that Snow White and Prince Charming wouldn't have raised their daughter to be tough and to fight?

But of course Henry, a boy who was raised with love, was a strong and brave knight who ran in to save his adult mother. Because women are only strong if they endure trauma, men are simply born strong.

Also why is he a knight? He's 13.

And ofc there is a mention of our Glorious St Nealfire because a&e can't pass up the chance to make him a hero. Although I do wonder how it all worked out, because Emma would have still been 16/17 and he'd have been 23, right? Was it an arranged marriage? Was she sold to him? Because I doubt Snow and Charming would have let their teenage daughter marry an adult man without something going on there.

Seeing Princess Emma happy and surrounded by all her loved ones physically hurt me because that is the life she deserved to have.

I would like to see this AU discussed with Charming and Snow but I doubt it, and if Emma does tell her parents it will likely end in all of them agreeing that the curse was a good thing because "it made us strong" or something.

This show has done a lot of messed up stuff, but Emma thanking Regina for killing her parents takes the cake. And don't give me that "they weren't real" stuff because Adam confirmed the world was real. And even if they weren't, still still traumatised Emma, her "best friend".

On that note, they have offically shown Regina as not only unredeemed, but completely irredeemable. She literally tortured Emma, she verbally abused her and killed her parents while she grovelled on the floor and begged for mercy. And then to have it all brushed off with "they aren't real" and "that was pretty dark" (seriously? Using that line for a kind of comedic relief? After Emma just watched her parents die in front of her?)

Also funny how Regina couldn't kill Henry and thought Robin was real but was fine killing Snow and Charming. Shows how much she cares for them.

And of course, they couldn't resist throwing in a little rape with Aladdin and the EQ. "Ew" is right.

In what universe does Killian "has anything ever stopped me before, chisels at a 6ft thick wall of ice with my tiny hook" Jones just sit around and wait for Emma to come back?

Really it would have made so much more sense if Henry and/or Killian (Emma's actual True Loves who care about her and would never hurt her and have a connection with her) went to get  her. But no we have to give Regina a chance to shine. It would have made a lot more sense if it focussed on Emma.

And onto RumBelle. "What have we done to each other"-please stop. Belle didn't do anything to him. He did everything and then some to her.

And look at RumpleBumple, graciously giving Belle her free will back. So romantic except not really.

My heart breaks for Belle. She deserved to raise her baby.

The only good parts were Captain Charming and Aladdin and Jasmine. Literally everything else can leave.