Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170429134340/@comment-25926288-20170714114025

1. We all pretty much assume either Regina's stronger than her mother, or she was caught by surprise. 5x12 seems to say that Cora was caught by surprise as Cora said Regina wouldn't be able to push through a lookingglass her again.

2. Gideon is above Regina's power level and nearly as skilled. There's no shame in saying that the child of the Dark One who was taught by the most skilled sorceress ever can match Regina, blow for blow with the occasional victory. And don't mention why he didn't turn Regina into a snake because that's called plot. If Black anted to win, she could have done it way easier anyday of the year by ripping out Zelena's heart, turning the crystals black, and killing Regina and Zelena, but she didn't.

3. They did a sword fight because that's what fate dictated. Emma and Gideon used magic in their first fight...and then they had to fight again. They can't defy fate. Don't say EQ vs Regina was a wizard vs wizard fight because they swordfighted too and then did like three magic moves combined. The first fight between Emma and Gideon had just as many magic moves.

4. Not unstable as blowing herself up, but think of it like a power surge. She gets boosted and slightly degraded due to her emotions, which is why she could use the Merlin wand fine, despite having it blast her back when she was super emotional.

5. The show never says anything about it, only the writers have mentioned it being a possibility.