Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24674051-20140904193648

In thinking about Regina and her situation with Robin/Marion, I've seen a lot of comments about Regina returning to her former ways.

Aside from the arguments about how far she has come as a person, there is another reason that I think Regina would never fully revert. Before she became the Evil Quen, when she was just a queen married to Leopold, She felt alone and trapped in her life (S3.03 - Quite a Common Fairy). When she was the Evil Queen, she was alone. All she really had was her dad in the EF (who she lost to the curse), and then eventually she got Henry in SB, but she was otherwise alone. No friends, no one to genuinely appreciate her for what she did (not that she did anything to "appreciate").

But since the original curse was broken, She helped when MM and Emma were returning from the EF (even though she was also part of the problem with that one), she helped to rescue Henry in Neverland, using her Magic to help the cause. She destroyed the original curse, sending everyone back to the EF. She helped Snow cast the second 'curse' (I don't really think of that one as a curse like the first one) so that they could return to Emma, and then even managed to save David's life in the process. Then she defeated Zelena, and chose to let her live (gee, thanks, Rumple). The thing I would point out here is that she is getting attention from people. She is being included in the activities. She has people that do appreciate her, despite her background. Her life is not empty like it once was. And since she enjoys that feeling, I don't think she will do anything to jeopardize her situation.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts. carry on! 