Cutting away the Darkness
We’ve seen this story play out before - a redemption villain stripping away the dark side of themselves. We’ve seen it with Hook in 4A, with Rumple in 5A, and now we’re watching it with Regina going into 6A.
With Hook it was a literal cutting away of the darkness - Hook asked to have his hand taken back off because Rumple convinced him it held his previous darkness. We may never know if it was cursed by Rumple, actually was tainted, or if it just gave Hook license to act upon dark impulses still inside him. My guess is the first because of Rumple’s “dark one lies, dark one tricks” line. The truth is it doesn’t matter. Even after all they’ve been through, all the pain Rumple caused him, Hook was HORRIFIED when he plunged his hook into Rumple’s chest - ”That wasn’t me!”
Hook gave up a limb simply to avoid ANY risk of harming someone.
Rumple didn’t give up the darkness willingly. It was stripped from him in order to prevent his death - and the unleashing of the darkness onto the town (something that happened anyway). Rumple was freed from the Dark One curse - he was given a clean heart.
Rumple made the opposite choice that Hook did. He rejected the clean slate he was given. He took the darkness back. At the expense of others.
The Dark One curse could have been ended forever.
But Rumple chose to keep that darkness in the world, and in his heart, because he wanted power.
Now it’s Regina’s turn. Like Hook she desired to be FREE from the darkness. But that’s where the similarities end. Because Regina’s decision to excise the Evil Queen wasn’t presented as a selfless desire the way Killian’s was - there was no talk of fearing what she might do to people if the Evil Queen came back. This wasn’t done out of concern for others. It was simple to prevent her own suffering.
We heard about how difficult it was for her to deal with the choices “she I ” made. And how much she hated doing good. And this:
Regina wants to cut the darkness away because dealing with the repercussions of her life’s choices is hard. She’s not thinking of the suffering she caused others in the past, or the suffering she COULD cause others if she reverted. She’s thinking of her own unhappiness that was brought about by allowing the darkness to consume her.
Regina didn’t NEED to cut away the Evil Queen. She had the impulses under control - she just didn’t want to endure the struggle to continue doing that.
So she tried to cut the darkness away, tried to kill the EQ, tried to erase her past. She tried to magically separate herself from her darkness in order to make life EASIER. And we all know that taking the easy path is not the heroes way - and on this show it never pays.
I believe in S6 we are going to see that you can’t separate yourself into two entities - as David said “We are both”. Jekyll and Hyde is a cautionary tale. Regina was the Evil Queen. The Evil Queen is a part of her. Regina herself admitted that she was dealing with karmic retribution for her crimes. She caused much pain - eliminating her own suffering that is the result of her past evil deeds is NOT the way to atone for the many happy endings she stole.
And she cannot win this battle until she admits that the darkness is a part of who she is - not a separate persona. The only way she defeats the Evil Queen is by continuing to make good choices - even if it’s hard, even if she hates doing it, even if it doesn’t bring her personal happiness.
She only defeats “The Evil Queen” if she gets to the point where she isn’t just avoiding doing evil because she “knows it’s wrong” - but making heroic choices because it FEELS GOOD to do so.
Regina said her happy ending was feeling at home in the world. She’s not there yet - she doesn’t even feel at home in her own skin! Perhaps next season if she reabsorbs the Evil Queen and fights this battle from within - and wins - she can find that happy ending.
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