From the beginning we knew that Emma Swan was paralleled to her father Prince Charming, and in the episode, “A Land Without Magic” it was confirmed when Emma fought and defeated Maleficent in her dragon form, while flashbacks showed Charming fighting the same beast.
Much later, in the episode, “Operation Mongoose” Regina is shown wearing Snow White’s bandit outfit during the AU of that episode.
Most members of the Swan Queen fandom have already realized the parallels between Snow/Charming and Emma/Regina, and have been pointing them out for years. But these parallels got me thinking: What if they have been more than just parallels? What if Swan Queen is a reflection of Snowing? What if Swan Queen is the slow-burn version of the Snowing story we were told to in season 1? What if we were told what was going to happen in this entire series by the end of season 1? What if Emma Swan truly is the modern version of Prince Charming and Regina is Snow White? I wouldn’t believe it. Not without proof, so I did a little digging and…
You wanted to see proof? Well, my dears here…it…is.
We begin at the beginning of both our stories. All parties are shocked. The questions Regina and Charming ask are similarly worded. *Note: Emma and Regina’s roles in this scenario are flipped. Regina is the first to speak, like Charming. She is the “royal” and Emma is the “thief”.
In their second meeting, both Emma and Snow have been captured, and only released after they have agreed to help the royal find their jewels (or for Regina it’s Henry). They also both adorably rest their chin on the net/jail cell.
So they venture out in search of the jewels. No party seems to get along with the other. Emma and Regina eventually find Henry, but they lose him many times and seem to always be out looking for him. Their journeys continue, until Snow White kicks Charming in the river and runs off (You could probably pick any time Regina threw Emma under the bus in season one to compare this to). Then, Snow White gets captured by The Evil Queen’s guards, surely she’s done for! In Storybrooke, Emma and Regina are caught in a fire. Regina twists her ankle and can’t walk. This looks like the end of Snow White and Regina, until out of nowhere, Prince Charming and Emma Swan swoop in to save the women. Even though neither Charming nor Emma got along particularly well with their partners in crime (I mean Snow smacked Charming with a rock and literally kicked his ass, and Regina was generally uncool to Emma), and they may have been better off just leaving them to die, they did the right thing because they are oh so noble.
The next part of Snowing’s adventure matches Swan Queen scenes from 2x01. When the trolls discover that Snow White is in fact Snow White, they capture her and intend to sell her to the Queen. This is quite similar to when the townspeople realize that Regina is in fact the Evil Queen and they intend to kill her. Of course, no one is laying a hand on Snow White or Regina Mills while Charming and Emma are around.
The townspeople are replaced by Gold and the Wraith who are set on killing Regina. Emma fights bravely against the wraith, and manages to push Regina to safety only to get grabbed by the wraith and pulled into a portal. This is not so different from when Charming fought bravely against the trolls, and managed to get Snow safely away from the bridge, only to get pulled down by a troll from below. Yes, it exactly the same scenario. Yes, you may cry.
Fast forward to the moment in “Queen of Hearts” when Regina has the opportunity to save Emma from the Enchanted Forest or let her die, which would allow her to have Henry all to herself once more. This is the same dilemma that Snow faces when she sees that Charming did not make it to safety: Should she run with the jewels and fairy dust, or should she save Charming?
Of course, both Regina and Snow are also heroes, and they risk everything to save Charming and Emma, who are both grateful and who now see Snow/Regina in a new light.
After all their adventures together, it is time for our heroes to part ways. Though we know that this is not goodbye forever, Snow/Charming/Regina/Emma do not. Even though Snow and Regina believe that they are about to face a life of solitude, without hesitation they provide Charming and Emma with what they need to get a happy ending. For Charming, it is his mother’s engagement ring so he may propose to Kathryn, and for Emma it is new memories of a full life with Henry. Though Snow and Regina believe that Emma and Charming will find happiness, Emma and Charming struggle to have it because…
…they will not be sharing their lives with the people they love. This was the moment Charming fell in love with Snow, which was revealed in “Snow Drifts”.
Charming: “But it wasn’t until I saw my mother’s ring on her finger that I knew in my heart there was no other woman I would ever love.”
Snow: “I wish you had told me then. We would have saved so much time.”
So if this scene corresponds with the Swan Queen scene in “Going Home” then we can assume that this is the moment that Emma and Regina fall in love. It would explain why most Swen would say that this is their favorite scene, and why it feels like there should be an “I love you” somewhere in there. The feelings are there, but as Emma would say, it takes them a while to accept their feelings. Since Swan Queen is the modern Snowing, it is okay that they didn’t say anything here because it will happen in its own time.
The couples finally part ways and the scenes ends with Snow/Regina watching as Charming/Emma head off to their presumed “happy ending”.
In the time that Snow/Regina are alone away from the ones they love (for Regina it is Henry and Emma), they find it difficult to keep their minds off them, or escape the fact that they are never going to see them again. As a remedy for their pain, both women find the means to free themselves of their own thoughts. Snow obtains a forgetting potion from Rumplestiltskin, and Regina creates a sleeping curse for herself.
After this Charming sends a message to Snow revealing his love for her, she goes to meet him but is intercepted by King George, who tells her to break Charming’s heart or watch his death. She tells him that she doesn’t love him, and then returns home where she takes the forgetting potion, and becomes a dark version of herself. This is quite literally the only major scene in this early Snowing storyline that I could not find a direct comparison to a Swan Queen that fits the timeline. This is around the time that Robin and Hook came into play and started messing with everything, so I suppose George keeping Snow and Charming apart could be compared to the Beards keeping Swan Queen apart. As for Snow becoming a dark version of herself, this could parallel to Regina struggling with her darkness and keeping it at bay. I think this storyline with Snow was used to show that we all have the potential for darkness. Snow can lose love like Regina lost with Daniel, and become a vengeful person as well. On the flip side, we all have the potential for light, which is what they have been showing with Regina throughout the series.
The next scene realigns the storylines.
Snow, out for vengeance, is going to kill the Evil Queen, but not before Charming stops the arrow headed straight for Regina. Even though Snow did not remember him, Charming was unwilling to let Snow cross the line into darkness, and was prepared to die for that. This is the same as when Emma was unwilling to let Regina be consumed by darkness once more, and did not even question what would happen when she took on the darkness herself. Charming then broke Snow’s curse with true love’s kiss, and she remembered him again, and Swan Queen also did things in season 5.
Unfortunately, after Charming/Emma saved Snow/Regina they were taken away, forcing Snow and Regina to have to save Charming and Emma once again.
And really we are still trying to get Emma Swan back, am I right? She may be back physically, but I think we all know that this is not the same Emma Swan. Emma Swan is locked up somewhere in a jail cell within her own mind, like Charming who is locked in the Evil Queen’s dungeon. Season 5 Emma is a prisoner, and it is up to herself, Regina, Snow, Henry, Archie & everyone else to get her out.
Which finally brings us to season 6…
In the final episodes of season 1, Snow White and her band of fairy tale misfits storm the Evil Queen’s castle to defeat her and save Prince Charming.
Using what we have learned so far, the reason the Evil Queen has returned in season 6 is because we have reached that final battle in the story, and in the end, Snow White must face the Evil Queen and take a bite of the poison apple… only in this version Regina is Snow White.
So far canon has continued to follow the storyline. The Evil Queen has targeted Regina (aka Contemporary Snow White)…
Evil Queen: “There was a battle raging inside Regina. And she may have one the fight, but this is a war.”
So if things continue as they have been throughout the series, I’d be worried about Emma…
Also, if you ship CS, I’d be worried about Emma…
…and keep your eyes peeled for apples.
But don’t fret if our contemporary Snow White ends up taking a bite…
Because we all know that Prince Charming wakes her up in the end.
Or in this case Princess Charming.
Now I’m sure even with all this super awesome proof, many of you are still skeptical that Swan Queen will ever get their happy ending. It just doesn’t seem like they will ever find their way to one another! But need I remind you that it took Snowing fooooorever to finally be together. Even when Snow found Charming in the dungeon, and they were reunited, it turned out that Charming’s image was just being projected onto a magic mirror. There was no hope for them. All the forces of the universe were working to keep them apart. But Charming reassured Snow and said to her what I’m going to say to you about Swan Queen dear reader…
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