I'm having a really hard time with the concept of the Storybook and Regina's quest to change it, and thereby her fate. Other than cute Regal Believer scenes, it seems like another way to build inescapable destiny into the show. I want to see human choices and reactions, not a bunch of pawns. Also it makes me itchy because how many ways do we have to strip Regina of agency? She CHOSE evil courses of action, however justified. That's what makes CHOOSING to be better matter.
All true, friend. Whe share the exact same concerns. As we already speculated here (and as further discussed by both sheerlust in that one, as well as rafstein here) this is a more profoundly problematic issue, because as you now point out — it only seems to be a plot-contrivance for the sole purpose of giving us touching mother-son moments. Which in itself wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t know that their relationship has been so grossly neglected in S3 (especially with Regina’s ice-cream adventures with insta-family, instead with her own son who has just regained his memories?) to the point of Lana intervening with the showrunners, and insisting on it? So are we now being given this just because of that?
Especially since it is quite confusing, isn’t it? Because did we ever get that it was explicitly written in the book that ‘villains can’t have happy endings’ (someone please correct me on this, cause I thought it was only Regina’s own conclusion, shared with Hook – back on the deck of JR at the beginning of S3?) so she’d possibly want that ‘clause’ changed so she could still have her happy ending? And still. Even if our Anon’s (from that post) speculation of history-erasing (which would be really bad in terms of hideous character regression) proves as in-valid, we still have the re-confirmation of the idea of ‘predestined’ things (that can’t be changed unless they’re written in a book—so, whatever happened to making your own destiny—which is our main concern now, same like yours?) so unless she changes something, anything… what’s the point? I mean other than letting everyone know her own side of the story, which… we (the audience) already know, and we already empathize with her. And everyone else (the characters) knowing it changes very little in terms of “yeah, but you still did commit all of those atrocities”, no?
Sooo, unless it actually goes back to the issue of choice (and the fact that Regina never had any, and is now again ‘bound’ to Hood in this ridiculous fairydust ‘prophecy’) and not destiny set in stone (book) and her doing something that would enable her to finally be free to make her own (ie. erasing the ‘soulmates’ thing, or rewriting it so they’re long-lost siblings or something) what IS the point of this book-changing thing, then? Apart from being a really pointless plot-drivel?