Regina Mills/Synopsis

Before First Curse
Regina is born to Prince Henry, the son of a wealthy king named Xavier, and Cora, the daughter of a poor miller. Cora comes into power by learning to spin straw into gold under Rumplestiltskin's instruction, which makes the kingdom rich and garners a marriage proposal from Prince Henry. When her daughter is born, Cora names her Regina, who she proclaims will become queen one day. ("The Miller's Daughter")

Some years after this, Regina is now a young child. In her mother's study, she is playing with her doll Isabella, when Cora walks in. Regina invites her to play, but Cora declines, saying she is too busy. When the girl points out that her mother never has time to play, Cora reminds Regina of the story she once told her about her own childhood, in which she worked in the mill all day and learned to depend on only herself.

After locking a box away in a drawer, Cora leaves the room, promising to see her daughter at dinner later. Regina notices her mother forgot to remove the key from the drawer, and she curiously opens it to see an intricate box. Not knowing the box is sealed with blood magic, she unlocks it just by touching it and finds Cora's wand inside. Regina uses the wand on her doll, but the magic backfires onto her, knocking her unconscious. Upon finding her daughter in this state, Cora realizes the only magic that can heal Regina now is from someone who is close to her and who hasn't harmed her. From Oz, Cora returns home with Regina's older half-sister, Zelena. Without receiving any instruction on how to cure Regina, Zelena effortlessly channels her magic into the unconscious girl, because of her deep desire to use her powers for good. Shortly after waking up, Regina meets Zelena for the first time. The two become fast friends, and one morning, Regina sneaks out of bed to play dress-up with Zelena. When Regina pulls out a necklace from the drawer, Zelena sees the box and unlocks it, causing Regina to suspect they are related. They ask Cora, who admits the girls are siblings, with Regina hopeful about being a family with Zelena. Cora chides Regina for this, as she believes her daughter should depend on herself only, and if people find out about Zelena, everything she's worked towards for Regina's sake will be undone. On Cora's orders, guards take Zelena away as she and Regina hold onto each other, until the two are pried apart. Regina vows to Zelena that they will always be sisters no matter what and that she will find her again, but Cora ensures this never happens, by having both girls take a potion to forget each other. ("Sisters")

After several more years, Regina gains a fondness for horseback riding and owns a beloved horse she names Rocinante. She and the stable boy, Daniel, fall in love, but their relationship remains secret since Cora has high expectations for her. At some point, Daniel tells her about his brother, William, who left a long time ago for a faraway realm. On her home estate, Regina gives a riding demonstration to her father. When he expresses pride at her riding skills, Cora openly criticizes her for not using a saddle. Furthermore, she nitpicks on the fact Regina is still unmarried. Daniel approaches to offer a saddle, but an upset Regina snaps at him in refusal and begins walking off when Cora magically levitates her into the air. Terrified at her mother's magic, Regina promises to be good, to which Cora finally lets her go. Meeting Daniel in the stables, she apologizes for treating him badly earlier. The couple then make up with a kiss. ("The Stable Boy", "Out of the Past")

Cora, setting her sights on installing Regina as King Leopold's queen, purposefully sets up a riding session with Rocinante for her and then tells her. Busy reading a book, Regina distractedly thanks Cora and later heads out to the stables, where she and Daniel have a rendezvous. He suggests they have a romantic outing at Firefly Hill, but she can't since Cora is expecting her for afternoon tea later. They talk about their love, which continues to be a secret since her mother wants her to marry well. Regina alludes to Cora's magic being very strong, though Daniel believes their true love for each other is the most powerful magic of all. As they lean in to kiss, both hear a scream from a young girl on a runaway horse. Unknown to them, this girl is Snow White, King Leopold's daughter, whose horse Cora had intentionally startled in order for Regina to rescue her. Acting quickly, Regina catches up to the girl's horse with Rocinante and pulls her to safety.

King Leopold, as Cora wished for, is so impressed by Regina's feat that he proposes to her. Speechless, she looks to her father for help, but he says nothing as Cora accepts on her behalf. Running to Daniel, Regina begs him to take her away. He agrees by giving her a ring, and as they kiss, Snow White witnesses them and runs away. Regina catches up to the princess, explaining she cannot marry her father, because the love she and Daniel have is true love. She then swears Snow White into secrecy about the relationship. The girl, however, later confesses everything to Cora in a misguided attempt to keep Regina from losing her mother as she did with hers. ("The Queen Is Dead", "The Stable Boy")

On the night she and Daniel prepare to leave, Cora blocks them from going. While Cora is furious her daughter is giving up everything for a mere stable-boy, Regina attests he makes her truly happy. Cora finally relents, seemingly coming to an understanding, and she reconciles with Regina. Daniel, sympathetic to Cora's parental role, expresses gratitude for allowing her daughter's happiness. Cora, taking it upon herself to do what she believes is best for Regina, rips out Daniel's heart and crushes it.

In horror, Regina cradles Daniel's body and weeps in despair as her mother insists true happiness comes from the power she will have as the future queen. Sometime after this, a stoic Regina has a wedding dress fitting when Snow White mentions Cora is a good mother for understanding her and Daniel's love for each other. When questioned, Snow White hesitantly admits telling Cora about Daniel due to her fear that Regina would lose her mother as she herself had. Turning away from the girl, Regina reacts in shock, but she regains calm to spare Snow White's feelings. Regina lies, saying Daniel ran away, but that she is happy to marry King Leopold and become her stepmother.

Once Snow White exits, Cora praises Regina credit for living up to her expectations. Suspiciously, Regina questions her mother about purposely causing the princess' horse to run wild so she would save her and gain King Leopold's attention, but Cora claims she had nothing to do with it. Walking off, Regina's expression contorts into anger as she expresses regrets over not letting Snow White die on her horse.

As the wedding day approaches, Regina desperately tries to flee on horseback, only to be stopped ruthlessly by Cora. Following a suggestion from her father, Regina steals her mother's spell book, which she unknowingly uses to summon its creator, Rumplestiltskin. He offers to help her get rid of Cora, though Regina is against physically harming anyone, so she is given a magic mirror.

Rumplestiltskin instructs her to give Cora a little push into the mirror, which will then send her to another world. She questions what he wants in return. Mysteriously, he confirms that someday she will do him favor. On the day of the wedding, Cora steps into Regina's room and notices the mirror. As Regina looks into both of their reflections, Cora schools her on being the heart of the commoners once she becomes queen, and since the king is weak, they can kill him to own the throne entirely. This is not something Regina is looking forward to, and as she moves to give her mother a shove into the mirror, Cora freezes her in place. Cora chastises Regina for the attempt to get rid of her as Rumplestiltskin materializes in the mirror to give encouragement.

Fueled by anger, Regina breaks free of the restraints and knocks Cora into the mirror, which then shatters into pieces. Free at last, Regina leaves down a road and returns Rumplestiltskin's book to him. She claims magic isn't for her, but Rumplestiltskin is more interested to know how it felt using magic. Grudgingly, Regina acknowledges that she loved it, which is all the more reason to stay away from it. She also fears turning out like her mother, but Rumplestiltskin promises that is entirely up to her. ("We Are Both")

After marrying King Leopold, Regina is allowed by her new husband to grow a single apple tree in the castle garden. The marriage is not one of love, as the king has more affection for his daughter and Regina still cares for her old love, Daniel. Unable to let Daniel go, despite that he is dead, she magically enchants his body to remain in perfect condition. ("Fruit of the Poisonous Tree", "The Doctor")

During another magic lesson, Regina is instructed by Rumplestiltskin to freeze a black unicorn, which she easily accomplishes. However, when he orders for the animal's heart to be torn out, she balks, since doing so only reminds her of what Cora did to Daniel. Disappointed, Rumplestiltskin demands that she come to terms with whatever is holding her back from learning this kind of magic. That night, she gazes longingly at Daniel's preserved body. On another day, Regina preps for a magic lesson in the Dark One's castle, but Rumplestiltskin asks what is it that she truly wants. She wants to know if magic can resurrect the dead, though he says it is impossible, but a portal-jumper, Jefferson, claims he knows someone from another world that can perform such a feat. She agrees to give him a royal pass to travel freely in her kingdom in exchange for transporting the person to the Enchanted Forest. After meeting the "wizard", or doctor, Victor, Regina allows him to inspect the quality of Daniel's body, which he finds is in good condition for the operation. Since he needs a strong heart for surgery, she presents Victor with the vault containing her mother's collection of hearts where he picks one. One stormy night, Regina and Jefferson wait outside as Victor attempts the procedure on Daniel inside a tent. Regretfully, he informs her that the resurrection was a failure. The news devastates Regina, but by the next day, she makes drastic changes after letting go of her true love. She witnesses Rumplestiltskin teaching magic to a new apprentice, Trish, and proves herself more worthy by ripping out and crushing the girl's heart to ash.

In one of her few magic lessons, Regina learns how to conjure a rock, which is hidden under a cover, into her hand. She struggles to do it, but finally masters the technique after a time. During another lesson, Regina watches Rumplestiltskin demonstrate how to ignite a flame in his palm, and when she tries to mimic him, the fire in her hand goes out almost immediately.

Despite Regina's new mindset, her life as Queen causes much unhappiness since King Leopold is only focused on his dead wife and insufferable young daughter. She skips out on a scheduled magic lesson, to which Rumplestiltskin shows up at her castle. He chides that Regina cannot leave this life, even though she thinks there are choices in having love or darkness. Rumplestiltskin states that what she doesn't know is that darkness is what will consume her. Upset at his words, Regina orders him to leave. Instead, Rumplestiltskin explains further that once the darkness has started to eat away at her, it will progress until she is swallowed whole, and there's no way to fly away from fate. Before leaving, he sets up lessons for tomorrow and stresses she must bring the only thing inside herself, which is simmering rage. After he is gone, Regina retreats to the balcony and lashes out by hitting the railing repeatedly. The foundation gives way, and she begins falling to her death, but is rescued by a fairy's magic and lifted to safety. She and the fairy, Tinker Bell, become friends and spend time at a small inn. Regina confides in Tinker Bell about her miserable non-existent marriage and having a stepdaughter who destroyed her true love. Hoping to help Regina find a new love, Tinker Bell steals and uses pixie dust, which leads them straight to a man with a lion tattoo. Regina is encouraged by Tinker Bell to go talk to the man. Only after her fairy friend leaves, Regina is too frightened to go through with it and flees home. Late in the hours of the same night, Tinker Bell returns to see how the meeting went, and is discouraged to see Regina is not "glowing" as she should be after finding her true love. Grumpily, Regina makes up lies about the man, but Tinker Bell realizes she was too scared to meet the man. Even so, Regina refuses to own up to her own emotions and calls Tinker Bell a horrible fairy. Tinker Bell pleads that she will get in trouble for stealing pixie dust, but Regina coldly sends her away. ("Quite a Common Fairy")

While her husband is away on a diplomatic mission, Regina and and her stepdaughter are left to take care of the kingdom's affairs. The peasants plead for help against the bandit Dead Eye, who Regina has secretly employed to stir up trouble in the villages. Snow White agrees to send word to her father, but Regina gently prods her stepdaughter to handle the situation instead. Unsure of how to be a leader, a panicked Snow White flees the throne room, as a satisfied Regina watches. Continuing to antagonize villagers, Dead Eye eventually has a run-in with Snow White, before reporting back to the Queen. After Regina gives him payment for his services, the bandit presses her on whether she'd rather he kill the princess. Regina declines, not wanting Snow White to become a martyr in the kingdom, as her ultimate plan is for the commoners to realize she, not the princess, is their rightful Queen. In the end, Regina's plan falls through after Snow White successfully scares off Dead Eye, with her archery skills and help from the peasants. ("Labor of Love")

Regina, impatiently waiting for more magic lessons, watches Snow White become an excellent horse rider and earn many medals, as her desire for revenge against the girl grows. In her mother's things, she finds a spell book belonging to Maleficent, a witch who can turn into a dragon, and comes to idolize her after reading about her accomplishments in the tome. When Regina relates frustration to Rumplestiltskin about his lack of magic lessons, he uses Maleficent, who spent years honing her powers, as an example that she needs patience. Annoyed, she wonders if he's not skilled enough to teach her, which causes Rumplestiltskin to teleport her to Maleficent for assistance. Before journeying to Maleficent's castle, Regina sees a tree that still burns decades after the dragoness scorched it. Inside the castle, she earns an audience with Maleficent, who has since lost herself after her revenge against Briar Rose was thwarted by King Stefan. Eventually, Maleficent refuses to help her learn magic On her way home, Regina hears from a Duke that King Stefan's daughter, Aurora, will soon be wed, which she reports to Maleficent. Upon Maleficent's admission that she can no longer morph into a dragon, Regina brings her to the burning tree as motivation. After Maleficent absorbs the flames' vapors, King Stefan and his men arrive to arrest her and Regina. As they are tied and forced to walk, Regina burns her binds and hurls a fireball at their captors before her magic dries out, to which Maleficent transforms into a dragon and scares the men away. That night, Maleficent approaches Aurora, and with Regina watching, she curses her into an eternal sleep. As thanks for Regina's help, she gifts her a small dose of the sleeping curse, which the latter uses on Snow White's horse. Realizing Rumplestiltskin was right, Regina decides his way of teaching is best.

Years later, Regina is introduced to her husband's new friend, a recently freed Genie, who she plans to manipulate into helping her. During King Leopold's birthday celebration, her husband showers Snow White with the proclamation that she is the fairest in the land. Regina looks on miserably and draws the sympathetic attention of the Genie. She leaves for the garden where the Genie gifts her a hand mirror. He states that it will allow Regina to see herself as the fairest in the land through his eyes. During the next few nights, Regina writes in her diary that she had found love again outside of her loveless marriage, which is nothing more than a ploy to anger King Leopold and force the Genie into rescuing her. Her plan works and she ends up locked up while King Leopold is immensely upset she has a lover. Finding that she cannot divorce her husband, she asks her father to bring a box with her freedom in it. However, her father gives the box to the Genie and in turn, he hands it to Regina. She opens it to reveal a two-headed poisonous viper, intending to commit suicide, but the Genie kills her husband with the creature instead so they can be together. Instead, Regina changes her tune, seeing as she has no more use for the Genie, and informs him that a palace guard found the viper. Since the animal originates from Agrabah, the Genie's homeland, the crime will be traced back to him, so Regina feigns sadness with the promise of a ship ready to take him away to avoid persecution. Only then, the Genie realizes what Regina's real intention is, but truly loves her. He uses the last and third wish on the lamp to be with her forever. As his wish comes true, Regina fears being forced into love against her will until hearing a voice come from inside the hand mirror. To her satisfactions, the wish turned the Genie into a Magic Mirror.

Many days after King Leopold's funeral, Regina comforts Snow White as they both are in mourning, but in private, she uses the Magic Mirror to find a suitable person to kill her stepdaughter. When the Magic Mirror's suggests a Huntsman would be perfect for the job, she sends her guards to bring one to the palace. She barters with the Huntsman, promising to outlaw the slaughtering of wolves in his kingdom, since he cares a great deal about their safety. In return, she asks not only for Snow White's death, but for the princess' heart to be delivered to her. While he is away on this mission, Regina changes the palace to suit how she feels. The Huntsman returns with a heart, but he hands her a farewell letter from Snow White. Regina refuses to take it, so he attempts to read the letter until she throws the parchment into the fire. After taking the heart, she tries to magically insert it into one of the collection boxes in the vault. Nothing happens and Regina quickly catches on that the heart is not Snow White's. Scorned by the betrayal, she tears out the Huntsman's heart as a replacement. While squeezing the heart, Regina commands that he is now hers forever and will share her bed whenever she chooses. She also warns to never cross her again, and if he does, death will be the punishment. ("The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter")

The Queen recently learns where Snow White is hiding, but discovers her gone once she herself arrives there. She offers a reward to whoever forfeits Snow White's location, but when no villagers speaks up, she has her knights kill them all. Regina, upset that the citizens are loyal towards Snow White, devises a plan to get close to her and kill her. As it would take too long for her to learn a disguising spell, she asks Rumplestiltskin to change her into someone else instead. As her part of the deal, Regina agrees, on his bequest, to break off ties with King George's kingdom.

Once the spell is cast, Regina becomes a peasant to the outside world, but to herself, she looks the same. At the market, she stops commoners from hitting a stick effigy of her, but the Queen's knights arrive and mistake her as the creator of the effigy. As they prepare to execute her as punishment, a hooded vagrant saves her. During the battle, Regina's leg is cut with a rusty sword, and as an infection sets in, she passes out after seeing her savior is Snow White. She wakes up in a hut, where Snow White is caring for her. Regina introduces herself as Wilma, and she expresses surprise that Snow White is helping a stranger. While Snow White treats and bandages Regina's wound, she recalls a time when a woman saved her life, which helped her understand a connection can develop between strangers. Realizing Snow White is talking about her, Regina is moved to tears. After she is well enough to walk, Regina travels with Snow White, who must always be on the move to hide from the Queen. Snow White offers her insight on the Queen, who is someone in constant pain, but who she believes was once good. A hopeful Regina asks if she would consider being a family with the Queen again, to which Snow White affirms she would if the Queen was sincere about changing. However, upon seeing the slaughtered villagers, Snow White takes back what she said, believing the Queen is evil. Regina accidentally mentions it was the Queen who saved Snow White from the horse, which helps the princess realize who "Wilma" really is.

After her cover is blown, Regina flees after Snow White hesitates in shooting her. Storming into Rumplestiltskin's castle, she realizes the commoners will never love her and vows to punish them all. Rumplestiltskin reverses the disguise, to which Regina gazes at her reflection and states, "Long live the Evil Queen".

Traveling in her carriage, Regina stops to interrupt a wedding ceremony taking place on the grounds near her castle. Since they did not ask her permission to have the ceremony, she rips out the groom's heart. As she considers her next move, her father Henry asks her not to overreact, especially since he knows today is Daniel's anniversary. Regina snaps at him not to remind her what day it is, before becoming angry at his insinuation of her weakness, leading her to crush the groom's heart. She then trots back into her carriage and coldly tells her father to find his own way home. At Daniel's grave, Regina finds a yellow rose left by none other than Cora. Her mother regrets killing Regina's lover and desires to help her find love again since hearing about a fairy who located her soul mate who bears a lion tattoo. Regina doesn't believe her until Cora sets her up with the man with the lion tattoo. After casual conversation with the man, however, Regina uses magic to take off the fake tattoo and coerces him into confessing that Cora set her up so she could bear a child. Suspecting her mother wants to seize her power through an heir, Regina concocts a potion that will make herself barren. When confronted with her daughter's plans, Cora insists nothing good will come out of hurting herself, but Regina drinks the potion, believing hurting her mother is good enough. As Regina feels pain from the potion's effects, Cora admits she wanted Regina to have a child for her own sake, and that the only thing standing in the way of her own happiness is herself. As Cora walks out, an angry Regina tells her to go back to Wonderland.

At one unnamed village, the Queen massacres everyone in it, and while everything is ablaze in flames, she walks by and notices a lone survivor, a young boy. Instead of killing him, as the boy fears, she smiles at him, causing the boy to have this memory ingrained in him for years to come.

Lounging in her castle, Regina receives news from her guards that they have not found Snow White, despite searching everywhere in the south and north. Even so, she presses for the search to continue. At night, she travels by carriage through the Forest of the Dead, where her horses are startled by a mysterious hooded figure in the road. With the carriage overturned and her guards incapacitated, she crawls out of the wreckage with a dislocated shoulder. As Regina contemplates using magic to heal it, she sees the cloaked figure. Mistaking him for Daniel, she follows him into the deep woods and falls into a pit trap. Only then, the figure reveals himself as William, Daniel's elusive brother. William blames her for his death, although she continues to insist Snow White instigated her lover's demise. He believes if her love for Daniel was real, she should have stayed away from him since a romance between a peasant and noble never ends happily. To get revenge for his brother's death, William begins sprinkling magic sand on Regina to render her powerless, but she counters with a burst of magic that fatally wounds him. Not meaning to have harmed him, Regina asks him to hold on as she heals him, but he states she won't be able to save him, just as she couldn't save Daniel. On return to her castle, Regina takes out her old engagement ring, swearing that she'll avenge Daniel's death. She then calls for another carriage to be prepared as the search for Snow White continues.

The Queen captures a woman, Maid Marian, who knows where Snow White is hiding. When she questions her, Marian refuses to divulge anything. As punishment for noncompliance, the Queen orders the woman to be captured and executed tomorrow. As she walks away, Marian expresses pity towards her; believing the Queen is cruel due to being without a family and having no life in her life. The Queen snaps that she knows nothing about her wants or desires, and instead takes satisfaction in Marian's upcoming death. At a village where Snow White was previously staying, the Queen inflict pain on the residents if they do not disclose Snow White's location. Geppetto pleads with the Queen, stating he and everyone else are peaceful villagers, but she simply asks for justice. To further instill fear in anyone who has dared to help Snow White, she hauls out Marian as an example.

In a matter of interest, the Queen learns Rumplestiltskin has acquired a girl, Belle, to tend to his castle. She purposefully meets Belle on the road and manipulates her into thinking that kissing Rumplestiltskin will break his curse of being the Dark One. Belle believes her and rushes back to turn him back into a normal man. It doesn't end well, however, as Rumplestiltskin inevitably believes she must be working for the Evil Queen in a ploy to get rid of his powers and he kicks her out of the castle for good.

A few days later, Regina is led to a far away kingdom by Belle's former travel mates, who disclose her current location. When Belle reaches the top of a hill, Regina ambushes the girl and entraps her in a jail cell. Despite Belle's desperate wish to go to Rumplestiltskin, Regina does not listen; saying that by keeping her away from the Dark One will be a lifetime without heartache and misery. Stubbornly, Belle retorts she cannot keep her and Rumplestiltskin apart forever.

The Queen's knights continue to chase after Snow White, but she eludes capture once more and is rescued by a mermaid, Ariel. Regina spies on Snow White and her new companion at the Under the Sea Celebration honoring the sea goddess Ursula.

As a follow-up, she goes to Rumplestiltskin's home and asks him about making a deal concerning a certain mermaid. Grumpily, he expresses disinterest in making deals at the moment, so she tells him about Belle's supposed death. Upset at the news, he angrily orders her to leave. On her way out, she mocks him, stating that he should get a new girl to clean his dusty castle.

To kill two birds with one stone, she disguises herself as Ursula in order to tempt Ariel with a magic bracelet that can help her remain human, so she can be with her prince, Eric, but only if someone takes her place as a mermaid. As Regina had hoped, Ariel clasps the bracelet on Snow White, making the princess helpless with a newfound tail appendage. The Queen chooses this moment to reveal herself as Ariel discovers the trickery too late. Though Ariel balks at the idea of leaving a friend behind, the Queen proposes that Snow White will be harmed either way and gives her the opportunity to leave since there will be no second chances. Once the advice is heeded, the Queen begins using magic to choke Snow White before Ariel rushes back to stab her in the neck with a fork. While Regina works to dislodge the utensil, Ariel rips the bracelet from Snow White's wrist, reverting them to their original forms, and the two escape by swimming away. Even so, the Queen gets the last laugh once she deliberately takes away Ariel's voice while the mermaid is trying to call out to her prince near his castle balcony. Regina relishes in the fact that Eric will never know Ariel's feelings for him as this outcome is far worse than being outright rejected.

At some point, the Queen acquires a poisoned apple, which the Blind Witch later steals from her.

Sometime before or after, the Queen exchanges the Dark Curse for the Sleeping Curse from the witch Maleficent. One day, while traveling in the woods, she captures a Woodcutter and later chances upon his two children, Gretel and Hansel. They are searching the forest for their father, but the Queen feigns ignorance. At first, she orders them to be seized, but they fight back and run away. The Queen corners them, however, and decides to use them to sneak into a Blind Witch's home to steal something she lost. If they find the item, she promises to find their father for them, so the children agree. After a death-defying experience, they successfully give her the bagged item. The Queen withdraws a poisoned apple and admires their work in retrieving it. She then offers the children the opportunity to live with her, but they refuse and continue to ask for their father. She grows angry at their noncompliance and curses them to the forest to search for their father. Once they are gone, the Queen has her guards bring out the children's father and interrogates him on why the children do not want to live with her. When he proudly retorts that family never abandons one another, she banishes him to the forest as well where the three will wander in search of each other forever. As for the apple, she infuses it with the Sleeping Curse. ("True North")

During one harsh winter, the Queen orders the Huntsman to procure a tribute from the villagers of the silver mines. He eventually brokers a deal with the minister for the villagers to hand over all their silver-made items. Shortly after this, the Queen goes into the woods with the Huntsman to seek out a wolf pack, whose help she desires for hunting down Snow White. When the wolves approach to viciously attack the Huntsman, she transforms them into their human forms and then threatens to pierce them with silver arrows unless they assist her. At the wolf den, the Queen demands to see the leader, Anita, but a member named Adair notes she is already dead since being killed by her daughter, Red Riding Hood, and the pack is now led by him. Adair agrees to help the Queen on two conditions; the wolves gain freedom from human violence and they assume control of the silver mines. While traveling with the wolves to seize the mines, the Queen carries a box containing the Huntsman's heart. Suddenly, she notices a wolf standing alone. Mistaking the wolf as one in the pack, she tells the beast to get back in line, but her command goes ignored. Instead, the wolf knocks the box out of her hands. Enraged, the Queen magically levitates the wolf into the air, but she distractedly lets go of the creature when the Huntsman fires an arrow at an approaching Adair. She is even more vexed when the Huntsman runs off with the box, and the pack refuse to give chase. However, she agrees with Adair's suggestion to solely focus on their mutual interests and not get side-tracked. That night, they overtake the mines while terrorizing villagers. In King Midas' realm, the Queen discovers Snow White has agreed to meet in the woods. She and the pack find her at Lake Onondaga in the company of the Huntsman and Red Riding Hood. During the fight, the Huntsman grabs a totem to turn the shape-shifters into normal wolves, but this plan is halted once Snow White and Red Riding Hood fall into the ice-cracked lake. He jumps in after them, and despite that it appears all three have perished, the Queen senses they are still alive. Later, the Queen kills Adair after the Huntsman threatens to kill him and spoil her alliance with the wolves. Her action irrefutably angers the entire pack, who attack her. As she counters them with magic, Snow White escapes with Red Riding Hood. To ensure the wolves' safety, the Huntsman hands his heart back to the Queen, which she accepts. ("Shadow of the Queen")

After taking a potion to make herself fall out of love with Prince Charming, Snow White becomes angry and full of blood lust. She thus decides to kill Regina. After getting a special bow from Rumplestiltskin, Snow White heads off to kill the evil queen. On her first attempt Prince Charming gets in the way and tries to stop her, because if she kills Regina, she will become evil too. He tries to break the spell that Snow is under by kissing her, but it doesn't work and she just pushes him away. As Regina rides through the forest in her carriage, Snow almost kills Regina but Charming gets in the way, hurting himself. He explains that Snow will turn evil if she kills Regina. Snow and Charming kiss again and this time the spell is broken. However, shortly after the kiss, King George's men arrest Prince Charming. Snow White tells him she will find him. ("Heart of Darkness")

Learning that King George has captured Snow White's true love, Prince Charming, and intends to execute him, She intervenes in time and asks that the prisoner be turned over to her custody instead. To King George, she promises to make the prince suffer more if he uses his "son" to hurt Snow White. Keen on the idea, King George releases the prince to her. Later on, the Queen pays Prince Charming a visit in his cell to inform him she has no plans to kill Snow White and has another form of punishment that is far worse. She walks out smiling triumphantly; holding up the poisoned apple. Prince Charming tries to run after her, but the doors of his cell close via magic. After Snow White attacks King George's castle to free Prince Charming, she discovers he is not there and communicates with him through a mirror. The Queen interrupts their chat and sets up a parley with Snow White at the place "where it all began"—the horse stables of Regina's old home. The place is important, as it is the place where Snow White found about the love affair between Regina and Daniel, and was also where the young princess was sworn to secrecy about the matter, which she did not keep. While waiting for the other party to show up, the Queen sadly glances, near tears, at the place where Daniel died. Once Snow White arrives, the Queen leads her to a grave, revealing Daniel did not run away, but that Cora killed him because she couldn't keep a secret. Snow White hopes for a truce since since Daniel is dead, but so is King Leopold, who Regina killed, and thus both of them have suffered enough. The Queen disagrees and instead offers Snow White a poisoned apple, stating she should comply in order to ensure Prince Charming's safety, to which the princess willingly takes a bite of the forbidden fruit. As her nemesis collapses to the ground under the influence of the Sleeping Curse, the Queen smiles smugly. ("An Apple Red as Blood")

After the Evil Queen learns that the Huntsman allowed Prince Charming to escape her castle, she uses magic to force him up against the wall in preparation for punishment. She decides against it once the Magic Mirror shows her Prince Charming currently busy escaping through the woods. The Queen hinders Prince Charming's efforts by entrapping him in the Infinite Forest. ("A Land Without Magic")

Remaining unaware Prince Charming received help from Rumplestiltskin to save Snow White, Regina is quietly tending to her apple tree, when the Magic Mirror alerts her to Snow White has awoken from the Sleeping Curse. Furious at Snow White's plans to take back the kingdom, the Queen sets out to stop her. While Snow White is trying to rally villagers into fighting alongside her to regain the throne, Regina makes a surprise appearance, sending all the peasants fleeing. Snow White and Prince Charming go for their swords, but Regina insists she isn't looking for a fight. Immobilizing Prince Charming, Regina then offers her stepdaughter mercy if she gives up her claim on the throne. Having spent years trying to kill or curse her, the Queen considers that having true power means sparing Snow White's life and gaining everything that was supposed to be hers. Regina orders her to swear on King Leopold’s grave that she'll revoke her claim to the throne, and when Snow White questions what will happen if she doesn't, Regina begins choking a peasant girl. After easily avoiding Snow White's blade, the Queen gives her until sundown tomorrow to revoke the throne, and for everyday she refuses, one of her loyal subjects will perish. Before taking her leave, Regina belittles Snow White for denying who she really is, a princess, but never a queen. The next day, Regina shows up, fully expecting her stepdaughter will submit to her, but Snow White stands her ground, refusing to give up the throne. True to her prior threats, the Queen begins suffocating Grumpy as retribution for Snow White's defiance, and she throws back the other dwarves when they attempt to help him. With encouragement from Prince Charming, Snow White charges at the Queen, who magically dissipates and reappears from behind, just in time for Snow White's blade to cut into her cheek. Shocked at being injured, Queen’s drops her hold on Grumpy. No longer afraid to stand up to the Queen, Snow White boldly declares that she has stopped denying who she is, and then professes the kingdom is hers. The Queen hisses that they will meet again on the battlefield, and after Snow White responds with just as much confidence, Regina teleports away. ("Lost Girl")

During the war with Snow White, the Queen pays a visit to a village, where her terrified subjects await her with birthday gifts. A girl presents her with a blueberry pie, which Regina deems sub-par since it's not apple pie. However, the Queen only cares about a present no one in the village wants to give her, Snow White. No one speaks up, except for a man named Blacktooth, who wants compensation for his help. Declaring that his reward will be a quicker death after he gives her what she wants, Regina magically chokes him, angrily beseeching him for an answer. When Snow White ambushes her, Regina drops her hold on the man, who dies instantly. Rather than fight her stepdaughter, the Queen decides to retreat, as she is feeling generous on her birthday. In the Queen's castle, Henry notices Regina's growing fury over Snow White and asks her to give up on her revenge. Her father blames Cora for killing Daniel, and he insists Cora wants to control her by forcing her to become dark. Disturbed at his insinuation, Regina boasts that she already banished Cora, but Henry argues that as long as she wants vengeance, Cora will always have a hold on her. During Regina's birthday party, she blows out her cake candles with venom, having no desire to celebrate. Before Regina calls it a night, Cora shows up, gifting Snow White's heart to her. Through her mirror, Regina sees Snow White toasting her friends, stating that she hopes her stepmother spends every birthday not finding her. Angered at the remark, Regina squeezes the heart and continually increases her grip on it, watching with delight as Snow White grows increasingly frantic. Regina only discovers, after crushing the heart to ash, that her father switched Snow White's heart with a decoy. Henry admits he did it to keep Regina from becoming like Cora, and by letting Snow White go, she has a chance at redemption. Tired of his meddling, Regina shrinks him and traps him in a box. Realizing her father was right about Cora, she casts a non-reversible spell to seal the looking glass portal and has the Magic Mirror take her mother away. Before Cora is pulled back into Wonderland, she steals the box, severing Regina from Henry forever. ("Souls of the Departed")

Having no other way to reach her father, Regina commissions the former portal-jumper Jefferson to take her to Wonderland, only telling him that she wants something the Queen of Hearts stole from her. Knowing that he has fallen on hard times, she promises to reward him handsomely, especially since he is barely making enough to provide a fulfilling childhood for his daughter Grace. He rejects her offer, not wanting to go back to world traveling, as this line of work is what caused him to lose his wife. Regina accepts his refusal, but while Jefferson and Grace are at the market, she disguises herself as an old woman selling toys. Grace spots a doll she likes, and because Jefferson doesn't have enough money, he tries to haggle with the old woman by giving her the few coins he has. Still under the guise of the old woman, Regina expresses admiration at his willingness to give up the last of his money for his little girl's happiness, however, she refuses his money, wanting nothing less than the actual price. From this experience, Jefferson decidedly changes his mind and accepts the Queen's deal. After getting to Wonderland through Jefferson's hat, the pair reach the center of the Queen of Hearts' hedge maze, where Regina picks out a box from the vault that contains Henry. On the way out of Wonderland, she gives Henry a piece of the Caterpillar's growth mushroom to restore him to normal size. Only then, Jefferson realizes why Regina was purposefully vague about the "item" she wanted, because it is a person, not a thing. This, in turn, conflicts with the rules of the hat, which only allow the same amount of people who enter a world to leave. Regina then traps Jefferson in place, while she and her father journey home. ("Hat Trick")

As the war continues, the Queen's allies, King George's army, is defeated. Regina meets Snow White in the woods, not realizing it is a trap, until the Blue Fairy freezes and binds her with fairy dust. Snow White and Prince Charming lock her up in a cell in their castle while deciding her fate with their council. There, Regina is visited by her father, who says that it is his fault that he did not take care of her properly. She affirms her love for him before being brought to the scaffold for her execution. To the public, she gives her last testament by voicing her she regrets in not causing more pain and misery. She is blindfolded and the Blue Fairy readies the arrows that will fire and kill Regina, but the execution is halted by a remorseful Snow White. While Regina is in her cell, Snow White visits to give her a chance to redeem herself; surrendering her evil ways and turning back to the person "who saved her life". Once allowed out of the cell, Regina steals Snow White's dagger and attempts to stab her with it, but it has no effect. Suddenly, Prince Charming arrives to inform Regina that the dagger has a protection spell from Rumplestiltskin and it was a test to see if she is still evil and unwilling to change. Seeing as Regina still has harmful intentions, Snow White banishes her out of the kingdom and promises death if she ever harms anyone within the land again. Shortly after, Rumplestiltskin visits Regina in her palace to remind her of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding ceremony, and that the protection spell only works in the Enchanted Forest. From this, she recalls the power of the Dark Curse and what it can do. With another scheme in mind, she calls for her carriage to the wedding. ("The Cricket Game")

Unable to harm Snow or Charming because of the protection spell, the Queen seeks another way to kill them. She attends a party, where she witnesses the Count of Monte Cristo exact revenge on a Baron who made him lose everything. The Queen promises him the names of other people responsible for his downfall if he helps her gain Snow and Charming's trust. Sometime after Edmond agrees to the deal, the Queen places an enchantment on him to as protection against Rumplestiltskin, which is the same spell that Rumplestiltskin used to protect Snow and Charming from her. Taking inspiration from the Count, Regina learns fencing and takes on a Black Knight as her opponent. Edmond walks in on her winning the duel, in which she gleefully stabs and kills the knight. With Edmond now employed as Snow and Charming's new wine steward, the Queen gives him a vial of poison from Agrabahn Vipers to murder the couple. He prompts her about why she wants them dead since thus far they've treated him kindly, but Regina chastises him for asking and reminds him to focus on his reward for this mission. After Edmond is gone, she begins dabbing perfume on herself when Rumplestiltskin confronts her about why she is having someone else do her dirty work. Regina unhappily recalls that he used an enchantment to prevent from ever harming Snow and Charming again, and while he gave her the idea to use the Dark Curse, she now wants to do things without his help. Regina attests that Rumplestiltskin won't be able to stop the Count, whom she has protected with the same spell that he used on Snow and Charming. As she is explaining this, Rumplestiltskin comes uncomfortably close to her and sniffs her neck, which she takes in with uneasiness, before regaining her usual confident demeanor. While the Queen believes she has won, Edmond later backs out of the deal, and is further manipulated by Rumplestiltskin into leaving the Enchanted Forest for good, as assurance he will never work for Regina again. ("A Bitter Draught")

The Evil Queen crashes Snow White's wedding and announces her plans to enact the Dark Curse and make everyone miserable. She travels to the Forbidden Fortress, demanding the aforementioned curse from Maleficent, who she exchanged it with for the Sleeping Curse used on Snow White. Maleficent and the Queen eventually have a magical duel. Maleficent loses the ensuing battle, being apprehended by a magically altered chandelier and watches as the Evil Queen steals the curse. ("Pilot", "The Thing You Love Most")

Following the threat by Regina at the royal wedding, Snow begins to worry about her future. With their honeymoon coming up soon, Charming tries to persuade Snow that Regina's threats are nothing but words at this moment in time. Snow reluctantly agrees to go on her honeymoon, but deceives Charming into going to her parents old summer house...where a legendary beast is said to live in the caves nearby - and it could possibly help defeat Regina. The beast is Medusa, and Snow plans on chopping its head off so she can make Regina look into its eyes. As she secretly plans to set off, Charming finds her, but instead of stopping her, joins her, as he knows this is the only way his wife will be happy. As they attempt to defeat the beast, Charming unfortunately is turned to stone when he looks into Medusa's eyes. Regina uses the reflection of a mirror in a shield to gloat to Snow, stating that she's ruining her own happy ending so she needs to do nothing. However, now noticing the mirror, Snow gets an idea. She points the mirror at Medusa, forcing her to look at herself and turn to stone. This thus releases Charming from his stone form and he returns to normal. ("The New Neverland")

Sometime after this, a pirate, Hook, breaks into the castle intending to take Belle hostage from the cell. Upon discovering she does not know how to kill Rumplestiltskin, he tries to take Belle's life, but Regina enters the room to stop him by taking away his hook hand, claiming to know the crocodile he wants to skin and why he came from Neverland. Regina offers him a deal to kill her mother, Cora, in exchange for help with getting revenge on Rumplestiltskin. She explains her intent to cast a curse to bring everyone to another realm that has no magic, and there, Hook can kill the crocodile. To ensure Hook is ready for the job and has no weaknesses, Regina tracks down his father Brennan, who abandoned Hook when he was a boy. She brings Hook to the tavern where his father works, only telling him that he has to face a certain man to prove his worth to her, but Hook fails to spot his father and instead mistakenly thinks she wants him to fight a colossal tavern patron. Growing impatient, she magically snaps the patron's neck and turns Hook around to look at the counter, where his father is. After confronting Brennan and seeing he's changed, Hook decides to fake his father's death and sneak him out of the land so the Queen will believe he finished the job. However, Hook's unresolved anger about his father's abandonment later leads him into killing him. ("Queen of Hearts", "Swan Song")

Following Hook's success, Regina enchants the pirate's hook hand, giving him the power to rip out a person's heart. Since Hook will be getting to Cora in another world, Wonderland, Regina sends him there through a portal hat. As the hat's rules go, the same amount of people who go in must come out, so she has him travel with the corpse of a guard. She specifics Cora's heart must be ripped out, and then her mother's body must be brought back, while the guard's corpse is left behind. Lastly, Regina promises Hook that in the new world, he can get revenge on Rumplestiltskin, though she neglects to tell him that everyone's memory, including his own, will be wiped out due to the curse's effects. After he returns with her mother's body, she asks for a moment alone to say goodbye. Remorsefully, Regina is apologetic, stating that Cora taught her that love is weakness, and that she could not have her mother in the new world after the curse is cast because she loves her. She then lays the rose upon Cora's chest and leaves the room to go enact the curse. ("Queen of Hearts")

The Queen's first attempt in trying to cast the spell by sacrificing the heart of her most prized horse results in failure. Her father suggests she go back to the person who gave her the curse and find out the reason it didn't work. The Queen disguises herself as a mouse to sneak into Rumplestiltskin's cell. When they are alone, she shows herself and wants immediate answers about the essential thing she needs for the curse to work. Rumplestiltskin fills her in about the previous visit Snow White and Prince Charming paid him and his prophecy of their unborn child as the savior who will break the curse. He briefs that she must use the heart of the thing she loves most, which angers the Queen as the person she loves most is long dead due to Snow White's slip up. Rumplestiltskin heeds there must be someone else; causing Regina to realize she must kill her own father. She returns to the castle in a confused mood and reluctantly tells her father about what must be done. The Queen vents frustration about how Snow White's existence is a constant plague to her. Her father consoles her with the possibility that she can leave revenge and hatred behind and the two of them can start over as a family. The Queen wholeheartedly agrees, but in the next instant, tears out her father's heart, as she knows happiness in this world is not possible for her. Using the heart, she successfully casts the curse. Before leaving, she places a single rose on her father's grave. ("The Thing You Love Most")

As the curse threatens to take over the entire Enchanted Forest, she rides in her carriage to Snow White's castle. On the way, she teleports to Rumplestiltskin's cell to have one last chat. The Queen proves to be satisfied by the results of the curse, though Rumplestiltskin warns her that from casting it, she has created a hole in her heart and someday will feel the need to fill it. She doesn't take his prophecy seriously and promptly leaves. ("Save Henry") Upon entering the royal castle, she walks in on Snow White hugging Prince Charming's unconscious body. The Queen gloats to her stepdaughter that in a few moments she won't remember him or even loved him. Snow White asks her why she had done this and Regina sharply answers that this is her happy ending. But the Queen is angered that their child, the prophesied savior, has already escaped through the wardrobe, but takes great pleasure in knowing the curse will separate Snow White from her prince for good. Shortly after, the curse engulfs all of them in a dark haze. When Snow asks where they are going, Regina replies "somewhere horrible". ("Pilot")

During First Curse
Shortly after the Curse is cast and everyone in the Enchanted Forest is brought to the Land Without Magic on the fateful date of October 23, 1983, Regina wakes up in her mayoral office, happy that the Curse worked and her happy ending has been acquired. Due to being the caster of the Curse, she retained all her memories from her life in the Enchanted Forest. As she walked through her new surroundings, such as Prince Charming being in a coma, Snow White being a school teacher who didn't recognize the man and Rumple being a pawnshop broker named Mr. Gold and the richest man in town, she felt like she had won. However, while at Granny's Diner, she notices that a stranger named Owen Flynn (from this world) was seating in her seat. After befriending the boy and his father Kurt, she starts feeling like she can't have her happy ending without them, so upon hearing their intentions of leaving town, she grabs the Huntman's heart (Sheriff Graham, sheriff of Storybrooke) and tells him to come down and arrest Kurt. Kurt, noticing her holding the glowing heart, tries to flee, only for Graham to arrest him and Owen to run out of the town. He told people all around the world about the magic he witnessed, but no-one though that such a place existed. Regina killed Kurt shortly after and buries him at his campsite from the night the Curse reached the Land Without Magic.

18 years following this (Storybrooke's time is frozen, preventing anyone from ever aging, including herself), Regina talks to Dr. Hopper (Jiminy Cricket) about how she is feeling depressed, as she thought she had everything in life yet was still lonely and had a hole in her heart that can't be filled. He mentions that having everything isn't right without someone to share it all with, so she remembers her time with Owen and starts looking into adoption agencies, (as she was unable to conceive a child herself due to a potion she drank back in the Enchanted Forest) hoping that she could find joy in something aside from work. For quicker help, she goes to Mr. Gold and is warned about how becoming a parent being putting your young's interests before your own. He procures a few-weeks-old baby from a family in Boston, and so Regina ventures beyond Storybrooke's borders and went to Boston to receive it. Naming the baby Henry after her father, whom she sacrificed to cast the Curse and come to our world, Regina returns to Storybrooke with him, but is confused when the poor boy can't stop crying. She eventually takes him to Dr. Whale (Victor Frankenstein) to check for a possible disease, and when he asks about genetic causes, she tells Sidney Glass (Magic Mirror, Genie) to find out who the mother is, as she didn't know due to it being a closed adoption. Oddly, Mary Margaret holding the boy made him stop crying, and when she takes him back, he starts crying again. Eventually, Sidney gets the information about the boy's mother, who turns out to be none other than the Savior Emma Swan, Snow and Charming's daughter, knowing who she is due to the news about her being found in the forest 18 years ago; lining that date up with the present time and accounting for what her current age would be, Regina concludes this, but she manages to cradle the boy, causing him to finally stop wailing. Given that it was Mr. Gold who procured the boy for her, she believes that he may be trying to do something against her, but he still doesn't remember his life in the Enchanted Forest and their bitter rivalry, believing that her new responsibilities as a mother were pressuring her. Though given the opportunity to give Henry back to the adoption agency, Regina decides to keep him, as he was finally filling the hole in her heart that was there for the past 18 years of nothingness. She makes a potion that makes her forget about who Henry's mother is and takes him officially.

Season 1
In 2011, 10 years after adopting Henry and 28 years after casting the Dark Curse, Regina finds that Henry has run away from home to Boston. He returns, but ends up bringing an outsider that she was fearful of meeting; Emma Swan, Henry's mother and the one destined to break the Curse. While talking with Emma, Regina hears something about a storybook he reads and how he believes (correctly, as it turns out) that everyone in town is a fairytale character. While driving home, Emma, having ingested Regina's apple cider (filled with alcohol), crashes her car outside Storybrooke and wakes up in one of the Sheriff's Department's jail cells. As Regina finds Henry's book, she becomes uneasy, knowing that Rumplestiltskin's prophecy about the "final battle" and the breaking of the Curse is coming true at this moment. She braces for the months ahead, knowing that she could lose Henry to Emma.

In the morning, Regina flips through Henry's book, seeing a photo of the Evil Queen, before finding the last few pages are ripped out. She demands an explanation from Henry, but he avoids the subject. Displeased with his attitude, Regina asserts herself as his mother, though he coldly states that she is not. Suddenly, she is startled by chiming of the clock tower, which signals time is moving forward, leading her to discover Emma did not leave town last night. Hoping to nudge Emma out of Storybrooke, Regina visits her at the bed and breakfast, offering a basket of apples as a parting gift. Instead, Emma takes her pushy behavior as all the more reason to stay and ensure Henry is alright. Regina clarifies things are under control, with Henry in therapy, and she warns Emma not to underestimate her power. Taking things even further, Regina forces Henry's therapist, Archie, to trick Emma into taking a confidential file, so she will get arrested for stealing. While working in hermayoral office, Regina sees Emma chainsawing her apple tree and goes to stop her. Fired up from Regina's attempt at setting her up, Emma tells the mayor to watch out. Regina fires back by having Emma's car booted and getting her thrown out of the inn. As the final nail in the coffin, Regina phones Emma, pretending to reform her ways, and sets up a meeting with her where they discuss Henry's well-being. At one point, she lures Emma into saying that Henry is "crazy" right when the boy overhears her. With this, Regina is reassured Emma will have no reason to stay in town. During the evening, she begins cleaning up the mess at her apple tree when Mr. Gold stops by to inform her that Emma and Henry have since reconciled. When Mr. Gold hints at her son's namesake, she suspects he regained his memories from his previous life, though he denies it. Regina presses him on the issue, causing him to end his sentence with "please", which not only forces her to obey him, but also confirms her suspicions about his memories.

Regina receives a call from Dr. Whale concerning a brief fluctuation in John Doe's vital signs because of Mary Margaret's presence. John Doe disappears from his hospital bed during the night, to which she comes to the hospital to have a look. Regina deflects Emma's wariness over the mayor getting involved in a missing person's case by stating she found John Doe on the side of the road years ago and became his emergency contact, though this is a complete lie. She ushers Henry home while cautioning Emma to mind her own business while Graham looks for John Doe. After he is found and brought back to the hospital for recovery, Regina brings along John Doe's wife, Kathryn, to be happily reunited with her husband, whose real name is David Nolan, to sidetrack the growing connection Mary Margaret has towards him. Using the opportunity to advantage, Regina tells Emma she is willing to look past all previous encounters and forgive everything.

Abruptly, a large earthquake causes a sinkhole to cave in. Regina hurries down to the site of the destruction. She manages to hide a glass piece of Snow White's coffin and then proceeds to calm down the alarmed townspeople. To her disdain, She finds out Graham gave Emma the position of deputy sheriff, but then assigns her to push back the townspeople from danger of the sinkhole. Regina notices Henry draw both Archie and Emma to the sidelines for a discussion, to which she intervenes to chide the new deputy back to the task at hand. Secondly, she demands Archie erase the notion of the curse from her son's mind, and if he doesn't, she'll put him out of a job. Too terrified to stand up to her, he does as she asks. This unexpectedly has fatal consequences as this only makes Henry more stubborn to prove the sinkhole has something to do with the curse. When her son does not show up at home, Regina angrily presses Emma for answers over the phone, only to discover Henry has entered the sinkhole to find proof of the curse. Archie follows him in right before the sinkhole entrance completely collapses, leaving both Regina and Emma fearing for Henry's safety. When efforts of using dynamite to clear an opening in the sinkhole fail, Emma uses Archie's dog Pongo to track his owner and Henry's scents to a grate with an elevator shaft below. Emma is slowly lowered down to pull both Henry and Archie up. Safe and sound above ground, Regina reunites with Henry, though when Emma tries to check up on him, she pushes her away. Archie pulls Regina aside to renounce what she asked him to do earlier, and threatens that even if he is fired, she will be facing Emma in a losing custody battle. At nightfall, Regina pulls out the glass shard and drops it down a mine shaft vent down to the many pieces and remains of Snow White's coffin.

At the party celebrating David's return home, Regina finds an upset Kathryn hiding out in the kitchen. After some prodding, Kathryn admits to being afraid that despite her best efforts, David is drifting farther away from her instead of growing closer. Regina encourages Kathryn to be with David, drawing from experience of her own previous love and how she lost him because of an unwillingness to fight for love. From this, Kathryn begins to consider Regina a friend. On another day, Regina discovers David has left his wife and bluntly tells Mary Margaret at the diner to stay out of the marriage as she will only destroy many lives. To draw David back to Kathryn, she purposely gives him the wrong directions on his way to the Toll Bridge to meet Mary Margaret. As a result, he goes into Mr. Gold's shop and remembers memories from his life with Kathryn before the coma. That evening, Regina secretly has Graham over as they have a physically driven affair. Unknown to her, Emma catches Graham jumping out of the house window and realizes what is going on.

During one night, Graham shows up on Regina's doorstep in a distraught state and engages her in a frenzied kiss that later culminates with an encounter in the bedroom. He awakens from a nightmare and tells her about his recurring dreams featuring a wolf, Mary Margaret and a forest. Realizing he is recalling his Enchanted Forest memories, she tries to convince him that it's only a dream, but Graham can't shake the feeling it is a memory. Suspecting Emma has something to do with it, Regina goes to the sheriff's office. Emma flippantly remarks that Graham is out today and it must be because he spent the night with Regina. In turn, Regina accuses her of having a more than professional relationship with Graham, but Emma affirms anything that did happen meant nothing. As a final warning, Regina dissuades her from interfering in Graham's life and sending him down the wrong path. Later, she catches Emma and Graham snooping around in her father's tomb. Regina offers to take Graham home, but he breaks off the affair with her for good. She proceeds to blame Emma and goes as far as hitting her. The two get into a scuffle, which ends with Emma and Graham leaving together. Though Graham has not remembered all his memories yet, Regina can't take the risk and takes out the thing he was looking for in the tomb, his heart, and crushes it to ash, effectively ending his life.

Two weeks after Graham's death, Regina fires Emma from her deputy position and discloses her intention to appoint Sidney as the new sheriff. While she is making a town hall announcement electing Sidney, Emma intervenes to bring up the town charter rules, which state a mayor can support a candidate, but cannot instate one. Forced to play by the rules, Regina then declares she is backing Sidney for the sheriff election. To give Sidney the upper hand, she doesn't tell Emma until the day before that the electoral candidate speeches are tomorrow. As they argue, a fire breaks out inside the mayoral building. Emma rescues Regina by carrying her out. This greatly influences the townspeople's opinion of Emma for the election; annoying Regina. The day of the candidate speeches, Emma surprises everyone by indicting Mr. Gold as the fire-starter culprit to the townspeople and stepping out of the election running. The townspeople elect Emma as the new sheriff, much to Regina's dismay, though she grudgingly accepts it. Because of this failure, she lets go of Sidney from his editing job at the Daily Mirror.

After hearing word of Henry's alleged shoplifting in Mr. Clark's store, she arrives with the suspicion her son did not steal anything, and pins the blame on two orphans, Ava and Nicholas Zimmer. She instructs Emma to take them home, which she does. Regina is one step of Emma, who doesn't discover they are orphans until later, and takes the children's records files. Since their only parent is deceased, she wants to send them to a foster care system in Boston while Emma races to find the orphans' biological father. Though Emma is successful, the father, Michael, wants nothing to do with the children. Left little choice, Emma drives Ava and Nicholas out of town, but on the way, her car breaks down. Following a call to Michael, he is persuaded into taking the children in.

The next morning, Regina sees a stranger outside her house speaking to Henry. As she moves closer to investigate, he drives off on a motorcycle. Concerned about the man's presence in town, she sends Emma to find out information about him. In preparation for the upcoming storm in town, Regina accompanies Kathryn at the drugstore as she shops for items. Mary Margaret bumps into Kathryn, spilling all her things on the ground, and happens to see one of the items is a pregnancy test. When left alone with Mary Margaret, Regina pushes her to stay out of David and Kathryn's personal lives. Per chance, she witnesses David and Mary Margaret's passionate kiss in the street.

In a ploy to make Emma look bad, Regina has Sidney gain her trust. She annoys Emma by tearing down Henry's playground, to which they get into an argument about. Emma and Sidney join forces to expose Regina's greed to the townspeople by digging up evidence of the mayor's theft of $50,000 from Storybrooke's treasury and bug her desk to unveil plans for a new house to be built in the woods. All this is actually a misunderstanding, which Regina clears up at a town hall meeting when Emma and Sidney publicly confront her with her corrupt ways, by stating the house is in fact a modern playground for the children of Storybrooke. As Emma leaves in a dejected state, Regina cuts off Emma's right to see Henry without her leave, and if she does, a restraining order will be filed. A few hours later, Sidney reports back to Regina to replay a conversation he and Emma had vowing to become allies to expose the mayor.

With Emma out of the picture, Regina focuses on a more important enemy—Mr. Gold. She witnesses Mr. Gold take away Moe French's flower delivery service truck because of late rent payments. After cornering him in the hopes of asking some questions, Mr. Gold repeatedly dodges Regina with a well-placed "please", an enchantment that forces her to obey him. Regina has her suspicions about who Mr. Gold really is, and comes up with a plan to get the truth out of him. She goads Moe into stealing some of Mr. Gold's things as payback. In the process, she steals one of his most beloved items, a chipped cup, and lets Mr. Gold believe Moe is guilty of it, even after Emma fetches all of the stolen items except for the one Regina took. Eventually, Mr. Gold is arrested and placed in a jail cell by Emma. Regina visits to allow Emma some free time with Henry so she can speak to Mr. Gold. When they are alone, she explains her theft of his cup and wishes to know the name he had in another place. He declares his name to be Rumplestiltskin, satisfying Regina's terms, and she hands him back the cup. Mr. Gold attests that nothing has changed from the previous world, and he still has more power than her. Ironically, Regina does have one upper hand he does not know about. After leaving, she goes to the psychiatric ward of the hospital, where she checks up on a mental patient, whom Mr. Gold keeps the cup in memento of as he believes her to be dead.

A few days later, Regina gifts Henry a video game as an apology for tearing down his playground, which she did out of safety reasons. Henry is unenthusiastic, but accepts her apology and leaves the room after Kathryn bursts in. Regina listens to Kathryn's grief over David's decision to leave her. With perfect timing, she indirectly references another woman in David's life, to which Kathryn asks to see the evidence. Regina brings out photos taken by Sidney as proof of David and Mary Margaret's affair. Kathryn becomes furious that a "friend" like Regina has been lying to her this whole time and storms out to confront Mary Margaret. When news of the affair spreads throughout town, Regina adds to the scandal by secretly spray painting the word "tramp" on Mary Margaret's car. Kathryn returns later in a more subdued state to apologize to Regina for her behavior. Having been accepted into a law school in Boston, Kathryn is leaving town very soon, and casually drops hints about the Dark Curse—that she had always been afraid to leave Storybrooke as well as her marriage with David never feeling right. She also mentions leaving behind a note for David to encourage him to continue a relationship with Mary Margaret. Regina becomes alarmed and secretly enters the house to grab the letter. As it burns to ash, Kathryn mysteriously disappears at the town border as Regina smiles evilly.

During the Miner's Day Festival, Mary Margaret is publicly shunned by the residents for having an affair with David while Emma is dealing with an ongoing investigation into Kathryn's disappearance. Regina gives Sidney fake phone records for Emma as substantial confirmation of an eight-minute conversation between David and Kathryn. Even after receiving this information, Emma doesn't go after David as a suspect until Regina makes threats to replace her if she is covering for him.

When David is found by Emma and her new-found assistant, Ruby, in the forest delirious and injured, he is taken to the hospital where Regina stalks in demanding his arrest as a suspect in Kathryn's disappearance and possible murder. Since Emma defies her, Regina plants Mary Margaret's jewelry box, containing a heart with Kathryn's DNA on it, near the Toll Bridge. Ruby discovers the box, and after Emma runs some tests, she has no choice but to arrest Mary Margaret for murder charges.

Emma must do her job as sheriff and interrogate Mary Margaret as a suspect while Regina sits by as a third-party to ensure the questioning is unbiased. Mary Margaret recognizes the box Kathryn's heart was found in as her own personal belonging, to which Regina begins to speak sympathetically towards her about knowing what it's like to lose someone and to be placed in a "dark place". Outside, Emma tells Regina to refrain from speaking in the interrogation room, though the mayor confirms the schoolteacher, like any other woman who has had her heart broken, can do unspeakable things. While at her mayoral office, David speaks to Regina in Mary Margaret's defense. Regina believes evil is not born, but made, but David doesn't think Mary Margaret is capable of that. Instead, he is suspicious Kathryn's murder is his fault, even explaining his blackout episodes, but she ignores his theories. Shortly after this, she makes a deal with Mr. Gold to drop the assault charges pending against him if he will get Mary Margaret out of Storybrooke. They plant a key in Mary Margaret's cell; knowing she will likely use it to escape. However, Emma finds and convinces Mary Margaret to return to the cell before eight o'clock the next morning. Regina walks in expecting to see the cell empty, but to her dismay, Mary Margaret is there.

Based on Mr. Gold's assessment as Mary Margaret's lawyer, her personality can help get the charges dropped, so an interview with District Attorney Albert Spencer is scheduled. From outside the room, both Regina and Emma watch as Mary Margaret has an agitated outburst over her innocence being called into question, and admits in the heat of the moment that she "wanted Kathryn gone", which serves as a murder confession. Later, she pays Mary Margaret a visit in her cell. Mary Margaret is despondent that no one will believe in her innocence. Regina lists the evidence against her and to take easy way out by confessing and avoiding a trial. She doesn't answer when Mary Margaret asks why Regina hates her so much. To hide evidence of her own involvement, Regina quickly gets rid of a chipped shovel that she previously used to bury the box containing Kathryn's heart just in time since Emma shows up the next day with a search warrant. She states that an anonymous caller saw Regina digging at the Toll Bridge and shows her the broken off shovel piece. Emma checks through the garage, but instead finds a brand new shovel and guesses Regina was warned. The mayor furiously proclaims Mary Margaret is a liar as well as murder and will pay for what she's done. During the night, Regina comes to a sobbing Mary Margaret, who apologizes for anything she's ever done to cause hate. She does not accept the apology and admits to knowing Mary Margaret didn't kill Kathryn, but deserves to suffer. On the day of the trial, Regina holds a ring close to her while whispering, "We got her, Daniel. We finally got her." Unexpectedly, the trial is halted by the reemergence of an alive Kathryn.

With her latest scheme to destroy Mary Margaret ruined, a livid Regina confronts Mr. Gold. She claims that he broke their deal since they both agreed that something tragic would happen to Kathryn. While she believed this meant death, Mr. Gold simply kidnapped Kathryn and kept her alive for some time. In stun, she realizes all the falsified evidence will trace back to herself. Regina demands to know why Mr. Gold turned on her, though he retorts that she should be smart enough to figure it out. With Emma onto her, Regina sets up Sidney to give confession of how exactly he kidnapped Kathryn and why he did it. She waits at the sheriff's office until Emma shows up and then has Sidney give the confession. Emma leads her outside for a private chat in which she strongly suspects Regina is behind everything, but the mayor denies having any involvement. Emma vows to make her pay, especially since Regina once took away someone she loved, and now she will do the same by fighting to gain custody of Henry.

Some days later, Mary Margaret sees Regina at school for the first time since her release. Regina sticks to the story of Sidney being the one who framed Mary Margaret for murder. Mary Margaret does not buy it, and forgives Regina for all she has done to her. She even pities the mayor for being lonely if her only joy comes from destroying other people's happiness. A stunned Regina finds Henry and attempts to force him to switch classes so that Mary Margaret will not be his teacher, but he flatly refuses and tells her that in the end, she will lose and the curse will be broken. Hoping to get back at Mary Margaret, Regina lures David to her house in hopes of seducing him. While he does stay for dinner and then helps her do the dishes, she attempts to kiss him, though David rebuffs the advance and would rather just stay friends. She calmly sends him off from her house, but once the door shuts, she furiously smashes her wine glass into the mirror.

That night, Regina has a horrible nightmare of her worst fears coming true. In the dream, a vengeful Emma and several of the other town's residents drag her out of the house and tie her to a withering apple tree to get justice for what she did to them as the Evil Queen. Regina begs Henry to help her, but he merely says she has brought this on herself. Emma proceeds to behead her when Regina awakens in terror. Upon noticing her apple tree is starting to die, she demands an answer from Mr. Gold. He jokes she should change her fertilizer. She, however, believes it's a sign the curse is weakening as a result of Emma's presence in town. Though Emma does want custody of Henry, Regina doesn't want to give him up, despite Mr. Gold's suggestion. Despite her wish to get rid of Emma, they both know killing the savior will end the curse itself. Mr. Gold refuses to elaborate when she asks why he designed the curse in this manner, and no longer wants any future assistance from her as she has nothing he desires. He also thinks it'd be a good idea for her to leave town if the townspeople start to remember everything as they will want her dead. As an alternative, she draws out Jefferson and offers him a deal to use hishat and her last ounce of magic to retrieve something from the Enchanted Forest. In return, she will reunite him with hisdaughter. Regina parts with her precious ring in order to obtain a poisonous apple from the past in the Enchanted Forest. She bakes it into an apple turnover intended for Emma to eat it and fall under the Sleeping Curse. As luck would have it, Emma pays Regina a visit announcing her departure from Storybrooke and agrees to give up the custody battle over Henry if she gets visitation rights. Regina, of course, accepts the offer and later smugly tells Mr. Gold that she is victorious at last and that he will not be going anywhere. Regina pays no mind to his words about there being a price to what she has done.

Alas for Regina, the price of magic is one of tragedy as it is not Emma who bites into the apple turnover, but Henry. After hearing the terrible news, she rushes to the hospital to her son only to be assaulted by a livid Emma who finally knows the truth. Regina admits that she, in fact, is the Evil Queen and everything Henry has been saying is true. Both women decide to ask Mr. Gold for help. He tells them a true love potion can save Henry from death with its magical properties, which exist even in this world. He smuggled a bottle of the substance made from the entwined hairs of Snow White and Prince Charming into this world inside a dragon. Though Regina is adamant she should be the one procuring the potion, Mr. Gold stresses that Emma must do it, and gives her a sword. Since the elevator to the dragon can only be operated manually, Regina has to stay and move the switch so Emma can go down to the lower level. Mr. Gold, with his own plan for the potion, sneaks up to Regina and ties her up after Emma has gone down. He tricks Emma into throwing up the potion. Only when she climbs up does she see a bound Regina. Suddenly, they are called back to the hospital by their pagers. Upon arrival, Dr. Whale announces that Henry has passed. Regina can only watch from outside the room in a numb state as a grief-stricken Emma goes in to give Henry a goodbye kiss on his brow. Miraculously, Emma uses true love's kiss to bring Henry back to life, though this means trouble for Regina since the magic also broke the curse. Regina rushes in to tearfully tell Henry she does truly love him before she flees back home. Demoralized, she sits alone in Henry's room crying until noticing a storm of purple smoke quickly spreading to engulf the whole town. With a tear-streaked face, she looks out the window with a triumphant smile.

Season 2
Shortly after the Dark Curse has been broken, Regina opens her door to Dr. Whale and a large crowd of embittered townspeople. She attempts to scare them with magic, but is not able to channel her powers. Emma, David, Henry and Mary Margaret intervene on her behalf, locking Regina in a cell in the sheriff station as a safety precaution. She is happy to know it was Henry's concern for her that prompted Emma and her parents to help. After they depart, Mr. Gold, in an act of revenge over Belle, marks Regina with a medallion and sends a Wraith to suck out her soul. Again, she is rescued in time by Emma and her parents. Since the Wraith cannot be killed, Regina produces Jefferson's magical hat to send it through a portal. She is not able to get the hat it work, though it activates by Emma's touch. They draw the Wraith into the portal, but Emma falls in as Mary Margaret hastily follows after her daughter. The portal closes before David can follow too, to which he furiously confronts Regina about where they went. She herself doesn't know, but fends off David by pinning him to the wall with magic. As she is suffocating him, Henry and Ruby arrive. When she tells Henry what happened to Emma and Mary Margaret, he blames her for the loss and leaves with David and Ruby.

David drops by her house to get information about the hat so he can reunite with his family. She is surprised he came alone, though David suggests Regina's earlier burst of magic is an anomaly or else Storybrooke would not be safe with her around. She feigns ignorance about the hat and tells him to go back to Henry's side. While he gloats about her powerless state, she promises to find a way for her magic to be restored and take Henry back. Before leaving, he sneers that if Regina has to use magic to get her son, then she never had him to begin with. Quietly, she leaves the house, but is halted by Archie's offer to be a listening ear to her issues. She rejects Archie's assistance and scoffs that his PhD was given to him by the curse. Regina goes into Mr. Gold's shop to look for her mother's old spell book to jump start her powers. When he catches her, she asks him to hand over the book. He refuses as it wouldn't be good for himself if Regina became powerful again, and asks her to "please" leave. Smugly, Regina notices the "please" enchantment forcing her to obey him does not work anymore, which is the one good thing that came out of the curse breaking. Only when she threatens to expose to everyone else that their land still exists does he forfeit the book. She disregards his same old warning that all magic comes with a price, though momentarily pauses when he notes that Regina, who did not resemble her mother in the past, is now becoming just as power hungry as her. In the courtyard of town hall, Regina opens the book to receive a magical rejuvenation and storms the inside of the building. She ignores Archie's attempt to calm her down and frightens everyone with her newly-gained powers until Henry agrees to accompany her home. Once there, he locks himself in his old room and undertakes an elaborate escape plan, but it fails since Regina cast an anti-escape spell. He is quite displeased to be her prisoner, but Regina is so desperate for his love that she is willing to keep him against his will. She reasons that his every desire can be obtained with her magic, and even offers to teach him everything. Henry firmly says that he doesn't want to become like her, which genuinely hurts Regina as she remembers once saying the same words to her own mother. While leafing through her spell book, Regina is accosted at sword point by David. She decides not to put up a fight and allows Henry to go, but apologizes to her son for making him stay by force. She also confirms to David that the Enchanted Forest still exists.

Regina has been asked to step down as mayor of Storybrooke. While packing up her things, she received a phone call from Henry. Regina is ecstatic Henry wants to meet her for lunch and runs out of her office. But, she is stood up by Henry, and goes to check the office to find her keys missing. She guesses correctly that Henry planned to sneak into her vault looking for something to bring Emma and Mary Margaret back. Regina sends David to fetch Henry back as she knows he would never go with her.

In an effort to better herself for Henry, Regina begins seeing Archie for therapy. Though she has only refrained from magic for two days, she is struggling to not use it. As they begin their session, Dr. Whale breaks into the office and demands that Regina send him home. Regina states she cannot, and then Archie sternly orders Dr. Whale to leave. Continuing with the therapy session, he asks Regina if there is anything holding her back from moving forward. Regina brings up how she once preserved the body of her true love, Daniel, hoping he can be resurrected. Gently, Archie suggests that moving on is not possible until the past is let go. Unable to accept it, Regina leaves to go home. While in her car as it begins to rain heavily, she sees Daniel on the street, but in the next instant, he is gone. Going on a hunch, Regina goes to her vault to check on Daniel's body, which is no longer there. She pegs Dr. Whale as the culprit and discovers him in the hospital mental ward with one of his arms torn off. He relates that bringing Daniel back was a success, but the man is now a monster. While Dr. Whale is admitted as a patient in the hospital, she is accused by David of harming the doctor. Regina fills in him on Daniel and the possibility he may have gone to the last place of familiarity, which is the stables. The two rush there to stop Daniel from choking Henry to find Daniel choking Henry. Despite David's reservations, he allows Regina alone time to speak with Daniel. Once alone, she is attacked by Daniel, who releases her when she says "I love you", and the old lovers have a brief, happy reunion. However, Daniel is in constant pain and has the urge to harm those around him, so he pleads for Regina to let go and learn to love again. As he moves to attack again, she freezes Daniel with magic and dissolves him into dust while collapsing in a heap of tears. Regina returns to Archie's office to acknowledge she just used magic. With compassion, Archie welcomes her back in for another session.

While David is busy mining for fairy dust as a means of bringing Emma and Mary Margaret back, Regina watches over a sleeping Henry until he wakes up from a nightmare. Alarmed by the burn on his arm, she hauls Mr. Gold over to take a look. He informs Regina that Henry's burn is caused by his spirit travelling to the fiery Netherworld while unconscious as a result of being woken up from the Sleeping Curse. To give Henry control over the dangers in the Netherworld, Mr. Gold gives him an amulet to extinguish them out the fire in his dreams. She questions what he wants in return, but Mr. Gold simply says it's for Henry.

Both Regina and David awaken to Henry's screams. He informs them of the other person he met in the Netherworld, Aurora, who is from the Enchanted Forest and is currently together with Emma and Mary Margaret. Regina is filled with apprehension at the news her mother is alive and plotting a way to Storybrooke. Hastily, she goes to notify Mr. Gold of Cora's soon to be arrival. With his help, Mr. Gold instructs Henry to go back to the Netherworld and inform Aurora about a special kind of ink that can be used to stop Cora. After Henry awakens from the trip, they learn communication with Aurora was cut short with the message undelivered. Regina is shocked by more burns on his arm. Though Mr. Gold remedies the wound, both Regina and David refuse to allow Henry to go back to the Netherworld and sustain more burns. David volunteers himself for a Sleeping Curse to get in contact with Mary Margaret, so Regina gets to work assembling the ingredients together. Henry comes over to converse with her, and is pleased to know she stopped using magic and is helping others. After the curse is completed, Mr. Gold combines it with a needle for David to prick his finger on.

As David is still under the Sleeping Curse, Regina admits that his condition will only improve with true love's kiss. She is persuaded by Mr. Gold that it's more than likely Cora will be the one coming through and they decide to put a stop to whoever will be using the portal to enter into Storybrooke, regardless if it's Emma and Mary Margaret, so Regina can be the only mother in Henry's life. Before they execute the plan, she lies to Henry about making preparations for Emma and Mary Margaret's arrival and will do anything in her power to keep them safe. She and Mr. Gold go to the mines to collect all the diamonds needed to power fairy dust into a wand. Then, Mr. Gold uses the wand at the wishing well to create a trap to kill anyone coming through the portal. Henry and Ruby arrive to put a halt to their scheme. Regina justifies her actions to Henry because she wants to protect him from Cora. Desperately, he implores Regina to have faith that Emma and Mary Margaret are the ones coming through the portal instead, to which she lifts the trap. She collapses near a tree as Emma and Mary Margaret emerge from the well and reunite with Henry. She receives thanks from Emma for helping them. Regina returns to the pawnshop as David is awoken with true love's kiss by Mary Margaret. Henry hugs Regina while praising her for changing into a better person. Regina has a tender moment with her son until Emma, her parents, Ruby and the dwarves pull him away to have dinner at Granny's. Mr. Gold observes that despite the good Regina did, she is still excluded.

In honor of Emma and Mary Margaret's return, a celebration is thrown at Granny's. Emma invites Regina to the party as well, though this displeases some of the guests. She comes bearing a full plate of homemade lasagna and spends some time with Henry. Her lasagna is a hit with the party goers, but other than that, Regina is ignored. Disheartened, she leaves the diner early, though Emma follows Regina out and attempts to convince her otherwise. Regina asks to be allowed to spend more time with Henry, but Emma does not think it is a good idea. Emma's response causes a frustrated outburst from Regina, though she quickly apologizes. From this, Emma explains how she came to the decision of inviting her to the party because Archie said Regina is doing well in therapy and improving for Henry's sake. Though it is positive criticism, Regina can't believe Archie disclosed confidential information, and confronts him at the dock the next morning. Ruby witnesses the confrontation, but Regina dismisses her. Before walking off, Regina warns him that it's good she has changed and won't be using magic to get even. The following morning, Regina is surprised to learn Archie is dead. She is brought in for interrogation, but Emma doesn't see anything suspicious and believes Regina is changing for the better. Later that same day, Regina is affronted by Emma, whose opinion has changed and now believes the mayor is absolutely guilty of killing Archie. Regina denies having harmed anyone, and pleads for Henry to hear her side of the story. Emma refuses to listen and queuesMother Superior to attack Regina with fairy dust. She easily catches and tosses the dust aside, and in a bout of anger, uses magic to physically shove Emma away. Angrily, Emma confirms Henry will never forgive Regina after this and that she is a person not capable of changing. A broken Regina retreats in a cloud of smoke and later tearfully watches from a distance as Emma breaks the news to Henry.

Since facing the false murder charge, Regina has been hiding in a secret room in her father's tomb, but allows Henry in when he shows up. She insists to him that Archie's death was not her doing, and surprisingly, Henry believes her. However, it is too good to be true, as the facade of Henry melts away to reveal her mother. Cora admits to framing her for Archie's death, and expresses remorse for all the things she forced Regina to do in the past. Though her mother wants to start afresh with her, Regina rejects the notion and instead wants her name to cleared of murder. Regina is distressed at the fact she was trying so hard not to use magic for Henry's sake and now Cora has ruined everything. Her mother agrees to do anything to make it up to Regina, so they drive into town. On the way there, Cora notes that though Regina may be doing the right thing by giving up the true culprit who harmed Archie, Henry will never truly be hers with Emma and her parents around. After pulling the car over, Regina acknowledges she doesn't care about the townspeople liking her, and just wants Henry back. Cora, too, wants her daughter back and offers to repair their broken relationship by reuniting Regina with Henry. Regina accepts her help.

From her mother, Regina learns Archie is actually not dead, but pretends otherwise and shows up at David and Mary Margaret's loft to insist she has nothing to do with the murder. They apologize for doubting her, and when Cora's presence in town is brought up, Regina feigns surprise. Upon learning Emma brought Henry out of town, she is upset no one asked for her permission. On the streets, Regina approaches Hook after he attempts to contact her mother with a card. She informs him that Cora is hiding from the public to avoid repercussions, and accosts over his past failure in not killing her mother. From gaining knowledge of an on the loose giant who has a deep hatred for David, she sees it as a perfect distraction for the townspeople. She offers up a growth mushroom for the giant to regain his former size and cause chaos in the streets of Storybrooke.

In a discussion with Cora, Regina fears Henry, even after he returns to town with Emma and Mr. Gold, still won't be hers. Hook barges in to confirm Mr. Gold is outside of Storybrooke as it will be the perfect opportunity to kill him. His vengeance is put to the side for the time being while the three team up to find a particular dagger so they can control Mr. Gold. Suspecting Belle was trusted with the dagger's location, Regina goes to question her at the hospital, though the girl proves to be completely amnesiac. Regina knocks her out, levitating various items out of Belle's purse, and picks out a card with a library book call number. The trio search for the book on the shelves, but it is missing and in the empty slot is a map leading to the dagger. Hook deciphers it, but afterwards Cora puts him out cold so she and Regina can have the dagger for themselves. She proposes once the dagger is theirs, Mr. Gold can kill everyone while Regina will be blameless in Henry's eyes. Regina listens with a wicked gleam in her eye.

They find the dagger's burial site from the map and begin digging for it. Cora fears that Hook may have mislead them, but is certain she can translate the map, though it will take longer. Out of the blue, Regina is called to the diner by Mary Margaret for a discussion about Henry. In actuality, Mary Margaret wants to talk about Regina's alliance with Cora, and gives her a last chance to do the right thing by choosing good over evil. Regina rejects the offer by stating she always has been good, but Mary Margaret suggests that all her actions thus far have been evil. Regina wants Mary Margaret to stay out of her business. As she gets up to leave, Mary Margaret pleas that Cora does not care about her or Henry. Regina sneers at her opinion, wondering out loud what Mary Margaret knows of mothers, considering hers died a long time ago. After David and Mary Margaret find the dagger in the clock tower, Regina and Cora obstruct their way out. When Mary Margaret refuses to surrender the dagger, Regina summons a captive Johanna and rips out her heart. During a confrontation, Cora admits that she killed Mary Margaret's mother to put Regina on the throne. Mary Margaret does not bend to their wishes, so Regina, on Cora's command, begins to squeeze Johanna's heart until the dagger is relinquished. Regina stuffs the heart back in, but Johanna is killed by Cora to show Mary Margaret where being good gets her. Regina and Cora teleport away in a haze of smoke back to the mayoral office. Once inside, Regina reacts to what her mother said earlier about getting rid of Mary Margaret's mother. She realizes Cora orchestrated Snow White's runaway horse to bring about the marriage proposal fromKing Leopold. Cora brushes off the past since it's not relevant to the present, which Regina agrees with as her only priority is Henry.

Regina sets up a phone tap so she and Cora can listen in on a conversation between David and Mary Margaret. They learn that Mr. Gold, while in New York, has been injured by Hook. Noticing the name "Rumplestiltskin" is fading from the dagger, Cora realizes Mr. Gold is actually dying and she decides to kill him and steal his powers in order to become the next Dark One. Alarmed, Regina begins doubting her mother's intentions for wanting power, but Cora insists she is doing it to protect their family. After Mr. Gold is brought to the pawnshop under David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Neal Cassidy's protection, Regina and Cora shatter the building's barrier spell and prepare for battle. In the midst of the fight, no one notices Mary Margaret slip away to the vault. Regina tosses David out the door and then begins strangling Emma. When distracted by Cora accidentally dropping the dagger, Emma gains the upper hand and threatens to stab Regina. She forces Cora to choose between the dagger or her daughter. After Cora takes the dagger, Emma shoves Regina into her; sending both careening into a glass display. This gives Emma time to enact a barrier in the back room; temporarily shielding Mr. Gold from Cora's grasp. Reassembling herself, Cora senses someone has taken her heart, which is hidden in the vault. Urged by her mother, Regina rushes to stop the assailant and finds Mary Margaret, who offers her Cora's heart. Not knowing of Mary Margaret's ulterior motives, Regina is convinced by the latter that Cora cannot truly love her without her heart. Regina takes the heart and hurries back to the pawnshop where she places it into Cora's chest. For a moment, Cora feels genuine love for her daughter, but suddenly, she dies of a mysterious chest wound. Horror-stricken, Regina initially blames Mr. Gold, now fully recovered, of killing her mother. Instead, she angrily recognizes the true culprit is Mary Margaret, who rushes in too late to stop her from returning Cora's heart.

While mourning her mother's death, Regina is irked when Mr. Gold shows up to pay his respects as well. He warns her that the cycle of revenge must stop, but she stubbornly believes in getting even with Mary Margaret. Rifling through Cora's old belongings, Regina finds her mother's spell; the "curse of the empty-hearted", which can give her exactly what she desires; love as well as vengeance. The effects of the spell will force Henry to love her, but for it to work, she must take the heart of her most hated enemy—Mary Margaret. She breaks into the apartment, approaching a depressed Mary Margaret to rip out her heart, though Mr. Gold blocks her from getting any closer. Though forced to leave, Regina bitterly remarks to Mary Margaret that she cannot be protected forever. Seemingly as a concerned citizen, Greg phones Regina to tell her about an upset Henry running off alone into the woods. She finds her son at the wishing well as he tries to get rid of magic by blowing it up with dynamite. As he moves to light the explosive, Regina magically makes it disappear. Knowing of her intentions to cast the "curse of the empty-hearted", Henry begs Regina not to force him to love her. Suddenly, David, Emma and Neal arrive for a showdown with Regina, though Henry ceases their fighting as he believes magic is the main cause of their disputes. He argues that magic makes good people like his mother, Regina, do bad things. Regina does not agree to give up magic, per Henry's request, but she burns the curse parchment to placate him, which he thanks her for. Later, at her house doorstep, she comes face-to-face with a desperate Mary Margaret, who desires to be killed for murdering Cora. Instead, Regina pulls out Mary Margaret's heart to show her a darkness growing it in, which will only worsen with time so that the perfect family she worked so hard to save will fall apart. Satisfied that her nemesis will suffer a fate worse than death, she shoves the heart back into its rightful owner. After coldly commanding Mary Margaret to leave, Regina enters her home and slams the door closed. Unbeknownst to either, Greg has recorded the entire scenario on camera.

At the diner, Regina acquaints herself with Greg by thanking him for previously calling her when he found Henry in the woods. Greg accepts her gratitude; stating that he empathizes with kids in trouble. Strangely, Regina finds Greg to be very familiar looking and she asks if they have met before, but he affirms they have not. As a gesture of goodwill, she offers him to contact her should he ever need anything. On her way out of the diner, she bumps into Mary Margaret and smugly advises her to try the fish special—a "blackened sole"; referring to Mary Margaret's blackened heart. Later, she goes to speak with Greg in his bed and breakfast guest room after realizing who he is; Owen Flynn all grown up. She is happy to see him, but Greg avoids getting close to her. He demands to know where his father is, but Regina asserts that she let him go the day after he himself left Storybrooke. Greg does not buy it as people can't just disappear into thin air, but she firmly states they can.

From a distance, Regina sees Henry and Mr. Gold's son, Neal, playing together in the park. She questions Mr. Gold about it and receives quite the shock about Neal being Henry's biological father. Belligerently, Regina accuses him of orchestrating this, but he denies having pulled any strings, though she is not convinced. However, she is satisfied knowing that Mr. Gold won't ever be fully accepted by the townspeople or his son because he always chooses darkness over light. Upon seeing Emma sitting by the docks, Regina confronts her about Henry's parental lineage. Emma insists she was going to tell her soon, but changes the subject and remarks that Regina has to be a proper mother to Henry before it's too late. Regina suspiciously regards Emma's choice of words, even though the blonde swears she as no ulterior motives. Nonetheless, she promises to find out what Emma is hiding. Later, Regina pays a visit to a happier and healthier Belle, who will discharged from the hospital with Mr. Gold's help. To prevent this, she enchants a matchstick card of the town bar, The Rabbit Hole, and urges Belle to intently study it. While concentrating on the card, the enchantment brings out Belle's cursed false memories as a barfly named Lacey. As expected, once Mr. Gold finds out, he bursts into Regina's office and demands that Belle be returned to normal. Coyly, she states only true love's kiss can help, but only if Lacey herself loves him, too. By nightfall, Regina assumes a lookout in a store across the street and waits for David's pick up truck to drop off Anton, Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Leroy, Happy and Walter at the diner. After David drives off, she uses a tracking spell to see where the car has been in the last hour. In her own car, Regina follows the trail to an empty field and lifts a veil to reveal rows of growing magic beans. She destroys all of them, and takes only one of the plants to grow in her office.

At the docks, Regina, disguised as a fisherman, eavesdrops on a conversation between David and Mary Margaret. While Mary Margaret is conflicted over leaving Regina behind once they return to the Enchanted Forest, David thinks they have given her enough chances. He proposes that Regina can either stay in Storybrooke alone or live out her days in Rumplestiltskin's old cell. Angry at their plans to take away her son, Regina approaches Henry the next morning and shows him the beans, which she wishes to use to bring him and herself to the Enchanted Forest. She fills him in about a "fail-safe" that can erase Storybrooke from existence, but will wipe out the residents too. Seeing his shocked reaction, she implores that this is the only way they can be a family without everyone's meddling. Henry threatens to expose her plan to annihilate Storybrooke, however, she erases his memory. Later in the day, while she checks on the growing beans, Hook walks into her office to admit Greg and Tamara wanted him to gain a false alliance with her. He decides to team up with her and Cora instead, though Regina tells him that her mother is dead. Comfortingly, Hook states Cora wanted to see her daughter win. Aligning as allies, she and Hook take the library elevator down to the tunnels so they can retrieve the trigger. As they talk about life after revenge, she notices he has her mother's armband and takes it back to clasp on her own wrist. Eventually, they reach a cave where she enlightens him about her "friend" who is guarding the fail-safe, and the magic within the walls prevent her from being truly defeated by intruders. After forcing Hook to be creature bait, she fetches the fail-safe hidden in Snow White's coffin. Assuming Hook is as good as dead, Regina returns to the library only to be greeted by his unscathed form. He reveals that his loyalties have always been to Greg and Tamara, to which the infamous duo step out. Regina tries to overpower them with magic, though the bracelet, altered to absorb her powers, prevents this. She questions Greg on what his true intentions are, but he refuses to answer. Then, Tamara, on Greg's orders, places a bag over Regina's head.

Kidnapped to the cannery, Regina is strapped to a table and hooked up to an electrocution machine for interrogation. The trigger is taken by Tamara, who also breaks into Regina's office to steal the remaining magic beans. Hook, uninterested in torture, leaves Greg and Tamara to their devices. Greg attempts to force Regina to confess his father's whereabouts with several rounds of electrocution, but she does not yield answers. During one session, she scoffs at him for trying to steal magic. In turn, Greg informs her that he and Tamara are doing the exact opposite; destroying magic. Once David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Neal close in on the cannery, Tamara flees while Greg threatens to turn the electric voltage to full power if Regina doesn't give him the truth. At her limit, Regina admits killing his father, after Greg left town, because she had no further use for him. As payback, Greg prepares to pull the voltage level to the maximum level, but he makes his getaway when David shoots the machine. Now unconscious, Regina is moved by David and Mary Margaret to their apartment where Mother Superior magically heals her. Upon waking up, Regina tells them about the danger of the trigger if it is activated.

Having made a full recovery, Regina waits in the apartment as David, Emma and Mary Margaret go to pick up Henry from Granny. Once they arrive home, she and Henry have a tender reunion when the whole town begins to tremor from the activated trigger. Henry fears they will all die, though Regina reminds him that he'll evade the danger because he was born in this world. Amidst everyone's panic, Hook rejoins their side. Regina agrees to magically slow down the trigger as David and Hook plan to steal the beans from Greg and Tamara and rescue the townspeople by opening a portal to the Enchanted Forest. Before they get to work, Regina apologizes to Henry for not being a better person and mother. She reaffirms her love for him, and he reciprocates back. With Emma, Regina goes into the mines to begin the trigger slowdown. Knowing it will cause her own demise, she asks Emma to tell Henry of her heroic deed. While Regina continues to work on stalling the town's destruction, David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret rush in with a change of plans to throw the trigger into a portal. Emma removes the bean from a pouch, but only to realize too late that Hook previously switched it with a decoy. With no solution left, Regina remarks that her magic alone is not enough. To this, Emma recognizes that their combined powers might stop the trigger. Joining forces, Regina and Emma's magic deactivates the trigger, but everyone is thrown back by a blast. Afterwards, they notice Henry is missing and hurry to stop the suspected kidnappers, Greg and Tamara, only to see them open a portal and take the boy to another world. Surprisingly, the "Jolly Roger" is still at dock, and a remorseful Hook agrees to use the stolen bean to help them chase after Greg and Tamara. Aboard the ship, Mr. Gold summons the magic globe to show him Henry's location. When he pricks his finger to allow a drop of blood to spill, it reveals Henry's current location is inNeverland. After Hook casts the magic bean into the water to open a portal, he, Regina, David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Mr. Gold set sail for the land.

Season 3
As they sail towards the island of Neverland, ruled by the evil Peter Pan, Hook talks to Regina about how embittered he feels having his sworn enemy, Mr. Gold, on his ship, especially after spending a lifetime trying to leave Neverland and seek revenge on him. From this, Regina is reminded of something Greg said, which is that villains like her don't get happy endings. She asks for Hook's opinion on it, though he hopes Greg isn't right or they've wasted their lives. Later, Mr. Gold announces his intent of getting him back on his own and proceeds to list off reasons why Emma will fail in this mission; not believing in her parents, in magic, or even herself. After he disappears, the ship falls under attack by a horde of mermaids. Seeing as David's efforts to hit the creatures with ammunition isn't working fast enough, Regina scares off the vast majority by conjuring and throwing fireballs. She also teleports a fishing net, which Emma and Mary Margaret used to catch a mermaid, onto the deck. As they discuss what to do with the sea creature, the mermaid sounds a conch shell and threatens them all with death if they don't free her. Thunder begins brewing in the sky; giving the impression that the mermaid called the storms to arms. At one point, Regina eggs David on to cut the mermaid's neck as he interrogates her, but he quickly backs out. She makes the decision to freeze the mermaid to stop the storm, but instead it speeds into a downpour. Regina and Mary Margaret's trade of insults turns into a full on brawl while nearby David and Hook are at it as well. She is so preoccupied in fighting Mary Margaret until Emma purposely jumps overboard as a rigging rope pulley snaps and hits her on the head. As David ties a rope around his waist and dives in to save Emma, Regina, Hook and Mary Margaret team up to pull the both of them up, causing the storm to halt. When they reach the shoreline of Neverland, Emma gives everyone a pep talk by admitting the best thing is to not believe in magic, but in each other. She doesn't expect friendship, but cooperation is necessary to save Henry as well as the handiness of each person's skill. Hesitantly, Regina trails after her party members as they follow Emma into the wilderness. ("The Heart of the Truest Believer")

While the group treads through the jungle upwards to a cliff ridge, they narrowly avoid walking straight into a patch of Dreamshade. Up ahead, the ridge allows them to get a view of the island, but too much has changed since Hook was last in Neverland and he can't tell the difference between anything. They can't comb the jungle, either, because it's not safe to travel through. Though Regina argues against resting up for the evening, she relents since everyone is literally running on empty fuel. During the night, everyone is awakened after Emma receives a map from Pan leading to Henry. The catch is the map won't work until Emma stops "denying who she really is". Regina dislikes playing by Pan's rules and makes a move to enchant the map with magic, but Emma refuses. When Emma's attempts fail to yield anything, Regina snatches the map and places a locator spell on it, which leads them straight to Pan, who then sends the Lost Boys to engage them in a quick paced combat that ends fairly quickly. Afterwards, Regina receives word that Emma finally cracked open the map. They form a strategy to travel towards Pan's camp, though Regina is still unsure about their methods of doing things. Emma reasons they are stronger together in a group than separate. Regina decides to be a team player as they assemble for leaving. ("Lost Girl")

The plan to reach Pan is a failure once when they notice his camp location keeps changing; making their journey fruitless. Hook considers a fairy named Tinker Bell who Pan trusts and can likely get them into the camp with pixie dust. Having a prior ill experience with Tinker Bell, though she doesn't disclose it, Regina tries to talk everyone out of finding the fairy. As an alternative, she wants to combine powers with Emma to take on Pan. Emma refuses since there's always going to be a price of magic. Out of frustration, Regina accuses Emma of listening to Hook because he's her "boyfriend", but retracts the inflammatory statement, blaming the outburst on stress. When Regina, out of fatigue, stops to take a rest, Emma asks about her relationship to Tinker Bell. She only says it's a "complicated history" and all the better if they don't meet again. The two have a shared moment about Henry when Regina brings up her naming of the rescue mission as "Operation Henry". After urging Emma on, Regina is left alone until Tinker Bell steps out to face her. Out of annoyance, she challenges Tinker Bell, who then knocks her out with poppy dust. Regina awakens, wrists bound, in a cave as Tinker Bell blames her as the reason she lost everything. In defense, Regina claims Tinker Bell was the one who wrongly interfered in her life. Realizing Tinker Bell has no magic, Regina breaks out of the binds only to have a Dreamshade coated knife pressed into her neck. As an even better deal, she gives Tinker Bell her heart. Though Regina pushes her to crush it, Tinker Bell furiously asks why she, all those years ago, didn't meet her true love. Tearfully, Regina bitterly admits to being afraid of what she might have become without all the anger inside herself, and exemplifies her blackened heart as the product of choosing hatred over hope and love. She pleads for the ex-fairy not to make the same mistake and promises it's not too late to backtrack. When asked, Regina confirms her love for Henry is genuine, which placates Tinker Bell, who returns the heart. Outside the cavern, Regina exits to see her group members apprehending Tinker Bell, so she quickly approaches to clear up the misunderstanding. Though Tinker Bell no longer has her fairy powers or pixie dust, Emma and Mary Margaret promise her a place in Storybrooke if she helps them infiltrate Pan's base. She agrees and goes back to camp with them. Once there, Regina admits to Tinker Bell that she never went back to find her fated partner. Uneasily, she learns this caused her life to be ruined as well as her true love's.

At the camp base, Regina listens as Emma elaborates on their strategy for entering Pan's headquarters from the back after Tinker Bell talks her way in through the front. Before they put the plan into action, Tinker Bell wants to know their escape route off the island, which no one has a clear answer. She stresses that no one ever leaves the island without Pan's permission. To prove a point about how dangerous Pan can be, Tinker Bell shows them a watch that came from the people who brought Henry to Neverland, proving Greg and Tamara were killed by him. Tinker Bell weighs the risk as not worthy unless they have a way to leave Neverland and she makes off for her tree house. Emma pegs their chances of escaping aren't very good if they don't even know the way out. They talk about how Hook left Neverland, which was through a special one time deal with Pan, though he notes Neal managed to escape on his own. They set off for a cave Neal once inhabited as a boy, where they find two coconut halves that when combined in the dark, illuminate a star constellation map with an escape route. Despite that Hook taught Neal how to navigate using the stars, he also coached him that all map makers never reveal their secrets. Therefore, the map can only be read by Neal himself.

With no way of using the map, everyone gives a more thorough search in the cave for something else that might be useful. In the hopes of letting Henry know they are coming for him, Mary Margaret suggests they make a large net to catch a Lost Boy. During this period, David and Hook return from gathering vine to notify everyone about their plans to reach the top of Dead Man's Peak to find a sextant to read Neal's map. After finishing the net, Regina, Emma and Mary Margaret lure a Lost Boy named Devin, into falling into the trap. While Regina entices him with a bar of chocolate, Emma asks for a message to be delivered to Henry, reminding Devin that he once had a home and family but stopped believing return was possible. Though he is promised safe passage off the island, Devin takes the chocolate and hurls it into the jungle; stating he doesn't want to go home. To Regina's shock, he also reveals the cut on his cheek was not Pan's work, but Henry's. Since Devin is unwilling to help, Emma ties him to a tree as he boasting Henry is one of their most vicious new recruits in ages. This angers Regina enough that she moves to rip out Devin's heart, but is blocked by Mary Margaret. To fuel the fire, she asks Emma to allow her to do it. Emma agrees, much to Mary Margaret's displeasure, though the heart allows Regina to send Devin back to Pan's camp to deliver one half of a mirror to Henry. From the other half of the mirror, they use it to communicate with Henry, who is convinced they are real after Emma names their mission to save him as "Operation Cobra Rescue". They head back to their own camp as Regina is reassured by Emma of her worries over Henry since he is their son, and has knowledge his family hasn't given up on him. Mary Margaret is sorry for doubting Emma's decision to allow Devin's heart to be ripped out as she knows how easy it is to give into darkness. Regina arbitrates that she, not Emma, gave into the darkness. David and Hook arrive back, but without the sextant as Pan got to it first. Nonetheless, David announces that Hook saved his life by protecting him from a Dreamshade arrow after they were ambushed on the way to the peak. Regina is handed Hook's rum bottle after both David and Mary Margaret take sips in honor of the pirate, but she rejects the drink and retreats away. ("Good Form")

Instructing Emma on magic, Regina instructs her to channel anger into power. Emma doesn't want to if it means going dark, which leads insults between them. Unintentionally, Emma taps into her own rage and lights a fire on the wood, much to Regina's satisfaction. Unexpectedly, Mary Margaret blurts out, after much questioning from Emma, that Neal is alive. While Emma is slowly being convinced of the possibility, Regina thinks it's one of Pan's false leads. Not willing to stand for something that likely isn't even true, Regina leaves the group. She wanders the jungle until stumbling on Mr. Gold as he is falling under the spell of the Shadow who has taken on the appearance of Belle. She begins using magic to choke "Belle" until the facade melts off to reveal the Shadow just before it flees. Regina berates Mr. Gold over his foolishness and expresses frustration over her previous ventures with David, Emma and Mary Margaret and getting nowhere in the plan of reaching Henry. Though she wants to team up with him, Mr. Gold states that the only way to stop Pan is if he dies as well in the process. She is certain there must be another way, but he reaffirms that death is the only path. As much as she would not mind destroying Pan, Regina suggests they can find a way to contain him. Mr. Gold has just the item for the job, except it's sitting in his pawnshop. She reprehends him for not bringing it along, though Mr. Gold's whole plan all along was to sacrifice his own life to kill Pan. Regina mocks him for such an idiotic plan as his will for self-preservation is too strong anyway. To procure the item, Regina summons a mermaid, Ariel, from the ocean. Since Ariel has a grudge against Regina for stealing her voice, she returns it. Additionally, she gives her a bracelet, in which the wearer can have control over having human legs. More importantly, the place she will go is also where her past love, Eric, resides in. At this, Ariel complies with their terms and is told to go to Storybrooke. ("Ariel")

To help Ariel find the way there, Mr. Gold draws a route to Storybrooke on the ground and then gives her an enchanted sand dollar to take to Belle. Regina decides to hold off on telling Ariel the whereabouts of Eric until after she accomplishes the mission, and stresses the bracelet will only give her legs for twenty-four hours. Passing the time until Ariel's return, Regina asks Mr. Gold if he really believes Belle can succeed. He is certain she can, but Regina wants to be sure his feelings aren't blinding him. Mr. Gold attests that his feelings for Belle are enough to believe in her. She realizes he must really love her. He jokes she is jealous, but Regina denies being envious of Belle. However, Regina is taken aback when Mr. Gold determines she actually covets not having someone. A splash interrupts the exchange as Ariel peers out from the water to deliver the box to Mr. Gold. Regina praises her for success in the mission and uses magic on the bracelet to allow Ariel control over being human. Mr. Gold counsels her to go back to Storybrooke and seek out Eric. Before she goes, Ariel notifies them about Pan's prisoner, Wendy, and the girl's brothers are in Storybrooke anxiously awaiting their sister. Regina has no concern for anyone except Henry, though Ariel calls attention to the fact they have a way to get to him through herself and Belle. She proposes one way to repay the debt is to save Wendy. Though Mr. Gold is willing to try, Regina stays firm to her previous stance. ("Dark Hollow")

Regina brings up the ludicrous search that Emma and the others went on looking for Neal, who is presumed dead, when Mr. Gold admits that he is actually alive. She is surprised over his choice in letting Neal go as he might have a way off the island. Regina also senses he is hiding something, but Mr. Gold smoothly talks his way through the subject. Then, they come across David, Emma, Hook, Mary Margaret, Neal and Tinker Bell in the jungle. Regina presents them with the useful of Pandora's Box, but Neal is displeased to see Mr. Gold. He blurts out his father's objective to kill Henry and prevent a seer's prophecy from coming true. Shocked, Regina backs away as everyone subsequently draws their weapons at Mr. Gold. Things cool down only when Neal makes him hand over the box. After Tinker Bell gains access into the perimeter of the encampment and the Lost Boys are put to sleep by Regina, neither Henry or Pan are found there. Instead, Neal frees a young prisoner, Wendy, and brings her back to camp to inquire about Henry. Forced to act on Pan's wishes, Wendy lies to them, but with some encouragement, she yields and tells the truth. Emma gains insight on Pan's real reason for needing Henry's heart, which is to save himself from dying and then become immortal. As a trade, Pan lives, but Henry will die. By rowboat, Regina, Emma, Mr. Gold and Neal ascend onto Skull Rock to stop Pan. Instead, they are stopped by a barrier, enacted to keep out anyone with a shadow, blocking their path up the stairs. As Mr. Gold is the only one without a shadow, he is able to enter through and goes up to confront Pan with the box. While he is gone, Emma and Regina use magic to block out the moon as well as their shadows. The trio rush up to the upper level to witness Henry pulling out his own heart. All three attempt to dissuade him from the sacrifice, but through Pan's manipulations, Henry chooses to give up his heart. They cry out in horror as he plunges the heart into Pan's chest, causing all of them to be thrown back from the impact, and Henry collapses. As they rush over to check up on his unmoving body, Pan rises into the air. ("Think Lovely Thoughts")

Regina refuses to leave her son's side while Pan gloats over how he got Henry to give up his heart. He also reveals Mr. Gold is now trapped inside the box before Emma nicks him. Shortly after, Pan takes off. In desperation, Regina lashes out at Neal's ridiculous suggestion that they should check the Lost Boy camp for Pan when she knows their nemesis wouldn't risk going back there. Though Emma claims to know how she feels, Regina begs to differ. Regina emphasizes all the family and loved ones Emma has, while she herself has only ever had Henry. Neither are able to think of what else they can do, but Regina notices the blood on Emma's sword when she cut Pan, meaning he can be killed. Back at the Lost Boy camp, Regina casts a preservation spell on Henry's body to last one hour until they track down Pan. Regina interrogates Felix, who won't talk, so she goes for his heart, though Emma gets her to back down. Instead, Emma sways the other Lost Boys with the promise she will get them off the island, to which they disclose Pan is at his "thinking tree" in Pixie Woods. Once Regina, Emma and Mary Margaret get there, they are ensnared by tree vines. Pan mentions the tree is special to him because it's the same place that he abandoned his son, Mr. Gold. As such, the tree will kill those who feel regret, so he brings up guilt-worthy moments from each person's past. Regina attests to doing cruel and horrible things, but regrets nothing since each one of those deeds led her to Henry. She breaks herself and her allies free, tears out Henry's heart from Pan and steals back the box as well. They hurry onto the Jolly Roger in time to place the heart back in Henry as he gasps to life. Happy beyond words, Regina tucks Henry into bed and casts a protection spell on his heart so it can never be ripped out again. A short time later, she rushes back in to check up on Henry after Mr. Gold absorbs Pan into the box. Regina helps to project the Shadow into a sail after it is released and fired into the air, which then powers the ship for the flight home. Lastly, Tinker Bell congratulates Regina for getting Henry back as the two clear up their past differences. ("Save Henry")

Following a safe journey out of Neverland to Storybrooke, Regina descends onto the docks as David, Emma, Henry and Mary Margaret are greeted by the townspeople with much acclaim. Once again the oddball out, she says nothing during the entire spectacle until Mary Margaret brings to everyone's attention that it was because of Regina's helpful efforts which allowed them to return home. Regina looks on; surprised at the praise. On Henry's word, Regina and the others agree Felix is dangerous and decide to lock him up. Then, Mr. Gold secures the box in his pawnshop so Pan can never be freed. During an evening festivity at the diner, Henry prepares to say goodnight to Regina, except he asks to spend the night at her house in his old room. Happily, Regina accepts as Emma allows it, and the two go home together. That night, Henry relates his fears that Pan will somehow break out of the box and harm him again. He pleads for the necessity of the magic in her vault as a defense, but she is has no concerns about Pan ever getting out of the box. She also stresses that magic is not the answer to everything, and tucks him into bed. The next day, Mother Superior is killed by the Shadow. Suspecting Pan is controlling the creature from inside the box, Regina takes Henry to her vault for protection. While inside, she and Henry share a tender moment, but in the next instant, Regina is knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, she learns from David, Emma, Mary Margaret and Mr. Gold that Pan has been in Henry's body this entire time. Regina is profoundly upset to have fallen for Pan's trickery, especially since she had hoped her son still needed her. Henry, in Pan's body, admits that he still does need her, and warmly embraces a tearful Regina. However, more trouble brews, as they discover Pan took the scroll for the Dark Curse. ("The New Neverland")

Mr. Gold shares with everyone of the only viable way to stop Pan's curse is for Regina, as the original caster of the Dark Curse, to undo it by destroying the scroll, though there will be a steep price for this. They plan to switch Henry back to his own body so he will be in possession of the scroll and bring it to Regina. Mr. Gold can perform the spell, but needs a strong outlet in order for it to work. Tinker Bell has knowledge of a powerful Black Fairy wand that Mother Superior kept, so she, David, Hook and Neal go to retrieve it from the convent nuns. David, Hook and Neal arrive back with the wand. After Henry's spirit is transferred into his old body, everyone heads out to look for him. They find him near the clock tower with Granny's tracking skills. Regina passes out after taking the scroll and awakens with knowledge of the price for stopping the curse. They are accosted by Pan as he steals back the scroll and freezes them in place. The showdown ends when Mr. Gold summons the dagger and stabs Pan as well as himself with it; killing both of them. Regina reveals the price for stopping the curse is all former Enchanted Forest inhabitants will be sent back to their old world while Storybrooke will disappear out of existence. She urges Emma to stay with Henry. At the town border, Regina says goodbye to her son. Henry blames himself, as everything would have never occurred had he not sought out Emma, and is sorry for believing that Regina did not love him. She has her share of regrets for casting the curse out of vengeance. Regina calls herself a villain who can't have a happy ending, he corrects her; saying she is simply his mother. As Emma drives out of Storybrooke with Henry, their memories are altered by Regina, while everyone inside town is taken back to the Enchanted Forest. ("Going Home")

Season 3
After taking magical preventive measures to undo Pan's casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke pay the price by returning to the Enchanted Forest and reverting to their prior personas. For Regina, the burden of the price is the heaviest as she will be forever separated from her beloved son Henry. In a group, they manifest in the land of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip where Regina mentions in passing that her old palace is still standing due to a preservation spell. She scoffs at Snow White's suggestion that they go there together until the latter insists their united forces will ease the other inhabitants' minds. During the trek, Regina disappears into the woods alone to take out her own heart since the pain of losing Henry is becoming too much to bear. As she is burying it, Snow White finds her. The princess sympathizes with Regina's plight, as she knows what it's like to say goodbye to her own child, but promises the pain will lessen over time. Snow White convinces her that she must find happiness for Henry's sake, so Regina reluctantly reinserts the heart. Soon after, they are attacked by a flying monkey. The creature grabs Regina and scratches her, but is chased off by one of the Merry Men's arrows. Regina exchanges tense words with both Little John and Robin Hood since her less than pleasant reputation as Queen still remains. The Merry Men accompany the whole group to the palace, but once there, Regina discovers a protection spell keeping them out, meaning someone is already inside. For the time being, Robin Hood suggests everyone can take shelter in Sherwood Forest. ("New York City Serenade")

As the group departs for Sherwood Forest, Regina proposes to Prince Charming and Snow White that she break into the palace by using the underground tunnels, which are not protected by the spell, and afterwards, lower the shield so everyone can lead an army in. The flying monkey attacks again, with Robin Hood's son, Roland, nearly swooped by the creature, but Regina protects him by turning the creature into a stuffed animal, which she gifts to the boy. In a group discussion, Belle shares knowledge about the flying monkey's origins in the land of Oz, so Regina determines the person in the palace is the Wicked Witch. Robin Hood joins her as payment for rescuing his son earlier. They reach the crypt, bound by blood magic, is open. At the bedchamber, Regina begins mixing ingredients for a Sleeping Curse and admits her desire to use the curse on herself. When Robin Hood tries to stop her, she freezes him. Regina wishes for the curse to be broken by the only true love in her life—Henry—since she wants to live for him. After taking down the shield, Regina apologizes to Henry before preparing to prick herself with the curse. The Wicked Witch takes it away, and introduces herself as Zelena. Regina asks how she got past the crypt's seal, but Zelena insists it wasn't broken open. The woman claims they are half-sisters, with Cora as their shared parent, though Regina is in disbelief. Zelena is embittered by the abandonment, yet her sister had everything, though Regina considers her lucky to have escaped Cora's grip. Nonetheless, Zelena announces that her true intent is to get what she desires; describing it as "her dreams being realized" while Regina will suffer a "fate worse than death". Motivated by an enemy, Regina decides she'll live to destroy Zelena's life. ("Witch Hunt")

Following her encounter with Zelena, Regina gives Robin Hood a set of gold arrows as a reward for helping to enter the castle. While gathered inside the palace with Belle, Robin Hood, Snow White and many other residents, Regina witnesses a reunion between a long-lost Princess Rapunzel, who Prince Charming helped rescue, and her parents. ("The Tower")

Learning of Snow White's pregnancy, Regina dissuades the princess about announcing it to the kingdom's citizens, especially with Zelena still at large. The conversation is interrupted by Belle's return, to which she explains how Neal sacrificed his own life to resurrect Rumplestiltskin, who is now controlled by Zelena. While everyone ponders what the witch wants from them, Aurora and Prince Phillip admit Zelena desires Snow White's unborn child and that they were forced to keep quiet or their own child would be harmed. After this revelation, Zelena arrives to turn the two into flying monkeys and immobilizes Snow White. Regina steps forward to defend her, but she, too, is frozen in place. Zelena approaches to touch Snow White's belly; claiming the baby will be hers, and she departs soon after. Later, Regina, Belle, Grumpy, Prince Charming, Snow White, and Robin Hood discuss counterattacking Zelena. Despite that Regina highly disapproves of Robin Hood's presence on the war council, he curtly remarks that his help is necessary. Deciding Rumplestiltskin would know best, they break into the Dark One's castle; with Robin Hood stopping Regina from using magic on the sealed door and instead firing an arrow to trigger a trap explosion. Though he saved her, Regina chastises that he nearly killed her. Inside, they gain information from Rumplestiltskin about Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who can help them. Regina, with Prince Charming and Snow White, find a door leading to Glinda, but it can only be accessed by the pure of heart. When the couple disappear into the entrance, she tries entering only to be denied. After returning, the pair talk about Zelena's weakness—light magic—a criteria Emma fits. Regina refuses to cast another Dark Curse as it would mean giving up Henry's heart. Urged by Prince Charming, Snow White sacrifices his heart to cast the curse. Suddenly, Zelena swoops down to add a potion into the curse mixture, which will erase everyone's memories of their year in the Enchanted Forest. Before the curse spreads, Regina, on her stepdaughter's wishes, tears out Snow White's heart and divides it equally. With one half returned to Snow White, the other is used to revive Prince Charming just as the curse closes in. ("A Curious Thing")

Before Second Curse
After taking magical preventive measures to undo Pan's casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke pay the price by returning to the Enchanted Forest and reverting to their prior personas. For Regina, the burden of the price is the heaviest as she will be forever separated from her beloved son Henry. In a group, they manifest in the land of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip where Regina mentions in passing that her old palace is still standing due to a preservation spell. She scoffs at Snow White's suggestion that they go there together until the latter insists their united forces will ease the other inhabitants' minds. During the trek, Regina disappears into the woods alone to take out her own heart since the pain of losing Henry is becoming too much to bear. As she is burying it, Snow White finds her. The princess sympathizes with Regina's plight, as she knows what it's like to say goodbye to her own child, but promises the pain will lessen over time. Snow White convinces her that she must find happiness for Henry's sake, so Regina reluctantly reinserts the heart. Soon after, they are attacked by a flying monkey. The creature grabs Regina and scratches her, but is chased off by one of the Merry Men's arrows. Regina exchanges tense words with both Little John and Robin Hood since her less than pleasant reputation as Queen still remains. The Merry Men accompany the whole group to the palace, but once there, Regina discovers a protection spell keeping them out, meaning someone is already inside. For the time being, Robin Hood suggests everyone can take shelter in Sherwood Forest. ("New York City Serenade")

As the group departs for Sherwood Forest, Regina proposes to Prince Charming and Snow White that she break into the palace by using the underground tunnels, which are not protected by the spell, and afterwards, lower the shield so everyone can lead an army in. The flying monkey attacks again, with Robin Hood's son, Roland, nearly swooped by the creature, but Regina protects him by turning the creature into a stuffed animal, which she gifts to the boy. In a group discussion, Belle shares knowledge about the flying monkey's origins in the land of Oz, so Regina determines the person in the palace is the Wicked Witch. Robin Hood joins her as payment for rescuing his son earlier. They reach the crypt, bound by blood magic, is open. At the bedchamber, Regina begins mixing ingredients for a Sleeping Curse and admits her desire to use the curse on herself. When Robin Hood tries to stop her, she freezes him. Regina wishes for the curse to be broken by the only true love in her life—Henry—since she wants to live for him. After taking down the shield, Regina apologizes to Henry before preparing to prick herself with the curse. The Wicked Witch takes it away, and introduces herself as Zelena. Regina asks how she got past the crypt's seal, but Zelena insists it wasn't broken open. The woman claims they are half-sisters, with Cora as their shared parent, though Regina is in disbelief. Zelena is embittered by the abandonment, yet her sister had everything, though Regina considers her lucky to have escaped Cora's grip. Nonetheless, Zelena announces that her true intent is to get what she desires; describing it as "her dreams being realized" while Regina will suffer a "fate worse than death". Motivated by an enemy, Regina decides she'll live to destroy Zelena's life. ("Witch Hunt")

Following her encounter with Zelena, Regina gives Robin Hood a set of gold arrows as a reward for helping to enter the castle. While gathered inside the palace with Belle, Robin Hood, Snow White and many other residents, Regina witnesses a reunion between a long-lost Princess Rapunzel, who Prince Charming helped rescue, and her parents. ("The Tower")

Learning of Snow White's pregnancy, Regina dissuades the princess about announcing it to the kingdom's citizens, especially with Zelena still at large. The conversation is interrupted by Belle's return, to which she explains how Neal sacrificed his own life to resurrect Rumplestiltskin, who is now controlled by Zelena. While everyone ponders what the witch wants from them, Aurora and Prince Phillip admit Zelena desires Snow White's unborn child and that they were forced to keep quiet or their own child would be harmed. After this revelation, Zelena arrives to turn the two into flying monkeys and immobilizes Snow White. Regina steps forward to defend her, but she, too, is frozen in place. Zelena approaches to touch Snow White's belly; claiming the baby will be hers, and she departs soon after. Later, Regina, Belle, Grumpy, Prince Charming, Snow White, and Robin Hood discuss counterattacking Zelena. Despite that Regina highly disapproves of Robin Hood's presence on the war council, he curtly remarks that his help is necessary. Deciding Rumplestiltskin would know best, they break into the Dark One's castle; with Robin Hood stopping Regina from using magic on the sealed door and instead firing an arrow to trigger a trap explosion. Though he saved her, Regina chastises that he nearly killed her. Inside, they gain information from Rumplestiltskin about Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, who can help them. Regina, with Prince Charming and Snow White, find a door leading to Glinda, but it can only be accessed by the pure of heart. When the couple disappear into the entrance, she tries entering only to be denied. After returning, the pair talk about Zelena's weakness—light magic—a criteria Emma fits. Regina refuses to cast another Dark Curse as it would mean giving up Henry's heart. Urged by Prince Charming, Snow White sacrifices his heart to cast the curse. Suddenly, Zelena swoops down to add a potion into the curse mixture, which will erase everyone's memories of their year in the Enchanted Forest. Before the curse spreads, Regina, on her stepdaughter's wishes, tears out Snow White's heart and divides it equally. With one half returned to Snow White, the other is used to revive Prince Charming just as the curse closes in. ("A Curious Thing")

Season 3
A new curse is cast by someone powerful; returning Regina and the rest of the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to the town ofStorybrooke. However, as a result of the curse, everyone's last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Pan's curse was stopped, but no one can recall anything further than that. Regina resumes work as the mayor and receives a shock when she sees Henry at the diner. She drops a cup, startling him, but quickly recovers to apologize. Regina is pulled aside by Emma, who regained her memories from a potion. She denies responsibility for the new curse as being without her son is torture. Emma believes her, but the culprit must be found, so they lure everyone into believing Regina is to blame. At a town hall meeting, Leroy, who is also in on the ploy, accuses Regina and the whole town turns against her. To up the show, Regina causes a tremor and teleports away. Regrouping at the mayoral office with Emma, Regina makes a potion to recall the year prior to the new curse, but it fails. In another plan, they have Leroy spread the false word that Regina is making a potion, so whoever drinks it can recall who cursed them, in order to smoke out the crook. She and Emma have a stake-out in a car, and upon seeing a shadow in the mayoral office, they burst in, but the person disappears in green smoke. Afterward, Regina meets Henry; inviting him on a town tour and ice cream, to which he accepts. Later, David and Hook report witnessing a resident transform into a flying monkey, as it is concluded that the Wicked Witch of the West cast the new curse. ("Witch Hunt")

While David, Emma and Hook search the mayoral office for any evidence the Wicked Witch left behind, Regina treats Henry to ice cream and they walk through the Storybrooke Heritage Park. She is pleased to hear that he likes Storybrooke, which unlike New York, is not as large and makes him feel less lonely. Henry relates his concerns about Emma' suspecting his mother dragged him to Storybrooke for more than work-related business, and believes she is struggling since turning down her boyfriend Walsh's proposal. When he expresses a fondness for Walsh since the three of them spent holidays together, Regina implies that he may have many relatives to spend festivities with someday; referencing herself and the rest of his family that he doesn't remember. After receiving a call from Emma, Regina drops Henry off at Granny's and rejoins her allies, before heading to find David. He tells them about the Wicked Witch using magic to make a doppelganger of him, which he then defeated by facing his fears and stabbing his attacker with his sword. At the mention of the hilt disappearing with the attacker, Regina proposes the Wicked Witch has the sword since David used it to vanquish his fears, and that it is now a powerful totem with his courage imbued into it. Altogether, they go to a farmhouse and investigate a cellar, which was locked, but is now mysteriously open. Inside, the cell's occupant is gone, but a spinning wheel with strands of spun gold litter the floor, proving Mr. Gold is alive. ("The Tower")

After the Second Curse
After returning to Storybrooke, Regina began to start over her new life without the Evil Queen persona. However, the Evil Queen would soon emerge once again after the Spell of Shattered Sight was cast by Ingrid which will take effect by sundown. Regina and her allies all decided that they must do something fast.

At first, they try scaling the ice wall to escape town before the spell hits, but the barricade is too powerful. A fissure in the ice reveals Anna's lost necklace, which Elsa retrieves and she believes is a sign they will defeat Ingrid. Regina takes Henry and goes to warn Robin about the imminent threat. Basking in their last moments together, she looks longingly at her lover; explaining her desire to remember him while he still has love for her, but he reasons they should think about the present for now. Comfortingly, they share a kiss and hug each other.

After Elsa and Emma discover a counter spell, using a hair strand from someone who has already been under Ingrid's spell—namely Anna—can be made to combat the curse, they track her to a mine cave-in. Regrouping at the library, Regina suggests blasting through the mine, however, David receives word from Belle that a counter spell is possible with only the necklace. With the town in danger, Regina chides everyone about the lives at stake, and they must give up on Anna. Emma persuades Elsa into handing over the pendant in a pouch, but only after delivering it to the nuns for the counter spell, the group realize the bag contains pebbles. Emma, refusing to lose hope, pursues Elsa. Meanwhile, Regina brings Henry to the mayoral office; apologizing about her feelings for Robin distracting her from Operation Mongoose. He is sure they'll find the Author, though Regina declares they must survive first, so she seals him in the office before the curse hits. Outside the room, she refuses to allow Robin to go with her to the vault. Regina reasons that she must seal herself in there to keep from hurting people under the spell's influence, but Robin swears he's not afraid of her. She contends he should be, and then flees to the vault; magically barricading herself in. ("Fall")

Under the curse, Regina is once again overwhelmed by her Evil Queen personality, however, and does not recall locking herself in the vault. When her attempts to exit fail, she assumes the barrier keeping her in must be Emma's doing. Going down the staircase, Regina sees her own reflection. Not liking her current clothes, she poofs into more Queenly attire. While looking up spells to cast on Emma, she senses the savior herself is nearby. Accompanied by Elsa, Emma enters and reveals she brought Marian from the past on purpose to prove Regina could never have a happy ending. In truth, they deliberately provoke Regina to incite her hatred, which they need to counter Ingrid's love so the ribbons on their wrists can be destroyed. In a rage, Regina hurls fire magic at them, but it burns up the ribbons instead. Having gotten what they came for, Emma throws Regina backwards into the wall, and then she and Elsa take off. Regina later stalks into the sheriff station looking for them, but finds an imprisoned Mary Margaret. Regina's grudge against Mary Margaret for causing Daniel's death is revived, and she threatens to kill baby Neal as payback. After returning Anna and Kristoff to "where they came from", the Evil Queen magically unlocks Mary Margaret's cell and challenges her to a sword-fight. Both sustain blows, but neither give up. As morning approaches, they continue to have it out until the curse, prompted by Ingrid's sacrifice of her own life, is broken.

Reverting to their former selves, Regina, Mary Margaret and David, who is still locked in his cell, burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of their prior disputes. Following a change of clothes, Regina goes with them to find Emma. As David and Mary Margaret reunite with their daughter, Henry rejoins Regina. ("Shattered Sight")

Alternate Timeline
Later, the Queen crashes an engagement party at King Midas' castle in order to search for Snow White. Though the bandit is spotted, she escapes due to help from Princess Leia, who is imprisoned by the Queen. She sentences both the princess and the previous woman to execution the next day, but unknown to her, they later manage to break free. That night, the Queen sits in front of a dresser admiring the poisoned apple when she coolly notices Snow White attempting to sneak up on her. Snow White hurls fairy dust, intending to turn her into a harmless bug, but the Queen easily neutralizes it. As she calls for the guards to take her away, Snow White insists what she did long ago—telling Cora about Daniel—was just an honest mistake. In turn, the Queen snaps that she never learned the most basic lesson—all actions have consequences. Soon, Snow White is tied to a post in the courtyard as the Queen conjures a fireball to incinerate her. Before the flame hits its target, Snow White uses the remaining dust to transform herself into a bug, which is unseen to the Queen's eyes. Later on, she discovers Snow White is still alive and attempting to cross a bridge, so she has the trolls attack her. Snow White escapes again, to which the furious Queen turns the trolls into bugs and stomps on one of them. She threatens to do the same to a guard if he doesn't bring her Snow White. ("Snow Drifts", "There's No Place Like Home")

During Alternate Reality
After Isaac rewrites everyone's stories in the Heroes and Villains book, Regina becomes a thief on the run from her stepmother, Queen Snow White, who hates her for telling a secret and causing her true love James' death. Living in the woods, she tries to rob from the Queen's carriages and gain enough to leave the kingdom, but another thief named Robin Hood often steals her prizes first. One day, she corners a boy, Henry, after catching him snooping around her makeshift home. He claims to be her son, insisting the life she is living now is not real, and tries to prove it with a book called Heroes and Villains. Regina reads a line in book stating she will rob from a carriage later, which is exactly what she had intended to do. Instead, she is freaked out by the book seeing her future, while Henry suggests Robin Hood is her true love and she has to kiss him to revert everything to normal.

While ambushing a royal carriage, Regina unexpectedly faces Snow White, who demands the boy's location. Regina hesitates, causing the Queen to conjure a fireball, but before she can throw it, someone distracts her with a loosed arrow. Seeing a man on horseback, Regina hitches a getaway ride. Only after they stop at a tavern, she discovers he is Robin Hood. In admiration of her, he offers Regina leadership over the Merry Men, but she declines. Upon learning he is leaving his old life behind to get married, Regina is disheartened by the news, considering what Henry told her earlier. Once again, Henry tries to convince her otherwise, but she is angry he gave her hope of finding true love. By chance, he mentions "the savior", who Regina admits is a woman the Queen locked away. ("Operation Mongoose Part 1")

Later, Henry returns after rescuing the savior, Emma, who convinces Regina to take a chance with Robin Hood. The trio head to stop Robin Hood's wedding, but when Rumplestiltskin blocks them, Emma duels with him while Regina rushes ahead. Peeking into the church, Regina finds herself unable to go in, though she and Robin Hood lock eyes at one point. Eventually, she abandons her plan to take a fatal blow that Rumplestiltskin meant for Henry. As Regina lays dying, the church bells chime, signaling Isaac's stories are now becoming permanent forever. Soon, Robin Hood reaches Regina's side, staying with her in her last moments. In a stroke of luck, Henry harnesses the quill, becoming the new Author, and uses Regina's blood as ink to reverse Isaac's stories and return everyone to Storybrooke. ("Operation Mongoose Part 2")