The Reality of Heroes
WARNING: This Journal Article Contains spoilers for Once Upon a Time Seasons 1-5.
What makes a true hero?
Most people seem to believe that a hero is an upright figure that looks handsome or beautiful, wears golden armor and vanquishes evil foes to rescue damsels and other such civilians.
That’s not a hero; that’s merely a champion.
The reality of being a hero is all about responsibility, accountability and sacrifice.
Let’s begin by examining one of the greatest heroes of Storybrooke: Regina Mills.
Regina began her heroic career by attempting to shut down the self-destruct device at the end of season 2. She said it was her fault that this was happening and she took responsibility for what she had done. She was accountable for her actions. She was willing to give her life to make things right. I thought this would make her a hero but when she was in Neverland, she showed Tinkerbell her heart. It was still dark. Being a hero is the essence of who you are. It’s not a “sometimes” thing. It’s a choice you make every day, with everything you do.
Regrettably, despite what she had accomplished that day, heroism was still a long way off for her.
Later, Regina broke free from the “tree of regrets” because she felt no regrets for the evil she had done. “I regret nothing, because it got me my son.” Besting Peter Pan because Regina felt no regrets wasn’t heroic; it was a sign that she was still villainous. True monsters feel no regret, so she was still a monster. Back in Storybrooke, when Pan unleashed the Dark Curse, Regina destroyed it, giving her son a great life. Breaking Pan’s curse (at great personal cost) was not really all that heroic either, as she had no choice. It wasn’t a real sacrifice, as she would have lost Henry either way.
Vanquishing the Wicked Witch also didn’t make her a hero; it made her a champion. Regina still threatened to kill Zelena if she didn’t change her ways. Regina was still the evil queen; she just found a new way to hide it. Everything we do flows naturally from who we are and as a result, she wasn’t really a hero. All of Regina’s actions were selfishly motivated: she had no moral compass, no sense of right and wrong, everything she accomplished, Regina only did for the happy ending that ultimately eluded her.
When she became a champion and vanquished the wicked witch, she did everything she was supposed to do: She used light magic, she defeated the villain, she showed her mercy and she even spouted a platitude for good measure. She did everything that was expected of her and still she didn’t get the happily ever after. Regina confused heroism with ambition. True heroism was still a concept that was foreign to her. Regina would eventually find her way to it though, and her moment came when, after losing everything to the wicked witch, she resorted to the author to fix everything.
The Goat and the Wand
Regina, like most of us in this world, wanted two things: a goat and a wand. By this I mean she wanted a scapegoat to blame everything on and a magic wand to make her problems go away.
When things went wrong, she resorted to her old habits: Blaming a scapegoat (the author) misuse of magic, forcing the issue, solving everything with one grand gesture all at once…
Regina had done this many times before: Poison Apple, Dark Curse, Apple turnover…
Isaac Heller was just the latest attempt in a long line of this same mistake: blaming other people and trying to make herself happy by changing her circumstances through magic. In the end, she chose not to do that anymore and to take responsibility for her actions. In taking responsibility, one gains the only power that matters: power over one’s own life. In taking responsibility, she became a complete person and was ready for her final journey towards true heroism.
That opportunity came in Heroes in Villains.
Everyone was swept away into a new world by Isaac Heller. It was just like the dark curse, only this time, Regina had nothing to do with it. All hope was not lost however, as Henry evaded it and found Regina, Hook and Emma and convinced them to fight in order to set things right. Isaac tried to stop them by convincing a newly minted Rumplestiltskin (the Light One) that he had to protect what he had or lose everything.
Despite their best (or worst) efforts, Regina still triumphed. Why?
Magic can only change a person’s circumstances, not who they are. As the Light One, Rumplestiltskin could wear the trappings, he could slay the ogres, and he could spout the platitudes, but he must ultimately be the man he is: The type of man who would sacrifice a boy—either Henry or Balefire—in order to hold on to his power. Rumplestiltskin could not be made a better man by magic. He may have been more powerful as the Light One, but he was no less a coward.
Regina, on the other hand, having been stripped of everything (her memory, her magic, even her love for her son), must still ultimately be the woman she is: a responsible, accountable adult. Because she made the change that magic couldn’t—before the story even began—Regina became the kind of person who would save a boy she barely knew even at the cost of her own life. Our actions flow naturally from who we are so Regina’s responsibility and accountability motivated an act of courage and self-sacrifice, i.e. true heroism.
Regina has been this good person since the moment she turned away from Isaac Heller’s offer. By accepting responsibility for her life and her choices, she finally stopped blaming, punishing and exploiting others in order to get what she wanted.
Instead of using magic to change her circumstances, she chose to change herself.
By choosing to end her vicious cycle of blaming and punishing others, Regina transformed herself into someone who is both responsible and accountable—a decent human being—and it is from this solid foundation of responsibility and accountability, that she was able to make the leap into true heroism by passing the ultimate test: self-sacrifice.
Regina is someone who has earned her hero stripes, not just had them handed to her through some dark curse or magic wand or author’s pen.
Or even as an expectation of her birth.
Regina Mills is a true hero not because she was born to be, but because she has chosen to be.
The reality of heroes is that true heroes aren’t born, they’re made.
The Untold Truth of Emma Swan
The Question
Do you believe in destiny?
I used to believe in destiny. I used to believe in saviors, born heroes, chosen ones. I was raised on such stories, from Harry Potter to Star Wars to Mortal Kombat I was taught that there was one person alone who could save the world. No ordinary hero would do. The fate of the world, the future based on good or evil, it was all hinging on the destiny of the chosen one. I accepted this notion without question.
Now that I’m older, I realize that such a belief is nonsense.
There is no destiny. There are no born heroes, no saviors, and no chosen ones.
With that said, it begs the question: Is Emma Swan really the savior?
How could she be the savior if such a thing does not even exist?
Having lost faith in Emma Swan because of her self-serving behavior during the “Lily” episode, I began to look back at the past five years, at everything I thought I knew about Emma and her family. I used a critical eye and a clear mind, examining the decisions they made and the consequences of those choices with an objective viewpoint.
The results I found were horrifying.
Emma Swan was not the savior. She didn’t save the town all those times like we thought. But I, like so many others, always believed in her; even when there were indications of cowardice or selfishness. I always ignored these indications and twisted everything else to make her into the hero I needed to believe in. When it comes to Emma, revisionist history is the rule but revising history only dilutes the lessons we should learn from it.
With Emma “the savior” Swan people start with the conclusion they want and then twist the facts in order to get there.
Conclusion: Emma is the Savior.
Result: Something goes right: praise the Savior. Something goes wrong: blame Regina.
This has been going on for years and it all began with the first mission: Breaking the curse.
Emma didn’t really save everyone from the Dark Curse even though we think that she did.
How I perceived it:
Regina gave Emma an apple turnover to put her out of the way for good. Henry ate it. He slipped into a coma and died. It was Regina’s fault. Her selfishness and desire to control everything cost her son his life. The poor kid got caught in the crossfire.
Fortunately, Emma was there to slay a dragon and break the curse.
Emma saved the day and Regina was driven away.
What really happened:
Emma learned the truth from August. She ran away from him and tried to leave town. When Emma was about to abandon everyone, Henry begged her to stay. He ate the apple turnover on purpose as a last desperate attempt to keep her from leaving. Henry forced her to stay and fight.
Although she was a coward, she couldn’t abandon the town when her son was dying. There was no choice, no way to abandon him. She had to stay and fight which led to her next big sin: the murder of Maleficent.
Killing Maleficent may have seemed heroic but it wasn’t. It was actually pretty basic. It’s an exchange. One life in exchange for another: Maleficent’s life in exchange for Henry’s. For Henry to live, Maleficent must die.
Here’s the rub: Heroes don’t do that. Heroes don’t trade one life for another. Heroes don’t make other people pay for their mistakes.
“Heroes don’t kill.” – Regina Mills.
What Emma did wasn’t heroic. It was murder. In trying to correct her mistake when she didn’t believe in Henry, she sacrificed someone else’s life. She made Maleficent (and Lily) pay for her mistakes.
Heroes aren’t supposed to do that. True heroes find another way. And there was another way. Emma didn’t use the potion to save her son and in the end, she lucked into a curse-breaker.
So Maleficent died for nothing and Emma Swan became a murderer.
The Pseudo Savior
Emma Swan’s virtue is a lie. I assumed Emma was a great hero who saved people but I was wrong. This woman has destroyed the lives of everyone who loved her most:
1. Lily: abandoned. (Twice)
2. Cleo: dead.
3. Henry: abandoned. (Thrice)
4. Regina: wishes she was dead.
5. Henry: betrayed (Violet incident).
6. Hook: betrayed, cursed, ruined, damned and dead.
7. Robin: Obliterated.
But what about all that she has done for the town? She saved all those people…
“Pan, Snow Queen, Trio of terror; we can handle villains like that. But Emma, she was one of us. She knows how we beat bad guys, hell; she beat most of them for us.” – Leroy.
Did she?
Facts:
1. Regina stopped Cora.
2. Regina defeated Pan.
3. Regina broke Pan’s curse.
4. Regina vanquished the wicked witch.
5. Regina sacrificed her life to save Henry from the “Light One” so that he could defeat Isaac Heller.
6. Regina convinced Hook to forsake the darkness, saving everyone from the Underworld.
7. Regina saved her father and mother in the Underworld.
So the much-lauded “Savior of Storybrooke…” never actually saved anyone at all.
It was Regina all along who was making the sacrifices and being the hero.
How did we not see this?
It all comes down to one thing: image.
Image: Emma was an orphan searching for her birth parents. She was also a single mom, ex-con trying to go straight and get her kid back in a nasty custody battle with a one-per center who was literally, literally an evil queen. Who wouldn’t root for her?
Emma’s orphan status makes her sympathetic. The fact that she’s a single mom, ex-con trying to go straight and get her kid back makes her appear relatable, the “underdog”, while fighting against Regina makes her look all the more heroic by comparison. Mr. Gold even helped Emma to win the election by having her stand up to him. As we now know, a great villain makes for a greater-looking “hero.”
She didn’t save the day all those times as we assumed. She mostly campaigned and gave speeches. Not about hope; no, mostly, her speeches were about one thing: kicking ass.
“You want to change things, you have to go out there and change them yourself, because there are no fairy godmothers in this world.”
– Emma Swan to Cinderella, Season 1 Episode 4: The Price of Gold.
She gave a speech to Hook during the season 2 finale:
EMMA
“We understand each other. Look out for yourself and you’ll never get hurt, right?”
HOOK
“Worked quite well for me.”
EMMA
“Yeah, until the day that it doesn’t. We’re doing this. It might be stupid, it might be crazy, but we’re doing it. So you can join us and be a part of something, or you can do what you do best and be alone.”
She made a speech on the shores of Neverland:
“It’s time for all of us to believe. Not in magic, but in each other. We don’t need to be friends, what we need to know is that the only way to get Henry back is cooperation. I’m a mother and now I’m also your leader, so either help me get my son back or get out of the way.”
She makes great speeches, inspires people and this helps enhance her image so people will not see what she really is:
The Destroyer
It takes a special kind of person to become the Dark One. Balefire believed that his father was once a good man and that if they could travel to a world without magic he could be the man he once was. Balefire didn’t understand. His father was never a good man. He just wasn’t as dangerous. He was always a coward who craved power and he became the Dark One for himself, not to save his son.
Rumplestiltskin was a liar, a thief, a murderer, a coward and a monster. He was always a crocodile; we just couldn’t see the leather. Simple Fact: Power doesn’t change people; it reveals them.
Like I said, it takes a special person to become the Dark One and Emma Swan fit the bill quite nicely.
Emma is a liar, a thief, a coward and a murderer.
1. Liar: She lied to Henry about his father. She claims she was trying to protect him, but she wasn’t. She was protecting herself.
2. Coward: In the cave of echoes, Emma wished that Neal was dead. She didn’t want to face the truth that he was alive because she was too afraid. She is a coward.
3. Thief: She’s been stealing all her life.
4. Murderer: She murdered Lily’s mother.
Essentially the only difference between Emma and Rumplestiltskin is the difference between the squirrel and the rat.
“Consider the world a rat lives in. It is a hostile world. If a rat were to scurry in here right now would you greet it with hostility? Has a rat ever done anything to you to create this animosity you feel towards them? Rats were the cause of the bubonic plague, but that was some time ago. I propose to you that any disease a rat could spread, a squirrel could equally carry. But I take it you do not feel the same animosity with rats that you do with squirrels do you? But they’re both rodents, are they not? And except for the tail, they even rather look alike, don’t they? If a rat were to walk in here right now as I’m talking, would you greet it with a saucer of your delicious milk? I didn’t think so. You don’t like them. You don’t really know why you do not like them; all you know is that you find them repulsive.” – Hans Landa, Inglorious Basterds.
Emma is the squirrel. Rumple is the rat.
Any crime Rumplestiltskin has committed, Emma Swan has easily committed.
1. Rumplestiltskin abandoned his son.
So did Emma.
2. Rumplestiltskin killed a dark mage with a sharp edged weapon to gain magic.
So did Emma when she murdered Maleficent.
3. During the ogre war, Rumplestiltskin ran away from his responsibility.
So did Emma when she tried to abandon Henry (again).
4. Rumplestiltskin took away Hook’s noble sacrifice.
Emma did that in Camelot.
5. Rumplestiltskin is a liar, a thief, a coward and a murderer.
So is Emma.
They are the same. The only difference is in their popularity. If the only difference between madness and faith is in the number of believers, then shouldn’t we all be worried? When everyone stood in Regina’s office discussing what to do about the Dark Swan many people leapt to Emma’s defense. only one person stood up for Rumplestiltskin. Belle wanted to save her husband but nobody else seemed to care. As long as they saved Emma they didn’t care what happened to anyone else.
David added that they had to give Emma her best chance.
“And if something happens to Rumple in the meantime?” Belle asked.
“That’s just a chance we’ll have to take,” Regina said.
Belle pointed out that Emma gave in to the darkness as well, but Hook simply countered with:
“Sorry, love, but the Crocodile has had more chances than anyone.”
Considering what I’ve already told you about Emma I think you know that he’s wrong.
Emma became the Dark One because that’s who she is: a villain.
Emma was always a crocodile. We just couldn’t see the leather.
The Dark Swan
When Emma became the Dark One everyone painted it to look like something noble. It wasn’t. It was simply the act of a coward. It was short-sighted and it was selfish. Snow White argued that Emma gave in to love but that’s not what happened. She gave in to fear. Fear of losing Hook. Only Snow White would see filling someone with Darkness as an act of love. That’s not what love is. Love is doing what is best for the other person, not you. It’s all about sacrifice. Emma always does things for herself. When Emma cursed Hook to darkness, she did not save his life; she merely ruined his death. She nullified his noble end, left his atonement unfulfilled. We all die in the end. The only thing we get to choose is how we live. (Unless Emma or her family takes that away).
When she “saved” Hook, it was wrong (not to mention cowardly) but she made it sound as if she was doing the right thing.
“Yeah, that was to save his life.” – Emma to Liam.
Emma wanted to save Hook, but he saved himself long ago; when he redeemed himself. If he was already saved, then she wasn’t really saving him. It seems to me like she only wanted to keep him, not save him, and what she did next proved it.
When they found him in the Underworld, Hook blamed himself. “You set the bar very high, Swan. You held out for weeks and only gave in to the darkness for love. I immediately surrendered for revenge.”
That’s not what happened. Hook was angry with her (rightly so) but he forgave her. He was willing to make a go of it. They were going to be Dark Ones together and they would find Merlin and they would overcome the darkness together. Then Emma lied about Excalibur. She said she didn’t know where it was but she had it the whole time. She used it to control him because she was afraid of losing him. She acted out of fear, not loyalty. She betrayed him. Again. When she lied about it, and controlled him, he knew she wasn’t worth believing in. Hook saw her for whom and what she was for the very first time: a crocodile. Upon realizing she was a crocodile, Hook abandoned her. Emma drove him away with her selfishness and cowardice and without her to love he had nothing left to hold onto.
Emma tried to make it right by following her mother’s evil methods. She tried to pour the darkness into the most unpopular person in the town. Emma chose Zelena as the vessel because she had almost no family to avenge her. She convinced herself she was doing Regina a favor by eliminating her sister. She was trying to get what she wanted by destroying someone else’s life… again. Lily, Henry, Regina, Hook… they’ve all been her victim at some point. Zelena was just the latest victim of Emma’s selfishness. Emma didn’t behave any differently than she ever did and she tried again to get what she wanted at the expense of another. Just as all villains do. Emma didn’t learn her lesson and decide against killing in order to get what she wanted; Zelena escaped and despite Emma’s best efforts, she saved her own life. In the end, Emma still failed to “save” Hook and instead ruined him in the attempt.
Emma cannot create danger and then protect us from that danger. That’s not heroic. It’s insane. And she doomed a lot of other people in order to do it. Everyone was nearly lost and it was only Regina’s reasoned words and Hook’s noble sacrifice that saved everyone. Emma further compounded events by traveling to the Underworld. The way she did that was also unforgivable: Emma used Belle to blackmail Rumplestiltskin into opening the gates to the Underworld. Now, Belle is trapped under a sleeping curse and Hades was able to bargain his way out of the Underworld. When Emma failed to rescue Hook, Snow tried to console her by reminding her of all the people they saved while they were in the Underworld. But Emma didn’t save anyone. Regina and Henry did. Regina saved her father, reconciled with her sister and in the end, even redeemed her mother. Regina made the best of a bad situation as she always does and saved her father’s soul within the first day of arriving in the Underworld.
Emma didn’t save anyone. In fact, she put Hook down there in the first place.
When she traveled to the Underworld on an ill-conceived rescue mission, she didn’t have a way out and she freed Hades to escape. Hook tried to warn them not to trust the god of the dead but no one listened and in the end, Robin Hood was not only killed, but obliterated as well. Hades destroyed Robin’s soul in an attempt to conquer Storybrooke and Regina and Zelena vanquished him at great personal cost. In the end, Emma made Regina pay the price for her mistakes. Hook was returned to the world of life but not because of Emma. Zeus rewarded Emma and Hook for stopping Hades, when it was Emma’s fault that this whole thing happened in the first place. Regina, Robin and Zelena were the ones to stop Hades. They all made sacrifices and in the end, they were the true heroes. That’s why Robin died. Emma barely helped to defeat Hades at all but still got what she wanted as a “reward” for stopping Hades.
All she had to do to get what she wanted was ruin Regina’s life. Again.
Regina blames herself and this nonsense about Karma for what happened but we all know what really happened: Emma destroyed Regina’s happiness to get her own happily ever after. Before the funeral was even over, Snow White arrived and told Emma that none of it was her fault.
But it was Emma’s fault. Ultimately everyone always blames someone else. It’s never Emma’s fault, even though it is. It’s nothing new. Emma gets what she wants by making someone else pay for her mistakes. She’s been doing it for years. Why should now be any different?
The reality of being a hero is all about responsibility, accountability and sacrifice. Emma Swan has none of those qualities. Storybrooke really needs heroes but Emma Swan isn’t one of them.
The Answer:
I just don’t believe in Emma Swan anymore.
Emma was the one born true but she still ended up the destroyer.
Regina on the other hand, wasn’t born a hero; instead, she chose to become one.
I don’t believe in “destiny.”
I don’t believe in “born heroes.”
I don’t believe in “chosen ones.”
The truth is that there are no “chosen ones,” only people who chose.
And we all know what Emma and Regina chose.
Emma admitted it herself:
“You want to change things, you have to go out there and change them yourself, because there are no fairy godmothers in this world.”
There are no saviors either.
Devious Journal Entry
Bloody Mary
After struggling for years to come up with something for a Bloody Mary movie idea, I finally found the inspiration I needed in Ginnifer Goodwin. She's such an amazing actress. Her performance in Once Upon a Time was so stirring (especially in the jailhouse scene way back in season 1) that I just had to honor her with a fictional movie poster. But what movie to place her in? I couldn't come up with anything, but then I remembered my Beetlejuice cover. I couldn't place her in that movie because I had already chosen Ellen Page to play Lydia but the notion of summoning a spirit by chanting the name three times called to mind Bloody Mary.
Once the idea was there, I immediately realized what design the poster should have: Ginnifer Goodwin smiling back at us with those blood red eyes, while the "real" character is trapped in the mirror, unable to warn anyone of her true nature.
I think it turned out great and my experience with my new artist was truly stellar. He did a fantastic job. I'm so pleased to finally share this wonderful work with you.
I'm posting it everywhere, so everyone will see it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
-- Mark