Once Upon A Time had an incredible ensemble cast full of fairytale characters we’ve loved since childhood. But at the heart of the show is family and what that means. Emma Swan and Regina Mills co-parent their son Henry, who is the biological son to Emma and the adoptive son to Regina.
The problem was, the two started out as enemies and slowly built into having a tentative friendship. Regardless of their friendship status throughout the series, each of them has done things to each other that were less than favorable. These are the 5 worst things Emma did to Regina, and vice versa, for those who need a refresher.
Emma To Regina: Bringing Marian Back
In the season 3 finale, Killian and Emma traveled back in time to the Enchanted Forest, just before Emma’s parents - Snow White and Prince Charming - met. This led them on a journey of making sure they fixed the changes made to the past before they affect the future.
While there, they met a woman named Marian and saved her from the demise of the Evil Queen. But in the present day, Regina was a reformed villain who was falling for Robin Hood. When Emma decides to save Marian and bring her back, it turns it she is Robin’s wife, which greatly upsets Regina. She thought she had found happiness, only to have it ripped away again.
Regina To Emma: Her Attempts To Throw Emma Out Of Storybrooke
Regina was the main antagonist of the first season of Once Upon A Time and for good reason. She was the Evil Queen back in the Enchanted Forest and had enacted the Dark Curse in the first place, so you can’t really get more villainous than that.
So her main goal was keeping Emma out of Storybrooke for two reasons. The first being that she wanted Emma to stay away from Henry, since she wanted to be the only mom in his life. And the second being that she wanted to make sure Emma didn’t start to believe in magic, which would break the curse she set in motion. Because of this, she had several attempts to run her out of Storybrooke, either voluntarily or by force.
Emma To Regina: She Put A Strain On Her Relationship With Henry
While Regina certainly did a lot to cause the strain on her relationship with her son, Henry, Emma certainly didn’t help matters. Even after Regina began to turn over a new leaf and show remorse for her actions, it took Emma a long time to accept this new version of her.
This put a serious strain on her relationship with Henry, which was already on rocky ground from the events that took place throughout the first season. Emma and Henry got closer only for Regina to feel more and more like she was on the outside. It was understandable but also a pity for Regina to have to go through that.
Regina To Emma: She Cast The Dark Curse
The Dark Curse was what set in motion the traumatic events throughout Emma Swan’s life. Once she was sent through the wardrobe to the land without magic, everything in her life broke down. She didn’t get to grow up with her parents - who were cursed for 28 years in Storybrooke - and she lived her childhood as an orphan.
This meant she had to give up her son when she was a teenager and still in jail from poor decisions she had made, and this had serious emotional repercussions on her for years to come. If Regina had never gone to such great lengths to curse her parents, she might have had a wonderful, normal life.
Emma To Regina: She Broke The Dark Curse
All of season 1 had Regina making moves to try to keep Emma Swan from breaking the curse she had cast 28 years ago. She had gone to great lengths to make sure this didn’t occur, yet Emma was able to break it by using True Love’s kiss on her son, Henry, who was in a coma.
This instantly made Emma believe in magic and broke the spell that was over the fairytale characters we had come to know over the first season. Of course, this was not what Regina had wanted, and even though this was good for everyone else involved, it only caused more problems for Regina.
Regina To Emma: She Manipulated Henry
When Regina was at her height of pure evil, she was the Mayor of Storybrooke and a mom to Henry, Emma’s biological son. She emotionally manipulated him constantly throughout the first season, going so far as to make him think he was crazy for believing in magic and thinking that the fairytale characters he read about were real.
She even physically hurt him, suspending him in the air with magic and using the branches of a tree to wrap around his body. It was not at all how Emma would want her son to be treated and only served to anger and upset Emma when it all came to light.
Emma To Regina: Bringing Back The Robin Hood From The Wish Realm
During the Wish Realm storyline, many dramatic events occur, but none rival Regina seeing that world’s version of her love who died - Robin Hood - in the flesh once again.
As soon as Emma and Regina came across him, Emma thought it might be a good idea to bring him back to Storybrooke, for Regina’s sake. While the intentions were generally good, all it did was cause Regina more trouble than she bargained for.
It turned out that the Wish Realm version of Robin Hood was very different and caused more problems for Regina that she could have expected. Emma probably should have stayed out of this one.
Regina To Emma: She Tried To Put Emma Under The Sleeping Curse
All Once Upon A Time fans know that the sleeping curse is by far one of the cruelest forms of curses to be put under. It’s a fiery hell of a nightmare that you cannot escape, no matter how hard you try. Unless true love’s kiss breaks the curse, of course.
So at the end of season 1, Regina makes one final attempt to get Emma Swan out of their lives, by poisoning an apple dessert with the sleeping curse and then offering it to Emma. Unfortunately, it backfires when Henry eats it instead to prove a point and slips into a coma. It was just another cruel move on Regina’s part.
Emma To Regina: She Developed Feelings For Graham (While He Was With Regina)
Graham was the sheriff of Storybrooke when Emma first came to town and they became fast friends, even though he was secretly seeing the mayor - Regina, herself - without the rest of Storybrooke’s knowledge.
Even though Regina was manipulating Graham to be with her, it still was not the smartest move on Emma’s part to make her already rocky relationship with the mayor even worse by developing feelings for Graham that were clearly reciprocated.
They even shared a true love’s kiss, bringing back Graham’s memories immediately, just before tragedy struck at the hands of Regina Mills…
Regina To Emma: Killing Graham
Regina didn’t have real feelings for Graham and was literally manipulating him with magic to be with her, yet she still couldn’t stand it when Emma began to have feelings for him.
What didn’t help was that Emma inadvertently brought back Graham’s memories of his time in the Enchanted Forest, threatening Regina’s curse she had cast with his knowledge.
She went to her vault of hearts and promptly killed him by squeezing the life out of his heart, making it look as though he had a heart attack. He died in Emma’s arms, absolutely devastating her and making her wary of relationships even more so in the future.
