‘Shiptober: ‘Once Upon a Time’ season 5 and the Captain Swan – Swan Queen pairings

When you look across the gamut from one main character to the next, there is a common thread within the ABC hit: A search for that legendary “happy ending.” For so many, love is an essential part of that, and since Emma Swan is the woman whose lens we see the show through, she is the one who is going to be the focus of the most romantic pairings. Everyone has their own notion of what her happy ending should be, and who it should be with whether it is Neal, Captain Hook, Regina, or some other character.

With Neal’s gone, there’s no real need to focus on what could be for them. While there are some smaller ‘shipper fan bases out there, we’re going to focus this edition of CarterMatt’s ‘Shiptober’ series on Captain Hook and Regina, which also happen to go by the names of Captain Swan and Swan Queen.

The passion for Captain Hook – There are a wide array of reasons why the Captain Swan pairing surged in popularity, but we feel like one of them stems from a basic human trait: Everyone wants to see the bad guy become the good guy … or at least someone who is chaotic good, to use a Dungeons & Dragons style term. Hook is a dastardly fellow: He’s cunning, sharp-tongued, and he has a certain affinity for rum. Yet, he also loves Emma, and we’ve seen multiple instances now of him doing everything that he can in order to protect her.

The fun question for the show is, provided they work out, what does a future for these two characters really look like? Do you marry Hook and Emma in a typical wedding? How do characters like them start a family? These are things that we could see the show exploring, but we feel like the reason for the ‘ship’s intrinsic popularity is just that these are two people with a dark side they are trying to overcome, and maybe the only way that they can do so is looking towards each other.

What is behind the Swan Queen phenomenon? We will start by saying that within the world of this show, the odds of Emma and Regina getting together are unfortunately rather slim. There hasn’t been mention of them having a romantic interest in one another, so it might be a little hard for the story to move in this direction.

With this being said, ignoring the pairing as a viable ‘ship would be wrong, mostly for one simple reason: Who is anyone to say what is ‘ship-worthy and what is not? There is a clear reason why Swan Queen has become so popular: People identify with the characters, and they see something within the two of them chemistry-wise that make them an easy romantic pairing to root for. They have developed a close friendship, saved each other’s lives numerous times and above all else they share a son together. Why not put these two together?

Just because something is not canon within the show does not diminish its impact. While we think that this is something that will live on most likely through fanfiction and art, but there will continue to be moments here and there on the show that gives Swan Queen ‘shippers hope for a future with these two characters.