‘Shiptober: Should Lana Parrilla’s Regina have new love interest on ‘Once Upon a Time’?

Mrs. Carter: It’s only fair for “Once Upon a Time” fans to want a happily ever after for Regina.

At the core of the ABC drama is this sentiment that if you are good and virtuous, eventually something good will come your way. That does not necessarily mean that it is permanent, but that your life should be in many ways better than it was when you were wishing for that man or woman to enter your world and bring in a beautiful love.

Unfortunately, Regina Mills is a character surrounded in tragedy almost her entire life. We’ve already seen the sort of mother Cora was, we saw the end of her relationship with Daniel, we dealt with Daniel’s reanimated corpse, and more recently we saw the end of her latest true love in Robin Hood after he had provided her with hope for the future. Emma and Snow White have been able to find and, to date, maintain their perceptions of happy endings. Regina has not, and it cannot always be traced to the result of her own actions.

As we venture further into season 6, the question we want to ask in this latest chapter of our ‘Shiptober series is rather simple: Should Regina find a new love interest, someone currently in the cast, or no one at all?

The case for a new love interest – If many of the current characters stay romantically attached, it’s hard to come up with any viable candidates without dipping into the pool of recurring players like an Archie or a Dr. Whale, who do not turn up on a regular basis. Introducing someone new could serve as a source of healing and comfort for Lana Parrilla’s character, but you do not want to run the risk of them coming so soon that her time with Robin is in some way diminished or invalidated. You have to use a delicate balance to find the right person, and then introduce them at the right time. (For the record, we consider Rumpelstiltskin from this past episode more of an Evil Queen pairing than a Regina one.)

The case for a love interest currently on the show – Maybe you do want to see Regina with one of the aforementioned recurring characters, maybe you ‘ship Swan Queen, or maybe you’re hoping that Robin Hood somehow is brought back given that Sean Maguire is returning to the show in some capacity. All are understandable sentiments, since ‘shipping is effectively all about what you personally see as a viewer in a set of characters and their relationship. Any of them could be cultivated into a fascinating story.

The case for no romance at all – With the presumption that “Once Upon a Time” is renewed for a seventh season, maybe you want to give Regina some time on her own before bringing in someone new; or, maybe you want to send the message that romance is not the skeleton key to happiness and that she is a beautiful, powerful woman that doesn’t need a partner to complete her.

Now, we turn this debate over to you — vote in either the attached poll or the comments below! Just remember that this is meant to be fun speculation; we’re not intending with this article to suggest that we know any particular way in which Regina’s story is going.

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