It suddenly dawned on me how Emma was always so desperate for friendships, she seems incapable of recognizing her habit of maintaining toxic friendships.
And no, I’m not just talking about her so-called friendship with Regina, which frequently included Regina belittling and talking down to Emma, low-key insulting her for her eating habits or the time she spent in jail (which, by the way, was a direct result of Regina’s actions forcing Emma’s parents to send her away in order to save her life- because Regina was clearly plotting to murder Baby Emma while her curse cloud was spreading across the Enchanted Forest). That or Regina blaming Emma for saving a woman she murdered in the original timeline and making Emma feel like she should apologize for that. (Among other things.)
I’m also thinking about how Emma referred to Lily as her first real friend. Even though that ‘friendship’ was horribly one-sided, and it largely consisted of how Emma could help Lily, with Lily never showing any real concern for Emma and what she wanted. (Such as how Lily didn’t even seem to care when she cost Emma her chances with the ‘GORP’ family.)
Or how Emma considered August to have been her friend, too. Even though he was barely there for her when she was growing up alone and feeling unloved and unwanted. When he had the chance to offer her a bit of hope by telling her that she did have loving parents out there and that they hadn’t wanted to give her up when he swung by as a teenager, he just told her his interpretation of an old bedtime story. Not to mention how it was his idea to set Emma up to go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit. And then kept the money Neal had wanted him to give her. Sure, August did the right thing in the end by trying to warn everyone about Tamara, but whether or not that was enough to make up for everything else is debatable.
It’s such a shame that the show rarely gave Emma a chance to spend time with the people she actually had formed healthy friendships with. People like Ashley and Elsa. Because those two were probably Emma’s first real friends. (Not including Mary Margret, who turned out to be her mother, and Killian Jones, who remains the closest person in Emma’s life.)
With the show coming to an end, I’d thought I’d make a post listing my favorite scenes with different characters. She’s the other half of my OTP, so she gets three scenes per season.
This is supposed to be about positivity, so I please ask you keep your hate to yourself. Thanks!
I can’t begin to describe how much I love Emma. I think she’s been an amazing lead character, and a really great female character for modern times. So, here’s my picks for my fave Emma Swan scenes over the seasons
Season One – The Stranger
I had been waiting for an explosive vent like this for the entire season. And it was SO. GOOD!!
Season 2 – Manhattan
Okay, I promise not all of these are her being pissed off. But “hey! I am the ONLY one allowed to be angry here!” is one of the best lines of the entire show.
Season 3 – Lost Girl
I think I’ve said this before, this is one of my favourite scenes of the entire show. I love the music, I love how intimate it is – it’s just Emma and Snow – and Jennifer just… oh, she nailed this dialogue so well.
Season 4 – Smash the Mirror
One of the most important lessons of the show – learn to love yourself.
Season 5 – Nimue
I feel like the entire Duckling Brigade screamed ‘YES!!” at the top of their lungs during that scene.
Season 6 – Her therapy sessions with Archie
Oh, that was so long overdue…
I know she was in season 7, but.. I loved all her scenes in that episode. So, there’s my picks.
Emma’s come a long way from where she started. And I’m really glad she’s got her happy ending beginning ❤
I’m feeling so emotional about Jen’s return for the finale.
The show may be ending but Emma’s story isn’t.
She has her whole happy ending to live out and I’m so so glad we’re getting a chance to see even a little a piece of that.
When we first met Emma she was an orphan with no friends. A woman who had no hope of finding romantic love. A woman who had given up what she believed was her only chance at motherhood.
Emma was so scarred by her past that she had no hope for the future.
At a basic level, yes! However, there is so much going on with their dynamic in Neverland that it’s really more complicated than that.
The thing we see with Emma all throughout 3b is her slowly awakening to the fact that Captain Hook, the iconic pirate and villain, is actually sincere when it comes to her and his feelings for her and he doesn’t have any ulterior motives.
In 2×22 he was free, sailing away, but he comes back and brings not only the very valuable magic bean she needs, but offers his ship and his services. Emma needs all three of those things, desperately, so she doesn’t stop and question his change of heart too thoroughly, she accepts it, however her guard is up with him. She’s got to be wondering what his game is, what’s in it for him.
Through the first few episodes of 3a we see him be a constant for her. He accepts her leadership without question, he defers to her, he supports her, he’s a rock for her in ways that even her parents are not.
She is so fixated on saving Henry, that I don’t think she puts a lot of thought into it. However, I think she likes his presence, she likes the way he makes her feel, she likes the support. She realizes what they learned on the beanstalk adventure, that they make quite a team, is true. It begins to niggle at her that she’s becoming vulnerable to him, all while she doesn’t really know his motivations, and there are several scenes where we see her bristle at his overtures, while other times she accepts his help, support, attention without question.
I wouldn’t blame Emma for potentially thinking he’s just about wooing her for sex, he’s clearly attracted to her, he’s made that obvious since the beanstalk and from her perspective it’s the easiest thing to grasp onto and explain his turn around and actions. Especially for someone who doesn’t feel worthy of love. Poor Emma has NEVER had anyone make a sacrifice for her, she’s never felt worthy of someone making a sacrifice for her, especially a romantic partner, she’s never really had anyone do anything for her just because they wanted to ease her worry/pain. So why would a known villain, a pirate, be any different?
In that vein, I also think she’s worried that his presence might have nothing to do with her and he might have his own agenda and he’s using her to achieve it. So my guess is she HOPES that he’s there because he’s after her romantically, because that is a lot easier to deal with than if he’s there still for his revenge or for other nefarious pirate reasons.
So, thinking he’s there to woo her is the easiest path, and since she has never had a romantic partner genuinely be there for her, it’s easy for her to write him off as not being sincere or trustworthy. So thinking it’s just about sex is the easiest thing to process, and at that point in the story she doesn’t really have time to think that through. ‘Cause really, why would any man go back to a place he swore he’d never go again, where he was stuck for a century, in order to face the demon who practically enslaved him, for a roll in the hay? Especially when said man is objectively one of the most attractive man on the planet!? Boyfriend doesn’t need to go to this much trouble for sex.
In this scene I don’t think she is explicitly thinking “you are trying to get me into bed and it’s not going to work.” I think it’s more abstract than that, because she hasn’t thought it through. He’s wooing her, offering comfort and support, and she doesn’t think he’s sincere. However, check her out:
Look at the way she gazes at him. I think part of her wants to believe he’s sincere, but her walls and the situation won’t even allow her to consider it. So she shuts him down, rather harshly. Shuts everything down, whether it be his quest for sex or something deeper, or perhaps her biggest fear which is that he’s bonding with her to use her for some piratey purpose down the road. However, this scene serves as a nice bookend to the final scene of them in the episode. I’m of course referencing the iconic first kiss.
By the end of the ep Emma’s lightened up considerably, which in part is due to the success she had reaching Henry, plus news of Killian saving her father’s life, and she’s more in the mood for him. JMo said at a con that in this moment before the kiss Emma didn’t think she was in any danger of it meaning anything. I agree with that. Emma thought her walls would protect her and she was sure he wasn’t getting through, partly because she didn’t really believe he was sincere in wanting to get through her walls.
She was cocky, and thought she could handle him. Turns out she couldn’t, thankfully, and we see the shift in their relationship from here on out. After the kiss, she’s still not remotely convinced he’s fully sincere and trustworthy, but she realizes there could be something real there on both their parts, which serves as an interesting turning point in their relationship.
All in all her rejection of his bonding overture was a very telling scene and set up one of the most important CS scenes of all time and a huge jump in the relationship.
It’s so moving that Emma Swan, when cursed with no memories, read the story of her OWN life and thought “I’m not this person but she’s who I WANT to be”.
The woman Emma became is the kind of person she always wished she was, but didn’t think she could be. All those traits she admired were within her – she just needed LOVE. The support and encouragement of her family allowed to be her BEST self – a self that younger, broken Emma would look at and admire.
Emma Swan, at the conclusion of her story, was an inspiration to herself.
And I can’t think of a more beautiful way to end her journey.
But seriously… Just think about what that means to Emma Swan.
A few days earlier she thought he had walked out on her, like many other people had before. She never had any certainty about anyone in her life. NOTHING was certain. No relationship was guaranteed. She kept her entire life in a box, never formed any real bonds because she would always get burned. She was lonely and prepared to BE lonely… and then there’s this man, who comes in and tells her, that even if her life is uncertain, she can 100% COUNT ON HIM BEING THERE.
“I will always, always be by your side”
These are game changing words for Emma Swan. Why? Because even when she knows how they both feel about each other, even when they have been confirmed as true love and even when he has time and time again proven to her that he has her back, she still had that creeping shadow of doubt crawl back up inside her when he disappeared. So to have him put that ring back on her finger, to hear him say that basically, he knows she could be alive forever or for a week, but that no matter what happens, she can count on him being there, regardless of the circumstances or the outcome.
I know, it’s just so pure?? Like she’s actually beaming she can’t contain her joy. In every scene she literally cannot stop smiling, her cheeks are just permanently elevated, being engaged to Hook just makes her that happy. We know marriage is something she would “consider” if she loved the person, but when it comes to Hook, not only does she consider it, she’s fully on board with it and so eager she couldn’t even wait for him to ask.
It’s such a nice thing to see, especially knowing all Emma has gone through (and knowing all the angst her and Hook are gonna needlessly go through). I wouldn’t even say she’s “changed;” it’s just that she’s now fully able to express all the love she’s had within her but was previously too afraid to show.
I just get very (◡‿◡✿) like my insides go all (◡‿◡✿) at the fact that Emma’s love language is inarguably touch.That whole scene she was just like cupping Killian’s face and rubbing her cheek on his cheek and hugging him and pulling him up to kiss him and softly brushing his fingers with her fingers when she handed him the ring and just (◡‿◡✿) like this is the girl who had zeroskin to skin contact as an infant and zerohugs in her entire childhood and now she’s at a place in her life where she feels safe and feels most comfortable expressing her love through touch because when she was young it was all too rare in her life and oh my goodness it’s. just. so. (◡‿◡✿) .
I will say this though, Emma was brilliantly happy in that moment and as a fan of her from the first second she appeared on this show, this is all I have ever wanted for her.
She was glowing with happiness and I am here for it.
cshappybeginning 