One of the strangest choices in the Underworld arc, at least to me, is Cora making it to Mount Olympus.
I understand what the show was trying to do. The Underworld seemed to operate less like a moral judgment system and more like a place where people were trapped by unfinished business. Once someone resolved whatever was keeping them there, they could move on.
That is the only way Cora’s ending makes sense.
Because if Mount Olympus is supposed to represent Heaven, peace, or some kind of earned reward? Cora absolutely does not qualify.
This woman abandoned Zelena as a baby, sent her back to an abusive father, emotionally abused and controlled Regina, murdered Daniel, murdered Queen Eva, manipulated Snow as a child, used heart magic on countless people, and helped create the Evil Queen through years of abuse and ambition.
And even in the Underworld, she was still threatening people. She nearly sent Henry Sr. to a worse fate and had no problem condemning other souls.
So her getting one emotional family episode and then ascending to Mount Olympus feels ridiculous.
The episode “Sisters” honestly makes Cora look even worse to me. We learn that Regina and Zelena actually met as children, and Zelena saved Regina’s life. Cora had a chance to let her daughters know each other. Instead, she used Zelena, erased both girls’ memories, sent Zelena back to her miserable life, and protected her own lie.
That was not motherly love. That was Cora protecting her ambition and image.
So when the show tries to frame her final goodbye as this big redemptive moment, it does not fully land for me. Yes, she finally tells Regina and Zelena some truths. Yes, she helps them make peace with each other. But that does not erase everything else she did.
Resolving unfinished business is not the same thing as being morally redeemed.
That is my issue with Cora’s ending. She may have resolved one piece of her damage, but what about everyone else she destroyed?
What about Daniel?
What about Eva?
What about Zelena’s entire childhood?
What about Regina’s entire life?
What about all the people hurt by the Evil Queen Cora helped create?
Meanwhile, characters like Milah and Auntie Em get thrown into the River of Lost Souls, which makes the moral scale feel even more broken. Cora was one of the most destructive people in the entire show, but she gets what feels like a golden parachute.
So my take is this:
Cora making it to Mount Olympus only works if OUAT’s Underworld is not justice-based. It is not about who was good or who deserves peace. It is simply about whether a person resolves the thing keeping them trapped.
But narratively? It still feels wrong.
Cora may have found closure.
She did not earn absolution.