Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20151116014923/@comment-24674051-20160217183508

I would say that Nimue was the exception. She obtained HG (Holy Grail) magic from drinking from the cup, then became the DO after killing Vortigan. So the order of events was different. I think that we can assume that all other DO's up to Emma became the dark one by killing the previous dark one and transferring the power. And all DO's after Nimue start life in the Vault of the Dark One, regardless of how they obtained the darkness.

Another point is that Killian was a dark one, but he was tied to the HG magic from Merlin (as opposed to the darkness that decesnded from Nimue), and tethered with Excalibur, not the Dagger. So whatever rules (if there are rules) appear to emcompass all HG magic.

As for Rumple, my assumption is that he DID go to the vault. He just accepted the darkness quickly because of his personal agenda, which was to protect Baelfire, and just *poofed* back to his home to complete his mission.