Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25417848-20150329005551/@comment-5106672-20150518165519

Honestly, I don't think the Dark One was responsible for Rumple's evil actions. He deliberately chose to give in to darkness over and over and over and over and ooooooover again, even though he was presented with multiple alteratives. I think the Dark One is more of a "temptation" – a very strong, consuming one – but ultimately it's up to everyone to choose how much to indulge in it.

Which brings us to Emma: it will be very interesting to see her struggle with this new dark-side-on-steroids of hers. She's good natured but had a very difficult life: how is that going to affect her? And maybe her resiliance might be what forces the Darkness to move onto a new Dark One.