Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170504224453

Disclaimer: This is a theory. Take nothing for fact. However, this is based on a large amount of time and research. The writers obviously tumbled their way through their worldbuilding and mythos, but there's a coherent explanation.

Key Set-up: There are two uses of the term "magic" on the show. 1. There is the inherent spark within a magic practitioner. 2. There is the magical energy and force that pervades the realms, often in the form of the generic purple cloud.

The second definition is what I will call atmospheric magic or AM. So, let's cut to the chase because this may end up a wall of text.

''Did the Holy Grail or the Black Fairy give birth to Dark Magic? ''Both and neither. You'll see why shortly.

Theory 1: AM has always existed. However it was mostly inaccessible, a notable exception: the recipients of the Holy Grail.

So, Merlin and Nimue (and other Dark Ones) had access to the AM magic.

Fairy Dust is said to provide "light" that powers the world. When AM returns to Storybrooke, so does fairy crystals. Thus, I claim that fairy crystals exists as a crystal form of light magic that has a weak tether on the AM. But first...

Theory 2: The Birth of the Blue Fairy created the weak tether between the Fairy Crystals and the Light AM.

It's known that Merlin's heart was the oldest heart (of anyone the Dark Ones knew) in all the realms (of the living). Thus, Merlin is likely to be older than Blue. Likewise...

Theory 3: The Birth of the Black Fairy altered some fairy crystals to become Dark Fairy Crystals. Thus, she created a "strong" tether between the Dark Fairy Crystals and the Dark AM.

Why strong? The weak tether from the birth of blue added to the tether of the birth of black created a strong tether. The Dark Realm was filled with dark fairy dust, likewise was called a realm of powerful dark magic.

Deductive Theory 1: The tethering of Dark AM to dark fairy crystals is what allows those with their innate spark to practice magic. Likewise, with Light. However, due to the different strengths of the tethers, this explains why there are more dark magic practitioners than light (besides the Saviors).

So, Black did "create" dark magic. She created the link that allowed for innate magic users to use it. That's it.

Side-theory 1: Due to the large influx of dark magic users and the concentration of dark magic (in comparison to the non-existent or rare light magic users), pixie dust flowers began to sprout. If not, Saviors are born. This is a balancing mechanism between light and dark.

Side-theory 2: Black Fairy's wand can access any spell ever done...because it's connected directly to the tethering dark crystals.

I will assume whatever dark fairy dust Blue found, she absorbed into the Black Fairy's wand. Thus, nearly all dark magic was tethered no longer to the non-existing dark fairy crystals, but to the Black Fairy's wand. So....

Side-theory 3: Black Fairy is powerful and well versatile due to her ability to use magic is tethered to her wand. (Like any fairy, really.)

This overall theory also can tie into why noone seems to get their magic working in the Land Without Magic and why Emma's arrival to Storybrooke started to change things within the Dark Curse.

Feel free to comment your thoughts, theories, and more. And to believe this was formulated during a narrative about Athens in the Peloponnesian War. 