Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26580042-20160826010854/@comment-25926288-20160827222203

The vial of magic was just laziness. The dagger Rumple has is Excalibur as it shared the color scheme and controls him all the same. I believe it simply took that form because as we've seen, the Holy Grail can be reshapened. ( I mean, a vial of magic is lazy, but I can't see Rumple doing some quick metal-welding, lol)

In the deleted scene, it explains why magic was different in the Underworld. Just as fear cause magic to go out of control, guilt (I guess) causes it to stop. Regina didn't get her magic back until she removed that "guilt". Emma in that same scene said she moved on from that guilt when she saw Neal in the dream. Likewise, Rumple has moved on from Bae (he remembers, but he's not held down by it) around season 4.

Merlin's position has nothing to do with the Author choosing. It's more of "Merlin made the Quill, so he gets a say in who does the work." Like if you borrow someone's pen to sign your name, they get to take it back if you start writing poetry on someone's arm with it.

Merlin's UB was likely about Nimue. (Or it's because the writers didn't have the actor around. Because it was clear that Merlin's house was there and it was protected by light magic (even though Merlin didn't have any???? Plot holes, don't look!)

Magic in Once isn't fully described, but I take it more of "Emotions/ Pain boosts the magical energy within you". So, Rumple without the HG is powerless because he doesn't have that hereditary/cursed gift of magic. Likewise with Merlin. He could still do potioncraft spells, like he did with the cauldron to send a message, but he wouldn't be throwing fireballs anytime soon...or at all.