Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20161114015927/@comment-25375217-20161115023833

Eskaver wrote:

2. They've stated that you are magicless in the mirror world. Why then is the Dragon capable of magic? Why was Sidney capable of magic (but he's a special case at best)? My brother has always theorized that Once has two different types of magic: learned and natural. Regina and Emma are examples of "learned" magic, a kind of magic anyone can master simply through their emotions and some books. Zelena is an example of "natural" magic, as she was able to use magic as an infant without knowledge or understanding of what she was doing. Going by this, it's possible that the World Behind the Mirror blocks "learned" magic but not "natural" magic. The Dragon's magic is "natural", since, as we saw with Lily, dragon people have the power to transform into a dragon from birth. Sidney's could also be described as "natural"; although he (probably) didn't have it from birth, he did not learn it, he simply came to possess it.

The problem with this is that it was implied by Aladdin's backstory that Savior magic is natural, not learned. But this has never really been the case with Emma. She didn't start using magic until Regina started teaching her how in Season 3. So Aladdin having natural magic may be a special case.