Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24674051-20151117184714/@comment-6175354-20151119124219

Zocux wrote: And the goal being. I mean come on she went there to get rid of the darkness and instead she just made another dark one. ^ This!

It is the reason Emma stole everyone's memories, and lied that they all failed her. She kept justifying her actions, even after Hook finally learned the truth. She is in complete denial, of just how badly, she messed up. Gold warned Emma, that this would happen. That the more she justified what she was doing, the more she would push everyone she loved away.

Back on topic.... In Storybrooke, Emma claimed that Hook would do everything in his power to stop her, if he knew what she was after. It is very possible, that Hook was the one who cast the current curse, with Merlin being a willing sacrifice. There is no magic outside of Storybrooke, and the Dark One can be killed there. The glamour spell placed on Excalibur and using the dreamcatchers, was probably Emma's last ditch effort to cover this up and not loose him.