Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25703308-20151007044703/@comment-24674051-20151007154058

4B and 5 do not tie together exactly.

4B was Rumple trying to get Emma to go dark in order to get Ink for the Author (which would allow the author to write a new story). I think that arc saw that Snowing went to great lengths to prevent Emma from having potential for Darkness. I also think, from a writing perspective, the entire arc was a foreshadowing of what we saw in the Finale. But Emma becoming the Dark One was never Rumples Goal (obviously, given his addiction to that power).

Season 5 is about the after effects of Emma's decision to willingly tether the darkness to herself, and her journey into darkness.