Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-30644093-20170427085354/@comment-25375217-20170428173940

Farerb wrote: Emma will probably won't defeat the black fairy since she never defeated any villain. It will be either Rumple or Regina. I'm a bit conflicted on this. Going by narrative, a lot of the characters have a reason to be the one to defeat Black:

With all of those options, I think the only defeat that makes sense for the Black Fairy is a group battle. Have Belle and Henry throwing books at her head from the sidelines while Emma, Zelena, Aladdin, and Regina blast her with Light Magic and Rumple and Gideon blast her with Dark until the Black Fairy explodes into sparkly purple dust. (Or something more reasonable than that, with Belle, Henry, and Zelena left out because they're always left out.)
 * 1) The entire season has focused on Saviorology and Emma's involvement in the final battle. However, we've also had past seasons with a lot of focus on Emma where she has not been responsible for the defeat of the villain (4A where it was Anna/Ingrid herself, 4B where it was Henry and Regina, 3A where it was Rumple and Regina, etc.)
 * 2) Black is Rumple's mother who he despises, so it would resolve his plot to let him get that revenge. However, it's a bit been there, done that now since that already happened in 3A.
 * 3) Belle rarely gets a chance to be a hero and there's been a lot of mirroring between Black's mothering and Belle's, so to see her defeat Black would seal the deal on the "heroic mother" vs. "villainous mother" comparisons. However, Belle is way too minor to get that much focus typically.
 * 4) I theorized on the Where Bluebirds Fly thread that Zelena may become a Savior and regain her powers, so she may use her Savior powers for the first time to take down the Black Fairy (thus subverting the "Savior fights the final battle" by revealing it to be Zelena, not Emma). However, this would take the entire focus of this season from Emma, who is the core character of the series. Furthermore, Zelena's heroic endeavors would make much more sense in Oz against Ozian villains like Mombi or the Nome King.
 * 5) Gideon's been on a bit of a back-and-forth between good and evil, so they could have him take the Black Fairy down to seal him on the path of good, especially if they intend to keep him around as our mandatory "villain seeking redemption" character in Season 7. However, he is a recurring character and it wouldn't make as much sense for him to get the big final moment over the series regulars (though I do feel the need to mention Anna again).
 * 6) Although Aladdin is back in Agrabah with Jasmine, they never really resolved his "removal of Saviorness" plot, which they could do by having him suddenly find those powers again to protect everyone from the Black Fairy. However, like Gideon, this would be stealing the spotlight from the series regulars.
 * 7) Regina hasn't used her light magic in awhile but recently came to terms with her darkness which would make now a good time for her to bring those powers back. However, she has had little involvement with the Black Fairy, so having her steal the above characters' plot resolution would be weird.
 * 8) They seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on Henry's author powers which would imply a major role for him in the final battle. However, they've also made it clear that Henry cannot use his author powers to manipulate this and I can't see him defeating her in any physical way.

(Also, I would like to point out that Emma defeated Regina and Maleficent in Season 1, Cruella in Season 4B, and the Dark Ones in 5A with a little help from Hook.)