Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1475805-20150331011255/@comment-26103640-20150408133407

I felt like Zoso was more trying to be free because he had no control over himself. Someone else was in control of the dagger, and thus of him. Rumple has had control of the dagger and his own darkness pretty much the entire time he's been the Dark One. everything he's done has been by his choice, except for that one time Belle made him leave town. Side note: who is the dark one, in that situation? The person acting, or the person making the decisions. I'm not saying Rumple isn't dark, because he is and he knows and admits that he is. But I'm saying that Zoso, and presumably other dark ones, were more looking for freedom from the dagger because they wanted free will. Rumple has free will, he just wants to not rely on a dagger but still have power. He's for sure power hungry, and that's why Zoso knew he could manipulate him.

As for what's killing him, I really hope nothing that can't be cured by the end of this season. Maybe he's litterally heart broken? Or he didn't get a heart when he was brought back to life?