Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170320124216

In 6x13, we see the dagger (a representative of dark magic) corrupt its wielder, rather than simply the enthralled one. This is welcomed in part because commanding the Dark One via the dagger seemed to have no downside. Now, it appears to be that using Dark Magic, directly or indirectly can lead to corrupting the innocent.

Theory I: The Dagger corrupts the innocent, leading them to the path of darkness (dark magic).

First, I want to disclaim that it isn't fool-proof, but I set it up so that the already corrupted wouldn't really be effected. Regina used the dagger without going darker, but she has a heart that's about 75% darkness anyway.

Second, there were numerous parallels of the dagger to the One Ring in Lord of the Rings. Probably a mistake to try to aim the dagger's rules to that item, but it's obvious as to what their intentions were.

Now the list of good (likely pure-hearted) characters that wielded the Dagger.

1. Anna. --Why did it seem that she resisted it? Is my theory already flawed? Well, Anna just moments before had, in Rumple's own words, "been tempted by their inner darkness and turned away from it". Thus, she wouldn't be corrupted (at least not in the short time she wielded the dagger).

2. Belle. -- She is a hard case to crack. She only wielded it in desperation and sent Rumple away. She later did use to save Gaston, however, Belle swiftly then shoved Gaston into the water. It's a stretch, but Belle did call that an act of darkness, which later prompted her cursed sleep.

So, I don't think it's a stretch to say that the dagger couldn't corrupt. It did corrupt Bae (6x14) and either the character has been corrupted and tainted by darkness already, or they achieved victory over their inner darkness. This the second part of my theory is:

Theory II: The wielder of the Dagger is not exempt from the price of magic.

What do you think? Feel as if it was a forced paralllel to the One Ring to rule them all, or a clever nod. Feel free to comment and discuss as well as introduce your own theories aout the dagger, dark magic, and the Dark One. 