Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20151116014923/@comment-27213286-20151118065120

I don’t think there has been a curse since we saw Merlin’s things in his castle. If there was a curse that brought them back from Camelot then Emma (assuming she would be the one to cast it) would have to sacrifice that of which she loves most as the last piece of the curse and both Henry and Hook are alive and in Storybrook. Also I don’t think they had the paper with the curse on it in Camelot, it should be wherever the last curse put it after Snow cast it. My guess is that with the Dark One’s powers Emma was able to use the Apprentice’s wand to travel back. She is more powerful than Zelena or Regina so she should be able to control it better in order to bring the people of Camelot back with them. My best guess is that Belle being Belle brought all the books she could from Merlin’s tower to Granny’s diner because she loves reading. The crystal ball/ snow globe could easily have been brought to the diner as well by someone who was aware of its powers if it has any (probably either Regina or Merlin himself).

My question that I am not sure if it has been answered on the show yet or not is does Rumple still have his gift (or curse depending on how you look at it) from the seer? If so that could be how he knew to put the ink in his safe. Also I would like to add that that the safe use to be secured with blood magic up until Rumple lost the Dark One powers so it didn’t matter if people knew it was there because only his blood could open it. Zelena needed a drop of his blood that she got from nicking him while giving him a shave in order to steal what as in it.

My interpretation of seeing the future is that while the Dark One can (or at least Merlin could and their powers did come from the same source) sometimes see the future (Merlin’s words not mine) and different outcomes that can arise depending on what people do (such as Emma using Excalibur), the gift from the seer let Rumple have a far more clear and direct vision of the future (even if “the meaning of it is not always what you think” ~Seer). If Rumple still has this power (as it was not part of the Dark One’s powers), then he could have helped Hook trap Emma without anyone besides himself knowing it. He could also continue to put plans in the motion while staying behind the scenes because that is more in his character and would explain why we haven’t seen him yet act on his warning to Emma.

Even if the gift from the seer died when Rumple did originally, he could know that Emma is most likely going to sneak into his shop and check the vault for magical items because it use to be locked with blood magic making it the safest place in Storybrook for Rumple to put something during his reign as the Dark One. Also, Rumple knows how the Dark One thinks as he was the Dark One longer than anyone else was so there are multiple reasons for him to know Emma would steal whatever was inside of it.

I very much like the “Sword in the Stone” theory for Hook’s powers or lack thereof but find that Emma using magic to make it seem like he is normal seems more plausible. It would explain how she always knew to be at the right place at the right time to save Hook from getting seriously injured or killed. She was keeping a constant eye on him so that she would know when to use the sleeping curse on him (him drinking until he passes out every night that they have been back explains this one nicely as well and with everything he has been through and has been dealing with really who could blame him), when to concentrate on suppressing his powers (I’m assuming this one would take quite a bit of concentration and energy to do so she would only be able to do it when need be, i.e. when his emotion are elevated, unless there is a potion she could make to do this and she is just slipping it into his rum or something)  and of course the obvious when to prevent him from finding out he is immortal.

Sorry it was so long but I just got done writing a college essay so I guess I am currently in that mindset. Thank y’all for bearing with me and reading until the end. One last food for thought, do y’all think Emma is going to attempt to take away Zelena and Hook’s memories with her dreamcatchers again so that she can have a second attempt at her original plan?