Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-17626299-20130917195333/@comment-6252544-20130918025854

I think that it is difficult to learn, that's why the dark one tought Regina and Cora, and Emma, being the product of true love is extremely powerful, and in the incident when she knocked back Cora was just a magical spill or a form of emergency use. Rumplestiltskin on the other hand probably just understood magic and how to use it, as soon as he became the dark one.