Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4519633-20141022032431/@comment-25536775-20161017224121

Eskaver wrote: DracoWombat wrote: Eskaver wrote: Hmcooper4 wrote: Not true. While the gang was in the UW, Henry found the quill AND the Ink, and brought it back with him. And Henry has not done anything magical without the quill taht I can think of. Right. Henry never did anything Post-Author magical that I can think of. Henry has the Quill and Ink (although I don't think he constantly carries the ink everywhere so I guess it functions as a normal pen). Any special speech moments are just Henry being the "Truest Believer". This family is the specialest family that ever specialed. Just realized that...strongest magician, savior, mayor, sherfiff, Truest love, Truest believer, author, powerful witches, biggest villains, etc. And Henry's status as the Truest Believer is so overlooked! In my opinion, it's that which made magic work in the portal in the season five finale... '''Henry indirectly and subconsciouly harnessing the massive amount of belief magic he got from the NYC bystanders. '''

And I have a theory/headcanon that, because he is the Truest Believer, it is because of his continous belief in happy endings that the Heroes always manage to find those happy coincidences that enable them to win. It was Henry's continuous belief on Regina's redemption that made it possible for her to move on, that made Emma hone her magic skills. And that's what the Truest Believer can do ''subconsciously. In a world where belief magic can ''be used for spellcasting like Neverland, Henry could very well match his biological mother in power level. Cool theory. I would wish it could be something like that, but I'm sure that it's just that Once's magic system as broken as the fairytales they pull ideas from.

I'm even betting that Emma will turn out to be the "Savior" of Saviors, like how Rumple is the darkiest Dark One that ever Darked.

Like your theory for example, is magic conjured from belief? Is magic an atmospheric force, like the smoke cloud we often see? Is magic an internal spark?

Answer from the show: All the above! So, Regina and Emma can use magic when their dust coud is moved in a convenient vessel, but they can't use magic when that vessel is empty. However, magic appare This mess, in my opinion, started with the introduction of Zelena, or was at least aggravated by her arrival. Until then, there was a sort-of-clearness in that magic users could learn how to do magic, and Emma particularly was born with it because she is the product of True Love and was made into the Saviour. After her, we were introduced to various magic users who were born with it, and we haven't seen anyone who learned how to do it since. Which royally screwed my theories that magic was a force of nature, a fifth element of sorts. One that the LWM lacked, but that Rumpel brought back.

IMO, everyone can learn magic with the right amount of effort and/or being taught by a magical being, or using magical objects. But people born with it (Emma, Zelena, Ingrid) are naturally more powerful than those who learn it. But even those who are born with their internal magic need to be in a magical environment for it to work.