Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25896389-20151109052100/@comment-25355646-20151111143226

I like the idea that the Vault was made by Nimue after she realized that Merlin tethered her soul to the dagger. she created it as a place to always "renew" herself or any other Dark One who would come after her. The Dark One doesn't have the power to portal jump, but I think it's possible for a Dark One to create a small portal to a pocket dimension (or she stole the spell to open the portal from Merlin's tower) as a sanctuary for herself and hiding place for the dagger. Because a Dark One can communicate with the spirits of previous Dark Ones, I guess Rumple spoke to Nimue about the Jungle Dimension, and that is where Rumple hid the dagger most of the time. I also think the Darkness just lived on because it has been looking for a host ever since dark magic was created from Nimue corrupting the "neutral" magic she took from the Holy Grail.