Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-5679696-20160905210537/@comment-4453062-20160905215759

In the commentary track for "Birth", the writers said that Dark Hook was indeed planned from the beginning of the Season. However, they initially talked about having Emma turn Hook into a Dark One in present day Storybrooke, but instead decided that it would be better if she already done so back in Camelot, and that was her big secret. So I guess it begs the question if the earlier idea would have worked better or not?

I also thought it was completely in character that trying to save Hook was what made Emma fully go Dark Swan. Rumple became the Dark One to protect Baelfire from fighting in the Ogres War. After Rumple lost him, he was continuously trying to do whatever it took to track him down. Both Rumple and Emma ultimately had good intentions, but went about doing things the wrong way.