Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4519633-20141022032431/@comment-24674051-20160418035116

The safe haven event would not be that hard. all it would take is a simple sleep spell, then casually going to each person and harvesting their heart. Since cora did not crush the hearts, they weren't dead, just under her control. (though it does make the Zombie like battle a little disconcerting, but that is another story).

as for the arguments on Emma. Season 1, she did not believe, so her magic ability was 0. By the end of season 2, Emma had just started accepting that she had magic ability. And even without training, her raw ability blocked Cora from ripping out her heart, she was able to use the Dreamcatcher (under Rumple's tutelage), erect a protection spell (while it was partially device driven, it was also powered by Emma's magic) that was effective enough to slow down a combined effort of Regina and Cora, and by the end of the season she was able to start chanelling her power to assist Regina in disarming the Failsafe diamond. She was not powerful by this point, but she was starting to use her powers.

Season 3a had her working with Regina to learn simple magic (lighting fires). and given the limited time they were in Wonderland, she caught on quick enough. And this continued in 3b, although here Emma was resistent to embrace her powers, which that in and of itself prevented her from fully utilizing them).

So up until the beginning of Season 4, I agree that Emma was way down on the list. By Season 4, though, Emma has started training in the use of her magic, and we saw much more versatility. She was using light blasts against Marshmallow and the Viking Ice Monster. Again, she was still an advanced novice, but she is learning quickly. By the end of the Frozen arc, she had blasted a hole through the wall of the sheriff's office and done some other feats which displayed her raw power, and that power appears to be considerable stronger than Regina.

By the end of season 4, she has light blasted Cruella over a cliff (without even touching Henry), and she has used her light magic to drive the Darkness out of the Apprentice. Again, a show of way more raw power that Regina, or even Zelena, had ever showed. And this time that power is under greater control.

Then we see Emma as the Dark Swan, and she is almost on par with Merlin at this point. in the one straight head to head battle, Merlin did win, and that win was based partially on the even greater raw power that Merlin had, combined with 1000 years of experience with Magic vs 2 years of magic use. Emma also was able to channel both her light and dark magic to undo the curse that kept Merlin as a tree.

And Now, in the Underworld, her magic was immediately accessible and working, while Regina and Zelena both had trouble with their magic (Zelena is still having trouble as of Ruby Slippers). This again speaks volumes to the Raw Power, but her time (albeit breif) as the Dark One has also given her some control and versatility that she did not have before. So, I would contend that by this point, Emma has always had the raw power and speed. and has caught up in versatility. Feats may still be lacking (though not by much). All this to say that Emma has definitly worked her way to the third spot behind Merlin and Rumple 2.0.

And keep in mind that MOST of Emma's advancement in Magic has occured over a time span of about 6 months (basically since she returned to Storybrooke after Snow's curse). It took Regina YEARS before she could even be considered barely competent with Magic. Using this as a basis of comparison, Emma completely blasts Regina out of the water. And Regina even concedes that Emma is the better witch.