Speculation WITHOUT Spoilers: Lalalalala! I can't hear you!

[KAOS Agent]

I don't watch promos or sneak peeks, but given what we saw at the end of the last episode, I tend to think it's less of a villain/hero swap and more of a Rumpel fanfic with the author's own personal embellishments (or as the showrunners call it, "a concept movie" Basically, just go with it). The Rumpel part is all about what Rumpel wants the author to write, which means he's the awesomemest awesome that ever awesomed. He hated being a coward and wanted to impress with his feats of bravery. Instead, he became the Dark One and used its power rather than conquer his own cowardice. Typical Rumpel is using magic to give him a shortcut to a world where he is the hero and everyone worships him or whatever his fantasy is. I'd assume that in an AU where he is a hero, he wouldn't have a black heart since all of his deeds are heroic. Although if the author can remove the dark heart stuff by making him a hero, why he doesn't just ask for the darkness to be removed and leave everyone else alone, I don't know (other than that there wouldn't be a fun AU adventure movie for the writers to create).  I think the rest of the characters outside of Belle are given new roles that the writers think would be fun for the audience to watch as they wander around until someone finds the magical white out that returns everyone to normal.

 

Everyone celebrates until the Apprentice is revealed to be Peter Pan in disguise and Dark Curse 1.5 once again rolls through the town. And we fade to black. I would so take Pan's return over the endlessly chatty Zelena. Shut up, Zelena!

Edited May 9, 2015 by KAOS Agent

[Serena]

Okay, so we've had the Back To The Future concept movie and the Role Swap concept movie. Now, for season 5, what movie will they be ripping off... ehm, I mean, taking inspiration from to do the finale?

I'm going with Ghost of Christmas past/present/future. Emma has PMS and snarkily tells Regina her lasagna is overcooked. The ghost comes to show her how terrible her life was/is/will be before Regina was her BFF. Genius!

[Camera One]

The ghost comes to show her how terrible her life was/is/will be before Regina was her BFF. Genius!

 

I can totally see that happening.  A&E could say that if Regina had died in Season 2 in the finale, Henry would be dead right now because Regina was pivotal to saving him in Neverland.  Emma would have turned dark because she would have murdered Lily at the side of the road in 4B.  Snowing would never have had all the epiphanies they had without Regina guiding them.  

[KingOfHearts]

I thought Maleficent would move in with Lily, but since she can't leave Storybrooke, are those two going to be regulars now? How exactly would that work?

[Camera One]

They can spend some quality time with August.  

[Mari]

They can spend some quality time with August.  

And Red, Dr. Whale, Tink, Archie, all the Dwarves . . . .

[Camera One]

Time for a sneak peek for tonight's episode "Operation Mongoose"...

 

SCENE: Granny's Diner

 

EMMA/HOOK/SNOW/CHARMING/MALEFICENT/LILY: What's up?  We were having a ramble up in the woods since we all forgot about the Author for an episode.

 

REGINA: The Author went to Gold.  He has the Ink and they're rewriting the story as we speak.  

 

MALEFICENT shakes the baby rattle: I just put the Author's fingers to sleep. He won't be able to write for 20 minutes.   Who said I was an irrelevant addition to this arc.

 

EMMA: Okay, so this gives us to 20 minutes to stop this thing.  This is the season finale, so we can finally have a plan.  Belle, any ideas?

 

BELLE: I guess I should go try to convince Gold not to do this.  We can't have a season finale without a quality Rumbelle scene.

 

EMMA: Good point.  You go do that.

 

HOOK: Maybe it's time to ask the Blue Fairy if she knows anything that might help us?  Or at least we should check on her since she usually dies at this point in the season.

 

EMMA: Okay, you and I will go visit Mother Superior.  

 

SNOW/CHARMING: What should we do?

 

EMMA: Urrrh... I think you get the D plot.  Yep, it's right here.  Try to find a babysitter for the baby since you two will probably turn into villains any time now.

 

SCENE: The Convent

 

BLUE: So finally you come to ask me for help?

 

AUGUST: Hi, I'm still here.

 

EMMA: Yes, what do you know about how to stop the Author.

 

BLUE: Only the Sorcerer would know.  You will need to free the Apprentice from the Hat, so he can re-appoint a new Author, even though he should have done that 30 years ago, but whatever.

 

HOOK: But Belle and I tried to open the hat for 6 weeks and it didn't work.

 

BLUE: To open the Hat, you will need to siphon the life force from a Heart That Has Destroyed the Life of a True Innocent.

 

EMMA: So Regina?  Gold?  Maleficent?  King George?  Zelena?  Bo Peep?  Ursula?  Cruella?  Peter Pan?  Cora?

 

BLUE: No, your parents, silly.  You'll first need to go on a quest to find the Elixir of Life Force Extraction as well as the Magical Vacuum Cleaner.  Then, after you open the hat, this will create a huge reset for Season 5, since the Hat will unleash every monster ever known to myth.  Storybrooke will be overrun with demons.  It will become Once Upon a Buffy a Vampire Slayer.

 

EMMA: But we have no time to open the hat!  We took 15 minutes walking here to avoid using magic, so now we have 5 minutes left before the Author's finger cramp goes away!

 

BLUE: The Author's words only works on people made out of flesh.  So Hook will be immune since he has a Hook instead of a Hand.  The Author's words are also immune to other writers.  

 

EMMA: I did take a creative writing course in prison.

 

BLUE: Yes, that will work.  You and Hook will be immune and can save us all.  See ya.

 

SCENE: Main Street

 

SNOW: Who should we get to babysit our baby?

 

CHARMING: Where is he again?   

 

SNOW: Well, Belle dropped him off at Aurora's, who dropped him off at Ashley, who left the babies with Red, who... wait a minute, look who it is!

 

WILL: Hi folks.  I have nothing else to do this episode.  I heard you were looking for a babysitter?

Edited May 10, 2015 by Camera One

[Mari]

So, since we're evidently going to spend episodes on it next season, who's going to be Lily's father?  'Cause I'm guessing someone from Camelot.

 

Also, who should play who?  Because I saw the suggestion Lance Reddick for Merlin, and really liked it--although, I like him, and would appreciate him being any of the Camelot cast.

Edited May 11, 2015 by Mari

[KingOfHearts]

 

Also, who should play who?  Because I saw the suggestion Lance Reddick for Merlin, and really liked it--although, I like him, and would appreciate him being any of the Camelot cast.

He was so creepy in Lost... at least his character was. His eyes are like darts. I could definitely see him being a person of authority or intimidation. The Sorcerer's voice in Lily sounded African American to me, sort of like James Earl Jones.

 

Since dragons are a part of Arthurian legend, Lily's father is certainly going to be tied into it. I'm almost positive Emma is going to end up being Morgana. I'm hoping we get some world hopping, with at least some of the cast heading off to Camelot to find Emma. Not sure if Robin will go or not, since he's got Roland and a lunatic pregnant with his next child at home. But he used his own child as Shadow bait and left him behind on his mission to siege Zelena's castle, so I wouldn't put it past him. Snowing can't very well go either. I definitely count on Hook and Regina... boy would those too be fun together.

 

Meanwhile, Rumpbelle will be rekindling their love, Henry will start a blog, and Will will just stand somewhere.

Edited May 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[YaddaYadda]

The show has been pretty good at casting and that's pretty much the one area I'm comfortable with.

I'm assuming season 5 picks up right where this one left off. I've been wondering though. If Emma was sucked into another world, can she be summoned? And Lily's father is probably Uther Pendragon. I'm assuming we'll be in full Camelot drama and Arthur is my guy, so please show, don't fuck him up like you did Robin?

Thanks!

[scarynikki12]

Since Emma dropped the I Love You on Hook, I wonder if they'll manage what Rumpel wouldn't and use True Love's Kiss to remove her from being the Dark One.

[YaddaYadda]

I think that's the whole idea of having Emma be the Dark One. They will break the curse and I'm guessing we're in for sone kind of bzttle between Jacob and the man in black. Imean smoke monster! No, wait! I mean the Dark One and probably Merlin who is so not smart!

[LizaD]

I'm calling Terry O'Quinn as Merlin. Is he currently unemployed? You just know it's going to be another Lost person. He's about the only major name left that I can think of from there. Unless they want to go younger?

I definitely count on Hook and Regina... boy would those too be fun together.

Pass. He's about one of the rare, almost extinct breeds left that hasn't been sacrificed on the altar of St. Mary Sue Woegina. And that's due to sharing minimal contact with her. Please keep the plague+rabies away from him!

They have to give Rump something to do. Those 2 plus Charming can go hitchiking to Camelot together. And they'll probably give Rump some sort of special connection to Dark One Emma to do so since he's the ex. Or maybe while he's in stasis he can communicate with her like the sleeping curse thing.

True Love's Kiss to remove her from being the Dark One.

No because I think A&E have an aversion to using TLK kiss now because they put more stock into a "surprise" move they pulled out of their asses. See last episode with the Henry author blood thing.

[Souris]

I'm calling Terry O'Quinn as Merlin. Is he currently unemployed? You just know it's going to be another Lost person. He's about the only major name left that I can think of from there. Unless they want to go younger?

Pass. He's about one of the rare, almost extinct breeds left that hasn't been sacrificed on the altar of St. Mary Sue Woegina. And that's due to sharing minimal contact with her. Please keep the plague+rabies away from him!

 

I hereby dub it Reginabola. It has a very high characterization death rate.

 

I love Terry O'Quinn. Don't know what he's up to these days.

[Selina K]

I can't see how we could get a time jump next season so I am hoping we open with Henry having a few drinks at a bar where someone asks to see his ID. Then everyone laughs and he goes and gets on the middle school bus since we are all supposed to pretend he is still 12.

[Mari]

I'm not even sure she'll be a full on evil because of her light magic.  I think she will struggle and have her moments where she's off her rocker, but I doubt she'll go full on sparkle!dark or anything like that.  Or hope springs eternal, so yay Emma's gonna get more focus next season????

 

Unless they completely change (again) the Dark One mythology, she shouldn't be full-on evil.

 

Even in his Dark Imp glory days, Rumplestiltskin wasn't just mindlessly going around being evil.  He had plans, and definitely would do something evil more quickly than he would do something altruistically, but he wasn't a mindless "Evil-do-more-evil-must-do-evil" drone.

 

Emma's apparently got all that Light magic, and true love spirit--she should have a lot more power to remain herself than Rumple did.

 

(Of course, TS, TW--so she could end up looking for babies to eat their bones, couldn't she?)

Edited May 11, 2015 by Mari

[YaddaYadda]

About the whole TLK that breaks the Dark One's curse, I'm assuming they'd want to find Merlin first before that ever happens.  Since the smoke monster needs to attach itself to a human soul, Emma's curse being broken means that we get a repeat of last night where the smoke is trying to find a new target or destroy everything.

[HoodlumSheep]

Hmmm...it'll be interesting to see how A&E handle all these secondary characters next season. I wonder if they'll actually use them like they were used in season 1 (having semi relevance at least)

Isaac's probably stuck forever in the basement, but there's the potential of seeing him again. There's the Apprentice, Lily, Mal's technically still in town, Zelena.

Then on the Camelot side:

Merlin, Emma will probably be a twist on Morgan La Fey, or maybe the theories of the Black Fairy being Morgan La Fey will come true. As for Lily's dad? I'll guess it's Mordred, just cause I can. we could see Uther. I wonder if Lancelot will appear in flashbacks?

There's the potential for 10+ people to make an appearance besides the main cast. That's a lot of people to juggle.

I hope there isn't a time jump between now and 5a, if anything they should wait for between 5a and 5b. Henry needs to be aged up a little more.

[YaddaYadda]

As for Lily's dad? I'll guess it's Mordred, just cause I can. we could see Uther.

 

Whoever it is, please keep Arthur out of this fuckery with Maleficent, show.  

 

Thanks!

[Mari]

Isaac's probably stuck forever in the basement, but there's the potential of seeing him again. There's the Apprentice, Lily, Mal's technically still in town, Zelena.

Why not just shove him out across the town border, without Ingrid's scroll?  One less character to worry about for a while.

 

Without a pen and ink, he's apparently powerless . . . and when it comes right down to it, he's done less damage than a lot of other people running around freely in Storybrooke.  If he tells people in the rest of the world "There's a town in Maine that has a dragon!  ANd witches--lots of witches!  And Rumplestiltskin!" he's going to look crazy, and they'll lock him up.

[Serena]

I'm gonna go with Arthur for dragon daddy. I'm pretty sure there was a version (maybe the one with Sam Neill as Merlin? Not sure) where Arthur had a child out of wedlock, I think Morgana shapeshifted into his wife and got pregnant? That would be really up those writers' alley.

[HoodlumSheep]

I'm gonna go with Arthur for dragon daddy. I'm pretty sure there was a version (maybe the one with Sam Neill as Merlin? Not sure) where Arthur had a child out of wedlock, I think Morgana shapeshifted into his wife and got pregnant? That would be really up those writers' alley.

Something like that happens in the Mists of Avalon book. Except he and Morgana conceive a baby in a dark cave (they just thought they were getting it on with some stranger though, they were horrified when they found out that they committed incest). There was no shapeshifting involved in that story though.

[Amerilla]

Anyone else reading Rumpel's white heart as "we're just gonna keep Rumpel in a coma until RC's press tour for The Legend of Barney Thompson is over, and then we'll just suck Dark One out of Emma and back into him"? 

[HoodlumSheep]

I forgot that grown August is still around too. I wonder if he'll just stick to hanging offscreen with the fairies until he gets turned back into a child/whatever eventually.

As to Rumple staying in a convenient coma: they could spin it and say that Rumple's getting a taste of his own medicine (in reference to how many times Belle's been forced under a sleeping spell or whatever)

Edited May 11, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[Amerilla]

As to Rumple staying in a convenient coma: they could spin it and say that Rumple's getting a taste of his own medicine (in reference to how many times Belle's been forced under a sleeping spell or whatever)

 

LOL! Since both characters are played out at this point, the more time they spend asleep, the better.

[LizaD]

 

Anyone else reading Rumpel's white heart as "we're just gonna keep Rumpel in a coma until RC's press tour for The Legend of Barney Thompson is over, and then we'll just suck Dark One out of Emma and back into him"?

 

No because traditionally the split has been Emma and Rump in the fall and Woegina and a pretense for Snow in the spring. Also if it's his last year they're going to want to use him as much as they can before he heads for better pastures. What I can see, if he needs a lot of time out is he's not going to be in those group scenes but he hasn't been anyway. They can easily have him tape 1 on 1 scenes with Emma, Merlin, other guest stars, or Belle in some weird spirit state. Or have him set out for Merlin on his own.

 

 

I hope there isn't a time jump between now and 5a

I guarantee there will be a time jump. They are allergic to writing fall-outs. I can see them thinking coming back immediately to the fall-out and Emma initially waking up as the Dark One is too challenging for them.

[RadioGirl27]

I guarantee there will be a time jump. They are allergic to writing fall-outs. I can see them thinking coming back immediately to the fall-out and Emma initially waking up as the Dark One is too challenging for them.

I think we are going to start with the moment Hook and Regina (because we know she is going to be there) find Emma wherever she is (Camelot, Avalon, a spa in France), and I bet some months have passed. That way Emma has been living with the darkness and without the love of her family for some time, so they can say she has been corrupted by it, and drag the resolution of this plot until the half season/season finale.

Edited May 11, 2015 by RadioGirl27

[MaiLuna]

I noticed that the S5 mid-season finale, 5.11, is also the 100th episode of the show, so I hope the end of that half-season is truly epic.

[Mari]

I hope they give a better reason for the quest for Merlin. As far as they know all he can do is attach the thing to some other schmuck. I still say he's the big bad. He's probably locked up somewhere and the idiot heroes like usual release him, thinking he's going to help and voila the reveal is the dark magic is all his and he'll just take it back from Emma. Problem solved.

So, in this theory, the Dark One curse was basically a way of charging a dark magic battery?  Creepy, but plausible.

 

I'm always a little afraid when you throw out "crazy" theories, LIzaD.  You have a disturbing record of being right.  :)

 

Anyone else reading Rumpel's white heart as "we're just gonna keep Rumpel in a coma until RC's press tour for The Legend of Barney Thompson is over, and then we'll just suck Dark One out of Emma and back into him"? 

Possibly.  I'm desperately hoping that instead, they use this as a chance to completely reboot Rumple's character.  He lost all his heart-juice.  Since this show seems to go with the soul being in the heart, it gives them lots of room to do things with Rumple they'd not ever done before.

 

He could have no memories.  He could have only memories until he took on the curse.   He could be robotic and unemotional . . .

 

I guarantee there will be a time jump. They are allergic to writing fall-outs. I can see them thinking coming back immediately to the fall-out and Emma initially waking up as the Dark One is too challenging for them.

They would say that fall-out is boring. They want to skip to the action.  (Because, you know, action without any emotional consequences is so very interesting.  Grrr.)

[HoodlumSheep]

If A&E follow the disney sword in the stone at all, I wonder if there's a chance at seeing Madam Mim or Archimedes? Will they try to insert some physics lessons into the show? I just checked Netflix for the movie, but sadly they don't seem to have it on instant and that's one of the disney movies we don't own. :( I was going to watch it, cause it's a rainy day. Either that, or Muppets Treasure Island.

Or they could splice it together like they did in 4a: had the disney movie element, but also had a bit of the original fairy tale elements in it (the mirror, etc).

Edited May 11, 2015 by HoodlumSheep

[FurryFury]

Well, I'd love if they did a series of Camelot flashbacks in the time of Merlin and paralleled some of the characters to our leads without forcing the connections. I mean, I've always seen Snow as Arthur (rightful king returns), Regina could be Morgana (usurper sorceress), Emma - Mordred (an "evil" (currently) child of Snow/Arthur). However, I suspect that the Arthurian mythos characters are currently alive simply because of Lancelot in season 2 (which was such a waste of a character I'm still angry about that). Although maybe they'll find a way to retcon it in some way. Like him being named after Lancelot of yore and following his fate.

[YaddaYadda]

So...

 

Should we call it right now what's going to happen in season 5 regarding this whole Merlin thing or should we wait?  Because I have an inkling that Merlin and the Dark One are probably twins and that their story will likely follow the path of Jacob and the Man in Black from Lost and that Emma is just the vessel for that feud between the two.

 

We all know A&E are creatively bankrupt and keep borrowing (stealing) shit from Lost.  The Dark One is the freakin' Smoke Monster, Storybrooke is the Island, the heart is the Library...and so on and so forth.

 

That probably means that Merlin dies in the end, because nothing possibly good can survive A&E's poison pen.

[HoodlumSheep]

I've never seen Lost before, but I remember the time when I always heard people discussing it.

I'm more reminded of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P_t94JYvdGc

Skip to 1:30 and watch from there.

I can always hope that Merlin is secretly the Horned King in disguise (there's a twist for you A&E!) and was the original DO/creator of the curse.

[KingOfHearts]

 

I'm more reminded of this:

How about this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcfLvqzTB3o

 

or this:

 

If Merlin is played by Mark Pellegrino, I quit.

[HoodlumSheep]

^ lol! I was debating about mentioning Ferngully too! Now I want Tim Curry to reprise his role as Long John Silver. They could fit him in somehow.

Also, there's the Kingdom Hearts stuff too.

[Shanna Marie]

I raised this topic in the spoiler thread, but since this part isn't based on any actual spoilers, I thought I'd bring it here for further discussion.

 

Will Emma actually be the "big bad" for next season just because she's the Dark One?

 

Rumple was a coward who craved power and killed in order to get the Dark One power, which he then initially used as a bully to terrorize anyone who got in his way. He still loved his son, though, just not enough to give up power to be with him. He was also able to fall in love with Belle, just not enough to be content with that. A lot of his evil was part of the ongoing scheme to be able to carry out the Dark Curse and reach his son. Almost everything else was petty power plays. It was the classic case of the guy who's felt kicked-around getting enough power to turn the tables. You get the feeling he was doing the things he'd always wanted to do but was afraid to do before he had the power to back it up.

 

Emma took on the Dark One power as a sacrifice to save others, with her heart full of love for Hook (since her last pre-Dark One act was to tell him she loved him), and with faith that Hook and her family would be able to save her and save everyone from the Dark One, once and for all. She should still be able to love, and since she never craved power, would she still be so keen to use power the way Rumple did. It would be interesting if she entrusts the dagger to Hook -- for real, unlike Rumple giving the fake to Belle -- because she knows he won't let her hurt anyone and he won't abuse the power over her.

 

Of course, they have to find her first, and I imagine that would have to happen soon because they won't want to go too long without her being present on screen.

[Rumsy4]

I can't see Emma being the Big Bad for the season. But I do think she will struggle with the temptation to go over to the Dark Side. Emma with the Dark One powers would be like Gandalf possessing the One Ring. She would be tempted to do "good" using Dark Magic, or to keep Hook/Henry safe, etc.. It would be a slow descent, rather then flipping a switch.

[KingOfHearts]

 

But I do think she will struggle with the temptation to go over to the Dark Side. Emma with the Dark One powers would be like Gandalf possessing the One Ring.

It's this show, though. I'm not sure A&E can resist a full-on sparkly imp Emma.They don't care about her character, therefore inner struggles are nothing to write about to them. They think she's so boring that making her dark is the only way she can be interesting or marketable.

 

I thought we were past the "OMG! Dark Savior?!" hogwash, but I was proven wrong.

Edited May 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[Souris]

That's exactly it. If it were another show with better writers, it would be great emotional fodder. But it's not. So it will be sparkly dark Emma and dark magic flying all over the place.

[SilverShadow]

If Emma gets a Keyblade I will take back any and all criticism (okay most) that I have directed at the show.

[RadioGirl27]

That's exactly it. If it were another show with better writers, it would be great emotional fodder. But it's not. So it will be sparkly dark Emma and dark magic flying all over the place.

Yeah, this. A&E don't care about the characters and their emotional growth, only about the plot, the surprises and the twists. So I doubt they are going to show Emma struggling with darkness. They would probably retcon the hell out of the Dark One Curse to fit their plot (something like she is the first woman to be the Dark One so it works differently, or the curse controls her completely and she can't love, or whatever fits their plan), so they can drag the angst until, at least, the mid-season finale. In the meantime, we would have a lot of evil cleavage and dark magic, with her being especially nasty with Hook and Henry, until the episode before the finale, when she would remember her love for them so one of them can TLK.

 

I just remembered... the darkness driven out of Rumple's heart was enough to totally consume it. So Emma's not only getting the Dark One curse, but enough darkness to totally remove her humanity and ability to love.

I think this is exactly where they are going. That way, they can justify not using the TLK in the premiere, because if Emma loses her ability to love, the TLK (either with Hook or Henry) can't work.

Edited May 11, 2015 by RadioGirl27

[KingOfHearts]

I just remembered... the darkness driven out of Rumple's heart was enough to totally consume it. So Emma's not only getting the Dark One curse, but enough darkness to totally remove her humanity and ability to love.

Edited May 11, 2015 by KingOfHearts

[scenicbyway]

Will Emma be the big bad for the next season just because she's "The Dark One"?

 

I'm afraid so.  But I also think it's building towards an amazing resolution of Hook and Emma's relationship.  As we've seen with Rumple and Belle a TLK can break the Dark One's curse.  Of course, the only ones who know this are Rumple, Belle and, probably Merlin.  Rumple is out of commission, Belle will probably take a nap or be on babysitting duty for most of the season, which leaves our characters chasing after Merlin and of course getting waylaid by the search for Lily's dad (who cares!  I want to know who Hook's parents are).

 

I like where they are going with the story as far as Emma the purveyor of light and happiness is now the Dark One--will she take away everyone's happy endings?  And Hook, who's spent 300 years trying to kill the Dark One, is now in fact, in love with her.  I think this is probably their last big adventure before a TLK.  (And let me say, if this is not the direction the writers are going in and Regina or Gold swoops in at the last minute, I'll probably stop watching because most of 4b has been unwatchable). 

 

I do think we'll see Henry have some major angst.  He could've written it so Emma didn't have to take on the "darkness,"  instead he broke the quill.

[ParadoxLost]

I can't see Emma being the Big Bad for the season. But I do think she will struggle with the temptation to go over to the Dark Side. Emma with the Dark One powers would be like Gandalf possessing the One Ring. She would be tempted to do "good" using Dark Magic, or to keep Hook/Henry safe, etc.. It would be a slow descent, rather then flipping a switch.

 

I don't think Emma is the big bad as much as the tendrils of evil are the big bad.  Its going to be about freeing Emma.  I also don't think they'll do a slow descent.  I think they will retcon Rumpel as evil overwhelms the person initially and then there is a rebalancing and Emma will follow that retconned path.  Hook would be dead if that was how this curse progressed.  Honestly, I'm ok with that because I compare all the heroes are evil to Emma's darkening heart shown via crypt keeper makeup and the former was vastly more entertaining.  So lets go with the former I say.

 

What worries me is that there are a lot of 4B characters hanging around with loose ends not quite tied up.  There wasn't really a big bad in 4B and I think that is going to continue into 5A.  I'm not even sure we'll see Camelot.  They could bring Merlin to Storybrooke.  Because they still have neutral heart Rumpel and Wicked to deal with I tend to think there is no journey to find Merlin or Emma.  Just having the dagger means they can bring her back to them unless she is in LwM which would remove her powers.

 

How are they going to block access to LwM or make the dagger not work to avoid that solution?  I'm certain Hook would happily leave town with Emma.

 

I'm hoping for a Home Office culling ala 3A and trip to Camelot.  I'm just not sure we'll get it.  They committed to going to Neverland at the end of 2B.  They were much more vague here on where Emma went.

Edited May 11, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[FurryFury]

I could see a change into the pattern and 5A having to do with the consequences of Emma becoming the Dark One and 5B with Camelot more specifically. 

 

I still think they'll kill of Rumple at the end of it. Can't imagine Cartyle renewing his contract and the character feels done anyway.

[HoodlumSheep]

If they kill off Rumple (at whatever point in the show) I think they need to immediately introduce the final big bad in the following season and end it there.

As for Emma going DO: at most I can see her maybe struggle at dealing with things, but I can't see her going evil. Someone could easily get a hold of her dagger and make her do a bunch of bad stuff though.

[Souris]

As for Emma going DO: at most I can see her maybe struggle at dealing with things, but I can't see her going evil. 

 

Logically, given what we've seen of Rumple as the Dark One, no. But given that it's TS, TW, I expect them to have Emma be more evil than Regina at her village-slaughtering worst. Since Regina is the Savior now (excuse me, need to go retch for a bit), they will need her evil foil: thus, Eviler-Than-Evil Emma.

[Serena]

Will Emma be the big bad for the next season just because she's "The Dark One"?

 

I'm afraid so.  But I also think it's building towards an amazing resolution of Hook and Emma's relationship.  As we've seen with Rumple and Belle a TLK can break the Dark One's curse.  Of course, the only ones who know this are Rumple, Belle and, probably Merlin.  Rumple is out of commission, Belle will probably take a nap or be on babysitting duty for most of the season, which leaves our characters chasing after Merlin and of course getting waylaid by the search for Lily's dad (who cares!  I want to know who Hook's parents are).

Regina should know about it too, since she's the one who suggested it in the first place. Also, shoudn't it be in the book?

[Rumsy4]

...I expect them to have Emma be more evil than Regina at her village-slaughtering worst.

 

I hope not. It's one thing for Evil!Snow to crush Doc's heart in an AU. It would be babynapping levels of character destruction if Emma goes slaughtering villages like Regina--excuse me--the Evil Queen--did. A&E won't go that far with Emma. She may end up offing someone though--to protect Hook or something like that. 

Edited May 12, 2015 by Rumsy4

[Watt]

I don't see how they can make Emma full on evil. Rumple was already pretty spineless, but Emma is totally different. And lily's got alllllll the darkness and at worst she's just a total bitch. I can't handle a whole season of her breaking Hooks heart. But I guess I know he can take it.