Once Upon A Fandom
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Conventions
  • Recaps
  • Roundtables
  • Origins
  • OUAT Merchandise
  • Forum
  • OUAF Podcast
  • Once Upon A Time In Wonderland
  • Operation Storybrooke
  • Other Shows and Movies
  • Meet The OUAF Team

Once Upon A Potter: a theory by Zach Van Norman

8/11/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture

We all know the story: an ordinary orphan (the hero) is told by a stranger that they have an extraordinary destiny in another land, a land of magic and wonder, a land that needs saving from the forces of evil. Not only does this magical realm need saving from darkness, but the fight against that darkness is the reason why the hero became an orphan in the first place. As with every hero's journey, the orphan refuses to believe or accept their destiny, but eventually they embrace magic and defeat the darkness by having Voldemort shoot himself in the face with his own spell.

Wait, are we talking about Harry Potter or Once Upon A Time here? Well, in the case of Merlin and the Dark Swan, it's both. 
As the Dark Swan storyline has progressed, her behavior has been more and more confusing, and we've found ourselves asking, "Why did Emma hurt Henry? Why did she erase everyone's memories? And whose heart did she use to cast the curse?" That last question is the one which will explain everything. After all, you have to crush the heart of the thing you love most to cast such a curse, and show creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have confirmed that Emma killed someone in order to do it. And yet Henry and Hook, the two most likely candidates, are still alive. (And would she really crush Henry's heart anyway? Hell no!) Her parents are still alive; Emma herself is still alive. So what's going on here? Who died?

At this point, all we have to go off of is that it's someone who was alive in Camelot but has been missing from Storybrooke. So far, the only candidate is Merlin. And not only is Merlin dead, but he asked Emma to kill him and go all Dark Swan on everyone in order to keep their secret plan in motion. (This is where the Harry Potter
 thing comes into play and I explain what I'm talking about.)
Picture
Image courtesy ABC Studios
We know from the press release and promo for "Nimue" that Emma and Merlin are going on a quest and that Emma comes face to face with the same Dark One who imprisoned Merlin as a tree. (Some people believe this person is named Vortigan based off the episode credits and because the actor who played Vortigan apparently said he was the Dark One, though I admit that I cannot find proof of this and I'm going only off of what I've heard through the grapevine. If he did say that, I think this is just a red herring to throw us off the trail.) The first Dark One was Nimue, Emma is going to summon her, and whatever happens in that meeting is what sets Merlin and Emma's plans into motion. Merlin will realize that Emma is going to have to play evil in order to reunite Excalibur and defeat the darkness. (Said another way, Dumbledore will realize that Snape is going to have to play evil in order to defeat Voldemort.) And so Emma will kill Merlin as a way of proving herself to the darkness, pretending she wants to reunite Excalibur to destroy light magic, but in reality she's doing all of this to destroy the darkness. 

Eventually Emma's true intentions will come to light, Nimue/the darkness will be very angry, and in its attempt to kill Emma it will misunderstand the nature of her magic because true evil cannot understand true love... just like Voldemort. And, just like Voldemort, the darkness will end up shooting itself in the face with its own spell.
Picture
Image courtesy ABC Studios
But how could Emma use Merlin's heart to cast the curse if you have to use the heart of the thing you love most in order to do it? Well, thanks to Pan's use of Felix in Season 3, we know that the thing you love most doesn't have to be romantic love. It can also mean friendship and loyalty. Merlin will be Emma's strongest compatriot, supporting her because of his unwavering belief that she is the one who will defeat the darkness.

If you have doubts about this, well, that's okay. I don't expect everyone to agree with my theory. But let's not forget that young Emma made several Harry Potter references during the Frozen storyline. Consider also that Emma and Harry Potter share striking similarities, as summed up in my intro paragraph. And another thing: when Dopey went beyond the town line, he turned into a tree, just like Merlin. This isn't a coincidence. It happened because Merlin's heart was used to cast the curse.


How this will lead to the journey to the Underworld, I don't know, and I'm not even sure that it will play out the same way. But what I am sure of is that Emma will be the Woman Who Lived, freed from the darkness without having to die to be rid of it.
1 Comment
C Spottswood
11/11/2015 23:20:21

Sorry but before you get anywhere close to Harry Potter you have to get past the overwhelming Star Wars overlay.

BTW , you do not see Lancelot in town and he was Arthur's best friend and Guineveres unspoken love. Arthur having the sword controls Merlin who fights Emma to get back the Dagger and the Spark but in the fight the sword comes lose and is plunged in the rock to stop the unification process most likely because Nimue felt threatened and did not trust Arthur to stop at killing Merlin.( Think the "A NEW HOPE" and Obi Won telling Vader to strike him down and he will only become more powerful. Emma asked Merlin was there a hope.

The backstory seems a bit hinky right now as Merlin seems to be a runaway foot soldier like Rumple who stumbles on magic in a desert a lot like Tatooine in apperance; and he is looking many years later to get rid of it for love, (a bit like the dilemma Anakin has with Padme. The hinky part comes when Nimue (translated Lady of the Lake) shows up with her middle mist seeds that she wants Merlin to make grow. The sole survivor of a massacre accusing Vortigern, the king who came before Uther of burning the place down and killing everyone.

Seems a bit to convenient the town was slaughtered on a Grail quest and suddenly finds the man who has the Grail.

Merlin can not tell Nimue's future most likely because she already is immortal or perhaps because their futures are to closely intertwined.

At any rate Vortigern is following Nimue who can not figure out which house was hers as perhaps none of them were. Nimue fakes her death to get Merlin to drop the sword. She then uses her newly found magic to rip out Vortigern's heart and crush it. Like Eve in the garden of Eden Nimue is punished for her sin by allow the darkness in her and making her resemble a snakes skin.

After which she breaks the sword which always should have remained a cup.

Not it is not only Nimue whose clothing turned dark but Merlin's as well, The ring on her finger most likely the reason why.

You will also notice they have Emma dressed in an out fit similar to Princess Leia Her dark Swan outfit is Luke's for Return of the Jedi.

The line between Emma and Merlin that there is still love in Nimue is like the line of Lukes about Vader as he provokes the Father to kill the Emperor who looks something like Nimue, The Dark One.

The End Game is pretty much what you would suspect or so i hope that the only way to kill the Darkness is to first kill Emma to break her connection to Nimue.

The problem with your theory of killing Merlin in sacrifice is simply you can not kill an immortal until they are Mortal which was the problem with killing Voldemort.

So basically someone else has to die not Merlin and the most likely choice is Lancelot. Merlin is most likely in that tree in the middle of the Forrest the one Lilly crashed next to. Nimue is probably some where in town. It looks like only the darkness is attached to the dagger.

The big plan is what Emma has been saying all along, there is no savior in town, she is both darkness and light and freed of all the duties to do either side's bidding, Assuming she comes back from death, a role I believe they already cast her magic will be her own and there will be balance in her life. It was funny to watch Emma keep telling people she was still herself and none of them thought it was okay. Emma Btw translates as Whole or Complete. Her destiny was to bring happy ending to all including Rumple and Regina and this way she has.

Of course I am more than likely wrong but seriously the Star Wars Overlay is thick.


Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Analysis
    Behind-the-scenes
    Casting Calls
    Conventions
    Cosplay
    Costuming
    D23-expo
    Deleted-scenes
    Dragon-con
    Events
    Fan Interviews
    Fan Theories
    Merchandise
    Operation-storybrooke
    Operation-storybrooke
    OUAF Awards
    OUAT In Wonderland
    Press Events
    Press Release
    Promo Stills
    Reviews
    SDCC
    Season 1
    Season 2
    Season 3
    Season 4
    Season 5
    Season 6
    Sneak Peeks
    Specials
    Spoilers
    TV Appearances

    Archives

    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    November 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Conventions
  • Recaps
  • Roundtables
  • Origins
  • OUAT Merchandise
  • Forum
  • OUAF Podcast
  • Once Upon A Time In Wonderland
  • Operation Storybrooke
  • Other Shows and Movies
  • Meet The OUAF Team