Why couldn't they break the curse?

[Schmacky]

If a drop of the true love potion, which is Snow and Charming's love, was on the parchment that was used for the curse then why wouldn't Snow and Charming's true love break the spell?

Emma is a physical, living manifestation of that love and so I understand her being able to break the curse. But in SB, no matter if they were together or not, they loved one another. Truly. David may have been confused, but he loved MM. And MM may have been too hurt to continue things, but she still loved him completely. So, why wouldn't their kiss break the spell? Their love is the same thing as Emma herself.

[FairyTalePrincess]

Perhaps they had to know who they really were. Their true identities were stolen. The curse was created with "Snow White's" and "Prince Charming's" hair, not David and MM. (even though they are one.)

Also Emma had to believe.

[Clockwatcher]

This is a really good point....
I would just answer this by saying that Emma is the savior, so she had to break the curse.
But you're kinda right; Snow and Charming (Or David and MM) ARE true love. And they kissed.
So.... I don't know

[hjbau]

But because they were under the curse and did not believe in their love, believed that their love was wrong it did not work. It is just like when Charming first kissed Snow when she was going all dark Snow in fairytale land in Ep 16. The kiss would not work between them because they were not themselves and did not believe in their love. And also it seems like Emma has to die to break the big curse.

[Clockwatcher]

Oh, hjbau! You made me think of something:
MM and David were cursed; Emma wasn't. Maybe since Emma was already free of the curse, she could break it, and MM and David couldn't because they were cursed.

[hjbau]

Right clockwatcher. That is what i think. Snow and Charming are cursed and therefore couldn't break the curse. Emma is not.

[TheDarkOne]

I'm hoping that because Emma was both outside of the curse and the product of true love, her magical abilities (whatever those may be) will be hightened by the newly-released magic in Storybrooke.

[hjbau]

They need to be careful with that. Too much magical ability becomes an issue. Like for Rumpel so far it hasn't matter because he has wanted Snow, Charming, and Emma to do something for him so he has had no reason to harm them, but things like having Regina make Charming disappear into the infinite forest is an issue. And Regina did it through the mirror which brings up the question as to why she didn't just grab Snow earlier on and bring Snow to her through the mirror. Maybe she can only send people to the infinite forest when she does that, i don't know, but they have already made issues with the show by making the magic too powerful and that is just one incident so they need to be careful with how powerful they make Emma if they give her magic.

[TheDarkOne]

They need to be careful with that. Too much magical ability becomes an issue. Like for Rumpel so far it hasn't matter because he has wanted Snow, Charming, and Emma to do something for him so he has had no reason to harm them, but things like having Regina make Charming disappear into the infinite forest is an issue. And Regina did it through the mirror which brings up the question as to why she didn't just grab Snow earlier on and bring Snow to her through the mirror. Maybe she can only send people to the infinite forest when she does that, i don't know, but they have already made issues with the show by making the magic too powerful and that is just one incident so they need to be careful with how powerful they make Emma if they give her magic.

Very good point. Besides, it would be be far more interesting to see what Emma can do without the use of magic. She managed to slay that dragon all by herself without any help from magic. So, magic may not be as big of an issue for her as it might be for others. Emma's pretty self-reliant when it comes to protecting herself and those she loves. I think she'll manage.

[hjbau]

And in a lot of ways technology can take the place of almost all the magical things people do. Like guns and cell phones and surveillance equipment.