Reply To: Emma + Baelfire = Swanfire

[Slurpeez]

Emma didn’t really do much in 3B however, I think part of that needs to be attributed to the writers wanting to push Regina’s redemption and make Regina look good rather than have it rest solely at CaptainSwan’s door. However, that is not to say that CS may not have played a part in the writer’s minds.

Well, I’m pretty sure we won’t see eye-to-eye on this point, but let’s just say that the writers rendered Emma utterly useless in S3b, not because of Regina, but because of HOOK. It was the curse upon Hook’s luscious lips, brought on by his own selfish vow, that deprived Emma of her status as savior by taking away her true love magic. It was an “anti-True Love kiss” of sorts such that the mere touching of their lips made Emma incapable of being able to take on Zelena, which meant Regina did all the heavy lifting. Again, it was the curse on Hook’s lips, not Regina herself, which left Emma impotent. That’s a canon fact. Emma even called Hook “cannon fodder” in 3×20 when Charming insisted she bring along Hook to fight Zelena. If only Emma had just trusted her own instinct and left Hook behind, then she would have had her magic and been able to take on Zelena in her own right. It wasn’t even Hook who restored Emma’s magic in the end, but it was her own memory of Neal telling her what home meant that restored Emma’s light magic. Again, canon fact.

Also, I’ll add that Hook wouldn’t have found Emma in NYC or been able to jog her memory if it hadn’t been for Neal getting the message and memory potion to Hook. But of course, Hook will get all the credit for that heroic feat, because that is what Hook does: he gets all the praise even when he doesn’t prove all that useful. Even in S3a, it was Neal’s idea to capture the shadow that got Emma and everyone home to Storybrooke, yet Hook was still hailed a hero. Go figure.

I don’t believe Neal was killed off solely for CS to happen for several reasons:
1. There’s no reason why CS couldn’t have happened without Neal dying if the writers chose to go there.
2. Neal dying has been bad for CS because people think CS is only happening because Neal is dead which doesn’t put CS in a positive light.

You can believe what you like. However, the writers in 3×17 even had a meta about this. Zelena, disguised as Ariel, asked, “You let a man die for a ship? Who does that?” Now, on the surface that may seem to apply just to Hook letting Blackbeard die to protect the Jolly Roger, yet on a deeper level, I’d argue that line is referring to the writers’ decision to let Neal die so that the CS ship could sail. In my own estimation, there is basically no convincing way CS ever would’ve happened while Neal lived since Hook had a romance with Neal’s mom (a fact Emma still seems not to know yet). Why do you think Milha’s name wasn’t brought up in the S3 finale –even when Past Rumple and Hook met? You’d think the first thing Past Rumple would do is mention the name of Milha to Hook, given the fact that Past Rumple and Hook had yet to come to some sort of understanding about that debacle. Emma likely wouldn’t have carried on with Hook in a romantic way if she knew he’d been romantically involved with the grandmother of her son.