Emma’s Sacrifice and Gold’s Intention

[Slurpeez]

After episode 21, one has to wonder just what Mr. Gold wants. We know he wants to find his son, Baelfire, and tells Regina he’s planning a trip (presumably to find him). Since he said to Regina that Emma must die for the curse to be broken, that raises the question of just what Mr. Gold wants from Emma. Does he want Emma to sacrifice herself so that he’ll be free to leave and search for Baelfire? Is he just lying to Regina to keep Emma alive? One nearly certain way to prevent Regina from killing Emma is to make Regina think it would end the dark curse and her power over SB.

Mr. Gold already said he wanted Emma to believe. Yet, if she believes, would she really want to die and leave Henry? It seems like she could potentially find other ways to free individuals by getting them to remember their FTL identities like she did for Graham. They’d probably still have to remain in SB, but at least they’d have their true identities. However, if she were to die, does that mean the characters could return to FTL from whence they came? I know Emma is a Christ-like figure in the sense that she is the “saviour” of FTL, so perhaps she’ll die and resurrect a la Harry Potter or Aslan? Did Gold predict that Regina would resort to her old habits and use her poisoned apple on Emma? When Regina said, “I win” Mr. Gold had either a puzzled or worried expression on his face. It wasn’t the same smug look he had when he beat Regina two weeks ago.

[RumplesGirl]

I think the question that is central to all of this is: what does Emma’s death–breaking the curse–actually mean? Does everyone “wake up” to use Gold’s and Regina’s words? Or do they find themselves with memories back in FTL. Until tonight, I was leaning toward the latter, but now I’m thinking that lifting the curse just means that everyone remembers who they are and are now free to move about our world. So, Gold wanting Emma to die might mean that he knows where Bae is and needs Emma to die so taht he can go get him. But what we also need to consider is that Gold may know that just because Emma “dies” here it does not mean that she will be dead forever. If he designed the curse so that the child of true love will break his curse then I am willing to bet that there are loopholes to Emma’s death, ie: resurrection, as is a typical motif in any “savior” archetype.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[LisaFromOH]

I had a completely different understanding of that statement by Mr. Gold. I thought that Emma dying was a way to break the curse, not the way to break the curse. Also, it seemed like Gold was planning a trip with the understanding that Emma was alive and going to stay that way. What I got out of it was that if Emma dies, the curse breaks immediately. If Emma stays in Storybrook the curse gradually weakens. I think the curse might also be broken by Emma believing. Did I miss something?

[Snickerdoodle]

I guess I will weigh in here. That was a poignant scene.

My first take was that I was stunned at the idea Emma dies and it “shatters” the curse. That was the word used. What crept over me was that Mr. Gold reiterated to Regina that what she wanted, the outcome of all this, was that SW/PC would not have a HEA, and if Emma dies and shatters the curse, PC/SW would never have a HEA with that outcome. If Emma lives and they all remember but are lost in this new “land without magic” that is not a HEA either, is it, even if they are a family? Although, people do adjust and learn to accomodate their surroundings.

I take it that shattering the curse, means everything would revert back to before the curse. Whether the return to FTL would be to a wholeness or a rubble, I cannot say. However, to return, Regina would not be in control. For people to remember in SB affects Regina’s control. Her only hope is to keep things they way they are — thus the poison apple through the hat.

Now, Jefferson’s retrieval of the apple brings a whole new element to the game, and I ask myself with magic could they go back in time and stop Regina from enacting the curse to begin with?

Personally I have developed a theory that Emma has the “seed” of FTL’s magic within in her, and that possibly either she will have magic or magic will be brought to SB through some trigger involving her, most probably her belief. Just that fact that Mr. Gold hid the knife leads me to believe he is not certain what Emma’ presence or belief will do.

[Snickerdoodle]

An added thought to the idea (above) of shattering the curse…
So, the question regarding that would be, if shattering the curse reverts them back to FTL when would they be? Would they be at the place before the queen enacted the curse. Because then Emma would be a baby again; or would they return to FTL after the curse was enacted and the remains and ruins of what was?

Also, if Gold is all about finding Bae, he is not going to let much happen that will hinder him in his quest. I continue to wonder if he sees the outcomes of peoples decisions (the future, so to speak) because he seemed very unconcerned about Regina’s “creativity” other than to remind her that all magic comes with a price, and he said something like this was “magic created from magic” as if he were trying to consider the cost of that.

[charming]

My take on it was that the curse was breaking already. Emma dying it will definitely happen. Regina wanted to do a new deal to keep Henry and get rid of Emma without breaking the curse but she had nothing Gold needed or wanted. Emma leaving with or without Henry Regina will win and the curse will not break and that is what Emma wants to do. She made it clear she cares nothing about the curse but only Henry. Emma told August that they are all screwed. Regina does not want to give up Henry and rid Emma so she settled on putting her to sleep as she did her mom. Apparently Gold already knows this so point Gold and minus point Regina.

[hjbau]

I think that is right. I think that Emma being in town was breaking the curse. The apple tree was dying. People were becoming more themselves. Killing Emma would also break the curse. But her staying in town and interacting with people will also break it. So that is why the Queen wanted to put her into a cursed sleep so that she could no longer interact with people and would not be dead.

[Author]

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