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In addition to Emma facing the temptation by the dark one, I think to be the ultimate savior, Emma is going to have to face off against the anti-Savior, Lilith. We saw how the Apprentice supposedly drove Emma’s potential for darkness into baby Lily. Emma the Savior facing off with the anti-Savior, Lily, could also be part of the final battle of good vs evil. Once again, this would reflect the Biblical prophesy of Jesus returning and defeating the anti-Christ and Satan, once and for all.
[adrotate group="5"]"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
In addition to Emma facing the temptation by the dark one, I think to be the ultimate savior, Emma is going to have to face off against the anti-Savior, Lilith. We saw how the Apprentice drove Emma’s potential for darkness into baby Lily. Emma the Savior facing off with the anti-Savior, Lily, could also be part of the final battle of good vs evil, which once again, reflects the Biblical prophesy of Jesus returning and defeating the anti-Christ and Satan, once and for all.
Might be worth noting that in New Testament eschatology, there is another category of figures who are set up against Christ but are *not* the Devil: the antichrist.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time
1 John 2:18
Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist
2 John 1: 7
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world
1 John 4: 2-3
So the antichrist is more a set of people who deny that Christ is the Savior, instead of one singular person. It’s a more modern interpretation to associate the antichrist with one specific individual. The Book of Revelation associates the antichrist with The Beast and it’s followers :
Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name
Revelation 13: 11-17
(hm. Dragon. Marks on the Hand….)
And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20: 10
Gotta wonder about Lily’s ultimate fate at the end of this season, then.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"(hm. Dragon. Marks on the Hand….)
Hadn’t thought about that. Interesting. Maleficent is a beast of sorts (the dragon). I’m still left wondering who Lily’s father is. Is he the Sorcerer or Charming? Was Lily born with the mark or did she get it as a result of the Apprentice driving Emma’s potential for darkness into Lily? Come to think of it, did the Apprentice really drive away Emma’s potential for darkness? After all the Chernabog did still go after Emma, so her heart still must have capacity for darkness after all. It seems Charming and Snow’s dark venture “to protect” Emma was futile.
Gotta wonder about Lily’s ultimate fate at the end of this season, then.
Yeah. I’m still hoping that Lilith isn’t past redemption. Despite lying to Emma in the flashback, I still liked Young Lily. She didn’t seem evil, just lonely. She was kind of an orphan (despite being adopted) who only wanted Emma’s friendship, yet didn’t know how to correctly achieve it. If it turns out that Lily really is the birth daughter of Charming and Snow, and therefore Emma’s biological sister, well, I hope Lily’s fate won’t be death.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Or the final battle could be between Emma and Rumple. If Rumple is the devil himself, it has be against him.
I think Lily and Mal will fade away into the background after this season. But Rumple could potentially become a long-term threat into season five.
I think Lily and Mal will fade away into the background after this season. But Rumple could potentially become a long-term threat into season five.
He could be, but if RG’s theory is correct, then Rumple could be dying by the end of S4. The big bad could be Jafar, who was left in a genie bottle at the end of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Come to think of it, did the Apprentice really drive away Emma’s potential for darkness? After all the Chernabog did still go after Emma, so her heart still must have capacity for darkness after all.
Excellent point. Was it all a slight of hand, then? Just shadows on the wall? What would be the point of that? Unless for some reason the Sorcerer/Apprentice team/duo wanted Baby Lilith out of the way/the EF? To met up with Emma someday?
So according to Christian eschatology, the following figure appear: The Savior, The Devil, The Beast/Antichrist, the False Prophet
TV counterparts on ONCE?
The Savior–Jesus–Emma. Obviously.
The Devil–Satan–Rumple. Again, seems obvious.
The Antichrist–The Beast–Lily. Perhaps?
The False Prophet–The Sorcerer/The Apprentice? Maybe even the Author who is writing his own salacious and “false” stories?
Recall how the Apprentice put the Author into the book. He…”wrote” him in. He actually pulls out something and does some sort of fancy air writing and ZAP…the Author is in the book. If he lied or misled the Charmings, then does that make him the False Prophet who according to Biblical thinking is an Agent of the Antichrist sent to deceive believers?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I think Lily and Mal will fade away into the background after this season. But Rumple could potentially become a long-term threat into season five.
Potentially but I really maintain that Rumple is doomed to die this season, with Emma defeating darkness and temptation (in the form of Rumple) and being “reborn” or rewritten into the book as a fully realized Savior.
I think Lily and Mal will fade away into the background after this season. But Rumple could potentially become a long-term threat into season five.
He could be, but if RG’s theory is correct, then Rumple could be dying by the end of S4. The big bad could be Jafar, who was left in a genie bottle at the end of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
Bingo.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Of course, Jafar is the big bad of 5a. No way will they NOT do it. With Aladdin’s re-release in October it’s a given meaning that Rumple’s story arc will be concluded by the season finale.
How do you conclude an arc by someone who is integral and woven into the fabric of the show? You kill him off. His evil arc will not bleed into season five. The only way I could see Rumple staying with the show is it his curse is lifted, so then it would be a metaphorical death. But I would be shocked to see it go this direction.
I do think we’ll have some type of confrontation of Lily vs. Emma. She’ll once again feel betrayed. *sigh* Light vs. dark. And in the end Lily will be redeemed somehow.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
This isn’t necessarily a theory so much as a literary look at what Adam and Eddy might be getting at with Emma Swan and Rumplestiltskin. For the purposes of this, I am taking @Slurpeez108 theory (found HERE) as my touchstone for Rumple’s actual plan. Instead of putting forth my own theory (until the very end), I am looking what is happening between Rumple and Emma from a critical literary standpoint, using the most influential work of the Western (at the very least) world: The Bible. In an interview before S4A began, Eddy Kitsis said that Rumple was “the devil himself.” Obviously this riled up fans because our connotation of the devil is pure evil and no one wants to think of Rumple (love him, hate him, be indifferent to him) as just straight up pure evil without any nuances because it seems antithetical to how the show presents their villains. But looking back from where we stand now, I think Eddy might have been slyly giving a clue. There is another aspect to the Devil: temptation. The Satanic figure is the physical manifestation of temptation: the snake in the Garden, the devil on your shoulder whispering in your ear that you should do a thing–even though you know you should not do a thing. It can be temptation for love, for money, for power, for sex, for…chocolate. We readily associate the devil with the concept of temptation. Well, so did the Bible. If Rumple’s archetype is “devil” (and by this we can read temptation instead of a Satan like figure) then what does that make Emma Swan? Obviously her archetype has long been “Savior.” Without pushing a religious agenda, here in the Western world our minds instantly jump to one savior in particular because of the religious influences the Church has had over our little corner of the globe: Jesus Christ. Interestingly enough, the idea of Temptation vs Savior has a reference point in the Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke—John is the red headed step child of the 4.)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”</p>Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”</p> Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Matthew 4:1-11 The Temptation of Jesus Christ is a three fold temptation by the devil, a disembodied voice who is tempting Christ into giving in to his powers. Does this sound familiar (hint: yes). I also think the writers and promo department set this up in their promo for the beginning of S4B
“Three ways to corrupt a hero. Three way to tarnish a savior.” Now the Devil in the Bible tempts Jesus with food, power, ect. I don’t think Rumple will tempt Emma necessarily with those specific things or even necessarily with three things, but rather he’s trying to tempt her to give in to some sort of darkness, or at least open her heart to it so that Rumple can empty his darkness into her heart (as per Slurpeez’s excellent theory), by messing with those she loves. Putting SB in danger? Emma reacts by trying to save them because “Savior.” Trying to rewrite the heroes (read: her parents) story? Emma reacts by trying to save them because “Savior.” Potentially messing with Hook or Henry? Emma reacts by trying to save them because “Savior.” So how does the story play out? Well…(spoiler alert) Jesus died and rises again. But in doing so, he conquers death and the devil (he actually went down to Hell for a few days and then busted out…) and the theological result for believers is that death (and the devil) has no hold over believers due to Christ. The Devil seems to win for a short time (Rumple will seem to win by emptying his darkness into Emma’s own heart) but the true love power of the Savior (Jesus/Emma) will ultimately defeat the darkness and the Devil (Rumple). Let’s end this whole shebang with a bit of theorizing. Many of us have long suspected that Emma Swan might actually die–it’s how heroes and saviors roll, just as Buffy Summers. But what if, with this Author plot going on concurrently, instead of dying Emma is corrupted and erased from history. Spoilers indicate an AU for the finale and Emma seems curiously absent from any shots we’ve gotten so far. Is she trapped in the book, or did the Devil temporarily claim victory just like he did when Christ died for three days Now somehow Emma comes back. Henry writes her back into the story, provided that Henry finds the magical quill or is “chosen” to be the next Author. That’s plausible and (again, as per Slurpeez) it would also mean that Henry really was the undoing of Rumple because Emma’s victory means Rumple’s downfall, just like Christ’s victory ended the devil’s victory. In doing so, Emma conquers “death” and the Devil (Rumple) and is reborn anew as an even more powerful Savior. In doing so, Rumple’s darkness goes back into his heart, effectively killing him by season’s end. What we are left with, then, is a super powerful Savior who has really come into her own powers—say powerful enough to move realms a year from now when the show (potentially) ends with them all going back to the EF? Thoughts?
WOW …. proceeds to bow down in awe @Rumplesgirl’s awesomeness
IMPRESSIVE!! love love love it!!
Emma the Savior facing off with the anti-Savior, Lily, could also be part of the final battle of good vs evil.
I see them more as Jacob and Esau, which is ultimately a reconciliation story.
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