Even though it's the very thing Once Upon A Time Season 5 has been building towards since the premiere, I was hoping this moment would never come. In Sunday night's "Nimue," Emma reunited Excalibur and the Dark One dagger, giving her enough power to destroy light magic forever — if she chooses to. The complete Excalibur also has the power to destroy the darkness that creates Dark Ones forever, which is what Merlin wanted to do with it in Camelot. The current timeline version of Emma may seem to be totally dark, but a split second of hesitation in Sunday's episode makes me think there's still good in her, and that she can be saved.
In a truly creepy scene, Emma used the last ember of Prometheus' flame to merge the dagger and sword as all of the past Dark Ones looked on. When it was complete, she reached for the sword, but suddenly stopped, recalling the time Merlin found her as a child in the move theater, watching The Sword in the Stone, and warned her never to pull Excalibur from its stone. However, when she recounted this, Rumplestiltskin and the other Dark Ones egged her on, and she gripped Excalibur as the episode ended. Still, hope is not lost.
That brief moment of hesitation proved that Emma is not fully evil. The savior is still in there somewhere, and if Mary Margaret or Regina can just find a way to access that part of her, they should be able to convince Emma to use Excalibur to end the darkness, instead of the light. And if Once Upon A Time has taught us anything, it's that love, of all kinds, can conquer anything. Thanks to the dedication of her parents, Regina, Henry, and Hook, along with that spark of light still inside of her, Emma just may overcome the darkness and use Excalibur to save herself.
Image: Ed Araquel/ABC
