Once Upon a Time Season 5: Is Emma Getting Dark One Training?

[Disclaimer: Possible spoilers for Season 5 of Once.]

When we left Once Upon a Time last season, we were left with the image of the Dark One dagger laying on the street with the name 'Emma Swan' written across it. This, of course, means that she was the new Dark One this coming season.

One of the many questions now is:

How is it going to be handled?

This could be made into something that is really strong. With Emma always being the one to save everyone, it would be interesting to see the dynamic change with everyone else having to figure out how to handle the situation. Additionally, the villain of the start of the new season is always someone that we haven't met before, but how will it be handled by someone that we know and love?

Will she be getting trained?

In this image from Entertainment Weekly we are shown both Emma and Rumplestiltskin in what looks like the Enchanted Forest which will appear in the first episode. When we last saw him, he was in a coma after having the Dark One essence ripped from his body. However, in this sneak peek we see him in his full Dark One regalia with Emma. When speaking of it, executive producer Adam Horowitz had this to say:

If you're going to be the Dark One gotta learn from the best.

The problem with this, of course, is how will he be able to train her if he isn't waking up? Is he coming to her in a vision? Or is it possible that she might be hallucinating with so much power?

The problem

There are many different looks to Emma this coming season, to the point that it's hard to tell what is true or not, which I suppose is kind of the reason the creators are doing it. We know that all the looks are true at some point, but where and when? If the Rumple and Emma picture is a vision, then why is she seen wearing the same clothes with the other people from Storybrooke?

King Arthur was also on hand for shooting in a full Camelot style outfit which makes it seem as though that is where they were headed. After all, Merlin is who they need to break the curse on Emma.

However, that being said, she is also shown around Storybrooke wearing a very different kind of outfit.

Perhaps they weren't able to find Merlin and thus Emma is just falling further into the darkness. If that is the case, however, then how will they pull her back out of it?

Guess we just have to wait for next season to find out!

[Source: Entertainment Weekly]