Spoiler warning: there are spoilers for like the whole first season in this post!
I recently started a rewatch and just finished S1 E7 ("The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"), the episode where Graham dies. I usually skip this episode because I find it so sad and frustrating. I've also always hated the explanation for why Emma's kiss conjures Graham's Enchanted Forest memories. But this time, I thought of a new explanation: true love's kiss!
As a recap, the episode starts with Graham kissing Emma and then having flashes of his past/fairy tale memories. Eventually, he visits Henry, who comes up with this theory: Graham and Emma have a special connection because, without Graham sparing Snow White's life, Emma could never have been born. That is the only explanation we get for what follows. Then, Graham and Emma both see the wolf that guides them to the entrance to Regina's vault. After the confrontation with Regina, Graham and Emma kiss in the sheriff's office, the curse is lifted, and his full memories return right before Regina crushes his heart.
Henry's explanation for Emma's kiss bringing Graham's memories back has never really sat well with me. It's just circumstantial, and by the time the show ended, you could say the same about dozens of characters. A lot of people helped save Snow White and Prince Charming over the years. The other obvious explanation is Savior magic. I don't like this one because 1. "savior magic" wasn't even a thing this early in the show, and 2. there's no magic in Storybrooke yet anyway. I guess maybe as the Savior, her kisses would've packed a punch with anyone, but again, that seems too easy.
So, as I was rewatching this last time, I had a new idea. What has the power to break any curse? True love's kiss! That's what breaks the curse for the town at the end of the season, when Emma kisses Henry; it makes sense that it would break the curse for Graham, allowing him to remember his true identity. That means what Emma and Graham have is the beginning of true love! This makes me think that if he hadn't been killed by Regina, Emma and Graham probably would've turned out to be soulmates!
You might be thinking, 'Well then, why didn't it break the curse for the whole town?' I have a few ideas. Either the curse specifically had to be broken by Emma and Henry (mother and child reuniting), a reverse of the way she escaped it by being torn from her parents, or the kiss needed to be timed up with Emma finally being open to believing in magic. Emma was not ready to believe yet but Graham was.
Anyway, I love Killian and Emma, and I know the real reason they killed off Graham's character was a scheduling conflict, but I just thought that this was a fun theory that made more sense to me than the explanation they gave in the show. What do you guys think?
