User blog comment:Rena the Boss/Miniview - 5.04 - "The Broken Kingdom"/@comment-27031632-20151019172201/@comment-27075962-20151019172941

I guess there would be more than one way to open it. I don't recall if the symbols were always there or not, but take this: if the key was the only way, they'd need to get it somehow in this episode which would probably go against the facts we got in 3.15's flashbacks. Would you like more continuity mistakes? :P

What I don't get is why the fuck that black goo shows up for EVERYTHING. I thought it was only supposed to be the Dark One until it took up a full physical form, like Elsa or Ingrid after they came out of the urn, but no, the goo is apparently also a lead-in to an effing staircase. K.