Daniel as Hasach who decreed the kingdoms

איתא בגמ' התך זה דניאל למה נקרא שמו התך א"ר שחתכוהו מגדולתו.

It is taught in the Gemara: "Hasach — this is Daniel. Why was he called Hasach? Rav said: because they cut him down (chatchuhu) from his greatness" (Megillah 15a).

The Sefas Emes opens with the Gemara's identification of Hasach (the messenger between Esther and Mordechai) as Daniel, and Rav's explanation that the name reflects his being "cut down" from his former eminence.

ושמואל אמר שכל דברי מלכות נחתכין על פיו.

And Shmuel said: because all matters of the kingdom were decided (nechtachin, "cut") according to his word.

Shmuel offers the opposite reading of the same root: Hasach was so named because the affairs of state were determined through him.

וכתב בס' אור חדש כי לשמואל י"ל שאינו דניאל.

And the Maharal wrote in Sefer Ohr Chadash that according to Shmuel one might say that [Hasach] is not Daniel.

The Maharal suggests that Shmuel's interpretation could imply Hasach was a different person, not Daniel.

אבל בפ"ק דב"ב מוכח דלכ"ע הוא דניאל ע"ש ובתוס'.

But in the first chapter of Bava Basra it is proven that according to all opinions he is Daniel — see there and in Tosafos.

The Sefas Emes pushes back: the Gemara in Bava Basra (and Tosafos) demonstrates that everyone agrees Hasach is Daniel, so Shmuel too must hold he is Daniel.

וגם לא יתכן כלל לומר שהי' איזה ממונה של אחשורוש שהכל נחתך על פיו.

And it is also entirely implausible to say that he was some official of Achashverosh through whose word everything was decided.

It makes no sense that a mere appointee of Achashverosh would wield such sweeping authority over the kingdom.

ואיך יהיה הוא השליח מאסתר למרדכי.

And how would such a person be the messenger from Esther to Mordechai?

Moreover, such a powerful royal official would hardly serve as a go-between carrying messages between Esther and Mordechai.

אבל לפענ"ד נראה כוונתם דדניאל נקרא התך שכל דברי מלכות נחתכין משמים על פיו שהרי הוא סידר המלכות ולקחהו מבלשאצר למדי ופרס.

But in my humble opinion it appears that their intent is that Daniel was called Hasach because all matters of kingship were decided from Heaven according to his word — for he arranged the [transfer of] kingship, taking it from Belshatzar to Madai and Paras.

The Sefas Emes resolves it: Shmuel means that through Daniel, Heaven "cut" and determined the destiny of the kingdoms. Daniel was the one who foretold and effected the passing of empire from Babylon to Media and Persia.

וסידור המלכיות נחתכין על פיו.

And the arrangement of the kingdoms was decided according to his word.

The very ordering of the world's empires was determined through Daniel's prophetic word — that is the "cutting" Shmuel refers to.

וגם יתכן שלכן נקרא התך שנחתכין ע"פ שחילק המלכות ומסר ביד אחשורוש רק קכ"ז מדינות כדאיתא במדרש שהוא החצי מכל מדינות שבעולם כנ"ל:

And it is also possible that he was called Hasach because [the kingdoms] were "cut" according to him — for he divided the kingdom and handed over to Achashverosh only 127 provinces, as is taught in the Midrash, which is half of all the provinces in the world, as above.

A further reading: the "cutting" was that Daniel apportioned the realm, granting Achashverosh only 127 provinces — half of the world's total. The Sefas Emes thus harmonizes both Amoraim around Daniel's role in determining the fate of the kingdoms.

Summary: The Sefas Emes resolves the dispute over the name "Hasach." Against the Maharal's suggestion that Shmuel might hold Hasach was not Daniel, he shows from Bava Basra that all agree he is Daniel. Shmuel's meaning — that "all matters of kingship were cut according to his word" — refers to Daniel's Heaven-given role in arranging the succession of empires from Babylon to Media-Persia, and in apportioning to Achashverosh exactly 127 provinces, half the world.