How did Rumple escape the dark curse?

[ciela_crow]

Thats a really great theory! I just love that

[belleoftheball]

Thanks!!

[rumplegoldfan]

belleoftheball - that's kind of what I think too. That's what I meant by saying that for Rumple all magic always comes with a price and for him the price is to live with the pain of his loss. I think that somehow he believes that by allowing EQ to inact the curse that Bae will somehow be brought back and that he is willing to live with his pain if therte is even the chance of a happy ending for him (something similar to what MM says). I don't think he wants to forget Bae so even if the curse doesn't bring Bae back I think he would rather remember Bae and live with the pain than forget about him. The same goes for Belle. He feels horribly guilty over what he "thinks" happened to her, but I think he would rather remember her - especially because of his guilt - than forget all about her. But I also think he needs to remember in order to make sure that the curse works to bring Bae back. I think there are some parts of the curse that only he still knows about and that only he can help Emma with so he had to be able to remember.

[DanielJLewis]

I also think that Rumplestiltskin has a back door, since he was the one who we think created the curse.

[darcyfarrow]

On another board there's a fan fic called "Fine Points and Prices" that offers a plausible answer to the escape question. It also explains why Rumple helped EQ with the curse. It's a well-written story too.