Good question.
Based on just how I think the show wants viewers to see the Blue Fairy and Keegan Connor Tracy’s most recent interview, I would say that I don’t think she’s a puppet master. I think the show tries to present her as someone that has to make choices, maybe not always the right ones, but generally working for the greater good.
However, based on the feelings I get while watching the Tracy’s acting in some scenes and what choices the show has had the Blue Fairy make, I can’t help wonder if she’s not really the puppet master behind Rumple.
I think the show wants us to only see her as a “good” character, so I should probably stop wondering about her true motives, but I just don’t like her character at all. It’s not only about liking Rumple as a character either because a lot of people, not all though, that defend the Blue Fairy think it is. I think Rumple was a coward, and it was his own fault that he lost his son. So I don’t blame her on Rumple not going with Bae. I do think she should have told Bae more about what would happen when he used the magic bean, but again it’s still all on Rumple that he was a coward and didn’t go with Bae. I also think that she should have straight out lied to Rumple that there was no way that he could ever reunite with Bae again because he got the whole Dark Curse idea from her. I’m not saying that he wouldn’t have still plotted the idea because he probably would have eventually, but that whole bean stuff is just bizarre to me because just going by the actress in those scenes. First she seems like wants Bae and Rumple gone for her own reasons after she gives Bae the bean. Then, she’s all ambiguous when she “accidentally” reveals to Rumple that a curse could reunite him with his son. Not to mention her little speech that she gives to Rumple about how she’s working for the greater good because every villain/”bad” person generally thinks that they are too. Finally, I don’t know what to think about her not introducing the idea of true love’s kiss to redeem Rumple either. It just seems so common as a cure at least judging by “Pilot”, “Skin Deep”, “What Happened to Frederick”, and “A Land Without Magic” that she could have suggested the idea first to Bae, but for now I won’t hold that against her because it could be just be the writing’s fault and not a fault of the character for not suggesting it to Bae first.
Even without the whole magic bean incident to make me suspicious of her there was “Dreamy”. That episode was probably one of my least favorites of the season, and besides introducing the idea that Rumple hates the fairies, it seemed like a lot of filler for one episode, imo. So maybe I started to read into things that weren’t really there, but it bothered me that the Blue Fairy was so against Dreamy and Nova as a couple. I can understand being concerned about Nova and Dreamy actually making it as a couple, but she took it too far imo. I don’t buy the excuse that she’s trying to prep Nova to be the next Head of the Fairies either because Nova seems so inept at her job, and there’s so many other fairies that surely there’s someone else that could be the next leader instead of Nova. As a “good” creature, I would have thought that she would have encouraged true love no matter who it was between because that kind of magic is so rare even in their world, but instead she put the kibosh on it. To me it just felt like she was more concerned about not losing any subordinates that worked for her and all about getting that fairy dust than actually being concerned about the feelings of Nova and Dreamy.
Then, there was “The Stranger” that sealed the deal for me. Again maybe it was the writing’s fault as to why Gepetto could have been the only one that could build the wardrobe despite the fact that the fairies are magical, and there’s surely a lot of other craftsmen that would have done the job much faster and without any kind of demands that would threaten their whole world, but no it had to be Gepetto. So she lies to Snow White and Prince Charming, even though previously she says fairies never lie. So my mild dislike of the Blue Fairy turned into full blown loathing after that episode.
I would think it would make a great plot twist if it did turn out all along that the Blue Fairy was the real puppet master behind everything because Fairy Tale Land was dying, and she needed to get to another world or some reason like that. I don’t think it will happen though because I think the show wants viewers to see her as a “good” but also flawed character, but for me I don’t think they did a good job of doing that because all I see now is the bad things she had done since for me she really hasn’t done enough for me to overlook those and focus on the positive things that she’s done. Sure she finally answered Jiminy’s wish, but that was only after he already helped turn Gepetto’s parents into puppets. She “helped” Bae, but then let his dad know that they could eventually be reunited through a curse. She also didn’t help stop the Ogre Wars, at all despite Morraine saying that she was more powerful than Rumple. She helps save Emma, but then lies to her parents about how many people can fit in the wardrobe, so baby Emma could have died which means everyone would have been doomed. She helps Snow attack King George’s castle, but that whole scene is probably one of the most cringe-worthy and cheesiest ever on this show, so far, so instead of showing something positive that the Blue Fairy has done, I found that whole thing embarrassing to watch.