@PriceofMagic wrote:
I think the powers that were used Rumple as a scapegoat. I think the rest of Rumple’s platoon died and because he was they only survivor, the powers that were blamed him for losing the battle. That way they could keep recruiting people to fight in the war against the ogres and just say that the reason why Rumple’s platoon were all killed was because Rumple ran away.
I don’t think Rumple was a coward his whole life, he went to fight in the war and he boarded a ship full of pirates to try and get Milah back, he had a moment of weakness where self preservation kicks in and he ran for his life whereas everybody else were killed by the ogres. He believes himself a coward because everybody calls him one and treats him as such and after a while he probably believed it to be true. However, it’s not like he point blank refused to go to war, he did go. He probably ran because his side were losing and there was no advantage to be gained in staying and being killed.
I wonder if Milah was actually aware of the horrors Rumple faced in the ogre wars or did she not think it was that big a deal because she was such a *(please avoid obscenities)* to Rumple. He came home probably looking for a bit of consolation and support and she basically tells him she’d wished he’d died.
My question is. Why does mr. Gold not turn more Rumplestiltzkin like now that magic is in Storybrook ? Why does his skin not turn gold/green, why don’t he go insane or you know.. become influenced by the magic of the curse in the dagger ???
Rumple went insane because he was denied human contact according to one of the sneak peeks. He was left alone with only his thoughts and regrets for company. He was probably tortured by his actions of letting Bae go and believing Belle to be dead because he kicked her out. No wonder he went crazy.
I’ve said in another thread that perhaps it’s just a matter of time before people start turning back into their fairytale forms. I think it’ll be a gradual process such as Rumple starts walking without a limp. Also if outsiders are starting to come to Storybrooke, it’ll be a lot harder to conceal the nature of the town if you have a talking cricket, fairies and Rumple looking like his old self running around town.
I really like a lot of your points in this post. There is something that has been on my mind for a while. With Rumple being a part of the platoon what would have his role been? Because I keep wondering if Rumple was assigned to being a medic or a scout due to his limp. If that is the case then it would be reasonable if he was going to run away because his role is much rarer then a basic soldier.
But I almost feel as if his being called a coward is much more layered. I think the Powers labeled him as a coward to make a pariah among his town and those he crossed paths with. The ostracism and hardship he faced I believe could be a very clear message for those others who wanted to desert the war (though I always wonder if it were those who were “cowards” or those who might have seen the war for it was).
I keep wondering what the other message was as well. Perhaps it was a way of telling those like him (those who might be differently abled, have strengths that were not considered “masculine” etc) that in that time that being different was going to have them face hardships.
I say this because I am going to believe that the women in the war were the medics, seamstresses, cooks, scouts etc and then we have Rumple. Then there is the fact that he was a wool spinner at him which in medieval times was a job mostly done by women and children. This could have been a direct message of “conform to the ideals” of men and women (even if not explicitly expressed they were still there).
I never thought coward was an apt way to describe Rumple. It seemed too simple to call him a coward with the insult coming from the perception of the medieval times. Aside from being the only survivor from his platoon (and because of that how can anyone know for sure what happened) nothing he has done as seemed outright cowardice. Perhaps fearful but not cowardice.
I agree about Rumple and Hook. Rumple went on board the ship with pirates who all have swords. Hook wanted to fight but at that point he did it because he knew he would win and he was essentially a bully. It took courage to go on that ship. I believe it took intelligence to weigh out the situation (Rumple with a limp versus Hook and more than likely joined by some of his men because that is usually what happens) and decided that his life was more
important than his wife’s.
When he did not join Bae I do think it was some cowardice but a lot of fear. Which is understandable considering all the hardships he faced for not being the male archetype (occupation, role in the platoon, physical limitation) and what would then happen if he was stripped of his power, had the same physical limitation and faced with the same environment…
And the thing is depending on how time works in FTL in comparison to ours… for sake of simplicity if time moved at the same rate (and Robert Carlyle said in an interview Rumple was 300 years old) then they would have landed in 1700s here… and probably would have faced the same hardships (being ostracized etc).
Aside from that he has done a lot of evil things but I do believe that his hope of reuniting with Bae, loving Belle gives him enough humanity (even if a little) that makes it so that he is not wholly consumed by the darkness… even if he is more dark then good then maybe he becomes a bit more good then evil