For cryin out loud … I don’t question that Belle is Rumple’s true love. I question the concept of just ONE true love ever possible in someone’s life, and thus what the nature of the relationship between Rumple and Cora might have been at some point in their shared history. And even if they might kill Cora this Sunday, I highly doubt that we will have heard and seen the last of their story . In my opinion Rumple and Cora being soul mates doesn’t stand against Rumple and Belle having true love for each other. It makes Rumbelle even more interesting, having more impact. If Rumple had other relationships (besides Milah), and even more with someone who seems so unlikely to many as Cora, then Rumbelle doesn’t stand out because it the one other love besides Milah Rumple felt, but Rumbelle stands out because of its nature, of what it might be able to do to Rumple now in present time. It might be his second chance.
And before anyone brings up the kiss again: Rumple was surprised not about true loves kiss breaking the curse of the Dark One but about that it was obviously true love what they felt, Belle and Rumple. It’s the way I have seen that moment. Rumple knew of the power of true loves kiss at that point. He might have even known what it might do to him, and that is why he reacted so angry to Belle – ever thought of that? The moment Rumple realized he was losing his power he lashes out against Belle, yells at her, asks her who told her true love’s kiss can break any curse – sounded to me a lot like he not just suspected but knew it could work on his curse as well. At least I had the thought back then when watching the episode. We don’t know if anything alike happened even between Rumple and Cora.
And Fairy tales don’t just work with the concept of one true love. The world of fairy tales is lot more colorful and complex than Disney’s fluffy princess tale versions and some tuned down children books want to make us believe in. As I see it, Once Upon a Time tells the story of what happens when Fairy Tales have to face a world without all magic, without all the wondrous ways to guarantee happy endings, when they have to live in our world, where one has to work hard without magic to find happiness. It tells us the stories what happened before the fairy tale began and what after the happy endings, And the writers work with different sides of love, show us different sides of it – and I think the destructive side of obsessive love, the pain of failed love, the challenge of keeping love alive and thriving is as much in it as the idealist, romantic version of love as a mean to better oneself.
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