Home › Forums › Once Upon a Time › Character discussion › Is Rumpel a hidden saint? › Re: Is Rumpel a hidden saint?
So far, Once has paralleled the animated Disney version of “Beauty and the Beast” very well without making it a duplicate. The numbered list is what generally happens in most versions of the tale and under is what specifically happens in the Disney’s and Once’s versions.
1) Beauty sacrifices herself to save her family.
BATB: She changes places with her dad in the castle.
Once: She goes with Rumple to save her village.
2) Beauty has a hard time adjusting
BATB: She cries and eventually runs away after being frightened and escapes only to be saved by the Beast from a pack of wolves.
Once: She cries and let’s RH escape and wishes him well. Rumple drags her along for the hunt but eventually lets RH save his Marian and escape.
3) Beauty and the Beast become friends
BATB: “There may be something there that wasn’t there before”. 😉
Once: Falling off the ladder, Belle chasing him around the table, talks about Bae.
The rest of the “Beauty and the Beast” storyline is kind of played in a continuous loop that we’ll hopefully get out of one day.
TAKE ONE
4) Beauty leaves the Beast.
BATB: Belle sees her father sick through the magic mirror and the Beast releases her to go to him.
Once: Rumple releases Belle after their heart-to-heart and he realizes he’s falling for her.
5) The Beauty returns to the Beast
BATB: Belle escapes and after a fight with Gaston saves the Beast with her tears and the curse is lifted. (Nope, it wasn’t the kiss that did it!)
Once: Belle returns, with the urging of Regina, and kisses Rumple. TLK works and starts to transform, but he stops it, gets angry and banishes her once again. No curse is broken.
So in our original “Skin Deep” episode, they don’t have their happy ending as we all know. So it goes back and is rewound to earlier in the story and we have to repeat elements.
TAKE TWO:
4) Beauty leaves the Beast.
Belle leaves Rumple and goes on adventure with Mulan and instead of returning to her family decides to return to Rumple and patch their relationship because she loves him. But….she’s captured by Regina and held prisoner.
5) The Beauty returns to the Beast
Belle escapes, with the help of Jefferson and returns to Rumple. Kissing goes on but no curse is broken.
TAKE THREE:
4) Beauty leaves the Beast.
Belle is angry at Rumple and her father and refuses to see them again.
5) The Beauty returns to the Beast
Really only lasts five minutes as Rumple reveals his sob story of Bae and Belle agrees to date him, but won’t live with him anymore since she needs her space. No curse is broken.
TAKE FOUR:
4) Beauty leaves the Beast.
She doesn’t physically leave him, but does so in a way by becoming Lacey.
5) The Beauty returns to the Beast
Rumple gives Lacey the BF’s conveniently crafted potion and she becomes Belle once agan. Kisses occur again and no curse is broken.
TAKE FIVE, but with a twist and maybe an end to our endless loop:
4) Beauty leaves the Beast.
Rumple leaves Belle, unlike all the other times, to save his grandson. He doesn’t expect to ever return, but we all know he will.
5) The Beauty returns to the Beast
The unknown! What will happen when Rumple returns from his journey? Will he be devoid of powers? Will a kiss from Belle break him from his curse once and for all?
My point of outlining the parallels is whilst I think Rumple’s undoing will be the shedding of his curse, are they going to have it be at the hands of Henry or Belle? We’ve already see Gold dying once this season and the cure wasn’t TLK. Belle had amnesia and it wouldn’t have worked in any case. So will they reloop the “Rumple dying” thing and this time let Belle save him? Or will it involve Henry and/or Neal.
We really need to get past this skip on the broken record. Ultimately the only way that can happen if for the DO curse to be gone once and for all.
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.