Understand, yes. But I guess I had higher hopes for him. If loosing your son isn’t the biggest wake up call, then I don’t know what is. Rumple has been down this path before; he lost Bae and it took him 300 years to find him. Then he lost Nealfire to the portal (SSTR) and he went on a suicide mission. This time, he feels he has a place to direct his anger, so he turned it on Zelena. I don’t blame him for his anger. He’s a parent. But…like I said, higher hopes. The second he figures out that this is the very last thing Neal would EVER have wanted…*sigh*
To be honest, at first I had higher hopes too. But the more I saw the torture Rumple went through, the lower my expectations were. Not only did he lose his child, but he also was emotionally abused. So I wasn’t surprised when he lashed out. Yes, I’m disappointed, but I understand him. It wasn’t only about Bae.
Rumple claimed that he promised Neal to avenge his death. I’m curious about this. I checked the transcript of 3×15 (I can’t watch that scene without tears), and he didn’t promise anything to his dying son. In 3×18, Rumple implied that he promised Neal to stop zelena. It’s after Rumple gets back his lost memory that he starts to actually seek revenge, if I’m not missing something.. Okay, he didn’t remember why and how Neal died until the curse was broken. However, I was wondering if Rumple and Neal found a way to communicate/talk with each other in FTL (I’d hope so.. they still had so much to talk about!). I’m not saying that Neal actually asked him to kill Zelena (not that I would blame him), just that Rumple may have misinterpreted something.
Not to be nitpicky but the we don’t know what he did for those years. In between loosing Bae and Cora is a big white blank slate. We know that at some point he started making more deals instead of just outright killing. In “Lacey” Belle says that no one knows you don’t cross the Dark One, implying that Rumple’s not as evil and coldblooded as he’s like you to think. He does things in those years, to be sure, but it hasn’t been fleshed out at all.
I got the vibe from “Lacey” that Rumple’s reputation was a bit exaggerated in FTL, probably by Rumple himself, to keep people away from the DC.
It seems to me that Rumple is known mainly for his ruthless deals and manipulation, rather than actual killing. So I think what he did between losing Bae and Cora was making deals and collecting power/magical objects. And a lot of spinning and sulking! 😀
If he had killed and tortured recklessly during those years, I think he would be much darker and harder.. one thing I love about Rumple is that even after 300 years of being the Dark One, and after all those heartbreaks, he is still capable of love. TRUE love, even. I think it’s really impressive. Rumple is stronger and more courageous than he thinks. If only he would believe in himself..