Gosh, I really hope not! If they kill off Rumple again this season then I feel like I may be done with this show because it means the writing is getting really lazy and redundant, and Rumple is the main reason I stick to OUAT in the first place.
Amen to that.
Just to make him darker and suffer more than ever before, and then just kill him off again?
I think the theory is that they will complete the character assassination, then redeem him for all of 30 seconds in a heart-wrenching scene before his final demise, thus moving on to season 5 which will likely be the last one, and as such A&E don’t have to be too concerned with viewership. Would this count as lazy writing? Yep. What a surprise.
I hope I’m wrong, but I tend to agree with some of the folks on this forum, that by this point they dug a hole so deep for Rumple’s character that getting him out of it isn’t going to be possible. Egh. I hate how this show with its love of shiny plot ends up turning a section of its audience into embattled cynics. Wasn’t it supposed to be about hope? *sigh*