He tried TLK and presumably he expected it might work…so all that stuff that Emma said may be the writers telling US what Rumple believes right now, too.
Exactly! Rumple does not believe and really never has believed that Belle truly loves him and the fact that TLK didn’t work just reinforces that belief.
I’ve lost Belle’s love because I can’t be a different man because I desire power too much!” “How do I solve this problem…??” “Oh, I know! I’ll get MORE power! Yup, that’ll do it.”
I think his thought process is more like, When I don’t have power I loose the people I love (Bae) so I am going to make sure I don’t loose Belle by having enough power to protect her. Of course this is circular thinking because he lost her because he wanted more power, but I don’t think he has figured this out yet.
Name one time he chose her over power.
I don’t know, how about the time he killed Pan and as a result lost not only all his power but his life also. I would call that choosing Belle and Bae over power.