Oh man this is quite a dilemma. I think if you believe in the power of darkness and the power the dagger has on people, then this makes more sense. Especially for a young boy. In the beginning of the episode, and really throughout, Baelfire kept telling Rumple that he didn’t need the magic. It wasn’t until he started holding the dagger that he changed. So I get people who say that Baelfire as we knew him would never have done that…..but I’m not sure anyone of us expected Hook to try and kill the whole town when the darkness took him over. We’ve seen plenty of good people get corrupted by dark magic. It does remind me of Frodo and the ring at the end. And obviously what happened to Schmiegel turning into Gollum bc of the ring. So I think I can buy Baelfire instructing Rumple to kill bc the power the dagger possesses. But I also get how someone would think it sort of trashes the character of Baelfire. He only was the nice man people loved bc Rumple sacrificed his well-being for him. Now, as far as memory charms causing you to fix the darkness in your heart…..sure I can buy that. Especially since it was just one instance as opposed to like an entire lifetime for Regina, Hook, Rumple, and others (hence why they maybe can’t just take a memory potion and call it a day). I mean, it might work, but then they wouldn’t remember anything bc all the dark stuff they had done happened so long ago. They would be like a vegetable and have no idea what was going on. What’s troubling with this though is that these villains should have used a memory potion on themselves right after they did all this bad stuff. But I get that they liked the bad stuff they were doing and probably wouldn’t have taken it though.
Touchy subject here. I get why Baelfire lovers are angry but this really does change so much in my mind regarding Rumple. They sort of trashed a dead character to help get a better ending for an alive one. Baelfire fans also loved Rumple when he sacrificed everything for his son. This is another case of that. So that’s good! It does not retcon him at all and makes us feel so bad for him that he turned out the way he did. But it was at the expense of Baelfire which is unfortunate. For me, Rumple has always been a better character and my favorite so I’m not as annoyed by all of this. It only helps him and puts the one thing we all agree was Rumple’s best trait in the forefront coming down the stretch here…….and that’s his willingness to do whatever it takes for his son. His love for Baelfire. He saved him. It really turns everything on it’s head and people may need to process it for a bit. But Rumple’s character is so different now for me. Rumple could have given up the darkness and been a perfectly good person. But he saved his son from a dark fate and now is an addict of power. And it’s also good that Rumple in present day knows that his lust for power is a problem. It’s admirable that he doesn’t want that for his son now, or Baelfire back then.