I also thought that maybe Regina was Rumps wife and Baelfire’s mom but I abandoned it because of the timeline problem too. Desperate Souls took place centuries ago and I really don’t think Regina is that old, magic or not. Also, I don’t think she would leave her son for any reason, because the whole point of the Rumpelstiltskin story is that the miller’s daughter ISN’T WILLING to give up her son when it comes down to it–she desperately wants to keep him. And we’re thinking that’s the whole reason the EQ hates Snow. So there’s no way, in my mind, she could possibly be Rumps wife or Baelfire’s mom. And he doesn’t talk to her like they were once lovers. I think he would hate her more now that he’s such a darkie. I do like toying with the theory though and maybe some details that come out will revive the theory again. Who knows.
UPDATE FROM FRUIT OF THE POISONOUS TREE:
In the fairy tale we know the King demands “spin me some gold and I will marry you. Or don’t and DIE.” King Leopold does NOT seem like the type of king to say that! But he does have a darker side (wanting to kill the queen’s lover even though he doesn’t love her himself) so maybe he did act like that. So, fine, she makes the deal with Rumple for the baby and marries the king. Then she has a baby and succeeds in tricking Rumple. But Snow tells Rumple so Rumple comes back and takes the baby. This could explain why the King “can’t love her” which he says to the Genie. Then the king dies and we get the scene where Snow is sobbing over it and Regina comes along still pretending to be friends and hugs her and talks about missing him too. Then she goes on to plot her death and the take over of the kingdom.
Does that sound right to everyone? At first I was going to say that the theory was falling apart in my mind but now I found a way for it to still make sense. xD.
I do keep coming back to one big problem though. Even if the baby did get taken away because Snow let the secret slip it’s not really her fault. It’s Regina’s fault for making the deal in the first place and Rumple’s more than anyone else’s for requiring such a despicable thing. Even though she already dislikes Snow because the king said she was the “fairest of them all” I don’t think her wrath would be so misplaced. Surely she would just find a way to get her son BACK from Rumple? I can’t believe that if she loved the kid soooo much that she would consider Rumple’s deal so irreversible that she wouldn’t do everything she could to get him back and that would take up her focus, not letting her focus on Snow so much. Don’t you think?
I’m starting to think maybe she really is just jealous of Snow’s beauty. The genie told her that she was the fairest of them all in this episode and I can see her making a tradition out of that–asking him everyday “who is the fairest?” like in the fairy tale. I know she said Snow “took someone precious from her” and that “she couldn’t keep a secret” but maybe she made that up. Characters lie, after all. Snow is the one who said “yes, I ruined her life” but that could still be because she was the fairest and the king loved her more than Regina and the mirror who she relied upon even said Snow was better. That could ruin a superficial queen’s life. I don’t really want this to be the answer, I still think the other theory is great, but I want to put it back on the table.