According to OUAT creators, Rumple is neither fully evil nor fully good, but has “shades of gray”:
Although series co-creators Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz won’t quite come out and say he isn’t as bad a guy as we think, the former does allow that “he’s a complicated man, [and how you view him] depends where you line up with his interests. [It’s always a question of] whether you’re in the way of that agenda or not.” Adds Horowitz: “There’s more to come this season” — in particular, in Episode 19 — “about him and his son and what happened there that may, hopefully, shed a little more light.” And yes, there is some light in him. “A lot of these characters have grey areas,” Kitsis reminds. “There’s some humanity in him.”
http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/spoilers-greys-anatomy-castle-criminal-minds/#more-305136 Also, the title of episode 19 is “The Return” and one has to ask, “Who's going to return?”. My theory is that it'll be Rumple's son. Plus, I read that Belle is going to be in the season finale. Might we see Rumple/Mr. Gold risking all to save her from Regina?
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy