@Josephine wrote:
I’ve seen this mentioned before somewhere here, that Mr. Gold/Rumple is reminicient of Severus Snape from Harry Potter. Throughout the entire series, until his final moments in the last book, you never knew what side he was really on. It was the most interesting and perplexing thing about the series. His loyalty to Lily’s memory was behind everything he did, similar to Rumple’s situation regarding Bae (and to an extent Belle). Will we ever truly know what side Rumple is really on? The big difference between the two characters for me, though, is that I was never a fangirl of Snape. Being a teacher, I despised the way he treated his students. No matter what side he was on, I could never forgive him for this. However, I have no problem trying to rationalize away squashing poor cart drivers and killing mute maids. 😕
Another note, I was rewatching part of “Heart of Darkness” and caught myself unexpectly giggling everytime Rumple giggled…something I really don’t do the first time watching probably because I’m so into the show on the first time around. This got me thinking that I really wouldn’t like this character if any other actor would have played him. Robert Carlyle is just fantastic. I was actually really surprised when I realized that he was the lead in one of my all time favorite movies The Full Monty. He’d best get nominated come Emmy time.
I agree with the Severus Snape comparison. Severus started out as kind of weak and pathetic. A lot like how Rumpel started out. But then he found power and decided to join the Death Eaters. Just like how Rumpel found the power of the Dark One. But after the death of Lily Evans, Severus swore to protect the last living memory of her. Her son, Harry. Rumpel did this to a certain extent with him vowing to find his son and rescue him.
Severus’s loyalties and true intentions were always unclear. And even though he was eventually revealed to be on the good side, he was still pretty frightening to the school children. His main reason for siding with the good guys is because he promised to protcet Lily’s son at all costs. His love for her outweighed anything and everything. The same goes for Rumpel. He’ll eventually find himself on the side of good, but not because he is good, but because his love for Baelfire and Belle will bring him over to the side of good.