Gypsy: Remember, Rumpelstiltskin is the master of loopholes and plotting, it only figures that the previous Dark One is similar. Plus, Zoso wants to die. He has had enough of life, and wants someone to kill him so he is put out of his misery. It figures, because the Dark One is immortal, Zoso probably has seen all his loved ones die. He probably can’t kill himself, just like Rumpel couldn’t make himself go through the portal. The curse posseses you at such a moment, keeping you back. Therefor having the knife himself would be useless. He needed a poor schmuck that was desperate to do so: Rumpel.
Mich7: I haven’t seen that episode yet, but I agree with you. Rumpelstiltskin, even without the curse, is a flawed man, like we all are. That’s why as much as I like Belle, I’m coming to wonder if they are right for each other. Yes, he loves her, and he would change for her best he can. But she loves the man she thinks he should be, not the man he is. When she is with him, it is out of a romantic notion that she is his saviour instead of accepting his flaws and loving him flaws and all. That’s why she is threatening to leave him, at least once an episode.(from what I gathered so far, still have to SEE the episodes, so I could be wrong)