Hi Phee, and welcome to the group. I was in Australia for business several years ago (Sydney and one of the Rydes can’t remember which one), loved it and want to go back!
I completely agree with your theory. I don’t think Rumple likes his power at all really – I think he really sees it as a curse but in order to get rid of it, he needs to have an immense amount of power so he has to keep it. Does that make sense?? I think the thing that Rumple hates is the battle between good and evil within his own soul. In one of the episodes someone said that Rumple’s downfall is that he can’t stop making deals with people – I think that is part of his curse.
So he doesn’t want to be evil but he has this power and ability to do really strong magic so people come to him and he can’t help make deals. But he always warns them that magic always comes with a price and he gives them only what they want. So I think he does his best to try to use his magic/curse for good until he can find a way to destroy all magic. But then you have Regina who wants to use her magic for evil, so Rumple has to make sure he stays on top of his game so that she doesn’t get the upper hand. For someone who didn’t really know what he was getting himself into it’s really kind of a tragic situation. I do think that he is also hoping to find a way to get Bae back before he does away with the curses first, though. I do think it is interesting how they have managed to keep humanity in both characters through the use of objects. Here you have Rumple who is the most powerful man in the world – you figure he could have whatever he wants, yet his most prized possession is a chipped tea cup. And the EQs most prized possession is an apple tree that she has had since she was a child.