311 Rumbelle Flashback: an idea

Perhaps Keb, but Belle also saw the shawl around Rumple’s shoulders as he prepared to cross the town line, and memory-restored Belle would have had that memory restored too, so maybe she knew it from then but works if a call-back to seeing it in his memorial ritual.

My point though was in terms of setting emotions and developing back-story I just did not feel the scene as written told me something NEW about Rumple and Belle, either to each other or their understanding of their connections to OTHER people.

Given this was the episode where Rumple ends up killing his own father–finding out he loved his father, and every year had a memorial for him (rather than Bae, which we knew Belle knew about) despite fearing turning into him, that could have been very poignant.

I still hope I’m wrong about the shawl being Bae’s and it is meant to be Pan’s as I would like that a LOT better.   It just didn’t look like a different one and we all seem to have concluded he’s talking about Bae.

That flashback was very unrumbelle-ish. Their relationship seems to be a bit like between two strangers and it was never like that before. And as RG said it must be before Belle asked him about his son in Skin Deep but on the other hand she then didn’t even know if it was Rumple’s clothing or if he had a son so it actually neither fits before the Skin Deep conversation nor after it (as Rumple had sent her to town immediately after it). Honestly, I just think they wanted to give the Rumbelle fans something nice before “killing” Rumple and separating them again.

Wow, rumpelsgirl, this theory is right on!!! Wow. I hope they use more of these visions in his dark castle of belle because it would bevery hard to otherwise portray his thought process, and if he had someone to talk to it would help audience understand what he is thinking, why he does what he does. Maybe we will see how not a villain he is when we understand his actions through vision belle

It doesn’t feel wonky to me, though, at least not after reflection. Belle does not find out that it’s Bae he lost in this scene, only that he lost someone male.

The shawl is definitely Baelfire’s, though. We saw Milah sew it and that’s why Hook couldn’t destroy it (though how Hook knew that beats me–maybe he recognized her stitching?). Silly sentimental pirate.

But if this falls between the curtains scene and the rest of Skin Deep (most of which IS a single day, save for Regina’s taunt at the end), then it works. I’d put it post Robin Hood hunting, when things have thawed a bit between them but long before they’re close to realizing they’re in love. Belle’s comfortable enough to interrupt him to bring the flowers (maybe they were delivered or maybe there’s a garden within the castle…and again, I pin Bae’s birthday at March 23, early spring, so daffodils and other early flowers would be up), but he’s still gruff with her–this time less an act, but more because he isn’t at all ready to let someone in on his most intimate emotions.

Note how he yells at her in 211 when the shawl is lost. And that’s after losing her four times and admitting he loves her (1. sending her away from the castle 2. Regina kidnaps her and says she’s dead 3. She leaves to think and gets kidnapped by Smee/Moe 4. She tells him off for not being honest with her). Rumple still explodes at her then, and over the same item. His reaction in 222 isn’t far off, even though by then he’s much more tender with Belle.

I find Rumple’s reaction and Belle’s attitude toward him entirely consistent with the development of their relationship at that point. The shawl itself isn’t particularly identifiable as boy’s clothing, so her question about that in Skin Deep isn’t negated either. I think it adds a beautiful layer to Rumple’s need to bring Belle back when she tries to use the shawl as a rag, because while, yes, she knows it’s important to him–here she’s seeing just how important it is. And it adds to how important Bae is to him, how fueled he is by love.

My initial reaction was confusion about how it fit, but the more I think about it, the less contradictory it feels to me.

*innocent look*