Rumple and the price of magic

[celesstarr]

I noticed that Rumple seldom uses magic directly, he uses the “deals” he strikes to get what he wants and to get the outcome he wants. He seems very wary to the effects of using magic outright towards one’s own end.

I wonder if by making “deals” Rumple is avoiding paying the price of using magic. For example, with Cinderella’s deal he agrees to use magic for her to change her life, if she’d agree to owe him a favor. When he collects the favor Cinderella pays the price of the magic…not Rumple…but Rumple still gets a favor and still gets what he wants.

[LisaFromOH]

Good observation, celesstarr. The only times I can remember him using magic for himself were when he first became The Dark One, before Bae went down the bean wormhole. He probably learned during that time that he doesn’t want to pay the price for using magic.
No, wait, I just remembered he used magic to turn Gaston into a rose in Skin Deep. That’s the only post-Bae instance of him using magic (when it wasn’t part of a deal) that I can think of.
Does anyone else remember other instances?

[Josephine]

Oh, this is an interesting observation. Would changing Charming’s clothing count? He’d already fulfilled his end of the deal and so did Charming. The rest was just gravy. An unexpected bit of magic that wasn’t really necessary. Snow would have had him dressed in rags if he showed up like that, but Rumple decided to spruce him with a makeover. 😉

Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.

[darcyfarrow]

@Josephine wrote:

Oh, this is an interesting observation. Would changing Charming’s clothing count? He’d already fulfilled his end of the deal and so did Charming. The rest was just gravy. An unexpected bit of magic that wasn’t really necessary. Snow would have had him dressed in rags if he showed up like that, but Rumple decided to spruce him with a makeover. 😉

So he’d look nice for his portrait in the storybook. Here’s a thought: Rumple’s so concerned about the little niceties like that– the memorable details of a story–maybe he was the storybook’s illustrator.

I think you’ve got a really good point, Celesstarr. And I’ve wondered if Rumple’s penchant for dealmaking is kind of his way of making things right with Bae, since the whole dealmaking thing started with Bae. Maybe that ‘s why Rumple is such a toe-the-line guy when it comes to deals–to compensate for the one deal he weaseled out on.

[celesstarr]

Great points everyone :). I guess when he does use magic directly post-Bae its seems infrequent and for little trifling things…like wardrobe. He also only uses “please” on Regina sparingly as well.

I’m also thinking Rumple initially used his magic directly to free all the children from the Ogre’s war and wonder if by using it to free ALL the children, the price of that magic was actually to “lose” his own child. So when he became aware of the “price” of that magic he was very careful. And yes, the fact that he never wants to break a deal and always keeps his end of the bargain definitely was caused by what happened with Bae.

And for turning Gaston into a Rose…maybe the price of that magic is how he lost Belle in FTL and how he was made to believe Belle was dead for so long when she wasn’t.

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