Rumple searching for Henry

[thelonebamf]

I agree with you RG- I don’t think Rumple has deemed Emma as useless as he claimed on the Jolly Roger. Actually, after revisiting that scene, I was finding myself wondering if there wasn’t a bit more bravado there- and whether his leaving the ship wasn’t a calculated move, rather than him just taking off.

There’s a few reasons I think this- first of all, some of his words which seem like insults, could be considered warnings/instructions. He tells Emma that Neverland is a place where imagination runs wild, and that hers doesn’t. He’s setting her up to understand what kind of place they’re in, and what she’s going to have to do to survive. It’s possible that that little hint also helped Emma realize that emotions/feelings/etc have power like they did in the storm.

Also- there is a shift in Rumple’s behavior through the episode. At the start (wardrobe change!) he’s very cocky- displaying his restored powers, casually throwing insults around, etc. (although his heart doesn’t seem in it, as though his time as Mr.Gold has tempered the Dark One persona.) Then we see him on the island, and we get a glamour shot of the costume, see him enraged on the coastline having Henry slip through his fingers, but the anger is still very… Gold. Not Rumple. Finally, at the clearing with the Lost Boy, that bold confidence is almost gone. We see that he knows he is up against a foe he doesn’t believe he can beat (although I imagine the show will prove he can’t beat Pan *alone*) and he’s already conceded that he will die. Perhaps this is because of Pan’s strength, but perhaps it is also because he knows that Henry will, in some way- be the end of him, and he is interpreting this as his death.

So why take off on his own? Why depart with harsh words? Rumplestiltskin never wastes a gesture. I think at this point he has decided that he will die in Neverland (for one reason or another) but that he will recover Henry. That still leaves the task of returning Henry home. If he’s dead, he can’t do it- so he has to spur Emma on to complete the job.

It’s just that he was fresh out of unicorn stickers.

[Phee]

It’s just that he was fresh out of unicorn stickers.

😆

Agreed with everything, that he was definitely telling her these things to encourage her, get her fired up, and give her helpful info, all of which she’ll need if she’s gonna survive NL and get Henry home.

There may have even been an edge to it where he wanted her to hate him a bit, so that if it comes down to it, and he’s in a position where he can’t stop himself from hurting Henry, Emma will step in and take him out if need be.

[RumplesGirl]

Part of me thinks that Emma understands and even appreciates this. The motivational speech (of sorts) was better for than than being infuriatingly optimistic.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Author]

Posts