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It doesn’t help that natural human lifespans are so short compared to Rumpel’s. The people in his life must seem like badly-behaved pets, and he has to start preparing to lose them to old age from the moment he meets them.
LOL I think this might be my favorite description of Rumple ever 🙂 There is something to be said in assuming that Rumple isn’t actually human. And therefore the scale we’re using to measure him is a bit off.
More generally, to @RG’s prompt — I think Rumple’s character is asked to do two mutually exclusive things. On the one hand, he is asked to fill every plot hole and villain vacuum that shows up on the show, which requires him to literally know every single magical or relevant creature in all the realms, and to tug at all the strings, and embody a kind of realpolitik ethic. At the same time, he serves as a power-up for whoever is the villain of the week, where he’s put in the position of serving someone else’s agenda, until he manages to wiggle himself out of it, because lets face it, none of these villains without Rumple would get anywhere. On the other hand, he is required to be a shortsighted idiot when (1) it comes to protecting the people he loves, and (2) when the plot demands it. As a result he’s occasionally making both morally and intellectually dimwitted decisions (Crystal Gate, Hyde deal). But this results in exactly what we’re discussion here. So there are two readings of Rumple:
1) Rumple’s a clever dude, how can he be such an idiot? He must love power/be evil incarnate.
2) Rumple’s a bit of a social idiot when it comes to his loved ones, and also has a long list of insecurities. It’s a wonder he didn’t do something even more stupid and destructive. He doesn’t mean mean, unless you’re a disposable peasant or the villain of the week who tried to enslave him.
I think the scene is left ambiguous. Nor do I think the toddler vs laptop vs cat analogy holds. We’d have to assume that your toddler is asleep in an indestructible miniature safe, where he/she is more or less frozen in time and can come to no harm. Said toddler is also, for all intents and purposes, in a coma, and depends on you to find a cure to bring them back to life. Your previous efforts to do so with Baby Advil and Tiger Balm have failed. So toddler’s indestructible, but not strictly speaking alive. Imagine that your laptop holds — whatever, your dissertation, your latest novel, the cure for cancer, what have you. What do you grab? (Also, who doesn’t back-up these days???)
If Rumple thought Belle was safe in the box, no matter what realm she was in, and that by having the crystal he’d have access to magic/ability to open portals and go looking, then I can see how he might go for the crystal. Rumple at this point must think like an immortal. Belle’s on ice. He’s in no hurry, as long as he can hold on to his magic. Also, considering Storybrooke is a megalomaniac villain magnet, having magic seems like a good call.
[adrotate group="5"]He recognized there was a portal coming, thought about it briefly, and grabbed the shard first. I mean, that’s in plain simple terms. You can’t wake the girl if you don’t have the girl. And as far as the finale of season 3a goes, he was sacrificing himself for everyone, not just Belle. So I’m not sure it’s the same. But sure, if you want to include that then that’s fine. But I can’t think of a single other instance where he chose her over power.
And I’m not sure I buy that he feels that whenever he doesn’t have power, he loses people, so that’s why he wants the power. He lost his son Bae when he had all the power. Belle kicked him out of storybrooke when he had all his power. And Belle put herself under the sleeping curse when he had all his power. It’s the choices he’s making with the power that is screwing him, not being weak and not having the power. Maybe that is something he will never understand. He thinks he needs more power to have everything he wants so he doesn’t lose anyone or anything, but really, all he needs to do is give up his power and make the right choices, and he can have his happy ending. But at this point, for me, another violent switch in his beliefs, choices, and values in an attempt to right the Rumbelle ship would just be nauseating as I think he is just simply past the point of no return.
So, I rewatched the scene. While Rumple is aware a portal was being opened as indicated by his monologue, I think he expected someone was trying to get hold of that all-powerful Olympian crystal. He didn’t know someone else was really after Pandora’s box. Also, thinking how Rumple often does, who wouldn’t target the shard over the box? Rumple probably reasoned the box would be safe, since he thought only the Scooby gang knew Belle was in it. He didn’t yet know they were in A Land of Untold Stories. Why would Rumple expect someone to be after Belle when he knew Henry, Emma, and Regina were all after the most powerful object ever devised? In conclusion, while Rumple did effectively “choose power” over Belle in that scene by going for the shard over the box, I’m pretty sure he never expected someone would kidnap Belle when a more powerful object was in the same vicinity. Perhaps Rumple’s own love of power (and thus the crystal) blinded him to seeing the possibility that someone would seek to kidnap his wife to have leverage over the dark one.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Perhaps Rumple’s own love of power (and thus the crystal) blinded him to seeing the possibility that someone would seek to kidnap his wife to have leverage over the dark one.
Because in his mind the power is the more valuable of the two. Says a lot about Rumple at present, yes?
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Because in his mind the power is the more valuable of the two. Says a lot about Rumple at present, yes?
It does, so you’ll get no argument from me on this point. I was just trying to see it from Rumple’s perspective. He had a split second to choose: box or shard. He dove for the shard. However, his reason for doing so was probably (a) Pandora’s box was safe since the shard is the more powerful item and thus more likely to be stolen, and (b) he needed the shard to wake up his wife since TLK was never gonna work (in his mind anyway).
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Is anyone else super annoyed that Snow basically threw Belle under the bus to save Hook, Charming and her own skin? (I doubt she gives a darn about Zelena). Snow just couldn’t keep her big fat mouth shut and basically planted the idea in Hyde’s mind to target the dark one’s wife and unborn child. Ugh!
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
Why would Rumple expect someone to be after Belle when he knew Henry, Emma, and Regina were all after the most powerful object ever devised?
Maybe because he just got done with an arc where a God wanted Belle’s baby? And also nabbing Belle is the only leverage someone else would have against the most powerful person in the world.
I think he expected someone was trying to get hold of that all-powerful Olympian crystal. He didn’t know someone else was really after Pandora’s box. Also, thinking how Rumple often does, who wouldn’t target the shard over the box?
What happened to true love being the most powerful magic? Love is strength remember! Even if Rumple didn’t think anyone would go after Belle and instead would go after the crystal, he should still get Belle first. Even though he thinks he needs the crystal, he actually doesn’t! That’s his own flaw sure, and he probably really did think someone would take the crystal. But it’s his lust for power that makes him think that way. He’s more worried someone would take the crystal over taking his wife! If he thought about his wife first, his first instinct would be to protect her, regardless of whether he thought she was in immediate danger. Like if your wife or husband was next to you (in a box or in person), and you knew a portal was coming, wouldn’t your first instinct be to grab her/him? Idk, I just think the writers deliberately wanted us to see Rumple going for the power before Belle. It mirrors his choice for power over his son when he let Bae get sucked into the portal. Which makes me feel like he truly hasn’t learned anything, and also makes me think Rumple is in line to lose someone else he loves yet again which will drive him completely to the side of darkness.
I know the show is more concerned with redemption over justice but is one selfless act enough to do undo all the bad when there has been that much bad?
The wording of that reminds of the scene between Loki and Black Widow in the Avengers.
https://youtu.be/XfvPTo6HKzU?t=106
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixIs anyone else super annoyed that Snow basically threw Belle under the bus to save Hook, Charming and her own skin? (I doubt she dives a darn about Zelena). Snow just couldn’t keep her big fat mouth shut and basically planted the idea in Hyde’s mind to target the dark one’s wife and unborn child. Ugh!
I was. But that’s typical of Snow and the rest. None of them give a flying rodent’s backside about Belle. So while it’s all well and good to berate Rumple (he is being a questionable jerk, as he does, no argument from me), he’s also the only one batting for Belle’s team on this show, ever. So while he did, certainly, screw up with that crystal (because PLOT needs Rumple to do this), I think it’s useful to put this in context. None of the “heroes” are going to lift a finger to help Belle. Not even her father will lift a finger to help Belle.
The girl needs better friends.
Is anyone else super annoyed that Snow basically threw Belle under the bus to save Hook, Charming and her own skin? (I doubt she dives a darn about Zelena). Snow just couldn’t keep her big fat mouth shut and basically planted the idea in Hyde’s mind to target the dark one’s wife and unborn child. Ugh!
I was. But that’s typical of Snow and the rest. None of them give a flying rodent’s backside about Belle. So while it’s all well and good to berate Rumple (he is being a questionable jerk, as he does, no argument from me), he’s also the only one batting for Belle’s team on this show, ever. So while he did, certainly, screw up with that crystal (because PLOT needs Rumple to do this), I think it’s useful to put this in context. None of the “heroes” are going to lift a finger to help Belle. Not even her father will lift a finger to help Belle.
The girl needs better friends.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix
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