Three villains reformed, how’s that gonna work?

[spinninggold]

Rumpelstilskin, Regina and Hook, all reformed in the last second. Rumple and Hook even called a sort of truce…for now at least. How’s that gonna work in the new season? Will they keep it up? Can they keep it up? Will we see something way more evil take their place?

[Demileto]

Well, they’ll never truly be 100% good like Charming and Snow, nor do I expect them to be. They’ll likely do a bad act here and there, just never back to the level Regina did when she teamed up with her mother to kill Charming, Snow and Emma.

But I wouldn’t be too much worried with that. Peter Pan already seems creepier than the three of them combined, and we haven’t even seen him yet! For a character that’s usually portrayed as a hero, despite his many negative characteristics, that’s pretty shocking.

[Phee]

@Demileto wrote:

Peter Pan already seems creepier than the three of them combined, and we haven’t even seen him yet!

WORD! 😯 Methinks our reformed villains may need to still engage in some dirty tricks if they’re gonna be taking this guy on.

[swanning-off]

Peter Pan, based on that reveal, seems to be the Big Bad to end all Big Bads, so I’m OK with reformation for the Evil Queen, Captain Hook and the Dark One.

For fancrushing purposes, I want Hook to remain good just because. In terms of plots I’m sick to death of seeing, I hope Regina remains on the relatively good path – I think she’ll always be a bit twisted and snarly, because she’s so deranged and paranoid she simply cannot see the world properly. Rumplestiltskin…. will be interesting. He has the most to lose and the most to gain – his life/power and his son/grandson. I don’t think we’ll see full tilt evil Rumple again – maybe ruthless, maybe kicking butt, but not full on evil.

[drtslim]

I think that having the reformed villains (I’ll call them anti-heroes) will make season 3 more interesting. There could be conflict between them and the heroes over how to deal with Peter Pan and other potential baddies. The anti-heroes may be more willing to cut corners and accept more collateral damage than the heroes, which would allow for potential growth/development in all involved because ultimately, they will probably need to work together (which involves coming to some kind of consensus) in order to succeed.

[angiebelle]

It will be very interesting with all these characters who never liked each other having to work together for a common goal. I have a feeling they will have very different and very conflicting views on how to accomplish it,

[Keb]

Are they all truly reformed, though? Their goals currently align with the Heroes’ goals–and they all have an interest in rescuing Henry, a positive interest to do with love for either him or Baelfire and a shared desire to be better and to be part of a family.

But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to agree on how to accomplish their goals, or have precisely the same goals in mind. Regina was willing to sacrifice herself so that Henry wouldn’t be alone, but is she truly able to share his love with the others if she’s around? She’s worked with Emma before, despite her occasional hatred of the woman, when Henry was on the line, so as long as he’s in danger, she can probably be relied upon to work with whoever can help her get him back–but how long will that last once he’s safe? She doesn’t trust or like the Charmings even if they do keep saving her, and her relationship with Gold is in some ways more complicated yet. The pirate’s betrayed her in life-threatening ways at least twice, though she doesn’t seem to dislike him as a result (I think she would’ve done the same thing and knows that full well.)

Gold seems willing to sacrifice himself and give in to the prophecy in Bae’s honor, but when push comes to shove he’s often done the cowardly thing, and he sensibly left behind the only person who ever inspired him to overcome his controlling darkness, so that leaves open the question of whether he will actually do what’s in Henry’s best interests in the end. Remember what he did with Bae, with Henry, and with Belle–people he actually DOES care about (and yes, I believe he cares about Henry and did at least since Emma woke him from the curse, but the prophecy made him scary so he’s tried to distance himself just as he’s done with Belle a couple of times)–when he got scared–choosing power over love, anyone? Still, we know that what Rumple would love most is to be part of a family, and second most would be to be a hero instead of a coward. He knows now that power won’t necessarily get him either of those things.

Hook was inspired by Emma and Bae the same way that Rumple was inspired by Belle and Bae–but is he truly over wanting revenge? He’s also shown a tendency to switch allegiances faster than lightning when whoever he’s working with doesn’t seem as advantageous as a different path; he even switched up with Bae three or four times in one episode, despite his affection for the kid. That doesn’t make him the most trustworthy of comrades. I think we still have much to learn about Hook, honestly, and I think he does aspire to be a hero and a family man as much as Rumple, but never learned how to do it.

And then there’s Emma and the Charmings, who seem to have figured out how to function as a family at this point and work pretty well together, even if David is more of a hit first, ask questions later type, Snow’s desperate to be truly Good to ease her conscious, and Emma’s dealing with all sorts of conflicting stuff between the coping mechanisms she adopted as a youth and all the changes she’s been through in the last two years. And she’s just lost the one man she ever admitted she loved, believing him dead, and her son (okay, the one boy she loves…) in the same day. And she’s working with the people who separated her from her parents as a baby, the parents who sent her to another world alone, and a pirate who once compared her to a dried up bean and left her in a cell to rot (and who also keeps flirting with her…).

Even David and Snow don’t always see eye-to-eye on how things should be accomplished; can you imagine all six of them agreeing on something? They agreed long enough to get on board that ship and go to Neverland, but the tension was already there–“Are you finished trying to kill me?” “I believe so.” “Then you can live.”

Yeah, this will go well. (I can’t wait. As long as we get some good SB stuff with Belle, too. And more Neal.)

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[timespacer]

I agree with all that has been said- Rumple, Regina, and Hook are going to make a great set of anti-heroes as they struggle to do the right thing. I do think Regina’s redemption will “stick” this time because they put her through such a long tortuous path all year to get to this point. But I also agree with the previous comments that she will still have her temper and will still have a tendency to cut corners. This will undoubtedly lead to some conflict with the Charmings, but it will just be good, dramatic character conversation conflict, not fireball-hurling, attempted murder conflict. That will be reserved for those who kidnapped Henry. Can you imagine what she will do to Greg and Tamara if she captures them and needs to extract information from them to save Henry?

I like the observation that Peter Pan is apparently so bad that even Rumple is wary of him, but on the other hand we now have the Evil Queen, the Savior, and the Dark One all allied against him. That’s a lot of firepower!

[theevilone]

I agree they will be great anti-heroes it will be very interesting to see how their rescuing tactics will clash with one another. It is most definitely a given that there different view will cause problems. For all we know they might even break up the team once they get there if they don’t see eye to eye. Also Peter Pan being the big bad for season three is so twisted. Is it really a sure thing that he is the bad guy for season 3. I mean last season going into season 2 they kept promoting Hook as the big bad for the season and it turned out to be Cora and then Greg and Tamara, sure Hook did mischief but that is as bad as it went. Plus what I am excited to see, other than how these reformed villains interact with each other, is how going to a land with magic is going to affect Rumple or will it even affect him, I mean are we going to actually see Rumplestiltskin from FTL or will he remain as Mr. Gold and does being one or the other affect how much of the dark one comes out. I always wondered why once Mr.Gold brought magic into Storybrooke he never looked like he did back in FTL.

[kfchimera]

Keb– I agree, they will definitely clash about collateral damage, plus how much risk they will take on for themselves versus rescuing others. The thing is, with all 3 of them, there is always the problem that something, perhaps from past choices yet to be revealed, will push them back to being at odds with the Charmings or each other.

We keep wanting to believe they will change, want to change, and have changed, but we can’t be sure until it’s time for the “Happy Ending”. Of the 3, I also agree Hook so far has done the least damage and caused the least hurt, so may be the least likely to flip back to only pursuing his own goals. Then again, he also has the most tenuous connection to the others as family. If everything turns on his sense of connection and attraction to Emma and longing for family, what happens if they find out Neal is alive? There’s bound to be some conflict, whether it is Rumpel overreacting to how Hook acts with Emma if it reminds him of Hook and Milah. Or Regina, could end up being jealous as she was when Graham preferred Emma. We never know what might inspire some bad behavior.

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?” -- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

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