What happens with Milah?

[andreth stark]

Maybe it is just me, (too much sympathy for Rumpelstiltskin) but there is something odd in Milah as a character.
So, i’m writing here what we know -and infere- about her and going to try to analyze the facts :S

1.- She was married to Rumpelstiltskin, apparently for love. In the escene on “Manhattan” in which he is called to front, is an inference that she is learning to embroider from him (“R: that was quick” M: I had the best teacher” -more or less) This makes me think… how did they meet? what sort of relationship they had? what leaded them to marry? was it love or conveniece? was it a slow process of being fond one of another? infatuation?

2.- She was pregnant while he was at war… but he knows it through a seer. However, she says that news arrive soon from the front. so… how is it that Rumpelstiltskin didn’t know about his wife being pregnant? why didn’t she write him?

3.- She didn’t want her husband going to war. But she didn’t want his husband back home. Ok, i get it: people was saying that he was a coward, she was probably being bullied by her neightbors, but still… if few moths before she was so sure he wasn’t a coward, and besides, she loved him, she should listen his reasons, let him explain what happened with the seer. Or, even being too mad at him, at least not saying that “i wish you were dead” stuff.

4.- She puts her son in his dad’s arms and leaves. Wow. I mean, what was that? some sort of Medea’s syndrome attitude? “he is your son, he remembers me of you, i don’t love him anymore,so i don’t love you either”?

5.- But no, since in “The crocodile” she seems ashamed when Bae calls her at the tavern. And still, she leaves him with his father.

6.- She runs away with Hook. ok, yes, she fall in love with him, true love,blablabla… but again…what about her son?

7.- She hides from her ex. She let her husband believe she was captured by pirates “because Hooks crew needed companionship”, and afterwards if the Dark One wouldn’t be riping Hook’s heart, she would let him believe she was death. what was she so afraid of? ok, i can understand she were afraid of post Dark one Rumpelstiltskin, but… the pre Dark One man? why did she just leave and hide?

8.- Despite all that coward attitute, she fights bravely for Hook’s life, for their love, etc… Even to the point of tell her ex. that she never loved him. was it true? was it a lie?

So, the point is, i’m a bit confussed. Her personality, attitude and reactions change too much and so quick that i can not come to understand them as a whole, as part of her personality. Seem to be contradictory.
My conclusion would be that she is not an actual character, but a plot device. And still, it is not a good explanation. :S :S

Any thoughts?

[pjsparkles]

I completely agree. She did a 180 in personality. I was surprised how quickly news traveled when it seemed that Rumple was only recently injured. She was already mad at him before he arrived (I understand but she wasn’t just mad she went from 0 to 100 in a second) I wonder if someone with bad intentions told Milah or made her behave that way. I also wonder why she responded so negatively to the seer comment. Is it because seers can be crooks like modern psychics or is it because she as past history with one

[PriceofMagic]

I think Milah had a very “what about me?” attitude. She was only interested in what things meant for her. Had Rumple fought and died, she would have been an “honoured widow” however because Rumple injured himself so he could be sent home, she then became “lashed to the town coward”.

Bae was a reminder of how she would forever be associated with Rumple.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[laurieanne]

I agree as well. This has bothered me since seeing Manhattan – her actions seem to be too quick. I’m sure there wasn’t time to show adequate character development, but still…. If Milah was a main character, we might hope to get a little more explanation, but I think this might be all we are going to get. Good comments! I think, regarding her lying to the “original” Rumple, that she was just as much of a coward as he was. Cowardice takes many forms – in this case, she wanted “out” of her life with Rumple and Bae, but chose to put Rumple in a situation (once again) where he refused to fight – this instead of confronting him once and for all and telling him she was leaving him for Hook. She says she fell in love with Hook in one night because he was telling stories of adventure. Love takes a little more time than that. She may have thought this was her one chance of getting away from the life she hated.

[Keb]

I’ve been wondering if Rumple possibly made a deal with her or her father to get her hand in marriage. He likes deals, after all, and wanted a family; it’s perhaps risky since this is pre-Dark One Rumple but it could happen–he kind of makes a deal with the Seer for the drink of water, after all.

Her “I love you too” might have been more of a formality–she’s honestly trying, and it’s in response to his declaration–and her plea for him not to go may be related to the fact she already knows she’s with child. She might have been scared of raising the kid alone at that point. But she does suggest that when he comes back they can start a family, so maybe she does know–and she also knows it’s what he always wanted, so perhaps she doesn’t tell him at that point because she knows he might do something stupid as a result.

The turnaround seems rapid to us because we go from that scene to what must be between 5-10 months later, depending on the exact timing. She’s been on her own for all that time, and Rumple’s already got a reputation thanks to his father, so she’s not exactly the most respected woman around. She’s just learning the family business that Rumple left her with, so she’s probably not making a lot of money at it, either. She’s given birth to a child that, when the rumors start coming back (and they would go a lot faster than a man hobbling home from a front that must be at least a few weeks’ travel time away, given the size of Baby Bae and the fact that the Seer said he -would- have a son), ties her forever to the village coward, and if she never truly loved him in the first place, it’s just adding insult to injury.

It would be interesting to see how she decided to marry Rumple in the first place at some point, and would probably clear up some of the questions we’re left with now. What matters is that any affection she might have had for him died when she realized he crippled himself to avoid the battle, and she can’t see any value in his having chosen that path for the sake of being with his son.

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

[spinninggold]

I have been wondering exactly the same. She seems loving enough as he goes to war but when he comes back she is all bang & blame. I think Rumpel made a mistake not moving away with his family, that enlarged the stigma on them, but her attitude certainly did not help. And forgetting about her son like that … for at least 10 years by the look of it. I didn’t feel the least bit sorry for her when she died. How could she? I mean she calls Rumpelstilskin a coward, but she is an even bigger one. Rumpel runs away from the fight, but for the right reasons. Her? For Twue Wuv? What is that compared to your son? And she had known Hook for A DAY! And she could not own up to it to Rumpel? Please… It was not like he was some big demanding bully back then. He had zero self-confidence from everyone calling him a coward all the time, including and especially her *is getting a bit worked up here* (And actually that is my issue against Belle, the fact that she sticks the knife a little deeper each time she calls him a coward. I like her, but I wish she’d stopped doing that)
Hook is a coward too for that matter and a selfish bastard to boot. He’s a pirate rather robbing innocents, rather than fighting a war that is crippling his people. He has the skills to beat them but rather than that, he’s selfish. And does he stand up against Rumpel? No… he cowers with Cora and waits till he’s powerless to kill him… What a ma… mouse.
BTW if you can kill an ogre by shooting him in the eye, why are they fighting them with swords instead of arrows? It seems rather stupid to get close enough to be mauled.

Sorry I think I asked more questions than I solved…. And ranted a bit

[obisgirl]

@PJSparkles wrote:

I completely agree. She did a 180 in personality. I was surprised how quickly news traveled when it seemed that Rumple was only recently injured. She was already mad at him before he arrived (I understand but she wasn’t just mad she went from 0 to 100 in a second) I wonder if someone with bad intentions told Milah or made her behave that way. I also wonder why she responded so negatively to the seer comment. Is it because seers can be crooks like modern psychics or is it because she as past history with one

Well, the front could have bee very far from where they actually lived and Rumpel’s traveling on one good foot now. That could account for some of the lapse of time.

From the first scene, it seems like everyone in the village they lived in probably knew that Rumpel was descended from cowards so hearing that day in and day out, and the possible news of abandonment probably didn’t help much.

I thought Milah’s reaction to the seer comment was interesting. In a land with magic, I wonder if seers had that crazy psychic lady reputation that modern psychics deal with on a daily basis.

[pjsparkles]

@obisgirl wrote:

Well, the front could have bee very far from where they actually lived and Rumpel’s traveling on one good foot now. That could account for some of the lapse of time.

From the first scene, it seems like everyone in the village they lived in probably knew that Rumpel was descended from cowards so hearing that day in and day out, and the possible news of abandonment probably didn’t help much.

I thought Milah’s reaction to the seer comment was interesting. In a land with magic, I wonder if seers had that crazy psychic lady reputation that modern psychics deal with on a daily basis.

I’m not discounting that it’s possible that she really did hear before he got home. However, my first response was one of shock to her response. I knew there was tension and we would see the start, but I didn’t think she would flip that bad. I always thought it was kinda a passive aggressive thing that expressed itself over time. I won’t be disappointed if there isn’t more to her flipping her lid, but I have to wonder if there is more too it. I would like to know more about seers though.

[PriceofMagic]

@SpinningGold wrote:

He had zero self-confidence from everyone calling him a coward all the time, including and especially her *is getting a bit worked up here* (And actually that is my issue against Belle, the fact that she sticks the knife a little deeper each time she calls him a coward. I like her, but I wish she’d stopped doing that)

I don’t think Belle calls Rumple a coward to deliberately stick the knife in. She truly loves him but there are times when he needs to be given a harsh dose of truth to make him see sense. Belle doesn’t call him a coward to belittle him like Milah did. In the crocodile, Belle gave Rumple ample opportunity be honest and tell her the truth about what he was doing and why he brought magic to Storybrooke. He didn’t and it caused a rift in their relationship. When he did eventually tell her the truth, they got back together and their relationship was stronger than it was before. A good relationship is built on a foundation of trust.

BTW if you can kill an ogre by shooting him in the eye, why are they fighting them with swords instead of arrows? It seems rather stupid to get close enough to be mauled.

Perhaps that is why so many lives were lost in the ogre wars? The soldiers weren’t given the correct equipment to fight with.

All magic comes with a price!

Keeper of Felix

[spinninggold]

@PriceofMagic wrote:

@SpinningGold wrote:

He had zero self-confidence from everyone calling him a coward all the time, including and especially her *is getting a bit worked up here* (And actually that is my issue against Belle, the fact that she sticks the knife a little deeper each time she calls him a coward. I like her, but I wish she’d stopped doing that)

I don’t think Belle calls Rumple a coward to deliberately stick the knife in. She truly loves him but there are times when he needs to be given a harsh dose of truth to make him see sense. Belle doesn’t call him a coward to belittle him like Milah did. In the crocodile, Belle gave Rumple ample opportunity be honest and tell her the truth about what he was doing and why he brought magic to Storybrooke. He didn’t and it caused a rift in their relationship. When he did eventually tell her the truth, they got back together and their relationship was stronger than it was before. A good relationship is built on a foundation of trust.

I’m not saying she is doing it deliberately to hurt him… but each time she does you see him clench up and retreat in his shell.He believes it when someobe calls him a coward, even more than the person who calls him that. It’s not helping him become a better man, instead it does the opposite. Get a clue, Belle, you are hurting the man you love!

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