Your True Love Is Power

[ouatrandothoughts]

From a storytelling point of view, one has to ask: “is Rumplestiltskin interesting without the possibility of redemption?” Good money on ‘no.’ His great appeal relies heavily on the fact that, since the very beginning of the show, he’s flirted with both sides of the table. He has an uneasy codependence with all the major good/bad guys on the show.

Neal was the cause of a lot of personal conflict for him, because he wanted his son back but didn’t really want to “change” for him. Belle for most of the show has been pretty universally supportive of him. Now that Bae is dead, it seems as though the writers are essentially putting her in the position Bae previously occupied. She loves him but can’t be around him/deal with him as he is.

From getting filled in on events on the show second hand (as I don’t watch anymore) this actually doesn’t seem like the worst thing they could do with his character. Rumple needed to be HARDCORE dumped at least once by Belle for me to buy their future. And it could be kind of interesting seeing them on opposite sides for once.

If the writers want to make this work, they’ve got to have scheming Rumple having mournful villainous monologues with his estranged wife. They’ve got to play up the dysfunction and the “we both still care” long looks from across the hero/villain divide.

I don’t actually watch the show anymore, but I have a feeling Belle and Rumple are going to get the drawn out reconciliation story Rumple and Neal were SUPPOSED to have.

[Jenna_B]

I think Rumbelle has a better chance of succeeding now more than ever.

Their relationship was built on a lot of “but somewhere in there is good (even if Rumple’s doing something bad 99% of the time)” and “she supports and loves me (because I lie to her on a near-constant basis)”.  There is no way, without Belle doing what she did, Rumbelle could have lasted.

Power is Rumple’s addiction, but Belle’s ability until now to blind herself to the truth of who Rumple is (and not who he can be) was perhaps even more detrimental to their relationship.  She was the definition of enabler.  But to see Belle finally hit her rock bottom – finally realize much of what her relationship with Rumple is built on are lies – was the first (amazing) step toward their recovery.  I was so pleasantly surprised by how much Belle there was in the episode (and I’m not, admittedly, her biggest fan).  When they showed her waking up (did Rumple dose her or something?) I was just “ugh, here we go again” but her awakening was wonderfully done, and (to me) as realistic as it’s going to get on OUAT-land.

Rumple…has not hit his rock bottom, in my opinion.  Nor is he close to it.  I think before he even gets there, he’s going to actively choose power over Belle (she’s already gone, so, mindframe).  As mentioned, Rumple’s finding a way to not only survive outside of SB, but thrive and start another plan to get what he wants back.  He learned NOTHING crossing over the line.  I think Rumple will eventually be redeemed, but it won’t be for a long while – he’s got a lot of darkness in him and I think we’ve just tapped a bit of it.

So Rumbelle has a long way to go, but I do believe it’s not only salvagable but will finally become healthy – once Rumple meets Belle halfway and has his own awakening and learns the error of his ways…

[lady]

I’ve said it once in ohter thread- Rumbelle will have a happy ending when Ruple will chose here over all that power. It was all set up by that failed TLK in season 1.

[Keb]

It’s so weird how this crushing, emotionally devastating breakup actually has some of us optimistic. I mean…this one actually hurt less afterwards than when he died. And it’s because unlike when he was dead and I had no idea what would happen (but maybe a bit of dread about what it would take to bring him back…which was accurate), I know they’re both alive and still love each other and I THINK this means we’ll get to see the story they’ve been teasing us with for three and a half seasons.

I hope so.

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

[RumplesGirl]

I’ve said it once in ohter thread- Rumbelle will have a happy ending when Ruple will chose here over all that power. It was all set up by that failed TLK in season 1.

I totally agree. But my one tiny (ok, somewhat tiny) issue is that Rumple DID once choose someone over power. He threw the dagger to Zelena in order to “absorb” (twitch) Nealfire. The writers keep acting like this didn’t happen. This whole idea of “Rumple has never chosen someone else over power” robs Quite Minds of the only good (using that term loosely) moment.

 

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

[lady]

lady wrote:

I’ve said it once in ohter thread- Rumbelle will have a happy ending when Ruple will chose here over all that power. It was all set up by that failed TLK in season 1.

I totally agree. But my one tiny (ok, somewhat tiny) issue is that Rumple DID once choose someone over power. He threw the dagger to Zelena in order to “absorb” (twitch) Nealfire. The writers keep acting like this didn’t happen. This whole idea of “Rumple has never chosen someone else over power” robs Quite Minds of the only good (using that term loosely) moment.

I see it in a different manner- once is not enough, he has to make that choice over and over again- like a sober alcoholic. Yes he had chosen Neal over the dagger, but I think he has to chose to lose the power altogether. He had  chosen to let go of control over his power, not his power. in that case. Belle’s atempt of TLK almost made the DO curse disappear-meaning his magic would vanish if it had succeed.

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[MatthewPaul]

I totally agree. But my one tiny (ok, somewhat tiny) issue is that Rumple DID once choose someone over power. He threw the dagger to Zelena in order to “absorb” (twitch) Nealfire. The writers keep acting like this didn’t happen. This whole idea of “Rumple has never chosen someone else over power” robs Quite Minds of the only good (using that term loosely) moment.

Rumple’s issue is that when he finds an opportunity where “he can have it all”, he will take it. We saw him give up the gauntlet to the Queens of Darkness to spare Belle’s life, but we saw him return to take the gauntlet back behind Belle’s back. He has to learn that he can’t have it all.

[RumplesGirl]

RumplesGirl wrote:

lady wrote:

I’ve said it once in ohter thread- Rumbelle will have a happy ending when Ruple will chose here over all that power. It was all set up by that failed TLK in season 1.

I totally agree. But my one tiny (ok, somewhat tiny) issue is that Rumple DID once choose someone over power. He threw the dagger to Zelena in order to “absorb” (twitch) Nealfire. The writers keep acting like this didn’t happen. This whole idea of “Rumple has never chosen someone else over power” robs Quite Minds of the only good (using that term loosely) moment.

I see it in a different manner- once is not enough, he has to make that choice over and over again- like a sober alcoholic. Yes he had chosen Neal over the dagger, but I think he has to chose to lose the power altogether. He had chosen to let go of control over his power, not his power. in that case. Belle’s atempt of TLK almost made the DO curse disappear-meaning his magic would vanish if it had succeed. <table class=”gt-baf-table”> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> <td colspan=”2″></td> <td style=”width: 100%;”></td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Nicely reasoned.

(mod note: trying to figure out why you have code vomit….)

RumplesGirl wrote:

I totally agree. But my one tiny (ok, somewhat tiny) issue is that Rumple DID once choose someone over power. He threw the dagger to Zelena in order to “absorb” (twitch) Nealfire. The writers keep acting like this didn’t happen. This whole idea of “Rumple has never chosen someone else over power” robs Quite Minds of the only good (using that term loosely) moment.

Rumple’s issue is that when he finds an opportunity where “he can have it all”, he will take it. We saw him give up the gauntlet to the Queens of Darkness to spare Belle’s life, but we saw him return to take the gauntlet back behind Belle’s back. He has to learn that he can’t have it all.

I do agree with that. He does need to learn that. But my issue (still) is that he should have learned this when his son died. His impetus for so long was the heady mix of power and his child. But then he lost the one thing that really mattered: his son. But you’ll notice that when he was talking to Regina in the car, the death of Neal doesn’t come up nor does Belle use the fact that Neal would be appalled at what Rumple is doing (especially re: Emma and hat suckage) which she absolutely should have. Now, I know that on the one hand the writers don’t want us to really remember Neal so they don’t let the characters dwell on the fact that Neal’s death SHOULD be like the #1 reason for Super Duper Evil! Rumple, but it is a wee bit distracting.

(and yes, I’m biased toward Neal. We all know that but I do make sense)

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

[Keb]

You do make sense, RG, but because Belle never spoke to anyone, all she knows is what she felt, found, and saw: Rumple casting some huge spell by crushing Hook’s heart, in possession of a dagger he told her SHE had. She doesn’t know that he tried to hat Emma (only Hook knows this) or hatted the fairies or conspired with the Snow Queen or wished the whole town dead so that he could get away with her and Henry as a “hero.”

The gauntlet did serve ONE purpose here: She discovered he still had it, when she believed that he’d given up for her. It parallels the dagger it led her to. She sees the parallels and puts enough together to realize that he’s a danger to the town, even if she doesn’t know exactly what he’s doing.

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

[MatthewPaul]

I do agree with that. He does need to learn that. But my issue (still) is that he should have learned this when his son died. His impetus for so long was the heady mix of power and his child. But then he lost the one thing that really mattered: his son. But you’ll notice that when he was talking to Regina in the car, the death of Neal doesn’t come up nor does Belle use the fact that Neal would be appalled at what Rumple is doing (especially re: Emma and hat suckage) which she absolutely should have. Now, I know that on the one hand the writers don’t want us to really remember Neal so they don’t let the characters dwell on the fact that Neal’s death SHOULD be like the #1 reason for Super Duper Evil! Rumple, but it is a wee bit distracting.

(and yes, I’m biased toward Neal. We all know that but I do make sense)

I feel Rumple blames the curse of the dagger for Neal’s death. If it weren’t for the dagger’s curse, Zelena wouldn’t have been able to trick Neal into resurrecting Rumple to control Rumple with the dagger in the first place. He doesn’t want his powers used against him and the people that he cares about ever again.

[Author]

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