[Slurpeez]

I agree with this. Rumple is driven by fear ultimately and you can tell he would burn the world down to keep Belle safe, but that’s not what she needs or wants. Belle doesn’t want a protector, she wants a partner. And thats something I don’t think we’ve seen Rumple display in a long long time.

Gosh, this! Rumple is a coward, while Belle is the real hero. He wants to be brave, like Charming, but he’s not. That is why it’s interesting that in the AU, Belle is the one fluffing Rumple’s ego, calling him a real hero. It seems like she is just feeding him lines that he’s always wanted to hear from a woman. In truth through, Rumple uses magic as a crutch, because he’s scared of being powerless. At the town line, he told Belle he needed the power to keep him, to keep them, safe. Belle, by contrast, is the truly brave one, not Rumple. How many times has Belle done the heroic thing, believing that if she did the brave thing, bravery would follow? Belle saved her people. Belle saved Philip. Belle said she lost sight of herself trying to help Rumple find himself. Belle is the strongest and bravest version of herself when she is on her own. The strongest I’ve seen Belle is when she finally gathered up her courage and banished Rumple, who was still quivering in fear at the thought of having no magic. Rumple kept trying to get Belle to put down the dagger, to relinquish all the power back over to him, so that he could have control again, but Belle banished him. And then he snuck around Belle’s back, and twice tricked her, all so that he could get his power back.

True BUT I’d remind you that Emma dressed in a pretty princess dress (and danced at a ball) in the last season finale and then proceeded to save herself just as the guy was coming to rescue the damsel.

True. I hope we see Belle getting in on some of the action, despite being dressed like a princess.

[Slurpeez]

The thing with Rumple is he wants his loved ones to be safe, and for him “safe” is as far away from danger as possible.

I don’t doubt that Rumple wants to keep Belle safe, because he loves her. However, his failure to include her in the trip to Neverland is a good example of him wanting to keep her out of harm’s way, despite her protests otherwise. His failure to include her didn’t take into consideration what she wanted. Rumple may not have wanted her along because he knew the sort of danger they’d be up against, but his failure to include her did not honor Belle’s wishes. Belle wanted to go along on the journey to see Neverland and to save Henry and instead was kept back in SB and effectively told not to worry her sweet little head. I think Belle was very hurt by that tactic Rumple used, and it made her doubt herself. I can’t imagine Prince Charming making Snow White stay at home while he went off to do battle in Neverland. Charming and Snow are more equals than Rumple and Belle are, having fought side-by-side to take back the kingdom from the Evil Queen and King George. Rumple, by contrast, made Belle stay at home, rather than coming along on the quest to save Henry, to fight at his side. The problem with that is we’ve seen Belle on her own be intelligent and adventurous when she used her book smarts to save Prince Philip. Mulan encouraged Belle’s warrior spirit; Rumple did not.

"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

[Slurpeez]

But unlike a year ago, this filmed-in-secrecy twist won’t introduce any familiar fairy tale face but a different kind of surprise element, one that will have repercussions for Season 5.

Hmm. “Different kind of surprise element” could be the dark one dagger with Emma’s name written on it?

"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

[Slurpeez]

Have a wickedly awesome birthday, WR!

"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

[Slurpeez]

This has probably been pointed out before but both of Rumple’s wives have had this common sense of adventure. Of wanting to see the world. This might lead him to erasing that trait in Belle in the AU, but I hope not. There has to be a reason why he is drawn to the same type of woman. Even Cora had a drive for more.

How come both of Belle’s adventures, going to Arandelle and Mulan’s homeland, seem to have come before and after Rumple? That says a lot right there.

"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

[Slurpeez]

The Apprentice is around and I think he’s working with Henry, but is that at the Sorcerer’s behest (and does that mean the Sorcerer is in SB? Or can he communicate with the Apprentice through visions? Long distance radio? Coconuts?) Or is the Apprentice just taking matters into his own hands?

I think the Apprentice might be working at the Sorcerer’s behest and communicating via some secret magical means.

I agree. And I do wonder whether Rumple would even want to have magic. If all he ever wanted was to be a hero, wouldn’t he want to get rid of the temptation of magic use (which always comes with a price)? I don’t think that the entire magic system can be rewritten by Isaac – at least, I hope not. That would be OUAT’s most giant gimmick to date. Anyway, S4 has worked hard to establish Rumple as an addict (rather than just a coward who hides behind magic out of fear). Actually, I think whether he wishes to be rid of the addiction altogether, or whether he’ll want the benefits without the drawbacks will be quite telling about how hopeless he is at this point.

I think Rumple will have magic. I think his new idea of a happy ending includes him having unlimited power but without having to pay a price. Basically, I think Rumple wants the same kind of light magic that Emma possess in the original story. Rumple has always secretly coveted Charming’s braveness, and Emma’s goodness. But I think Rumple does use magic as a crutch precisely because he is afraid. Yes, he’s an addict, but he is a cowardly addict, as exemplified when Belle banished him from SB and he said he was afraid (i.e. was magic-less). Rumple wants the power, precisely because he seems to have bought into the notion that it’s what keeps him, and Belle, safe, and makes him more of a man. His addiction to magic stems from his cowardliness. I think for Rumple, magic equals manliness because it empowers him. Rumple said in 4×1 that the happiest moment of his life was comforting his son that everything would be alright, that it was the first time he ever felt like a man. Rumple was branded as the town coward by Milha, and therefore spurned as being less of a man for not fighting. Without the magic, Rumple feels unable to protect himself or those he cares about (e.g. Baelfire), and somehow less of a man. The only time Rumple was really heroic was that time he sacrificed himself to save Bae and Belle from Peter Pan, and he did that without magic. Yet, dark magic also cost him his son, and later, his marriage. So yeah, again with the catch-22 scenario.

"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

[Slurpeez]

To add to this: why isn’t the Sorcerer stopping all this, if the Sorcerer is out God-insert. Does he think there is a lesson to be learned on both sides and thus lets it play out? Does he need Emma to do her Stabby POOF thing in the end so he’s letting this happen to ensure that?

Don’t Henry and the Apprentice work together to put a stop to Rumple and Isaac’s dastardly plan? I always saw the Apprentice as being an insert for the Sorcerer, who was a pillar of smoke in EF of the past. Part of me (in a very crack-theory way) still wonders if the shady Blue Fairy isn’t magically disguising her voice as male to appear as that pillar of smoke.

"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

[Slurpeez]

So, a philosophical question with all this messy hero/villains switcheroo. I guess Rumple’s primary idea is to “re-rig” the game — if villains never get happy endings, then the statement “it’s time for the villains to get their happy endings” is actually a logical fallacy (since this is admittedly impossible ).

I’m not even sure that Rumple’s assertion that that odds are stacked against the villains is true in the original story or in SB. I think that is just something he has come to believe, because he keeps coming up short. As Cruella said, Rumple’s claim about the odds being stacked against them sounded a lot better than blaming bad judgement and gin. I think the real reason the villains never seem to win is because they try to get happiness the wrong way. They seem to blame everyone else or external circumstances for their unhappiness instead of blaming their own bad judgment. As long as they hold that perspective, they remain villains, bent on this or that quest for revenge, ultimate power, destruction, or what have you. As long as they remain on those paths, they keep on repeating the same old mistakes, and therefore remain unhappy.

The only way to do it is to change the whole armature of the story by inverting everyone’s morality meter. But arguably, from the previews and screen shots, we are dropped into a point of the story where there aren’t any happy endings yet. As such, they all still have to make decisions about which way to go. So how does this work?

Because the AU is likely Rumple’s happy ending, intermixed with Isaac’s interpretations and interruptions, it’s hard to know for sure in advance how much freewill the characters will have as long if Isaac is in charge. The odds may be stacked against the villains in the AU in a way they never were before, since in the previous book, the author’s role was only to record, not to intervene. The difference now is that Isaac has just been given carte blanche to do as he pleases. Isaac isn’t just recording, but dictating, what the characters do, with input from Rumple, meaning the decisions the characters make aren’t their own. If I had to guess, I’d say Rumple will try to have both power and love, and that will be why his quest to be the hero won’t work. It’ll be Rumple’s choice what initial parameters are set for his character, so that in and of itself could influence what the outcome for Rumple will be. However, the loose canon here is Isaac. If he is going to control the actions of the characters in the AU the way Isaac did with the Apprentice in the original Lily story, then that could be a huge problem. Basically, if Isaac is literally dictating every decision that the characters make in the AU, then none of their decisions will be their own, in which case, they’re all just puppets on a string who’re being controlled. That means Isaac is putting himself in the role of master manipulator and that there would be no freedom of choice.

If Isaac ends up being in control of all of the characters, then the only ethical thing is for Henry to replace Isaac to try and free the characters in the AU from Isaac’s dictations. I think Henry will uphold his “sacred duty” as author. Henry’s job won’t be to meddle, as Isaac did, but to restore, from memory, the original story. Henry knows his storybook inside and out, having read it cover to cover a million times. He even recorded it from memory once in S1 when his book had gone missing. Plus, Henry has a good heart, so he can be trusted to faithfully re-record all that was written in his storybook (minus the bits that Isaac manipulated). In that way, I think Henry won’t so much undo choices the characters themselves made, but will merely undo the decisions that Isaac forced upon them all in the AU.

"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

[Slurpeez]

I’d say it’s pretty certain, yes.

Okay, but based on what? In the show, all we have to go on is Zelena’s word, and she’s not exactly known for her honesty and trustworthiness.

"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

[Slurpeez]

I’ve also been wondering if the sorcerer could actually be the sorceress. If the title of sorcerer can be passed on the way the title of author can, then I think maybe Lily could become the sorceress, especially if her father is the sorcerer, as I suspect he could be.

"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

[Author]

Posts