After being steeped in Regina last week, this week we turn to Rumpelstiltskin and his story.\u00a0 Yet, on the surface we did not.\u00a0 In many ways, Rumpel was the secondary character next to Belle’s.\u00a0 As a result,we got a significant piece of\u00a0back-story\u00a0on Belle.<\/p>\n
I have to say at the outset, that I was both surprised and impressed at the pace they have moved the story along.\u00a0 Most shows would have milked the Archie thread half a season before moving it anywhere.\u00a0 Yet this show moves the story along in a real manner on the next episode?\u00a0 That shows a great deal of confidence on their part.\u00a0 It also confirms my suspicion as to how well the show is planned out, on at least a seasonal basis.\u00a0 It also excites me to anticipate the remainder of this season.<\/p>\n
Just to recap quickly:<\/p>\n
There are also a few things that we can assume from implication.\u00a0 First of all, they know Cora is there.\u00a0 Or at least they should<\/i><\/b>, since Emma knows Hook and Cora are working together.\u00a0 It should be hard to imagine that Hook would be there without her.<\/p>\n
I think we can also assume now that there is also a way to break the memory curse, which is good for both Belle and<\/i> Sneezy.\u00a0 What\u2019s the point of spending so much time on the character if the intent is death of personality?\u00a0 How I think this could work would be for Belle version 2.0 to fall in love with Gold again.\u00a0 In this case would True Love\u2019s Kiss be restorative?\u00a0 It was when Snow forgot about Charming last season.\u00a0 Well\u2026 actually good for Belle.\u00a0 It may be a bit more problematic for Sneezy.\u00a0 One thing I am<\/i> curious about here is seeing what the cursed personality of Belle is like.\u00a0 We never did get to see that.<\/p>\n
In addition to this question, there are a few others raised.\u00a0 The most obvious is who was driving the car with the Pennsylvania plates?\u00a0 Neil was from New York.\u00a0 Philip\u2019s soul was taken somewhere by the wraith.\u00a0 Most of the fandom seems to be assuming Bae and Neil are the same.\u00a0 August is somewhere, but still wooden.\u00a0 The only thing you can be sure of is that this won\u2019t be unconnected with the Enchanted Forest.\u00a0 What new character may then be introduced?\u00a0 Someone connected to the long awaited Oz storyline?\u00a0 There have been hints going all the way back to the flying monkeys in The Book in the pilot.<\/p>\n
The other question, before I move on to Rumpelstiltskin, is whether we are seeing some trouble in Happily Ever After?\u00a0 While the question of why they\u2019re not back in the Enchanted Forest is completely understandable \u2013 as is people\u2019s desire to return home \u2013 I hope they don\u2019t make that a \u201cdrama point\u201d between Mary Margaret and David.\u00a0 After all the time they have worked together overcoming their trials, having this come between them as a divisive<\/i> issue, is just a bit hard to swallow.\u00a0 That just crosses too far into the realm of soap opera and cheap manipulation.<\/p>\n
Though the plot<\/i> was primarily about Belle, the story<\/i> \u2013 for me at least \u2013 was about Rumpelstiltskin.\u00a0 We see through the plot that Belle is a good, kind and quite courageous person who is brilliant and uses her wits to solve problems.\u00a0 However, this plot drives the story in the insights and development it gives into Rumpelstiltskin.<\/p>\n
Rumpel is by far the most complex character in this story.\u00a0 His heart, as Belle says, is good, however he seems to have forgotten that.\u00a0 Her role in the Big Story, as it were, seems to be guiding him to remember.\u00a0 Is he Evil or just a coward?\u00a0 As a man, he just wants to have his family and live in peace.\u00a0 As the Dark One, he has been beyond ruthless in pursuing his objective of first protecting, and now finding, his son.\u00a0 Unlike Regina, though his actions<\/i> of often evil or at best amoral, his motives<\/i> are often good rather than vengeful.\u00a0 Like Cora, he has no hesitation for ruthlessness to the point of killing.\u00a0 Unlike Cora, he seems to not do so without cause.<\/p>\n
While for many characters, the story seems to be about finding True Love, in Rumpel\u2019s case it seems to be in finding True Courage.\u00a0 True Love still plays a huge role, of course.\u00a0 The impact that Belle has had on him since she has returned has been dramatic.\u00a0 One thing to note, that Gold was now willing to fight \u2013 without magic \u2013 to protect the woman he loved.\u00a0 More important, and far more courageous<\/i>, was that he spared his enemy for her sake.\u00a0 He\u2019s admitted what he is to Belle and that\u2019s a huge step for his journey back to the light, though I expect it to be a long one.\u00a0 I think an important lesson Rumpel is learning is that True Love is \u2013 by definition \u2013 something of which nobody is deserving and that it is something unconditional.\u00a0 And accepting that kind of love \u2013 as well as returning it \u2013 is one of the greatest acts of courage possible<\/p>\n
Make no mistake; I\u2019m not being an apologist for Rumple.\u00a0 While Regina\u2019s evils have been in plain sight for all to see, the full extent of Rumpelstiltskin\u2019s crimes are largely hidden by the veil of secrecy.\u00a0 I think that the price he is going to pay for what he has done with his magic is to watch those he loves pay his price.\u00a0 That\u2019s happened now with Milah, with Bae, and now with Belle.\u00a0 I think there is going to be a moment of realization and at that time he will pay the price rather than let someone else.<\/p>\n
How do I think he story will end?\u00a0 I would say look at the actual Beauty and the Beast fairy tale; the Disney version, that is.\u00a0 The dagger obviously comes into play.\u00a0 I think his story will end in his being stabbed with dagger refusing to let someone else pay his<\/i> price yet again.\u00a0 As he lay dying and before the Dark One\u2019s power can transfer, he will get True Love\u2019s Kiss from Belle breaking the power of the Dark One forever.\u00a0 He will have found courage, rejected evil, lost his magic and be given the chance of his<\/i> Happily Ever After with Belle and hopefully Bae.\u00a0 Yes, yes.\u00a0 A bit melodramatic.\u00a0 But it is<\/b> a fairy tale, after all.<\/p>\n
To wrap this character analysis up, the title of the episode was The Outsider. \u00a0Who is the Outsider? \u00a0The obvious answer is Hook, but really might this be a more fitting description of Rumpel?<\/p>\n
Just to end on a lighter note, let\u2019s assume for a moment that Bae and Neil are the same person.\u00a0 Oh, and<\/b> that he and Emma end up together with Henry.\u00a0 Anyone want to try to draw THAT<\/b> family tree?\u00a0 That makes Prince Charming and<\/i> Rumpelstiltskin Henry\u2019s grandfathers.\u00a0 The evil queen is both his step mother and<\/i> his great-grandmother.\u00a0 I can\u2019t begin to imagine what a family get together over the holidays would be like.<\/p>\n
As always, I love to hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After being steeped in Regina last week, this week we turn to Rumpelstiltskin and his story.\u00a0 Yet, on the surface we did not.\u00a0 In many ways, Rumpel was the secondary character next to Belle’s.\u00a0 As a result,we got a significant piece of\u00a0back-story\u00a0on Belle. I have to say at the outset, that I was both surprised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[25,39,46],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ymfK-4e","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thechristiangeek.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}