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Once Upon a Time is a popular TV show that aired on ABC Network from 2011 to 2018. It features all of our favorite fantasy characters from Snow White to Rapunzel, as well as some of our favorite villains including Hades and Rumplestiltskin. The show puts a modern twist onto the classic fairy tales we are used to, with characters appearing in the real world as normal people such as teachers or doctors.
As the show progresses and the characters realize who they are, they also realize they have Rumplestiltskin, better known on the show as Mr. Gold, amongst their mix. Rumplestiltskin is a complicated character who does good and bad things throughout the show for many different reasons. Sometimes we think he is on our side while other times we despise him for the awful things he does, like leaving his son to enter a new world by himself. By the end, however, we can agree that he did deserve his redemption.
Rumplestiltskin’s Backstory
Throughout the seven seasons of the show, we are able to learn about Rumplestiltskin’s past and present life. We learn that he had a son named Baelfire with his first wife, Milah. Things didn’t work out with him and his wife for many reasons, one of them being that his wife saw him as weak and a coward when he returned home from the war crippled. We later learn that he crippled himself to get out of the war and avoid possibly losing his life. His wife looks at him with disgust after he returns and their marriage starts to crumble.
During this time, however, Rumplestiltskin continued to love his son dearly. There was nobody that he loved more as he would do anything for his son. After Baelfire becomes at risk for joining the war, Rumplestiltskin, known as the village coward, takes matters into his own hands. He steals a dagger that is tethered to the Dark One. By stealing it, he summons the Dark One and after the Dark One provokes him, Rumplestiltskin stabs him to death. By doing this, he becomes the Dark One himself. This could be seen as cold-blooded murder (which it was), but it was also a desperate attempt to save the life of his son.
If he hadn’t done it, his son would have been forced to join the war. It isn’t until he becomes the Dark One that Rumplestiltskin truly becomes evil. We watch as the frightened man turns into a savage beast with no remorse for himself or others as he kills the soldiers that come to try to take his son away from him. Rumplestiltskin did the things he did for his son, to be good for his son, so his son would be safe. However, as can be expected, the draw of the dagger was too much. Baelfire became concerned after seeing his father using dark magic.
He gets help from a fairy who gives him a magic bean that would allow him and Rumplestiltskin to travel to a land without magic and start a new life. As the portal opens, we see Rumplestiltskin clinging to this land with power, and Baelfire is sucked into the portal while Rumplestiltskin is left behind alone. He regrets it instantly, but it is too late. Rumplestiltskin is driven completely over the edge after he is separated from his son. After this final heartbreak, he truly becomes the Dark One.
The Dark One
It isn’t until Rumplestiltskin becomes the Dark One that we can really say he is evil. Before, he was just a man with a son and wife who was afraid to go fight in the war because he didn’t want to die. He was labeled the village coward, but this fear is totally understandable. Who would want to go off to fight in a war they might not return from, especially when they would be leaving a wife and child behind? Nobody.
Once Rumplestiltskin comes to the real world with the rest of our fantasy fairytale characters, he is known as Mr. Gold. Mr. Gold owns a pawnshop and is “awake” before others in town. In this case, being awake means he knows his true identity, unlike the other characters who don’t know they are Snow White, Prince Charming, etc. because of a curse cast by the Evil Queen. As the other characters learn their real identities, everything is out in the open for everyone to know and see. A lot of the time these characters need Rumplestiltskin and his magic, for one reason or another, either to save themselves or someone they love from a terrible fate.
However, as Rumplestiltskin always says, all magic comes with a price. He never does anything for free, but always forces those asking him for help to do him a favor. This could be anything he wants, usually something that tests the true character of the person doing the favor. The favors are almost always bad. Rumplestiltskin continues to only do things for his benefit, occasionally helping others when it also benefits him. It isn’t until he is reunited with Belle, the love of his life, that he starts to change.
Reuniting With The Love Of His Life
Rumplestiltskin meets Belle when he tells her that she can be his caretaker in exchange for keeping her family safe during the Ogre Wars. So to keep her family safe, she agrees. The two live together in a grand palace and Belle doesn’t really see anybody else since Rumplestiltskin keeps her trapped in the palace. At first, naturally, she is terrified of this evil, ruthless man. However, she quickly falls in love with Rumplestiltskin, seeing what others do not, the man behind the beast.
All of this takes place in Fairytale Land before the characters are transported to the real world. They both start to fall in love with each other and we see Rumplestiltskin changing from a savage beast who killed without hesitation, to a kind(er) man who wants to please and be good for Belle. Back in the real world, the lovers are reunited after many years apart. Rumplestiltskin remembered his past life while Belle didn’t locked in a mental asylum for many years. Soon, the memories of everyone in town are restored and Belle remembers who Rumplestiltskin is and the two lovers are happily reunited.
Belle makes Rumplestiltskin a better person. A lot of times, she stopped him from doing something that would hurt others. She constantly reminds him that there is light inside of him along with the darkness and that he doesn’t have to let the darkness win, that he can fight it and light can win. Sometimes this works, other times, it doesn’t. The two went through a lot in the course of the show. They get married then separate, and Belle seems to want nothing to do with him. But eventually, they end up back together, have a son, and live out their days on the top of a magic mountain until Belle dies naturally from old age.
For the first time in his life, Rumplestiltskin doesn’t seem to want to be the Dark One or immortal. He wants to die so he can be reunited with Belle. However, being the Dark One isn’t just something you can choose not to do anymore. He is the Dark One and joining Belle in a happily ever after will be much harder than he thinks.
Rumplestiltskin’s Redemption
By the last season of the show, there is yet another curse on our favorite characters. Again, it takes time for them to break the curse. This curse places our characters in a new land, what we know as Seattle. We follow new characters and some old characters in this land. Only one person is aware that there is a curse on the town, Lucy Mills, the daughter of Henry Mills, who is the main protagonist of our final season. They don’t succeed in breaking the curse until nearly the end of the season.
At the end of the curse comes the almost death of an alter-ego, Captain Hook (I know, confusing). Alter Hook’s death is prevented when Rumplestiltskin sacrifices his own life for the life of Hook. He takes his own heart out and gives it to Hook so Hook can live and Rumplestiltskin can (hopefully) be reunited with Belle. In the ultimate selfless sacrifice, he finally gets what he wants and is reunited with the love of his life.
At the end of the show, we are left questioning whether Rumplestiltskin deserved to end up happy with Belle after his death. We saw him be good, through a lot of encouragement from Baelfire and Belle, and we saw him be bad when the lure of the dagger was too much for him to fight and everything seemed hopeless. We’ve seen him cry and laugh and suffer. No character went through as much or lived as long as Rumplestiltskin did. He was hundreds of years old when he finally died, leaving us wondering about everything from his life that we didn’t get to see.
We saw him do horrible things throughout the seasons, like kill innocents, to protect those he loved (Belle and Baelfire). But we also saw him do well to protect those he loved. He didn’t always kill someone to protect those he loved. In season three, he sacrificed himself to save the lives of everyone in town, ultimately becoming a hero, even if temporarily.
There were times when we rooted for him and times when we wanted him dead, but ultimately, he is still a fan favorite. Even when we wanted him dead, we couldn’t help but root for him. Like Belle stole his heart, Rumplestiltskin stole ours and had us rooting for our favorite villain. For this reason, I think most of us can agree that he did truly deserve redemption in the end. He did deserve his happily ever after with Belle. Finally, he deserved to be happy.