Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-4467206-20161126101444/@comment-25375217-20161126200538

That's a lot of assumptions and loose ties. Yes, they are shoving it down our throats that Hook is a better person. Yes, they are shoving it down our throats that Rumple is a worse person. But I see no reason to believe these are connected. They're also shoving it down our throats that Henry is a teenager, so maybe they're making Rumple act immature about being rejected to make Henry look more mature. They're also shoving it down our throats that David is lying to Snow, so maybe they're making Rumple be open about his evilness to make David look more like a liar. There are so many ways you could skew it.

Rumple has always been evil. He never successfully redeems himself - for every heroic action, there's an equally dark or darker one or at least an ulterior motive. The only exception is when he sacrificed himself to kill Pan, but since they've brought him back to life he's back to the same old spiral. Sometimes his heroic actions last longer before the dark action comes in (like Hero Rumple in 5a), but for the most part, he's never been anything but evil.

From a character point of view, you could blame this on Nimue. It doesn't excuse his actions, but keep in mind that there is likely that voice whispering to him. Whispering that Zelena deserves to die, so he should lie to Belle. Whispering that if he can use the hat he can have his power and let Belle have what she wants: to explore the world. Whispering that now that Belle's left him he needs his power or he'll have nothing. Whispering that now that Belle hates him he has no reason to stay good. If you look at him this way, as a man weak to peer pressure, it gives him a little bit more humanity. Granted, he still sucks, but at least he sucks in a normal way. (I mean, that's how I see it anyway. Others probably will see it differently.)