Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4962906-20151001101413/@comment-24674051-20151002151256

Also, Rumple is an addict. In his case, it's power (and specifically Magical power) that he's addicted to. He's just been through some very radical rehab. Assuming that he survives (which is not guaranteed), he is going to probably have issues.

First is whether he is even capable of performing magic. I think that, to one degree or another, everyone from the EF is capable of performing magic. how much or how well? who can say. I honestly think the potential is there.

Second is whether he will want to learn magic again. As I said, he's an addict that has been through recovery. But the addiction was strong and long. I think there is a part of him that will crave the magic. I think that, given the opportunity, he will relapse to some level. But at the same point, he is finally free of the burden, of the one thing that drove him to choose power over love. He is going to remember how much the magic controlled him, and he may just be strong enough to resist the temptation. It's this issue that will, it think, be the driving force behind any plots with Gold going forward.

Finally, can he figure out how to use magic. I think with 300 years of using and teaching magic, he is capable of figuring it out easy enough even without the Dark One tethered. He's taught others, surely he can teach himself.