Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1962215-20140317132636/@comment-5106672-20151017171408

I honestly think the "Darkness made me do that" plot point was a very cheap writing choice to try and win the audience's favour back to Rumple after the S4 mess. A character who deliberately manipulated the hell out of the whole Enchanted Forest because he wanted to try and get a second chance at being a decent father was a much more compelling than "sorry, I was possessed the whole time".

Hell, they tried to give a last-minute "redemption" to re-hearted Cora with her last words, but they didn't take away that ripping her heart off simply blocked emotional interferences to her scheaming but she still had all the free will in the world in her decision-making. She was still a woman who made poor life choices out of ambition.

Now, if Rumple turns out to have been a blank canvas the whole time with the Darkness commending his every move, well… that's utterly destroying a complex character we've been loving to hate for four seasons.