Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24769579-20151019094845/@comment-1867880-20151022085844

SnowQueenFan1993 wrote: Emma needs someone like Merida. Her parents wont help her with her evil plan because there "heroes" and they probably dont approve of her wanting to snuff out the light(i do it sounds supercool). So she needs someone else. The key problem with Rumple it seems to me (and this is my observation feel free to disagree) is that when he comes across something he fears he tries to get away from it immiedietly. He never faces his fear or tries to confront his fears and beat them. Take a look at Merida. She shot arrows at a dark one which is practicly suicide. Was she scared of Emma ? Yes but while she feared Emma she still fought her confronting the thing that she was scared off. Then she actually goes above and beyond and befriended the person who scared the living crap out of her then learns a lesson from the whole experience for which she thanked her. Merida not only confronted her fears but conquered them. Thats a skill the gold needs to learn. And Merida was scared of Emma when she came to pick up her prisoner but once again tried to face Emma.

Rumplestiltskin had a son to worry about. If he died, his son wouldn't have a father. To him, that would be tantamount to abandoning him, just as his father did. Before Baelfire was born, he was plenty brave. He was willing to fight in the Ogre War, which has been described several times as a sacrifice. He only deserted after he learned he had a son. Maybe in that case, he could have taken a risk, but after Milah left, taking risks like that would be selfish. I would say when he doesn't have a son to protect, Rumplestiltskin does have the capability to face his fears.