Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24892318-20140523071906/@comment-24898439-20140526184213

I think that Belle will stay with Rumple, if only because Robert Carlysle is a fantastic actor and I don't think he's going anywhere. If Rumple loses Belle for good, he will have no anchor. Previously, he had his love for Bae and his never ending quest to be reunited with him to sustain him/balance him. Once he had achieved that and won himself back a tiny bit into his son's good graces, he could sacrifice his life and defeat and kill Pan. However, now that Bae is dead and he has kept his promise to "avenge" Bae's death, he no longer has this anchor. Perhaps Henry can provide the new anchor for Rumple, but I doubt it since he doesn't know Henry all that well. If he loses Belle, though, he will be anchorless. He could fully embrace the darkside, but with nothing to temper it (both Regina and he always had something to temper their evil). The only solution would be to kill his character off and I don't see that happening because of Robert Carlysle's popularity.