Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-11058666-20141228031222/@comment-4975807-20150602221700

Since the season finale, I have some shifting thoughts about Rumbelle. With the removal of Mr. Gold's Dark One powers, that opens up a whole box of incertainty for him and Belle next season. Judging from what the Apprentice said about how if Mr. Gold survives and that he'll need time to readjust, I'm not sure it'll be smooth sailing for Rumbelle. It seems simple enough that Mr. Gold without his dark powers can finally have true happiness, but he's relied on those powers for so long that I wonder who he'll be without them. Can he handle that? It's also interesting that the majority of Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold seen on the show thus far is when he already has the Dark One powers. The audience only saw a little bit of who Rumple was when he was just an ordinary village man.

I'm not surprised at Belle's admission in the finale that she knew what she was getting into when she married Mr. Gold. I guess that means she was optimistic about being there for him through all his up and downs.. However, it makes sense in "Heroes and Villains" why she forced him to leave town because she realized that he does love her, but power is always more important to him. Mr. Gold's admission that what they had wasn't enough for him because he didn't believe anyone would truly love him made me feel a twinge of pity towards him, but also skepticism. He, the Dark One, is so afraid deep down that no one loves him? It felt somewhat melodramatic, but I suppose it's only with Belle now (since Neal is dead) that he can be honest about why he self-sabotaged his chance of happiness with her.