Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-11058666-20141228031222/@comment-5106672-20150410131730

Gheather14 wrote: I feel like it's not just about power for Rumple, but free will. As long as someone other than himself has the dagger, he has to worry about someone controlling him. He's addicted to power, yes, but he is also a slave to the dagger too. Not necessarily. He wants to clear himself of the dagger? He might very well give up his obsession for power, focus on his love for Belle and let True Love's Kiss do the work. He had an easy way to freedom and True Love, but he still chose power over it.

To be honest, Belle should have smelled a big fat rat about him the moment she saw he still kept his powers despite all the smooching. It's understandable while he was still focussed on trying to reunite with Neal, then save Henry and all, but after their wedding there should have been no reason why kissing Belle wouldn't break the Dark One curse. Except for Rumple being Rumple. I think Belle was acknowledging that in Heroes And Villains: I was a bit annoyed when she said "All the signs I've been seeing are correct" because they could have shown us something on screen, but I think she ultimately referred to the fact he still kept his powers even though they presumably kissed daily. Something perhaps she chose to ignore until she realised how many people were getting hurt because of that.