The Dark One's Deals are featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. They début in the first episode of the first season.
Background
Throughout the realms, Rumplestiltskin became known as a being of great power and was feared because of his ability to grant a person's deepest wishes and darkest desires with magical deals that proved to be worse than he would initially proclaim. These deals appear to transcend into the Storybrooke reality as well, with Rumplestiltskin's counterpart Mr. Gold retaining a similar disposition for swindling people in desperate situations. In either reality, it appears that Rumplestiltskin always benefits in the long term through his deals, despite short term set-backs brought about by certain individuals. He has only broken one deal as Rumplestiltskin and a second deal as Mr. Gold. A third deal was negotiated with William Smee, but never carried out.
List of Deals
Notes:
- »: Still Standing
- ✔: Completed
- ✘: Broken
- 🚫: Nullified
- ≠: Revised
Before First Curse
Rumplestiltskin's Deals | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S | Ep | Made w/ | Offers | in Exchange for | Reason | Status |
1 | 01 | Snow White | Information about the Dark Curse | Emma's name | To bring back his memories | ✔ |
1 | 02 | Evil Queen | How to cast the Dark Curse | Comfort and favors | To maintain his power | ✔ |
1 | 04 | Cinderella | A night at the ball | Cinderella's firstborn | Unknown. | 🚫[1] |
1 | 05 | Jiminy Cricket | Marionette transforming potion | The potion's victims | Unknown | ✔ |
1 | 06 | King George | Prince Charming | The Fairy Godmother's location | He wants her wand | ✔ |
1 | 10 | Snow White | A Memory Potion | A lock of Snow's hair | To make a true love potion | ✔ |
1 | 12 | Sir Maurice | Protection from ogres | Belle's eternal servitude | "He needs a maid" | o[2] |
Belle | Protection from ogres | Belle's eternal servitude | "He needs a maid" | ✔ | ||
Belle | Belle returning from town with straw | Rumplestiltskin telling her how he lost his son | Rumplestiltskin falling in love with Belle | ✔[3] | ||
1 | 16 | Snow White | A bow and a map to kill the Evil Queen | Nothing | Being invested in her future; he knows her daughter will break the Dark Curse. | ✔ |
Prince Charming | Snow's location | Charming's cloak, which has a few strands of his hair. | To make a true love potion from a strand of Charming's hair | ✔ | ||
1 | 19 | Baelfire | Rumplestiltskin giving up the Darkness | Baelfire's happiness | He loves his son | ✘ ✔[4] |
1 | 22 | Prince Charming | An enchanted ring | Placing the potion inside Maleficent | Bringing magic to Storybrooke | ✔ |
2 | 02 | The Evil Queen | Magic lessons | A favor | She will cast the Dark Curse | ✔ |
2 | 04 | William Smee | Making Smee younger | A magic bean | To find Baelfire | o |
2 | 04 | Milah | Milah and Hook's life | A magic bean | To find Baelfire | o[5] |
2 | 05 | Jefferson | A royal passport | Transport and introduce Victor Frankenstein to Queen Regina | To cause Regina's heartbreak | ✔[6] |
Jefferson | Gold | Slippers and a crystal ball | To find Baelfire | ½✔[7] | ||
Victor Frankenstein | An enchanted heart | Regina's heartbreak | Regina's willingness to learn magic | ✔[8] | ||
2 | 10 | Snow White | An enchantment that will prove if Regina can change | Nothing | Regina will cast the Dark Curse out of desperation | ✔ |
2 | 12 | Victor Frankenstein | Gold | Knowledge of how to bring back the dead | Regina's heartbreak | ✔ |
2 | 14 | Seer | Taking the Seer's power | Knowledge on how to find his son | To find Baelfire | ✔ |
2 | 16 | Cora | Teach her how to use magic | Cora's "firstborn" | The child will cast the Dark Curse | ≠ |
Cora | Teach her how to use magic | "Rumplestiltskin's child" | He loves Cora | 🚫[9] | ||
2 | 19 | Sheriff of Nottingham | His tongue | To learn the location of Robin Hood | To kill Robin Hood for stealing from him | ✔ |
2 | 20 | Evil Queen | To perform a shapeshifting spell on her | Regina to cutoff all trade with King George's realm | Needs King George's kingdom bankrupt | ✔ |
3 | 02 | Prince Charming | A weapon to help Snow White to believe she was able to defeat the Evil Queen | Nothing | Rumplestiltskin had no interest in helping him | o[10] |
4 | 04 | Ingrid | The urn containing Elsa | The Sorcerer's Hat | He wants the Sorcerer's Hat | o[11] |
4 | 06 | Anna | For her to mix a liquid into the Apprentice's tea | To tell why Anna's mother and father came to see him | Retrieving the Sorcerer's Hat[12] | ✘[13] |
4 | 07 | Ingrid | Control over her ice magic through magic gloves and a magic urn | Ribbons worn by her, Helga and Gerda | The magic from their sisterly bond contained in the ribbons | ✔ |
5 | 04 | Guinevere | Sands of Avalon | Magic Gauntlet | Unknown | ✔ |
6 | 12 | Robert and Ruth | To save their sons | One of their sons (Prince James) | To give to King George | ✔ |
During First Curse
Reason: Format
Mr. Gold's Deals | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
S | Ep | Made w/ | Offers | in Exchange for | Reason | Status |
3 | 09 | Regina Mills | Finding a child for Regina to adopt | Unknown | Unknown (he did not remember his true self at the time) | ✔ |
Deal Made With | Episode Made | Offers | Desires | Reason | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ashley Boyd | "The Price of Gold" | A large sum of money | Her unborn child, Alexandra | Deal carried over | 🚫[1] |
Emma Swan | "The Price of Gold" | Forgiveness of Ashley's debt | A favor | Her help finding and getting his son to talk to him | ✔ |
Emma Swan | "Desperate Souls" | Good publicity | The sheriff's loyalty | Political power | ✔ |
Emma Swan | "True North" | The person who bought the compass | Tolerance in burning Regina's house | To avoid trouble | ✔ |
Regina Mills | "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" | A plot of land | $50,000 | To ruin Emma | ✔ |
Moe French | "Skin Deep" | A car loan | Money | Financial influence | ✔ |
Regina Mills | "Skin Deep" | Mr. Gold revealing his real name | Belle's teacup | His love and memory of Belle | ✔ |
Regina Mills | Mary Margaret Blanchard's guilt | Dropping the assault charges | Obtaining a clean slate | ✔ | |
Mary Margaret Blanchard | "Heart of Darkness" | Being her lawyer for the murder case | Nothing | Being invested in her future(to break the curse) | ✔ |
David Nolan | "We Are Both" | A tracking potion | Peace | Keeping trouble away | » |
Regina Mills | "We Are Both" | Cora's spell book | Regina's keeping silent about the Enchanted Forest's continued existence | It's in his best interest | ✘ by Regina, who revealed the truth |
Belle | Belle coming back from town with straw | Mr. Gold telling her how he lost his son | She wants to know why he needs magic | ✔ | |
Dr. Whale | "The Doctor" | A reattached arm | Whale's admittance that he needs magic | Mr. Gold's ego | ✔ |
Cora | "In the Name of the Brother" | A truce between her and Mr. Gold | The magic globe | To show him the location of his son | ✔ |
William Smee | "The Outsider" | A talisman to keep his true memories intact once past the town border. | Needed a test subject for the potion that creates the talisman | Revenge for trying to force Belle over Storybrooke's borderline | ✔ |
Emma Swan | "In the Name of the Brother" | To pay back favor | Her help finding and getting his son to talk to him | Wants to find his son | ✔ |
Mary Margaret Blanchard | "The Miller's Daughter" | Cora's death to protect her family | The life-restoring candle to be lit | The only way to save his life | ✔ |
David Nolan | "Lacey" | A favor | Help in making Lacey fall in love with him | Wants to bring back Belle's memories | ✔ |
David Nolan | "Second Star to the Right" | A potion that will allow Mary Margaret to find Regina | To pay back favor | Always honors his deals | ✔ |
David Nolan | An elixir to cure David's Dreamshade poisoning | A favor | Always honors his deals | » | |
Captain Hook | A way to locate the person who cast a freezing curse on Maid Marian so Hook can clear Elsa of false accusations | Hook keeping silent about the Mr. Gold giving Belle a fake dagger | Does not want Belle to know he lied to her | ✔ | |
Captain Hook | To reattach Hook's severed hand, with a warning that doing so may corrupt him | Hook keeping silent about the Mr. Gold giving Belle a fake dagger | Wants to trick Hook into asking him to remove the hand and get Hook to help him | ✔ | |
Captain Hook | To remove Hook's hand again due to Hook believing that it is corrupting him | Hook to help him in absorbing the Apprentice into the Sorcerer's Hat | Needs to absorb as much magic into the hat as possible to free himself from his bond to the Dark One's Dagger | ✔ | |
Ingrid | The three ribbons formerly worn by Ingrid and her sisters | The "final piece of the puzzle" required to use the hat to be free of the dagger | Wants to escape control of the dagger and keep his powers | ✔ | |
Emma Swan | To permanently remove her magic | Fears her out of control magic will harm her loved ones | Adding more power to the sorcerer's hat to free himself from the dagger and retain his power | ✘ by Emma, who decides to keep her magic | |
Ingrid | A promise not to rip her heart out | For Ingrid to allow Henry and Belle to leave Storybrooke with him after she cast the Spell of Shattered Sight | Wants to keep his family intact | ✘ due to circumstance; Ingrid undid the spell | |
Zelena | "Heart of Gold" | To force The Author to write her a happy ending | The Elixir of the Wounded Heart | To temporarily fix his dying heart | ✘ due to circumstance; Henry became the new Author and undid the previous Author's work |
Emma Swan | "The Bear and the Bow" | To pull Excalibur from the stone | Merida's heart to be put back in | Merida had completed her task to make him brave | ✔ |
Emma Swan | "Swan Song" | To help to open the portal to the Underworld | Not telling Belle that he is the Dark One again | To protect the couple from what he did | ✔ |
Hades | "Devil's Due" | Forced to work for Hades | To protect his unborn child with Belle | Was tricked and forced by Hades, after the latter took back the deal he once made with Fendrake | ✘ Hades tore up the contact in exchange for Mr. Gold and Peter Pan not killing Zelena |
David Nolan | "The Other Shoe" | Information on his father's death | To give Belle French a message. | To be with Belle. | ✘ Mr. Gold put a spell on Belle. |
Participants
Deals | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Participant | Total N° | » | ✘ | 🚫 | ≠ | ✔ |
Total Deals | 50 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 41 |
Evil Queen Regina Mills |
8 | - | 1 | - | - | 7 |
Prince Charming David Nolan |
6 | 2 | - | - | - | 4 |
Snow White Mary Margaret |
6 | - | - | - | - | 6 |
Hook | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
Cora | 3 | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Ingrid | 3 | - | 1 | - | - | 2 |
Victor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
Belle Belle French |
2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
Cinderella Ashley Boyd |
2 | - | - | 2 | - | - |
Jefferson | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
Anna | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - |
Baelfire | 1 | - | 1[4] | - | - | 1[4] |
Guinevere | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Hades | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - |
Jiminy Cricket | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
King George | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Moe French | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Ruth | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Seer | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Sheriff of Nottingham | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
William Smee | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Zelena | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- All Dark Ones find it irresistible to make deals. ("The Bear and the Bow")
- When making deals, Rumplestiltskin tends to take items that will inevitably help him in his quest to find his son, or simply to increase his own power and/or influence. He tends to take items of personal value because such items can obtain their own kind of magic with enough love. ''("In the Name of the Brother", "The Apprentice", "The Snow Queen")
- The contract that Rumplestiltskin has Anna sign, reads:[14]
1:1 Acceptance of this contract dictates the unconditional agreement to this offer. This being "created contact". Here-in being written by his Royal Highness before acceptance any offer can be withdrawn, but once accepted this contract is bind on [sic] both sides. Any conditions that may have been effected as per a counter offer must be accepted by both parties.
2:1 Representing the undersigned agent is hereby appointed by his Royal Highness to act on behalf of no other person than the undersigned (known as the principal). The amount of authority to deal that the agent has is subject to agreement between the principal and the stated agent. However, otherwise, third parties can assume the [sic] Mr. Gold has full powers to negotiate this contract.
3:1 Collective agreement shall state all terms used for agreements made between the undersigned. This covers more than this one organisation. Although these can be seen as breach of future contracts, this contract is governed by the territorial law of rights, not contract law.
4:1 Comfort letters will not be issued. Documents issued to back up this agreement do not have any contractual standing. This is to be issued by a parent or associate company stating that the group will back up the petition of the small company to improve its trading position. This contract does state they are not intended to be legally binding [two illegible words] regarding letters
of comfort.
5:1 Confidentiality within this binding [illegible word] is to protect confidential information if it has to be dictated to another party. If this is to occur during negotiations for this contract, the parties may need to divulge information about their operatives to each
other. In this situation, the confidentiality agreement forms a binding contract not to pass on that information whether or not the actual contract is ever signed.
6:1 Certain Considerations [sic] within this contract pertains to each side which must give some consideration to the other. Referred to as the quid pro quo. This is the price paid. Which is not to exercise a right to access over somebody else's land in return for a payment would be a valid contract, even if there was no intention of ever [illegible word] right [illegible word].
7:1 Exclusion clause - Do note that within this contract that are [sic] intended to exclude one party from [illegible word] if stated circumstance were to occur. They are types of exemption clauses. This shall be traded through interpretation of them strictly and, where possible, in favour of the party that did not write said contract. Exemption clause may [illegible word] in the governing body by regulations that tender them ineffective but note that these regulations do not cover retractions.
- The first two paragraphs are almost identical to the contract that Fendrake had Rumplestiltskin sign in "Devil's Due".[15]
Goofs
- On his contract with Fendrake the Healer, Rumplestiltskin's name is misspelled as "Rumpelstiltskin".[16] ("Devil's Due")
References
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