I'm always kind of frustrated/intrigued by the "Rumple is a coward" line. It reminds me of the "Weasleys are poor" business from Harry Potter. (I didn't see them as poor as such. Just frugal and with a lot of kids. But I digress.) What he said to Belle in Skin Deep I thought hit it--he was just more in love with power than with her. We know now that was because he needed magic to find Baefire. And I think that was also what happened when he let Bae go. It wasn't that he was cowardly, it was that he was selfish.
I think we see his bravery when we saw that he had been drafted into the Ogre Wars. We saw that he wanted to fight. He did, but he wanted to be a father to his son more than that. I think he also shows his bravery in going after Henry even though Henry will be his "downfall."
So, with all that in mind, I'm excited to see more of his backstory with his dad, in particular to see ways in which his perceived cowardice is different (perhaps) than his father's.
I think Rumple is someone who has serious trust issues, much more so than being a coward. He didn't trust Belle enough to tell her why he needed magic and so ended up separated from her for thirty years and thinking she died. He doesn't trust the group enough to help them get to Henry, so he goes it alone. He doesn't trust anyone at this point except Belle and he still is making a lot of wrong choices, which is a definite pattern with him. He was right when he said he generally does the selfish thing.
I've never really seen him as a coward. Stealing the Dark One's dagger and facing him down and killing him is not cowardly. It was desperate. It was the wrong choice. But it took a lot of bravery to do all of that. It wasn't cowardly to go onto Hook's ship and try to get his wife back. It wasn't even cowardly to refuse to fight knowing that fight would end up with your son having no parents at all. It's definitely brave to face down Pan to get his grandson back.
But HE sees himself as a coward and I think that's one of the things he's doing to have to realize is not quite true. There's a lot more there than that.
"Stealing the Dark One's dagger and facing him down and killing him is not cowardly."
*nods* I thought of that after I wrote this.
"But HE sees himself as a coward and I think that's one of the things he's doing to have to realize is not quite true. There's a lot more there than that."
I hope so! That would make for interesting self-exploration.
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Date: 2013-10-09 06:18 pm (UTC)I think we see his bravery when we saw that he had been drafted into the Ogre Wars. We saw that he wanted to fight. He did, but he wanted to be a father to his son more than that. I think he also shows his bravery in going after Henry even though Henry will be his "downfall."
So, with all that in mind, I'm excited to see more of his backstory with his dad, in particular to see ways in which his perceived cowardice is different (perhaps) than his father's.
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Date: 2013-10-09 06:48 pm (UTC)I've never really seen him as a coward. Stealing the Dark One's dagger and facing him down and killing him is not cowardly. It was desperate. It was the wrong choice. But it took a lot of bravery to do all of that. It wasn't cowardly to go onto Hook's ship and try to get his wife back. It wasn't even cowardly to refuse to fight knowing that fight would end up with your son having no parents at all. It's definitely brave to face down Pan to get his grandson back.
But HE sees himself as a coward and I think that's one of the things he's doing to have to realize is not quite true. There's a lot more there than that.
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Date: 2013-10-09 09:41 pm (UTC)*nods* I thought of that after I wrote this.
"But HE sees himself as a coward and I think that's one of the things he's doing to have to realize is not quite true. There's a lot more there than that."
I hope so! That would make for interesting self-exploration.