This is taken from Screwballninja’s post about how to redeem Rumple: but this pretty much explains why I feel like Rumple’s character was completely assassinated.
In S1 most people felt sorry for Rumple because despite a history of mendacity, a trail of corpses, and a distressing tendency towards escargot-related conflict resolution, Rumple had two great redeeming virtues:
Filial love– His desire to find and reconcile with Baelfire and his kindness towards Emma and Henry, even before he knew they were family
Romantic love– His twu wuv for Belle
By the end of the Frozen arc, both of these traits have been seriously undermined … but that just means the writers can redeem Rumple by adding those traits back in the future.
You better hope so, buster!
Read on for more, more, more!
1. Why Grandpa, What Gold Teeth You Have
What made Rumple so sympathetic in S1 and half of S2 was his deep love for his son Baelfire and his life-long regret for abandoning him.
*Rumple fans heavy sobbing in the background*
In S1/S2 it looked like Rumple cared about Emma and Henry, too– in most cases even before he knew they were family:
A) Rumple repeatedly said that he liked and respected Emma, even when he was manipulating her.
B) Rumple gave Emma the walkie-talkies to communicate with Henry because “your time together is precious”– and he did this for free!
C) Rumple healed Henry’s dreamworld-induced burns and gave him a magical object to help him navigate the disco inferno … for free, because “this is for Henry.”
D) Rumple taught Emma the protection spell against Cora using light magic, instead of encouraging darkness like he did with Regina.
The implication, too, was that Rumple had a soft spot for kids in general, extrapolating from the OFF-SCREEN scene where Rumple ended the Ogre Wars and sent all the kids home.
Then came Neverland, where Rumple’s dramatic arc was whether Rumplestiltskin, Attempted Child Murderer would become Rumplestiltskin, ACTUAL Child Murderer, and I threw a hissy fit because that’s too dark for hopelessly square little ole me.