Entertainment

Why Does Rumple Want To Kidnap Henry on 'OUAT'?

by Christine DiStasio

We need to talk about Rumplestiltskin, because, while Once Upon a Time was focusing on The Snow Queen and Frozen, he turned into a madman. First, Rumple revealed his plan to kill Hook on OUAT to release himself from The Dagger, but now it seems that he plans to carry out the rest of his scheme as well. Along with freeing himself from The Dark One's dagger, Rumple plans to run away to New York with Henry and Belle. Yes, OUAT already revealed his plan to take those two and run, but now that The Snow Queen is dead and her spell is broken, there's no reason to take Henry away. And, frankly, I can't see Emma or Regina letting him get away with it. So, what the heck is Rumple up to?

Obviously Storybrooke's resident semi-bad guy was banking on all of the Spell of Shattered Sight confusion being the perfect cover for him to run away with Henry in tow. But now that the spell is broken and everyone has gone back to normal, why does Rumple still want to take Henry away? I mean, his mothers aren't incapacitated anymore and they're obviously going to notice that he's gone and go looking for him. Rumple's plan seems entirely foolish — between Regina and Emma's powers, there's no chance that he'll get away with taking Henry to New York. And, anyway, why would he want to?

Well, remember that lost Sorcerer's Apprentice storyline? OUAT did a great job of mixing Frozen and the classic moment from Disney's Fantasia, but then the series entirely abandoned it. We saw Henry sweeping up at Rumple's shop and that was the last time his apprenticeship was mentioned on the show — while the Sorcerer's hat continued to be an important part of Rumple's storyline. Does Rumple think that, after freeing himself from the dagger, Henry is his second chance at raising a son? He is his grandson and now-apprentice after all. But it still seems like a lot of trouble to get through Emma and Regina just to try to make amends with Neal's memory (RIP).

I can understand wanting to run away with Belle and start a new life, away from Storybrooke and its constant turmoil. But Rumple seems less like a man in love and more like a man on an evil mission these days — you'd think he'd have learned by now that evil never prevails on OUAT. Especially when it comes down to Henry.

Image: Jack Rowand/ABC