I’m cool with him being an antihero (those are some of my favorite characters!) just not cursed, with his heart getting darker over time like it did before. But they do seem to be hinting that he will learn to control it this time, so that gives me hope.
To me, he practically has no conscience without Belle, she had to plead with him on the JR to let Hook live and to leave with her, that he was a better man than that. He did his most wicked deeds when she wasn’t around because he didn’t want her to see them so I see her as good for him. Can he be “a better man” when she isn’t around? That is the ? and what I hope to see to see if he has truly grown or just slipped right back into villain mode…
I hope for them that he can see his value, his potential. For now, Sbrooke hates him and would throw a party if he was gone forever, but I want for him to belong there. I want for there to be people who are happy he is there, friends, not just Belle. Rumple protected the children of the village when he first became the DO and they were appreciative of that, this is the type thing I hope for him. I’m kind of seeing a parallel with “A Christmas Story” in that at first Ebeneezer Scrooge is hated by the townspeople, when he is “dead” they celebrate. But when Scrooge uses what he has to help others, something wonderful inside him comes to life and everyone benefits. There have been some wonderful moving stories on OUAT, but personally, I think this could be OUAT’s most powerful, inspiring story
