#6.13 ill-boding patterns

[dinneratgrannys]

BELLE FRENCH 6.13, Ill-Boding Patterns

[vigilantewives]

“If I tell Emma what I did, she’s not gonna want to marry me.”

[scribbles-by-kate]

I embraced darkness for good. But I never became a hero.

Rumplestiltskin - 6.13 “Ill-Boding Patterns”

Well, that’s debatable, Rumple, because I think we’re now seeing that heroism comes in different forms. Isn’t it heroic to darken your soul so someone else doesn’t have to? Isn’t it heroic to take back the Darkness yourself so another doesn’t have to die with it? Being a hero is about being unselfish, and saving Bae’s soul, wanting to save Gideon AND everyone else, wanting to stop the Black Fairy, and making it so that you can revive the Blue Fairy all sounds pretty unselfish to me. Rumple has been a hero without the Darkness and with it: it’s actually part of who he is. He’s forgotten that many times, but he always remembers, always.

He was as heroic in this episode as he was when he pulled the sword from the stone in “The Bear and the Bow”, just a different kind of hero.

[mryddinwilt]

Hi! I hope it's alright if I just ask you a question but I really like your OUAT meta and thoughts. So, do you think Bae acted out of character last episode? I liked the idea that Bae gave in to the darkness once and Rumple made him forget it and I saw some people thinking that holding the dagger already darkens you a bit but I also think that it was a bit too much? But on the other hand, Bae didn't really think before he talked and sometimes people do act rashly? Thanks! :)

I literally love these kinds of questions. Thanks for asking! 

While watching the episode I felt that Baelfire was pretty heavily retconned in order to fit with the story they wanted to tell with Rumple and Gideon. That he took a memory potion and was then left with the impression that his dad had killed Beowulf in cold blood made it a little bit better in terms of what we saw of their relationship post Dark One curse but it all still left a bad taste in my mouth. But the more I think about it the more I think my issue is less with Bae and more with the way Rumple kind of came out of it smelling like a rose and how sloppy they were with their own canon. 

In the episode we did get a very brave Bae who was determined to help his father to be courageous which is very much in character as was his continual insistence that his Papa not use magic (even when it made a ton of sense to do so). The flip in his character came once he had the dagger and became a bit murder-y and vengeful. And Rumple, the guy who literally tore through a squad of men with his bare hands and committed ogre genocide and would kill a deaf maid just because she might know about the dagger was suddenly anti-murder. And I get that his reaction was more about keeping Bae from the Darkness but I just didn’t like how it was framed.  

I would much rather that Bae’s action were him acting rashly or from a weird teenage angst place but I think that would be a retcon of what we have seen of Bae’s character. The only thing that comes close is how he tried to fight Hook when he found out about Milah. Taking out Beowulf was pretty cold-blooded as were his plans for the school bully. Although there is a case to be made about bullies, repressed anger and teenage hormones at play to make it a bit less retcon-y it still didn’t work for me. 

That leaves the “dagger made him do it” explanation. Given how they used Gideon giving the dagger back as a symbol that he wasn’t yet touched by Darkness I think we are meant to see the dagger itself as a corrupting influence and Bae as being corrupted by it. The “ill-boding patterns” of the title as it were. This isn’t a bad in world reason if this was season 1 but it’s season 6 and adding that dimension to the dagger creates all kind of additional issues and questions. Does the dagger always corrupt it’s holder and if so how quickly? Does the corruption only happen when they use the power? If Rumple knew the dagger had this power what are we to make of him giving it to Belle and then taking it back? What are we to make of Belle’s actions while using it or Snow’s or Regina’s or Cora’s for that matter? It worked in the episode but like so much of OUAT magic shenanigans these days it can start to hurt my head if I try to reconcile it with what we have already seen. 

[rimshanaeem1]

I ship it!

[vargesz]

[efnewsservice]

lparrilla La Donna of Storybrooke #MafiaMills #StorybrookeMafia #OnceUponATime #EvilRegals (📷: @vfxsup) (x)

[someinvisible-string]

I can’t help but think about how much better this whole plot line would be if Belle was the one who finds Gideon and tries to stop him from killing Emma.

Belle is a true Hero, I think she’d be able to get through to Gideon much more effectively than Rumple “I was good for like 5 minutes that one time” Stiltskin.

[counttotwenty]

Bullet Points: This Isn’t What it Looks Like

Ill Boding Patterns–part 6 (part 1-5 here, here, here, here and here)

Bullet points are encapsulated scene analysis from the top of each act to the bottom. (each act is bookended by a commercial break)

1. “The bakers son will think twice about pushing me in the mud now when he sees me carrying this.”

It’s interesting that Bae didn’t recoil from the idea of the darkness, quite the opposite. He immediately began thinking of how he could use it to exact revenge on his enemies.

Like Gideon.

And very much unlike this iteration of Rumple,who apparently wants to do better but keeps getting sucked in deeper by his darkness-craving offspring.

2. “It’s the only way to protect ourselves.”

I can see why Rumple had to take quick action here. At the rate Bae was embracing the power of the dagger he’d have been looting and pillaging by nightfall.

3. Memory potion seems, to me at least, like the easy way out. A way to pretend a pivotal moment that changed the course of one character never occurred for the other one involved. It’s the equivalent of soap opera amnesia.

They’ve got any number of insightful compare/contrasts going with Bae and Gideon but the whole issue of drinking the tea versus not drinking it is one that falls flat. Because it’s weak storytelling that doesn’t translate to another plotline.

YMMV of course.

4. “You killed him. How could you?”

RC’s spectacular and exquisitely subtle acting here brings the viewer right back to the moment when Rumple released his choke hold on Beowulf because he didn’t want his son to see him as a murderer and judge him for it.

Now here he is--having killed Beowulf at Bae’s command, watching his son judge him for being a murderer. The very thing he was trying to avoid.

In lesser hands than RC’s this could could have come off as cheesey but he sells it spectacularly.

5. Belle continues the idea that initial assumptions can be incorrect when she chides Gold for letting Gideon do something to the Blue Fairy.

That plot point isn’t going away anytime soon.

6.  “For once you put our son first. You darkened your soul so he wouldn’t have to.”

The small strangled sob Gold lets out as he sinks into Belle’s embrace makes it clear how deeply her words affected him. The first time he made the decision to protect his son no one was there to see. Hence no one truly understood his reasoning. This time Belle sees.

BOING!!!!

So on to the proposal

7. The exterior establishing shot of Granny’s, showing that it was nighttime, then the shot of Killian sitting alone in a booth brooding, were very important.

They made it crystal clear this was not an issue he took lightly. He knew the stakes. This is not a knee jerk reaction. This is Killian, after much careful thought, doing the right thing.

Very nice.

8. For as many times as we’ve seen Killian look at the ring, and open the ring box etc... it was clear as he went up the stairs that proposing was not what he was here to do.

Obviously we’re about to find out he didn’t have the ring on him, but that doesn’t play into the visual as he approaches the front door. 

He is there to tell Emma the truth about Robert.

Full stop.

9. In this case my beloved stairs cast an ominous metaphor. He was going up, she was coming down. His steps were heavy, she was gliding on air. And perhaps most telling of all was the fact that she came out of almost full shadow indicating she didn’t have all the info she needed.

10. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t give me the courage I need.”

Despite the somewhat grave look on Killian’s face Emma hears this as nervousness at the thought of proposing. And in terms of the scene going forward this is crucial.

She doesn’t get ahead of him and give her answer before he pops the question because she’s selfish and only thinking about what she wants out of this moment. Just the opposite.

She does it because she thinks he’s unsure and she doesn’t want him to feel that way. She never wants him to doubt her feelings for him or her intense desire to share their futures together.

She jumps ahead because the question itself is less important than what it signifies. 

Right now versus forever.

Beautiful. And beautifully played by JMo. 

11. “What I have to say isn’t easy” “I’m not entirely sure how you’re gonna react.”

These words take Emma further down the rabbit hole. She sees insecurity and she wants to erase it. She sees uncertainty and she wants to make it go away. At this point the proposal isn’t about her--at least not in her mind--it’s about him.

12. And on the other side of the equation Killian knows he has to tell Emma about Robert’s death before he proposes because he loves and respects her enough to want her to know the truth. No secrets. Regardless of what it means for him. His being honest with her isn’t about relieving his conscience--it’s about the depth of his feelings for her.

13. THAT is what true love is all about. Anyone who still thinks this is heading for some sort of trite breakup can stop worrying.

BAM!!!!

14. “Maybe I can make it easier” “How can I ever be mad at you?”

This scene paints a crystal clear picture. Each of them is thinking first of the other. The way her voice drops to a whisper, the way he gets swept up in her happiness and anticipation.

GORGEOUS!!!

15. Two pillar candles standing tall on matching holders framed in the background. Right now they’re unlit. Look for them to reappear at a later date (cough*second proposal*cough) except this time lit.

16. Really fascinating use of shadow and light in this scene. Once Killian pops the question there are cuts that actually create almost a strobe of darkness and light. But as the scene ends both faces are bathed in light.

BOING!!!!

17. It’s hard to choose whether I prefer David’s high school chem lab spell-casting set up or Regina’s bubbling cauldron.

It’s magic. We get it.

18. “Your fault? Okay, let’s go with that then.”

Yes, Zelena, let’s. Just don’t expect it to stick.

19. “It was a test. To see if I could move forward and I failed.”

A test you say???To see if you could leave the past in the past??

BOING!!!!

20. “I guess I’ll always being paying the price for what you did. What I did.”

I’m glad to see Regina acknowledging AGAIN, at least on an intellectual level, that the evil deeds of her past are part of her and can’t be swept under the rug.

Let’s see if it actually leads to a change in behavior this time.

21. Nice work with the establishing shot from the snake’s point of view. Heh.

22. Aaaand the EQ is back. Goody?

[dinneratgrannys]

ONCE UPON A TIME REWATCH: 6.13, ILL-BODING PATTERNS I embraced darkness for good. But I never became a hero. Because once you give in to darkness, it's almost impossible to resist its call.

[scribbles-by-kate]

Thoughts on 6.13 “Ill-Boding Patterns”

A great episode, featuring one of the strongest flashback sequences we’ve had in quite a while. It told us a lot, if we didn’t know it already, about who Rumple is at his core. I was pleased with this episode for the most part, and what I didn’t like wasn’t anything to do with Rumple, RumBelle, or their family.

My Fan fiction My Once Upon a Time episode reviews, essays, and meta

The opening sequence - I think was just an excuse for them to have a big battle scene. They’d never really had one before. You’d have to have known about the contents of the episode in advance, though, or be a longtime viewer, to know that that was Bae in the first Ogres War. The fact that it’s a new actor probably threw a lot of people, and his name isn’t spoken by anyone until the bit in the tavern with Rumple, so I think if they’d had Beowulf say ‘Where do you think you’re going Baelfire’ that would have clued people in more quickly to what this was and what was about to happen. I have to say, though, I did really, really like how they held Rumple’s appearance back for a few minutes to really give him that hero moment. The way he just appears in the lull of battle and just snuffs out the ogres was really well done. I really did enjoy that moment.

So, Hrunting is really just a placebo? - Bewoulf goes on about how it’s destined to be wielded by a hero and it’ll win them the war, but, really the sword is meaningless, isn’t it? I mean, I believe Rumple when he says the sword never actually worked. It reminded me of the helmet the witch gave Merida’s father last season. If he’d used that, he wouldn’t have won the right way, and Beowulf wouldn’t have won the right way either. The sword maybe would have given him a confidence boost, but other men and boys would have died. And the sword obviously didn’t make him a good person. He didn’t have the heart of a hero: he was selfish and jealous and petty in the end. And,, on another note, I do believe this makes Hrunting Rumple’s first magical artefact, the magical thing he’s had the longest, besides the dagger.

Is Archie really encouraging Hook not to confess? - Dude, what happened to listening to your conscience? I hate Hook’s man pain in this episode, really hate it. And, ugh, you think you’re ‘broken’ because you’re thinking of doing the right thing? Blech.

Even though Rumple hates Blue - and fights with her and blames her for losing Gideon, he still only reluctantly tells Gideon he needs her blood to fix the sword (and the fact that he’s reluctant as he’s being commanded really indicates he doesn’t want to tell, that he doesn’t want her hurt), and he still apologises to her when he takes her magic, and he still keeps her in the shop and promises to return her magic. And…he’s a terrible person who can’t change? Ok, sure… Like, he could have let her die. He would have let her die in season four. This shows he’s changed.

Rumple is hailed as a hero - and he looks so happy and pleased! Aw! I love that talk with Bae about the magic as well. Rumple was so open with Bae about the magic in the early days: he was honest about needing it and it being part of him, but he was still brave enough to say ok, no more magic. And he really, really tried. He went back to his spinning, left the magic behind, agreed to go after Grendel because he thought it would help him and Bae be accepted, and when Bae was upset that he brought the dagger, Rumple didn’t hesitate to give him it, knowing it was the only way he’d be able to face Grendel without magic. He was so strong and so brave! I love that Bae understood where he was coming from as well, but I think it was Bae’s actions that really put that barrier up between them, because Rumple was never that open with his son again, and he was never that brave about resisting the dark magic again.

Magic may come with a price, but it was Beowulf who ensured it would. Killing the villagers and tricking Rumple was the real price, and that wasn’t Rumple’s fault. If Beowulf hadn’t been so petty and jealous, everything would have been fine, but there is nothing that can ruin things more effectively than the darkness in men’s hearts.

Rumple and Gideon in the clock tower - I love how Rumple just wants to help, to know how things were for Gideon, and I love that Gideon opens up and tells him. One of the striking things about Gideon is that, for a child who was sent away because his father was being a bastard (so his mother believed at the time), he doesn’t actually hate his father. He’s so willing to open up to Rumple, so willing to be vulnerable, and that reminds me so much of Belle. For all that she’s been hurt by Rumple, she keeps coming back, keeps opening her heart to him. Gideon is very like his mother, and so like his father too. He’s a really interesting, beautiful mix of both his parents. I love that he kept her book and I loved Rumple stroking the cover and acknowledging that it’s Belle’s favourite - ‘Your mother’s favourite’ - awwww! I suspected Gideon was going to get his hands on the dagger, so I was prepared for it. I understand why Rumple wanted to erase his pain, but I’m glad it didn’t work, because he was erasing a part of Gideon then, and, while it may have been right to erase Bae’s memory of what he did (to protect his soul), Gideon’s trauma was different and shouldn’t have been something he could get rid of. I love what Rumple was trying to do, but it was just too easy, and I like that Gideon was pissed about it, because I could see he was reading it as Rumple trying to make him what he wanted him to be, like the Black Fairy. I like that he wants to stop the Black Fairy - he’s so like his mother in wanting to be a hero…and so like his father in believing he’s a coward :(

I embraced darkness for good, but it never made me a hero - I’ve spoken about this already. I still say I disagree with Rumple. It takes a special kind of hero to do something bad so someone else doesn’t have to, to be willing to wreck your relationship with your child so that that child will remain in the light. Rumple is a hero. He just walks the grey line more honestly than most of the other characters. He’s more open about the fact that dark and light depends on your perspective. Yes, he’s done some heinous things, but he’s also done some very heroic things that he doesn’t get credit for because he’s ‘the Dark One’, as if being that and being heroic are mutually exclusive. Rumple shows that they’re not, not at all.

Rumple doesn’t want the destruction of the Black Fairy at the cost of Gideon’s soul - that’s really powerful. I just love how his first priority is protecting Gideon’s soul and everything else is secondary. Of course he has reason to want his horrible mother destroyed, but the cost of Gideon’s soul is too high. I love how he tells Gideon there’s good in him and not to put out the light in his heart. It’s like Belle is in his head in that moment. It’s so powerful: she’s in the scene without being physically present. She’s influenced him so, so much. I love the way he talks about destroying the Black Fairy not being where it ends: ‘that’s never where it ends’. Rumple understands darkness so well, because he’s lived it, and he’s trying to impart his wisdom to his son, who is hearing him, but doesn’t want to listen right now. I love how far he’s willing to go to protect Gideon from darkness as well: I love that he’s willing to do the bad thing so Gideon doesn’t have to. That scene by the lake is so powerful, because Gideon sees that his father does love him, and it amazes him, I think.

Gideon handing back the dagger - says he doesn’t want to control his father. He’s already different from his older brother, stronger, less prey to his own darkness. And it’s amazing because, if anything, Gideon should be more prey to his own darkness than Bae. Bae grew up, for a good chunk of his life, with a father who loved him: Gideon didn’t have Rumple around at all, and yet it’s Bae who falls under the spell of the dagger, not Gideon. Gideon is like Belle, who returned the dagger in the Underworld, who didn’t actually want to keep it until Rumple pretty much convinced her to, suggesting it helped him for her to have it. And, when she kicked him out, she hid the dagger away. I wonder if Gideon is stronger simply because he’s Belle’s son too. I don’t think Milah was good like Belle. Maybe Bae got some of his mother’s traits. Gideon definitely got some of his mother’s strength and goodness. We’ve seen Dark Ones obsessed with the dagger, staring at it, having to have it near them at all times, and we saw Bae in this episode staring at it, drunk on the power it gave him, about to fall further into darkness with his possession of it, but Belle and Gideon are not like that: they don’t actually want to control Rumple: they don’t relish the opportunity to do so. It’s a really significant moment when Rumple hands over the sword and Gideon hands back the dagger. They’re beginning to build trust, and that’s more than Rumple was able to do with Bae. And I really have to wonder which is the blade of the hero: Hrunting or the dagger? That’s a really symbolic exchange of blades, I think, because it’s a show of trust that Rumple hasn’t had with anyone else. Belle handed it back in the Underworld and hasn’t tried to use it since, but this moment between Rumple and Gideon is even more significant because it tells Rumple his second son is different from his first, and that they can have a different, stronger, more trusting relationship.

Rumple is really, really smart - he realised when he saw the ogre horn that it was a trap. I love how he just realises that and is able to put the pieces together. It’s interesting because Rumple was a humble spinner, so I’m sure he wasn’t expected to be intelligent, and he really is. It kind of surprises me sometimes how smart he is! He’s a good strategist, and he can spot other people’s strategies, like he’s able to do with Beowulf. I love how he calls Beowulf out, saying everyone would have died and that he’s just upset that he wasn’t the hero of the war, and doing this now won’t make him one. Rumple is really ten times the man Beowulf is. I also love him telling Bae to run and get help: he never would have done that later on.

Rumple doesn’t give in to Beowulf’s taunts - I love that he’s the strong one. Bae is upset and unsure when he sees that Beowulf is not a hero, and even when Beowulf taunts them about Rumple being feared by the villagers, it’s Rumple who says they’ll find a new village. He wants to do it the right way, and it’s Bae’s fear and anger that ruins everything.

Bae’s surprising act - obviously shocked and upset Rumple. That Bae gave the command to kill even after Rumple said don’t nearly broke my heart. Rumple so clearly didn’t want this, was so clearly shocked that it had come to this, that his goodhearted son could be tempted by darkness. That pained cry when he went to snap Beowulf’s neck - he was so distraught at Bae’s command, so upset. I don’t think it damages Bae’s memory, though. I think Bae becoming the man he became still stands. It was Rumple erasing his memory of that moment of weakness that made Bae the hero he became. Rumple sacrificed his own soul so that Bae wouldn’t follow him into darkness, and he sacrificed their relationship too. To be honest, I do think this explains some things about Bae, such as why he demanded the Dark One dagger as proof he could trust his father in Neverland, and why he was so quick to latch onto the ‘my father is the king of loopholes’ idea at the vault. There were moments where his weakness for darkness showed, where he made some iffy decisions. He wasn’t immune to darkness, but that does not take away from the fact that he became a hero and that he was a good man. He was a good man because his father ensured it, because his father didn’t let him fall into darkness, because his father made the ultimate sacrifice to save him: he sacrificed his son’s love for and trust in him.

Bae’s behaviour helps explain so much about Rumple and the dagger - it helps explain why he just couldn’t give Belle the real one. If she ever gave a command like Bae gave, that would have destroyed him. Her commands were never to hurt people, thankfully. She wanted him to help her help Anna, then she wanted to protect the town from him, and then she wanted him not to hurt Gaston. She was trying to do good when she used the dagger, real or fake, but I’m sure Rumple feared her ever giving a command like Bae. Perhaps he thought if his pure-hearted son could command such a thing, Belle might too, and he couldn’t risk it. He didn’t want her falling into darkness too. Indeed, he was distraught when she pushed Gaston in the river to protect him. He never wanted her to know darkness like his son had, and like him, because he knows darkness is a slippery slope, hard to resist, and I think it would have killed him to see that happen to Belle.

One of us has to be strong - I’m sure Rumple was talking about Bae here, but I think Rumple was really the strong one, in the end.

Belle and Rumple - I love that she says he made the right choice, and that hug was epic. The fact that she wants to be in his arms says so, so much about her feelings for him. And I loved his face. He looked so grateful and relieved and emotional. I think this is my favourite of their hugs, because you can see them finding comfort in each other, finding their way back to each other, and if they can feel this way, it means they can be happy together again: it means the love is still very much there. I also loved Rumple being nervous about saying he did that to Blue, but still admitting to it. He wasn’t keeping anything from Belle. And I loved how they gave each other hope and comfort. Such a lovely scene.

The proposal - belch. Just a watered down version of the RumBelle proposal, really. I found it interesting that the proposal with a secret came after the open, honest RumBelle scene. I have to wonder why Emma was snooping in Hook’s things. What, does he use his chest as a laundry basket or something? Was she picking up his dirty washing and found the ring? Yeah, unlikely. And what the hell was the ‘are you mad’ bit? You’re asking the man you purport to love if he’s mad at you? Seriously? And this is a healthy relationship? Sure… At least it wasn’t Belle being oblivious and Rumple looking guiltily over her shoulder this time. And of course this ‘drama’ won’t last as long as RumBelle’s, because this is CS and the drama is as fake as their chemistry.

New Robin is snarky - and I love it. Happy for Sean that he gets to play a different version of Robin.

Regina accepting she can’t escape her darkness - good! And I like her accepting that it’s what she did, not the queen alone. And, of course, the queen de-snakes herself, because of course she would!

[mryddinwilt]

What I Say:I'm fine.

What I mean: I am not fine. Captain Swan got engaged and it was the best and worst moment ever. And it's not perfect and yet it's amazing at the same time because of the push and pull of the characters wants and needs. Emma is all primed for her perfect fairytale proposal and all Killian wants is to give her her hearts desire so of course he drops to his knee and says the words and it's wonderful right up until you see him realize and remember that he still has to come clean with her. And it's so reminiscent of The Apprentice where they gave us this perfect date and goodnight kiss but it wasn't perfect because we don't get to have nice things. And I like that they are managing to have this complication even in the midst of their HE because love is complicated (not "I killed your grandfather" complicated but still) I like that Captain Swan is not predictable and that the obstacles always make them stronger. But also I want Killian to do the right thing. And I feel so much for these two and I honestly how could they just sandwich THAT in between everything? I thought we would have some kind of promotion about it. And oh man the Convention next weekend is going to be nuts and will the two of them be telling everyone??? See now I am wondering about all of that. I need sleep.

[fyesthesavior]

365 days of emma swan: day 81

[swan-jones-hero]

OnceABC’s official post on Emma & Hook #CaptainSwan from the episode

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[truegoldilocks]

[efnewsservice]

6.13 Ill-Boding Patterns episode stills (x)