There's Been A Change In Her: Is Belle Now Only Skin Deep?
​by Teresa Martin (@Teresa__Martin)

Yes, there has been a change in Belle. A change indeed, a “kind of moving on” but certainly not the one fans saw coming, if only for the assurance given during the hiatus that Rumbelle wasn’t over.

The shock that fans received was well-earned when they saw that Belle is now only true to the “sharing possessions” part of her wedding vows and joyfully tossing out the “fidelity” part. It was a double hit since said infidelity is happening in the very place that houses all her husband’s riches.

Yikes!

Burn!

Well, arguably Rumple had it coming.

But did Belle have this plot coming?

The writers confirmed that she did. In an apparent contrast with previous statements, an interview was published after the bombshell. Adam and Eddy defended Belle and Will’s affair because it is Belle “strong… moving on...” and “she hasn’t really lived.”

Wow! Just wow!

Did I miss something over the past three years?

I wasn’t supposed to like Belle? She really was not living?

And then it hit me.

The answer is “yes.”

I shouldn’t have liked her. At least not since “Broken.” I was as blind to her flaws as she recently was to Rumplestiltskin’s.

How did I miss what was omitted in all those articles telling us about Rumbelle coming up?

For it’s not Rumbelle that’s over.

It is Belle as we know her.

What follows is a look at Belle since her escape from the asylum to her “Unforgiven” revelation (an episode title full of more meanings than I can enumerate).

Please do not misunderstand. It is not my intention to Belle- bash. Quite the contrary.

I am putting her on the couch—no pun intended—to analyze how she got to this point from what the show has so far shown us.

I am aware that many have interpreted the latest development differently, with very solid points.

This is me throwing my hat into the ring.

Because deep down, I like Belle. If I didn’t, I would ignore her on the show and use her scenes as an opportunity to leave the television so I can refill my gin and tonic.

I just don’t like her right now. The same way I didn’t like Rumple when he backslid in 4a.

For I see clearly that she has “moved on”, she’s gone “stronger” and found “something to smile about”.

But is she moving on, stronger and smiling about the right things?

I “moved on” once when heart-broken . . . even changed from something weaker to stronger: a thimble-full of sherry to tequila shots.

And it sure made me smile!

Until the next morning when the effects proved I had been ingesting poison.

This is a strange moment for me, likely the first time, when I simply part ways with Adam and Eddy on a plot. I clash with their interpretation of what makes a woman live, what makes her strong. We are all products of our life experiences, and my personal experiences are informing my contrary opinion. That said, I cannot, nor will I, judge their right to interpret their definition of “living” as applied to Belle. It is theirs, their story, and likely as personal. 

A Fan Theory by Mauri Lazaro

By now we all have probably seen the title script tease that Adam Horowitz tweeted of the upcoming episode entitled “Mother”. We, the staff of OUAF, have chatted and voiced our theories on which mother the episode title is referring. Most of us are thinking it is Cora. In our conversations of mothers on the show, one staff member stated that she wanted to know who Rumple’s mother was and what happened to her. I jokingly said, “Maybe Blue is Rumple’s mom?” but the more I thought about it, and as crazy and random as it seems, I couldn’t shake the idea. It would just be our favorite Dark One’s luck to have the person that he hates the most turn out to be the person that should be the dearest to him.

Over the course of the last four seasons Blue has acted pretty shady at times. She lied to the Charmings about letting Pinocchio go through the wardrobe, she knew about the book and author, she banished Tink for helping Regina, she kept Dreamy and Nova apart, and she acted strangely when she came out of the hat. She could be upset because the Sorcerer’s hat is in Storybrooke, but there’s always something more going on with her, just like Rumple. Maybe she’s withdrawn because her son tried to kill her? Then there is her Storybrooke title. Blue is the head of the fairies, a convent of nuns in the real world because of their good will, making her Mother Superior. But could this title have a double meaning? Could she be Mother Superior because in fact she is a mother and the leader of the fairies?

Baelfire and Blue

By Sara West (@Montreat11)

The news came from the Once Upon a Time set just before Christmas. Slowly, details began to emerge. There was a kiss. It involved my favorite character from this show: Belle! And Robert Carlyle was there! At first it seemed like the reconciliation was on the way, but reports of who kissed who came flooding in, and then there were months of speculation as we waited for the hiatus to end to learn if it was really true. Finally the dreaded confirmation came on the Sunday “Unforgiven” aired. It was true. It wasn’t just any kiss; it wasn’t the reunion of two beloved characters as I’d hoped. In fact it was quite the opposite. Belle had not been seen kissing Rumpelstiltskin, but rather Will Scarlet while Rumpelstiltskin watched on.

Months ago when this news surfaced, of course I was upset, every die-hard Rumbeller was, but as the days began to pass and I began considering what it was that would bring two characters like Belle and Will Scarlet together, I came to a surprising conclusion: this was a good thing.

I know this is not a popular opinion in the Rumbelle fandom at the moment and this proclamation has the potential to make me a bit of a pariah, but I promise you I’m not crazy. Just hear me out and allow me to explain why this will be good for we Rumbellers in the end.

Belle and Will have a lot in common. If you watched Once Upon a Time in Wonderland you know that. For those of you that didn’t, allow me to give you the cliff notes version.