rumpelstiltskin loved rumple in once upon a time.
who does rumpelstiltskin love in once upon a time?
rumple
espenson said that this was one of their most love-centered episodes; when they realized it was going to be airing near valentine's day, they decided to "lean into" this theme. unusually for "once upon a time", the theme of this episode changed during the writing process. it was initially meant to center on rumpelstiltskin choosing power over love. however, as espenson went through drafts and discussed them with others, she decided that rumpelstiltskin might think he is choosing power over love, but in reality his actions are motivated by a belief that he is worthy of love at all. in the interest of time, espenson was forced to edit out many plot points, including a failed escape attempt by belle. despite this, she sought to trim down more time from the storybrooke scenes and "preserve as much as we could of the fairy tale side," as the belle-rumpelstiltskin relationship was a love story that needed time to grow in order to be believable.
skin deep (once upon a time)
a sad and lonely king (played by kermit) turns to his loyal royal advisor to find him a fair young maiden to be his queen...someone who is special. the king also tells his loyal royal advisor that he will be given his own castle if he succeeds. all the fairest maidens in the land were brought to the king's castle so that one of them can become queen. wanting the attention of the king, a miller (played by papa pig) claims to the loyal royal advisor that his daughter piggy can spin straw into gold when he brings her to the king's castle. piggy is placed in a room full of straw where the loyal royal advisor (who still wants to fulfill getting his own castle from the king) orders her to demonstrate her gift that her father claims that she has or else she will be spending the rest of her life in the dungeon. she ends up receiving the assistance of rumpelstiltskin (played by gonzo) who spins the straw into gold upon piggy giving him her necklace. the next morning, the loyal royal advisor discovers the golden straw and states that he'll keep an eye on the gold that is present while piggy spins the second batch of straw into gold. when rumpelstiltskin returns that night and wants a fee to convert the straw into gold, she is forced by fate to give up her firstborn upon becoming queen in return for the desperately needed services of rumpelstiltskin. the next morning, the king and the loyal royal advisor came in and found the golden straw. the king married piggy and the loyal royal advisor got his own castle. when queen piggy finally had her child, rumpelstiltskin came in and states that he will let her keep her child if he can guess his name. if she can't guess his name by tomorrow, then the child will end up in the possession of rumpelstiltskin. piggy called the king, the loyal royal advisor, and her father where she told them the whole truth about her having help in converting straw into gold. the king mentioned that he married piggy because he loved her which surprised the loyal royal advisor and her father. the four of them get to work at guessing rumpelstiltskin's name. when the deadline is up, rumpelstiltskin returns to see if piggy has guessed his name and nearly gave it away. upon recalling that rumpelstiltskin went to "camp weido," he has her father and the loyal royal advisor grab him while stating to the king that "a good mother always sews their child's name in their clothes before sending them off to camp." piggy finds the label that lists rumpelstiltskin's name and reads it out loud. rumpelstiltskin declares it an outrage while piggy, the king, the loyal royal advisor, and the miller celebrate.
muppet classic theater