 Flynn debuted in Tangled ( 2010 ) as a sought @-@ after bandit who discovers refuge in Rapunzel 's secluded tower after stealing a crown . There the character is blackmailed by Rapunzel , who seizes the crown in order to convince Flynn to guide her to the floating lanterns in time for her eighteenth birthday , while Mother Gothel , her vain , controlling guardian , is absent . Flynn is pursued by a police horse named Maximus ; the vengeful Stabbington Brothers , two former accomplices of his ; and Gothel , who grows increasingly obsessed with retrieving Rapunzel in order to continue using her hair to grant her eternal life . Meanwhile , Flynn falls in love with Rapunzel and undergoes a change of heart , only to be apprehended by the Stabbington Brothers , who hand him over to the officials , who sentence him to death . Maximus helps him escape and return to Rapunzel 's tower in time to cut her hair , which in turn kills Gothel . By falling in love with Rapunzel , Flynn undergoes a dramatic change of heart ; he stops thieving and returns to using his birth name , Eugene . 
