Entertainment

Is The Rumbelle Baby Really Morpheus On 'OUAT'?

by Jennifer Still

Things certainly haven't been smooth for Rumpelstilskin and Belle, and the Once Upon A Time Season 6 premiere didn't offer Rumbelle fans much hope of improvement anytime soon. While last season's finale saw a pregnant Belle under a sleeping curse with the reinstated Dark One desperate to wake her, their situation is even more complicated now that Belle is awake. Not only do the on-again, off-again pair have some pretty serious issues to contend with, but they've also found out a pretty big piece of information about their as yet unborn child: it's a boy, and his name is Morpheus. Yes, as in the god of dreams from Greek mythology. Wait, what?

In case you need a refresher, here's how it went down: Rumple gets intel from Hyde (to whom he handed over the entire town of Storybrooke even though it wasn't his to give, as you'll remember) on how to enter Belle's dreams. When he does, he's greeted by Morpheus, who basically tells Rumple that he's got limited time to wake his estranged wife or he's out of luck. Turns out, Belle's dreaming of Rumple as he existed when they first met back in the Enchanted Forest all those years ago, and present-day Rumple decides that making her fall in love with him again is the only way to get her up. He's wrong, of course — Belle can only wake up after realizing she's dreaming and telling Rumple that she's kinda through with his B.S. This makes Morpheus proud, especially since — ta da! — Belle's his mom and he gives her TLK (that's true love's kiss, for the newbs). How is that even possible?

Morpheus is a figure of Ancient Greek mythology, so how can he be the son of characters living in 2016? Even minus the Evil Queen's 28-year curse stoppage and Rumpel's several century reign as the Dark One, that's still several millennia to make up for. Time travel is wonky at the best of times and OUAT often plays with the rules of it (and yes, there are rules), so theoretically it's possible that at some point, Rumpel traveled back in time, had some form of interaction with Morpheus without realizing it, and altered events enough that somehow, Morpheus is now his son. That, however, is unlikely.

What is more likely is Belle's explanation — that in her dream, Morpheus took the form of her son to give her a warning (or likely clue her in on what her intuition is telling her): stay away from Rumple because he's seriously bad news. This isn't necessarily a new revelation, but it's one that finally seems to have some staying power now that she's going to be a mother. Simply put, Rumple's love of power will always be greater than his love for Belle — though I do truly believe he loves her as much as he's capable of loving anything. With a child soon to be in the picture, she has to start putting herself (and soon, the baby) first.

This likely won't be the end of the Rumbelle saga — they're married, after all, and Rumple isn't likely to accept defeat or the loss of his wife easily. However, Morpheus isn't set to be a recurring role (at least as far as we know), so it's probably best that we don't get too caught up on the idea of Belle being the mother of a major figure of Greek mythology. Instead, the parenting issues she and Rumple face are likely to be much more of this realm... with a little magic mixed in, of course.

Images: Jack Rowand/ABC