‘Once Upon a Time’ spoilers: Does Rumpelstiltskin have a season 2 goal?

Even though there has not been a new episode of “Once Upon a Time” in weeks, the scene is still ingrained in our head from the closing minutes — Rumpelstiltskin released magic into the world of Storybrooke, and with that both he and Regina are going to have some rather unique powers at their disposal for at least the early stages of season 2 (if not longer).

So was this move something that was necessarily planned by him? It doesn’t really sound like it — instead, consulting producer Jane Espenson tells TVLine that Robert Carlyle’s Emmy-worthy character is really motivated by revenge over being kept in the dark about Belle’s fate:

“You could make a case that [bringing magic back to Storybrooke] was always part of his plan, but yeah, it was definitely a counter move based on his anger at Belle being locked away. That doesn’t mean that that’s his ultimate end; he may have had a goal beyond that.”

What other sort of goal could he have? Power is an obvious motivation, but how much power is it really when Regina also shares in it? It’s likely that he does not want to stay in Storybrooke forever, and maybe he sees getting his magic back as a means to an end when it comes to making that happen. After all, remember that Mr. Gold in Storybrooke is missing one of the few things that Rumpelstiltskin at one point loved — his son.

What do you think really motivated Rumpelstiltskin to bring madic into Storybrooke — beyond power, of course?

Photo: ABC