Based on the realization after watching this movie again that the only one who killed anyone in this movie was Pascal. Gothel may have tried but she didn't succeed. The only one who killed anybody was Pascal, tripping Gothel over the hair that had kept her young for a hundred years. I sense irony here.
Pascal loved Rapunzel. From the moment he laid eyes on the gawky human with too much hair, he loved her. And in return for this love she fed him, she took care of him but more than that she listened and she loved him back.
Pascal loved Rapunzel. He loved her when he realized that if he stayed with her, he would never be able to leave the tower because while she loved him, she loved her mother more. Mother knew best and so no matter how much he cajoled her, trying to see the sun again she would not leave.
He was patient with her boredom and the dresses she made for him, because he understood. He was trapped there too. Even when her boredom led to her painting every single inch of her home, Pascal was happy because he was with her.
Pascal loved Rapunzel when her mother told her again and again, in words and in action how little she mattered to her. When her mother left the tower more every day leaving her daughter behind and lonely. He loved her when he was forced to hide so that he wouldn't be killed.
He loved her when she put that crown on and he realized she was the princess, because he wasn't born in the tower and he knew exactly what those lights were for and what that crown was.
He loved her when FlynnRider came into their lives, keeping an eye on the thief and making sure that he didn't hurt HIS human. Because he was not and never had been Rapunzels chameleon. She was his human.
He loved her when she finally left the tower and he was happy for her that she could finally find everything she had been looking for, everything she had ever wanted.
He loved her when he was drowning in ice cold water that never seemed to end, and when she trusted FlynnRiderEugeneFitzherbert with everything that made her special.
He loved her with lanterns, rising up out of the dark into the middle of a lake.
Pascal loved Rapunzel when Flynn left them for her hair. He comforted her until she wanted to be alone, and then he left.
Because that's what love is. Being there when someone needs you, and still there when they don't.
When FlynnEugene came back and was stabbed, he tried to stop Gothel. He really did. She wasn't Rapunzel's mother anymore, she was trying to hurt his human.
And for that Gothel kicked him across the room, killing him.
Or almost killing him. Because it wasn't Rapunzel that killed Gothel. He used the last of his strength to trip the woman with his humans hair(whatwasleftofherhair.)throwing her out the window.
He loved Rapunzel when she went to EugeneFitzherbert who was also dying instead of him, and he was happy to die for her, knowing she was all right. It wasn't her anymore that was special. It certainly wasn't him.
Pascal loved Rapunzel, because it wasn't about her, It was about him having somebody to believe in and love. It wasn't her, never had been her.
Rapunzel didn't kill Gothel. It was never her.