Mother Knows Best (song) own gains. Falco continued, "The audience knows what Gothel wants with Rapunzel, but the fact that we are unable to protect the naïve princess results in further hatred for the witch." Falco also concluded that Gothel's "sinister reprise at the end of "Tangled" allows for these horrifying undertones to emerge, which makes 'Mother Knows Best' one of the most sinister villain songs in the Disney library." Similarly, Elissa Smith of Paper Droids wrote that while the audience is fully aware of Gothel's evil intentions, Rapunzel is denied "the outsider's point of view." Glen Chapman of Den of Geek wrote that
Mother Gothel much more complex villain than the witch upon whom she is based, conceiving her as "a very lonely woman who really did not know how to have a relationship of any kind". Little else had been determined about the character at the time, who was simply described as "the type of woman who ... envisioned herself in the spotlight." A departure from traditional Disney villains, Mother Gothel is not a witch or a sorceress. Because she lacks supernatural powers, the character is forced to rely solely on her wit, charm, intellect and charisma, a conscious decision made by Greno and