She had Rumple in the cage and she had his dagger so as to control him and he had no say in the matter. Zelena made his life hell. Zelena my not have been actively going after the heroes in FTL, but she was still a threat and they couldn’t rest easy.
Sure. Rumple has every right to be upset. No one is denying that. But Belle asks him to rise above his anger, to remember that he is trying to be a better man.
And that doesn’t erase the fact that Zelena was already defeated. She was in a cell, alone, powerless. And he killed her anyway. It wasn’t protecting the lives of those he cared about, like with Pan in 311, it was cold hearted murder.
Pan was taken over the line to be killed because they thought he was controlling the shadow from the box, they didn’t realise Pan was Henry until “Pan” opened his mouth.
Emma wanted to talk to him first, because she suspected something was up with Henry. It wasn’t an execution. It was talk first, then see what happens. And if Pan was controlling Henry or the Shadow then he was still a THREAT. ZELENA WASNT. She was broken and powerless. If Pan could still control anything from the box, then he was still a threat to the town. BIG difference.
Belle didn’t care about Zelena but she does care about Rumple and didn’t want him to give in to his hate. So she will be angry and disappointed at him for what he did but not because Zelena didn’t deserve to die, but because Rumple was the one who gave into his darkness and lied to Belle about it.
Sure, but again….how many times can she forgive him for such heinous acts. What does it say about the way they write her character? If Belle doesn’t show Rumple that there are consequences to his actions beyond getting a scolding then he’ll NEVER change.