Power imbalance doesn’t have to mean who has a job, who has magic, who has friends, ect. It’s about respect and consequences of actions.
If Rumple or anyone else–Regina, Hook, or even someone we consider “hero” status from the start–can make morally black decisions and not face consequences of those actions from their loved ones then there is a definite power imbalance. Staying with the Rumbelle example for a moment: Rumple feels that he can have his cake and eat it too. He can get revenge on Zelena through murder but also lie to Belle and then get his happy ending by marrying her. He doesn’t stop to consider that this could cost him everything. And when there is a chance that he is discovered in 321, he simply magicks it away. Even after Belle learned about Milah in The Outsider, she did not leave. She took the news with a straight face and then said she’s never stop fighting for Rumple. In other words, she has basically given him permission to do as he likes because she hasn’t the heart to stomach to leave. He is the power in the relationship because Belle won’t make him face the consequences of his actions. The one time she did was the Crocodile when she walked away, but she came back and then stayed even through a bunch load of other stuff including: beating Keith, not helping to save SB in 222, ect. That’s a definite power imbalance.
Cora and Henry Sr have the same thing: Cora can do as she likes knowing that Henry Sr will not stop her, including being abusive to his daughter.
You can’t really blame Belle for the Keith beating because she was Lacey at that time. Rumple was in a no-win situation there. He tried being on his “best behaviour” and Lacey was completely uninterested and was looking for kicks elsewhere. By keeping Lacey interested, Rumple ensured that she didn’t get into trouble thus ensuring that Belle stayed safe.
Also the “not helping save Storybrooke”, Rumple had just lost his son to “death”, everything he’s worked for, everything he’d done was suddenly pointless. Rumple was visibly shocked at hearing about his son’s death and kind of just shut down completely. His emotions got the better of him there. The Charmings initial solution to saving Storybrooke was to let Regina sacrifice herself trying to slow the diamond down, gather just their friends which didn’t include RumBelle or any of the other minor characters we’d seen throughout season 1 and 2 and then portal out of there. In fact the only reason the Charmings even went to the mine was because Hook had stolen the bean so they wanted to die together. So the Charmings weren’t exactly saving Storybrooke either until the very last minute.
I don’t think Rumple properly planned through his murder of Zelena because of the fact that he forgot about the important detail of the cameras. Rumple is normally very meticulous in his planning and carefully orchestrates everything. The using magic on the camera to make it look like he wasn’t there was an afterthought and a panicked one at that since he looked decidingly uncomfortable at the thought of being found out. Rumple acted on his thirst for revenge without thinking about the consequences and now he’s trying to deal with those without Belle finding out. Unfortunately, the more Rumple tries to cover up what he did, the deeper the hole he is digging for himself.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of Felix