There’s a big difference between understanding and condoning. I understand why Rumple did it, I do not condone it, and IMO, neither would Neal. He would have said, “yes, you can be mad that this woman led me to my death and locked you up for a year and made you crazy, but you don’t get to take that into your hands and kill a defenseless woman.” I will just agree to disagree on being too harsh with Rumple. Victims of abuse and abandonment don’t owe their victimizes anything “fair” no matter how much they may love them.
Ok, maybe Neal wouldn’t have agreed with what Rumple did, but I think he would have forgiven him in the long run. I just can’t be angry with Rumple for wanting to avenge his son’s death. Now the lying and going behind everyone’s back…yeah, that I’m not thrilled with.
I guess we see Rumple’s actions differently. Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t really see Neal as abused. Rumple made some very poor choices, but none that I saw as outright abuse towards Bae. He immediately regretted letting Bae go through the portal, a choice Rumple made in a instant of fear both of being in a world without power and going to an unknown land knowing what happened the last time- Bae felt abandoned because he never knew the whole story. We also had a big reconciliation at the end of the Neverland arc. I would be sad if Neal had backtracked and given up on Rumple again. But all of this is moot anyway- Neal is gone.
Actually, yes, there would have been blood on her hands. She saw Marian in distress and turned around and walked away. Then she came back. Had she not come back, she would have been guilty leaving a crime in progress.
Okay, you’re right, there would have been some guilt there, but it still isn’t quite as bad as actually being the murderer. At any rate, I still think it was an interesting turn of events. I’m curious to see how everything plays out, and my curiosity far out weighs any concerns with Regina’s character.