Destiny has always been a force in this show but so has free will.
I agree. Mostly free will is given reign, but certain things seem predestined – true loves getting together for example, or Merlin’s prophecies. My theory is that this is related to the prophecy of a boy being Rumple’s undoing. That was never resolved, and it could well be Morfetus. So this could be the fate Rumple is trying to cleave himself from.