@RumplesGirl wrote:
It’s possible that Rumple didn’t go to NL because there isn’t actually magic there, but Wendy and Bae both said that there was. So there had to be something else stopping him, forcing him to wait to get the curse cast and find Bae in the Land Without Magic. Either something so scary that he was afraid, even as the DO, to face it (combined with knowledge that Bae was at least safe?), reliance on the prophecy as determining only one possible outcome–but then why trade for things like the slippers?–or something that actually prevented him from going to NL before this moment.
I think Rumple went to NL to get his squid ink for his over plan regarding the Curse, ran into Peter who rips out the shadows of children to stay young forever. Rumple’s shadow (as the Dark One) might have been a great “meal” for Peter and that’s why Rumple knows how dangerous he is: Peter tried to rip out the Dark One’s shadow.
This is my favorite theory so far!