Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25926288-20160321010032/@comment-1894786-20160325040408

Actually, this decision lines up perfectly with what we know of Rumple. He was so focused on raising Bae, he hobbled himself, bringing Milah great dishonor. He was so focused on saving Bae, he condemned Milah to never have children again. He refused to let Bae die in war, so he tried to control the Dark One, which ultimately led to Milah's death years later. Everytime he protects Bae, he hurt Milah.

The one time he tried to fight for Milah herself, though this was for Bae's benefit rather than his own, his cowardice and self-preservation were too much, and he let Hook "take her away". In fact, for all her anger, bitterness and "I never loved you", I feel like if Rumple had shown growth on that ship, and fought for her, Milah may have actually gone back to him. After all, the one thing she's echoed in all of her appearances was that she wanted Rumple to step up and be a man.

He didn't fight in the war, in fact ran from it. Which is ILLEGAL in the modern day, by the way. He sold away her reproductive choice. He refused to move away and start over somewhere new (why does everyone forget that she gave him that one last chance just before leaving him for Hook?). Then to top it all off, he helped her come to terms with all the damage she'd caused her son, only to hurl her into a river that she will never be able to escape from.

Yeah, Milah abandoned her son. But even when he was good, Rumple was still a monster. He just didn't realize it. He's an abuser at its finest.