Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-25355646-20140916160924/@comment-24674051-20140917021936

Zelena was responsible for Neal's death, at least partially. She is the one, through Lumiere, that told Belle and Neal about the Vault of the Dark One, and led them to the key. Granted Neal was blinded by his own impatience, but Zelena knew their desire and played them like a well tuned harp. Had they gone through the normal research, Belle would probably have found out about the vault on her own, and would have discovered the price as well. Things would have turned out differently.

And let's face it, when Rumple confronted her at the vault, her response to his statement about "forgetting" to tell Neal the cost was a very sarcastic "oops!". She knew what she was doing, and she intended for both Neal and Belle to die (one resurrecting Rumple, the other after she got control of the dagger).

As for the heroic part of Neal's death, that was in the forest outside storybrooke, when he told Emma to seperate him from Rumple so that Rumple could tell them who the witch was. Neal did know at that point that the seperation meant his death, and he chose that because the gang did need the knowledge that Rumple was able to provide. And the part that no-one knows about, temporarily seperating from Rumple in order to get the Memory Potion and a note to Hook, was just validation that his death was not in vain. He died a hero's death, ultimately.