Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6175354-20140319185751/@comment-24674051-20140513172010

Actually, I wonder if, when Belle finds out about Rumple's latest vile act, She gets fed up with his Dark Side. But rather than dump him, she does what she's best at, which is research. Specifically, on how to deal with the DO curse. She discovers a way of breaking the DO curse without killing Rumple, and she goes about implementing it.

End result is it leaves Rumple without most of his Magic, though he has picked up some magic not directly related to the DO curse (specifically his Seer ability). AND it incidentally creates a NEW Dark One.