Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1962215-20140316231135/@comment-8345449-20140318103524

I don't think Zelena is Rumple's daughter either, mainly because:

1) As others have mentioned, the timeline doesn't fit. Cora met Prince Henry and got engaged to him about the same time as she encountered Rumpel. Cora most likely had Zelena before then.

2) If Cora was going to abandon Zelena anyway, why not just give her to Rumpel? It would help settle the debt she owed him and there is no reason why she would want the Dark One to nurse a grudge against her for cheating him of a child.

3) It doesn't fit Rumple's character to just abandon his own flesh and blood in a faraway land. He wouldn't have taught Zelena magic either since he knows how much it can corrupt a person (Cora didn't teach Regina magic probably for that reason). Though he certainly wouldn't have any qualms about doing that if Zelena was only just Cora's daughter and not his own.