Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26159109-20160201202653/@comment-4453062-20160201204125

I think a main reason they killed Neal off, other than the often thrown around "it was for Hook" blame game, is because the writers prefer to write Rumple as dark, rather than having him remain a hero. The Season 5A finale is proof of that. Rumple was set up to become a hero (again) and was coping as a mortal man, only for the writers to throw all of that away in favor of having Rumple become the Dark One again. Season 3A ended off with Rumple and Neal reconciling and sacrificing himself as a hero. Everything Rumple did prior was for either Neal or Belle. Losing Neal gave the writers a reason for Rumple to go back to his old habits.