Board Thread:Show-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-24386552-20140120231330/@comment-5106672-20140131005656

It might be because Pan's shadow was The Shadow, not a shadow like Rumple's. It became part of him but was its own entity before. Maybe it had powers other shadows don't have, and Rumple's shadow could cross realms just to be reunited with his body, not by some intrinsic power it had.