Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-1962215-20131025071041/@comment-4839682-20131025184357

Neal was also kept in the dark for years. He didn't know what his father was doing back in the EF, or who Emma was, or even that he had a son. The situations aren't the same.

I don't see how you can intrepret the man being told by August that he has to leave her so she can, essentially, save the world as being cowardly, or that he was running from anything.