Not sure what to think - "always be a part", that seems a little bit less bad, on the other hand, there is no hope in this neither for Ethan's dad nor for Shadow-dad, especially since there seems no way for them to come together... But there hope for Ethan, there might be a way back.
Also this requires a new theory: Both Shadow-dad and Shadow-Ethan are her, so, going through the red gate seems to create a shadow personality, which the original person can see and communicate with.
Ethan did meet his Shadow while he was still on Earth. Granted, it's a bit unclear whether he was actually 100% on earth at the time, or had one foot already in the Gate, so to speak...
I wonder if his dad's mental illness has anything to do with his Shadow being apparently separated from him. If his Shadow is just another part of his mind and they've been separated, it might explain his dad's deteriorating condition, since not only is his mind "not all there," but that part of him is also slowly fading out of existence.
Or it could be garden-variety PTSD or whatever and I'm just taking this way too literally.
Could also be both: his pre-existing PTSD made him more susceptible to this happening? But yeah, it could be any of those.
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