://!SPOILERS!//: Edward Leaving = A Good Thing?

[Nicole_Dusk]

I think if he hadn't left, then they would have taken care of Victoria sooner and there wouldn't have been all those newborns and the big war.

In a way it was good, cuz it made the story more interesting, but it was also horrible, because Bella stirred up a ton of drama for herself in his absence and hurt both Edward and Jacob.  

[silver nymph]

It made Bella suffer, but I think if you consider his reasons, and the later consequences, it wasn't all that bad. It made everything interesting, very tense at some points, well done by Stephenie. If he did not leave, the story would have ended sooner, and in some clichéd way.