History Headscratchers / FairyTail

* After Natsu beat him, everyone arrives and gets distracted by Kageyama jacking the Lullaby. Then Erigor was gone without a trace, and is never mentioned again. Where did he go, and what's up with him now? I'd say the author forgot about him, but what with how much he ''doesn't'' forget the little things, I'm guessing Erigor is supposed to be an eventual ChekhovsGunman...or something.

* First: Mashima said that he doesn't want to do a lot about those countries because even the names are random and he created them on a whim Second: it was mentioned that all of the guilds in bosco have been defeated and since Alvarez objective is to get fairy heart many countries might not care at all.

** Presumably she can use her magic to go back and forth, we see multiple times(although still not very much)that people can actually hit her, although that could just be the author/animators forgetting that it shouldn't work on her. Which means that while her default form may be water, or may be an actual body ([[IncrediblyLamePun hehe body of water]]) she can and does use her magic to go back and forth(perhaps unconsciously, as when she is taken by surprise her body may revert back to a normal humans). To answer the how Gray would punish her question, she would probably just make her body physical. And for the sitting question, it could be that she made the water in her body static(or have it static in the shape of bones, then just approximatly as dense as human flesh, and hold it in shape with her will), then it would have no give, and thus you wouldn't sink through it.

[[WMG: Erza's "revenge?"]]
* If Erza wasn't going to [[https://www.deviantart.com/mrshoneydew/art/What-Chapter-372-of-Fairy-Tail-Should-Have-Been-524338116 torture Kyouka back when she had the chance back in Chapter 372 like she was supposed to]], how was she going to get her so-called "revenge" on her?

[[WMG: Lucy's [[WhipItGood whip]].]]

** Approved Guilds can't fight Dark Guilds for the same reason your parents told you to never hit first. If an approved guild attacks a dark guild, then there a going to a huge amount of guilds being left to rubble in retaliation and the council would'nt feel any remorse since ''they'' attacked first. The Light Team that defeated Oracion Seis was organised by the council and was legit.

** This is most likely done for meta reasons. Gildarts' absence is explained in-universe, but it is also due to DeusExitMachina. His fights against anyone (except Jura) would be boringly one-sided, which goes against the primary PlotThread of the arc, which was Fairy Tail going from being considered the weakest guild to winning the competition. Lucy's involvement was also somewhat a NecessaryWeasel because (1) she is the main female protagonist of the series (2) she is the main ButtMonkey of the series. Having ''her'' abused by Flare and Minerva later during the games (in two separate events) makes Fairy Tail's eventual victory [[RuleOfDrama more dramatic]] by adding an element of revenge. She is also required due to the arc's ''other'' plot threads. It would be rather jarring for a character cheering from the sidelines to be suddenly thrust into focus for the Eclipse 2.0 Plan. Then there's the other plot thread involving future Lucy coming to save the world from the dragon attack, which would flow more naturally (from a story-telling perspective) if the present Lucy was actively involved in the plot. (Imagine a future Max or even a future Lisanna coming to save the world, leading to the audience wondering how they suddenly became so plot-important.) Wendy is also involved because she is a Dragon Slayer, and they are a kind of big deal in-universe. It also leads to her friendship with Cheria, which becomes important in one of the next arcs.

* This seems to be an issue a lot of manga have, particularly so here as Gerard also has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair Blue Hair]] and is of a darker shade than Happy in the manga. Meh, best I can tell is that they simply choose what's easiest to use consistently with characters more central to the story and just roll with it. Worst case I've seen thus far is with [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Kishimoto's]] completely random choice of shadings for Red Hair and similar coloration's, with Garra and Roushi being outright white while he completely flipped it all the way around with Nagato and Karin by making it freaking ''black'', so that for the longest time people thought their hair color actually was black until a color page of them was released.

* We saw that when a celestial spirit ''unknowingly and accidentally'' contributed to the death of his contracted wizard he was banned from returning to the spirit realm, essentially a form of execution. Yet Aquarius ''willfully and deliberately'' catches Lucy in her attacks, going so far to attack her instead of the enemy target, the enemy getting caught of in it anyway (Lucy exploits this). She's even abandoned her wizard in the middle of a fight. She threatens Lucy and spanked her, meaning she's struck Lucy with an intent to harm for it. Yet she seems to face absolutely ''no consequences''. And let's face it, if Lucy wasn't MadeofIron, Aquarius would have killed her by now. How is this possibly okay? (and RuleofFunny is not a good answer here)

[[WMG: Erza's Revenge?]]
* How come Erza didn't torture Kyouka back in Chapter 372? Like she did in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10791036/1/What-Chapter-372-of-Fairy-Tail-should-have-been this fan fiction]]? And since she didn't torture Kyouka, how was she going to get her "revenge"?
** Well I don't think Erza would be any better than Kyoka if she did all of that to her. Besides Erza is a knight who values good traits even when she hated the cult that tortured her when she was a child, she would never give them the same kind of treatment. In fact, when Jellal started torturing them, she strongly objected to it.
*** So? That doesn't excuse Erza for not making Kyouka suffer the same way she did her.
*** Because that would be severely out of character for Erza. She has never had any interest in getting revenge on anyone.
*** Erza outright ''told'' Kyouka at the start of Chapter 372 that she hopes to get revenge on her. She even had a SlasherSmile on her face while doing so! Since she didn't torture Kyouka, how was she planning to get her "revenge"? Also, OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness.
*** It could be due to the fact that she wouldn't have gotten very far anyway? First off, Kyouka was only torturing her for two reasons. One, for answers and two, for fun. Negating the second, Erza actually did as Kyouka did. The difference? Kyouka had no way of knowing Erza was telling the truth and thought she was holding her tongue, but when Erza was asking the questions, Kyouka '''''willingly gave up the truth'''''. Erza had ''no reason'' to torture her because she was getting the answers she sought. Second thing, the Nine Demon Gates ''don't use magic''. Just like in canon, Kyouka could have broken out of those cuffs whenever she pleased and, considering her pain tolerance seems to be pretty high, Erza torturing her wouldn't have made much difference. Kyouka could have simply allowed Erza to think she was getting the upper hand and tiring herself out before letting herself free and capturing Erza all over again. Erza not torturing Kyouka is basically Mashima saying, "I don't feel like drawing this out and wasting time, so let's do plot forwarding stuff instead."
*** There's also the fact that Erza was in the middle of the enemy stronghold. Not exactly the time to enter into a torture session when her family is in danger.
*** HA! Those seem more like excuses to me! Here! Let me show you [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10791036/1/What-Chapter-372-of-Fairy-Tail-should-have-been What Chapter 372 of Fairy Tail Should Have Been]]! Because in it, Erza ''does'' torture Kyouka, like she deserves! For you see, Erza ''did'' have a reason to torture Kyouka: to make her pay for what she has done. And in my fanfic, Erza takes the two points of Kyouka using curses and her high tolerance for pain and makes them borderline non-existant. For the curses, Erza chops Kyouka's arms off, rendering them borderline useless. And the way Erza tortures Kyouka is by ripping her stomach open, leaving her vulnerable to germs and viruses, and then tearing her organs out. She also breaks Kyouka's shoulder bones, smashes her face against a stone floor, rips her eyes out, and even chops her toes off one by one, causing her excruciating pain. Erza's canonical counterpart had absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not doing the same. Throughout the fanfic Kyouka still '''''willingly gave up the truth''''' and yet Erza '''''tortured her anyway!''''' Mashima's reasoning for having Erza not torture Kyouka is less "I don't feel like drawing this out and wasting time, so let's do plot forwarding stuff instead." and more "I'm a spineless coward who doesn't want my heroes to embrace their dark sides."

*** HA! Those seem more like excuses to me! Here! Let me show you [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10791036/1/What-Chapter-372-of-Fairy-Tail-should-have-been What Chapter 372 of Fairy Tail Should Have Been]]! Because in it, Erza ''does'' torture Kyouka, like she deserves! For you see, Erza ''did'' have a reason to torture Kyouka: to make her pay for what she has done. And in my fanfic, Erza takes the two points of Kyouka using curses and her high tolerance for pain and makes them borderline non-existant. For the curses, Erza chops Kyouka's arms off, rendering them borderline useless. And the way Erza tortures Kyouka is by ripping her stomach open, leaving her vulnerable to germs and viruses, and then tearing her organs out. She also breaks Kyouka's shoulder bones, smashes her face against a stone floor, rips her eyes out, and even chops her toes off one by one, causing her excruciating pain. Erza's canonical counterpart had absolutely no excuse whatsoever for doing the same.

[[WMG:Natsu vs Zancrow]]
Am I the only one who thought Natsu's victory was a major AssPull? Gajeel, Natsu's equal, would have been killed without Levi's help by what could be described as EliteMooks at best. So Zancrow, who is a member of one of the most powerful magic groups in existence, should be levels above Natsu. And let's not forget they were personally taught magic by Hades, the man who [[CurbStompBattle curb stomped]] [[BigGood MAKAROV]]. ''[[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours It was specifically pointed out that Natsu could not eat Zancrow's flames and that his magic was inferior to Zancrow's]].'' Then he eats Zancrow's fire by nullifying his magic. I know it's magic but seriously?! Wouldn't not using your magic leave you as a HUGE TARGET for the enemy's attacks? How does that even work in the first place? Canceling out your magic allows you to eat substances you could not consume previously.... [[SarcasmMode Yeah, I can totally buy that.]] This also brings up the [[ConvectionSchmonvection uselessness of Zancrow's so called "God Slaying" Flame]]. He said his flames don't burn, they destroy everything. [[ArtisticLicensePhysics So how are they flames in the first place?]] His flames which are supposedly capable of killing Gods (or at least Hades) [[UselessUsefulSpell couldn't even eliminate a totally defenseless Natsu]] (or cats, for that matter). PlotArmor at its best. And where did Natsu even get the idea to nullify his own magic? It wasn't his talk with Makarov, that's for sure. TotalDeusExMachina, anyone? The worst part? Gildarts gave Natsu a whole lecture on how fear and knowing when to give up is a good thing. And what does he do when confronted with an opponent who has him scared out of his wits and completely overpowers him? [[AesopAmnesia HE IGNORES WHAT GILDARTS TOLD HIM]] and said "This is a different fear from what Gildarts was talking about. These shivers are coming from the fear that whoever did this to grandpa might be finished off by someone other than me." It's official. Natsu will forever be a FlatCharacter. He'll just [[InvincibleHero win every battle]] through some sort of DeusExMachina and never [[CharacterDevelopment change as a character.]] It's really sad when a character as minor as Lyon has gone through more development than the main character.
* Natsu ''has'' had CharacterDevelopment. Lyon has gone through one shade of change, from bitter and demanding of recognition/proof of his superiority to Ur, to back to using the style Ur taught him, and accepting of Gray again. Natsu has always been a fiesty, hot headed character but he has been changing. He's learned to be more clever with his magic and at the same time, has kept the recklessness that Fairy Tail is famous for. Natsu has had his ass handed to him by Gajeel, Jellal, Laxus, Cobra, Zero, Doruma Anima, and Gildarts before. Natsu has also always been stronger than Gajeel, and eating the Aetherion and Golden Rebuke Flame must've only added to that.
** I don't see it. Natsu was introduced as reckless, not too bright, cares for his true companions, motion sickness, and looking for Igneel. Current Natsu is reckless, not too bright, cares for his true companions, motion sickness, and mentions Igneel every 80 chapters. If anything, he's gone back a step. The point is Natsu in the end has defeated all of his opponents except Gildarts, even though they were all much stronger than him. I'm fine with the weaker fighter winning a fight, as long as the process they use to win makes sense. None of Natsu's victories have made any sense except Erigor. And no, Natsu and Gajeel are even, in Phantom Lord they fought equally until Gazille ate his iron and even after Lucy got fire for him, Natsu couldn't move at all at the cost of defeating him. Lastly, Etherion and Flame of Rebuke were one-time power ups, he went back to normal strength right after he finished his battles.
*** That mage pretendind to be Salamander was the only lead Natsu's had to go on in a while. Igneel seems to not want to be found, and Natsu knows enough about his own dad not to look aimlessly. Nobody goes back to normal strength after fighting, you only get stronger. Natsu went from using simple Fire Dragon attacks in the beginning to more powerful and advanced forms building up into supposedly the "ultimate DS Attack".
*** If Natsu knows Igneel doesn't want to be found he wouldn't be looking in the first place. Oh, so Lucy can use Uranometria again any time she wants to? Natsu has never shown the kind of strength he had compared to the fight with his power up after that fight was done. Or else he wouldn't have been beat into the ground by Luxus before Gazille showed up when he was previously destroying Gerard. Also, Natsu used his ultimate DS attack to defeat Gazille in Phantom Lord, so no, he didn't gain that from his power up against Gerard.
** As to "not using magic makes you a huge target", uh...Natsu was already on fire. There was no "targetting" necessary. What he did was a last resort, and even Makarov said it was incredibly stupid, but again, it was a last resort. Natsu seemed to let out all of his flames before trying to eat them the final time. Concerning the whole "fear" thing, it has ALWAYS been a big part of the story that the guild members are family. Natsu has always been the type of character to hunt down and eliminate whoever hurts who's close to him. That part of him hasn't changed as a character. What HAS changed is how he handles it. Gildartz told him that fear means to know ones own weakness, and that's just what Natsu learned. He knows his own weakness, and even so, he will fight because, as part of his already established character, he will do ANYTHING to protect his family. And personally, I don't want that part of him changing anytime soon. There is a difference between ignoring fear and acting on it. Natsu acted on the fear of other terrible people getting away with nearly obliterating his family.
*** Flames that are supposedly able to destroy anything, a flame that is supposed to be a magic closest to the source of all magic, which Hades spent years training Zancrow; couldn't reduce Natsu or even those goddamn cats to dust. You're also ignoring where Natsu would even get the idea to cancel his magic, even if the process makes sense there's still the issue if a character is capable of using. Natsu who has never been an intelligent fighter, could come up with the perfect strategy on the spot? Plausibility is also okay to throw out the window as well as character development? You want Natsu to stay this dry Luffy/Goku Expy who wins all his battles and never grow as a character? Hell, I think admitting he can't win for once and running away would make him want to protect his true companions even more. He's failed them and he wants to make sure it would never happen again. But nope, we get the same thing we get each and every arc.
*** Excuse my rudeness, but you seriously believe the things Zancrow said? I mean, ''really''? Dragon-slayer magic, I can accept, but god-slayer? He's probably only exaggerating.
*** You must not ever read One Piece or you'd know Luffy is growing as a character. Natsu has as well, just a lot more subtly. Natsu HAS been an intelligent fighter. He's clever when he needs to be and when he doesn't he just goes all out. It's just that his solutions are both smart and reckless. When in a life-threatening situation, are you going to dismiss a possible solution merely because it might kill you? That doesn't seem right.Him eating Aetherion: he's out of magic, he needs magic but there is no fire, there's stones combined with magic, might as well fut out the middle-flame. The negating of his own magic wasn't a perfect strategy. It was a last ditch attempt. It was the only thing he could try and he didn't know what would happen because he never had tried. Isn't that how a lot of fights are won, though? Figuring out some small aspect and taking advantage of it? That's a pretty basic Shonen battle turn. Do you expect Natsu to just become some sort of Shikamaru character and plan everything out ahead of time? That would be character derailment.
*** You're right, Luffy is a bad comparison. He has developed (as glacial as that process was) while Natsu has not at all. And no, Natsu is not an intelligent fighter. He does stupid and reckless things and it works by sheer dumb luck (and plot). Canceling out your magic is the most random and out of nowhere thought to pop into your head when you're on fire and trying to get out. And I repeat myself, where the hell would he get the idea to do it?
*** The encounter with Gildarts taught him not to be controlled by his overconfidence and desire to fight but to also be able to use his head, for example by recognizing when a fight is hopeless. This was another example of cool thinking during a fight. Natsu was also shown in previous fights to be able to eat elements he's not supposed to be able to, albeit with damage for his own body. He did it with Aetherion, doing it with special flames isn't too surprising. And he basically had to put his life on the line to do so by fully removing the flame aura that protected him and focus all his concentration and abilities in attempting to swallow the black flames. If he hadn't succeeded, he would have been incinerated but the gamble paid off and as he did succeed, the black flames immediately stopped harming him while they were swallowed (due to the vortex-like manner it happens). And he has now been shown to have suffered from this anyway.
** Lastly, his victories are never Deus Ex Machina. His fight with Erigor was won because he thought ahead and around Erigor's shield. His fight against Gajeel was won because of a combination of rejuvenated magic through Lucy, who only managed to make fire, and the fact that emotions do rule magic, and while Gazille had the passion of battle, Natsu had the will of battle as well as the will to protect his family. His fight with Jellal was won because he did something both clever and stupid by eating Aetherion, but it gave him a good boost and he managed to pull a victory, despite the severe consequences afterwards. He only barely won against Laxus with Gazille's help and through reemphasising the message of family to Laxus. Against Cobra, he was very clever in thinking of his attack in a specific way against a telepath, but he still suffered heavy damage. He won against Zero due to CharacterDevelopment of Jellal, who had reformed and wanted to help, and the best way to help was through a super-flame. He defeated Doruma Anima through help from Wendy and Gajeel,and by surpassing his magical limit. When put up against Zancrow, he again had to think outside the box. His manner of thinking was simple and effective: ''Oh shit, I'm on fire. Well, I can't eat the flames if my magic is inferior. I'll just get rid of it. Ohshit, Gramps is in trouble! Like hell I'm gonna let him do this!'' and tried to eat the God Flames. And he seems to have passed out from his stupid attempt. He's a Dragon Slayer, so there might me a strange reason behind why it worked. Maybe the Dragons are close to the source of all magic and this was he logical power-up? Characters don't always need to change to be interesting, especially if they have good qualities from the beginning. Also, this is just my theory, but the scale scarf Natsu has could be the reason why. In contact with Zeref's magic it turned black, and there could be a link between Natsu and he scarf, and the reason he could eat God Flames. It's just my speculation, but you shouldn't chalk things up to an AssPull when it's just happened before a proper explanation could follow.
*** ALL of Natsu's victories besides Gajeel and Erigor have been DeusExMachina. He could eat Etherion despite the majority of it wasn't fire. So... as long as anything has some fire in it, he can eat it? Natsu is beaten so bad he can't even stand on his legs, all he can do in front of Laxus' spare is to kneel and wait for it kill him (Yes, it was affirmed that it was going to kill him). But Gajeel decides to receive the attack, and Natsu, who before 2 seconds couldn't even stand on his legs and had no magic left, suddenly gets power from thin air enough to cast SIX spells, one being the Ultimate DS technique. Cobra was just horrible, that "roar" wasn't even explained. The Flame of Rebuke was just too convenient and why would Gerard even be carrying around gold flames to power up people to use fire? Natsu specifically said he had no magic left against the dragon mecha but he still used a spell anyways. "hurr summon tomorrows powerz lols ipwnzu." Makes perfect sense. And Natsu eating the God Flames is no different. Explained? You mean like his "roar"? Until explained; not using any magic letting him eat the flames, coming up with the idea on the spot, and surviving the flames are AssPulls and I have every right to call them that.
*** "He could eat Etherion despite the majority of it wasn't fire." The reason for this, is that Natsu is actually a human-Etherious hybrid, thanks to Zeref resurrecting him when he died at the age of 2. Since he is a composite being of flesh and ethernano, it makes sense that he is able to eat it from the giant lacrima, since it's not that different from a part of his own essence that isn't the flesh part.
*** The Laxus fight ended pretty logically. Natsu is emotionally driven. He had just taken a massive attack, and saw one that dwarfed it heading straight towards him. His legs didn't give out from physical exhaustion, they gave out from "Oh shit, I'm really gonna die, aren't I?". And then he watches someone take the bullet for him, and grunt out "Get him" before he passes out, and Natsu revs himself up to avenge his friend.
*** He is a Dragon Slayer. The thing where he couldn't exit Fried's rule of only "stone statues and age 80+" is probably gonna be explained, but it shows that magic doesn't act normal around him. He survived in the Stellar Spirit Dimension, however brief it was, but that's just proof he's unique. He has the ability to eat fire. Yes, "magic is just magic" is no excuse, but there's been plenty of proof that Natsu just is special. You're allowed to call it an AssPull, but it isn't really. We've slowly been seeing Natsu become more and more dragonlike, hence the whole him-as-a-dragon illusion. Natsu took advantage of Cobra's incredible hearing while he was so close and gave off a legitimate roar. Hearing as sensitive as Cobra's would've caused incredible, headsplitting pain from being in such close proximity. We don't know if the Aetherion or Golden Flame didn't enhance his power further, after all, they were super magic, beyond regular flames. His defeat of Doruma Anima was just another show of how determined he is. Him summoning "tomorrow's share" of magic isn't ridiculous, especially in a world where the same guy can eat fire. Magic is fueled by emotion and determination, and Natsu's determination to put a stop to King Faust was intense enough to muster just enough to keep fighting. Him taking a step back as a character would mean he wouldn't be able to persevere. All the Slayers are capable of taking amazing amounts of punishment and keep going, it's part of their Dragon nature.
*** Dragon Slayers are not dragons. They are mages that learned magic from dragons. Roaring is not magic, it's something you do with your lungs and last time I checked Natsu didn't have dragon lungs. Surviving the Stellar Spirit Dimension is nothing special, Loki said humans can survive in there just like he did in the human world. Taking tomorrow's magic is a load of bullshit. That's using magic that hasn't been produced, in other words: HE'S USING MAGIC THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST YET. I would have been fine with Natsu just surpassing his limits but no, he has to use future magic to win. So you'd be okay with Natsu using up all of next year's magic to one-hit kill Hades? And determination can only go so far. A determined 8 year old can't defeat a healthy 15 year old in a straight up fistfight. Even if Happy wanted to win with all of his soul, he would never defeat Makarov.
*** Dragon Slayers' bodies clearly no longer are similar to regular mages and they can take a lot more damage than them. They do incorporate dragon-like traits such has the pointy teeth and the element of their dragon (Gazille body turning into metal), something that is even more apparent in Dragon force mode. And yes, there's also the fact that his and Natsu's bodies are apparently older than 80 years,not your regular mage body, then. And you can argue that the roar was there precisely to show that compared to fake Dragon Slayers who have a copy of the elemental aspect of the Dragon Slayer magic, true Dragon Slayer are able to do more due to their bodies having evolved changed when mastering the DS magic, making them more dragon-like.
*** Why would Happy even be fighting Makarov in the first place? And you don't know he couldn't win. There's a difference between determination for you and determination for others. Fighting for your family's safety brings more strength than simply fighting for your own. And when did Loki say that? The reason Loki could survive on Earthland is through his own magic, but a mage's magic doesn't mean much in a place said to have ''no air''. The whole "surpassing your limits" is what the "tomorrow's magic" means. We don't know how the magic works or anything. Mages just can use magic from within themselves. We don't know how it's made, or if it's even produced so much as regained. I'm fine with the "magic is just magic" up to a certain extent, and Fairy Tail just hasn't reached that. I'm not bothered by the flawed logic because we just shouldn't know some of the inner workings of magic. Guren isn't the utimate DS technique, because we haven't seen Wendy or Gazille use them. In fact, we've just seen Gazille use something similar to what Natsu did. Gazille just used "Karma Demon: Iron God Sword" only 8 chapters ago. Next, Natsu uses "Fire Dragon God's Brilliant Flame". And we don't know the inner workings of the Dragon Slayers. They use magic that makes them more draconic. Hence the scales? And I'm not Natsu, so I don't know where he got the idea. He was already on fire, it wasn't going anywhere. We don't know much of anything about anything and you just immediately chalk it up to crap. I hate to be that kinda guy, but I have to ask: why are you still reading? It seems that since the very beginning you've hated his victories. I'm not bothered by anything that hasn't been explained because it's part of Shonen that the main character does win by whatever odds. I like Fairy Tail, and I'm not bothered by anything in it. You're free to keep bitching about stuff but, seriously, relax, and just enjoy it. Things seems to be moving towards explaining magic so you may get your answers, or more to complain about.
** We've actually discussed this in the forum thread for Fairy Tail, you're welcome to poke around. I was similarly disappointed with this particular fight but it wasn't as much an AssPull as Aetherion was, in my opinion.
** It's easier to swallow if you consider that Zancrow could have just been talking out of his ass, because it seemed to me that him naming his own magic God-Slayer was just his ego talking. Doesn't answer how Natsu got the idea, but does give credence to Natsu having the ability to eat the flames.
** '''Ok I'll try to sheet some light into this.'''
## First of all the whole Etherion eating complains is just bugging me, Natsu can use and eat fire, Gajeel metal and Wendy air, what does that tells us? that humans can harness the power of close to if not everything, but it damages the body so what Dragons actually taught them was how to perfect these abilities, it was pretty much, first I'll teach you how to absorb the power of other things, but yeah I'm a "insert type" dragon so I can only teach you how to perfect the use of this type. It was said that Natsu ate Laxus lightning and got sick so he already knew he could, just that it was a terrible idea because of the large drawbacks unless you were in such a desperate situation.

## The flame of Rebuke incident, Jellal was shown 2 minutes before to be capable of using fire type magic (and it's clear he pretty much just uses different types of magic instead of focusing on one thing) it's not an Asspull that he had it simply because it's never said it can't be used to attack, he just figured, well Fire Dragon Slayer who gets stronger by eating fire, or single powerful fire attack that might not one-hit-ko the bad guy, miss, etc.

## And finally the battle with Zancrow, seriously? are we really doing this? Natsu's a fire user, he eats fire, he battles using fire, is it so unbelievable that he learned a better '''fire''' eating method? I fear the day when Gajeel extends from just eating iron to eating other metals.
* On the subject of Gajeel, Gajeel has been seen eating swords. I'm fairly certain that a sword is not made of pure iron. What, does he absorb the iron and then just pass the rest of the materials when he craps? Dragon Slayer magic is not an absolute science, there's room for a lot of disbelief.
** I think I have an answer. It might have something to do with the [[spoiler: Natsu being E.N.D. business]]
* Answering "How does that even work in the first place? Canceling out your magic allows you to eat substances you could not consume previously..." I just assumed it was because Natsu's magic... resevoir (I don't have an exact term) wasn't large enough for him to consume Zancrow's fire. So, he emptied his stomach space, as it were, expelling his own magic to make room.

[[WMG: Gildarts Hype]]
So, odd question given it's this series but, why is everyone so hyped for Gildarts return? I get that to some members like Natsu, he's a father figure, but everyone in the guild is so hyped for his return for seemingly no reason. He seems no friendlier or charismatic than say, Mirajane and while I get that he's strongest in the guild doesn't that also mean he has the potential to overshadow it's members while he is around?
* Everyone in Fairy Tail knows each other, right? And Gildarts has been away for quite a long time. So probably people are just glad to have him back.

* Am I the only one who thought Natsu's victory was a major AssPull? Gajeel, Natsu's equal, would have been killed without Levi's help by what could be described as EliteMooks at best. So Zancrow, who is a member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad, should be levels above them, and let's not forget they were personally taught magic by Hades, the man who [[CurbStompBattle curb stomped]] [[BigGood MAKAROV.]] Natsu landing next to Makarov to get his EleventhHourSuperpower of all places when the island is humongous was a huge ContrivedCoincidence. [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours IT WAS SPECIFICALLY POINTED OUT NATSU COULD NOT EAT ZANCROW'S FLAMES AND THAT HIS MAGIC WAS INFERIOR TO HIS.]] Then he eats Zancrow's fire by nullifying his magic. What. The. Fuck. I know it's magic but seriously?! Wouldn't not using your magic leave you as a HUGE TARGET for the enemy's attacks? How does that even work in the first place? Canceling out your magic allows you to eat substances you could not consume previously... [[SarcasmMode Yeah, I can totally buy that.]] This also brings up the [[ConvectionSchmonvection uselessness of Zancrow's so called "God Slaying" Flames.]] He said his flames don't burn, they destroy everything. [[ArtisticLicensePhysics So how are they flames in the first place?]] His flames which are supposedly capable of killing Gods (or at least Hades) [[UselessUsefulSpell couldn't even eliminate a totally defenseless Natsu.]] Or [[CuteKitten cats,]] for that matter. PlotArmor at its best. And where did Natsu even get the idea to nullify his own magic? It wasn't his talk with Makarov, that's for sure. TotalDeusExMachina, anyone? The worst part? Gildartz gave Natsu a whole lecture on how fear and knowing when to give up is a good thing. And what does he do when confronted with an opponent who has him scared out of his wits and completely overpowers him? [[AesopAmnesia HE IGNORES WHAT GILDARTZ TOLD HIM]] and said "This is a different fear from what Gildartz was talking about. These shivers are coming from the fear that whoever did this to grandpa might be finished off by someone other than me." It's official. Natsu will forever be a FlatCharacter. He'll just [[InvincibleHero win every battle]] through some sort of DeusExMachina and never [[CharacterDevelopment change as a character.]] It's really sad when a character as minor as Leon has gone through more development than the main character.
** Except, no, he hasn't. Lyon has gone through one shade of change, from bitter and demanding of recognition/proof of his superiority to Ur, to back to using the style Ur taught him, and accepting of Gray again. Natsu has always been a fiesty, hot headed character but he has been changing. He's learned to be more clever with his magic and at the same time, has kept the recklessness that Fairy Tail is famous for. Natsu running into Makarov isn't that contrived. Natsu has had his ass handed to him by Gajeel, Jellal, Laxus, Cobra, Zero, Doruma Anima, and Gildarts before. Natsu has also always been stronger than Gazille, and eating the Aetherion and Golden Rebuke Flame must've only added to that.
*** I don't see it. Natsu was introduced as reckless, not too bright, cares for his true companions, motion sickness, and looking for Igneel. Current Natsu is reckless, not too bright, cares for his true companions, motion sickness, and mentions Igneel every 80 chapters. If anything, he's gone back a step. The point is Natsu in the end has defeated all of his opponents except Gildartz, even though they were all much stronger than him. I'm fine with the weaker fighter winning a fight, as long as the process they use to win makes sense. None of Natsu's victories have made any sense except Elgiore or whatever his name was. And no, Natsu and Gajeel are even, in Phantom Lord they fought equally until Gazille ate his iron and even after Lucy got fire for him, Natsu couldn't move at all at the cost of defeating him. Lastly, Etherion and Flame of Rebuke were one-time power ups, he went back to normal strength right after he finished his battles.

[[WMG: Anybody know why Mystogan came to Earthland in the first place? It didn't seem like joining Fairy Tail serves a real porpuse.]]
* To meet Dragon Slayers, I suppose.
* His original purpose was to seal up the anima before Edolas could steal mana with it. Apparently the palace did not let a few failures deter them, or the just kept [[MoreDakka making more]] until one man could not possible seal them all up. Why he joined Fairy Tail? Maybe being in a guild made moving around easier, or he just liked the company? Humans sometimes do things just because they want to even if they do not make them closer to their over all objective.
* He didn't actually ''interact'' with anyone other than the master, so I doubt that.
* I can actually think of tons of reasons. First off is money to pay for general expenses like food and clothes and traveling expenses, unless you really wanna say that Jellal could just have easily stolen clothes as he grew and walked to each anima spot, second would be information since Guilds are well connected around the world. As for why Fairy Tail, the abolishment of guilds could have started before he left to seal the anima in Earthland, maybe Fairy Tail stood out to him.

Okay, it's not that this bugs me in itself. She was sent flying and was sucked into a magic portal. Nothing wrong with that. My problem is that Anima was supposed to steal magic power from an area. Ignoring the question of why Mirajane wasn't brought with her, why exactly was she not turned into a lacryma like was supposed to happen?
* The best guess we have right now is that this was an early version of Anima that didn't have the qualities we saw in the Edolas arc. [[spoiler: Also, turning them into a lacrima seemed to be specialised for the ETD plan and not have any use outside of that.]]

Why she said she had to hide her magic powers from others? How could she still use magic (eartland style) in first place, since she hadn't eaten any pill?

*** This is really the only thing that bugs me about Lisanna's return, but I DO have a very mildly plausible explanation (VERY mild). In the manga, we never actually see her death, and what happens to her (I don't count the anime stuff, because I haven't watched it). All we know is that Elfman went berserk, Lisanna tried to stop him, and she failed, 'dying' in the process. Now, considering that seeing you little sister die is incredibly traumatic--especially if, like Elfman, it's basically your fault--it's not implausible that both Mirajane and Elfman blacked out at some point after she was 'knocked unconscious/killed'. If their memories of the exact moments of her 'death' are blurred and incomplete, and they simply woke up to find her gone... well, one possible, but tragically plausible (to a damaged psyche) conclusion is that ''Elfman literally ripped her to tiny, tiny pieces, so there was no corpse left''. Maybe they didn't see her 'vanish' at all.
*** Lisanna DID die. Edolas! Lisanna, specifically. They were switched for some AWizardDidIt reason. Which is why Lisanna hesitates to reveal she's not the Edolas Lisanna.
* Third this also implies that Edolas Elfman and Mirajane just let someone THEY KNEW WAS AN IMPOSTOR pretend to be their dead little sister for years. How could you live with that lie tainting all of your interactions with her? Never even confronting her in the slightest. It's just unsettling to say the least.
** Same thing with Wendy. She grew up talking to illusions, so her life from when she entered Cait Shelter until she joined Fairy Tail was basically one huge lie. For you it might be unsettling, but personally I think honesty is overrated. Lisanna had no idea how to get home, so she adapted to her new life. Edolas Mirajane and Edolas Elfman knew she was a fake, but she's not saying anything about it, so they might have believed that their suspicions are wrong or decided to be selfish.
*** I am not blaming Lisanna, besides from pretending to be someone's dead sister, she did nothing wrong in adapting to her new life. I guess the best way to describe how I feel about what Edolas Mirajane and Elfman did would be saying they decided to live in a LotusEaterMachine instead of the real world, and that always deeply disturbs me when that choice comes up and it's even considered. You are right though it is a subjective deal.

*** Nothing Lisanna did was for selfish reasons. Even impersonating Edolas Lisanna was, in a sense, an act of kindness, because she didn't know that Edolas Elfman and Mirajane knew her real identity, and thought she was saving them the pain of losing their sister by being a substitute, to the extent that even when she saw Earthland Natsu and realised there may be a way to return home she still wanted to stay with her Edolas siblings. She certainly treated them like her real brother and sister, and they treated her like theirs.
* On a side-note: We DO get to see her dying in the anime, in Mira's arms even, right before Mira turns into Satan Soul for the first time. Granted, the anime staff didn't expect to get much farther than that, but this'll call for another gigantic ass pull.
** Not really. As mentioned above, they watched EDOLAS! Lisanna die. The two were switched somehow at some point.

*** Yeah {{a wizard did it}}. Which means someone did it not just a random happenstance. To the best of my knowledge there has been no wild magic in Earthland, just humans and animals that can use magic. So when my she disappeared that meant that someone or something took her. That's not the time to completely write her off as dead, she has been kidnapped. You don't ignore a kidnapped child you try and find them, even if all you may be looking for is a corpse. Hell, Natsu has been looking for his disappeared dragon for years, how would looking for your disappeared sister be any different?
*** Note: "to the best of my knowledge there has been no wild magic in Earthland" - incorrect. The world is built on free flowing magic where even the consequences of magic wielded by individuals can have unforseen consequences. Remember Nirvana? That was magic trying to balance out the unnatural effect forced upon it by humans. So no, direct manipulation by a consciousness (living or otherwise) is not necessary.
*** We don't know what Mirajane and Elfman did after they saw their sister disappeared. All they knew was that she was really injured and then she went poof. For all we know they did try to find Lisanna, but they gave up in the end. Letting go prematurely, so to speak.
*** That does not mesh well with Elfman's character though he just would not give up so long as their is the slimiest of a chance. I don't really know enough about Mirajane to say that it is out of her character, but Lisanna's "death" scene feels like an after thought with how, at least Elfman if not them both, with their development since that time.
*** It does mesh well with Elfman's character though -- Elfman was shy and timid in the past, very much like his Edolas counterpart. If I remember correctly it was Lisanna's "death" that pushed him into wanting to be a man amongst men, hence his current attitude.

** He doesn't get motion-sickness on Happy because Happy isn't a vehicle, so either riding living things doesn't cause it... OR it has something to due with the fact that Happy and the flying thing are both from Edoras.
** It could be that both creatures are living and thus not actual vehicles. Has Natsu ever rode a horse (or this world's horse expy) in canon? The "both from Edolas" theory is a hella interesting theory, though.
*** Natsu DID ride on Simon's back during the Tower arc, and he got sick.
*** He rode on Lucy's back, too, with the same results. I think we can just chalk it up to SeriesContinuityError, because Mashima was probably too caught up in the situation to have Natsu comically falling ill again. Sometimes it just ruins the mood.

** {{WordOfGod}} says that every Dragon Slayer starts suffering motion sickness at a certain age/power level, and that learning Dragon Slayer magic changes the mage's body. It's possible that one of such changes is modification of cerebellum for better coordination in a fight against a dragon--who can [[DoABarrelRoll do a barrel roll]], for example. So every Dragon Slayer is very good at coordination and motion prediction, as Natsu and Gajeel show during their fight with Sting and Rogue, but motion sickness would be the drawback of such a mutation Also it may be connected with actual flight, IIRC, Natsu has no problem with flying on anyone (Happy or winged whatever-it-is from Edolas), which actually makes sense: Dragon Slayer hardly can slay a dragon, if he get motion sickness every time he rides one.

* First off she got sucked into Edolas via the anima portals that the King was using to steal magic from Earthland, so why was she not turned into Lacrima like everyone else who was not guided there by Mystogun? Why was she not picked up by the palace when they forced her into coming remember that was anima caused by the palace not by Mystogun.

*** While that could be the case we know that Mystogan was already in Earthland at that point in time because he helped Wendy after she lost her dragon and Natsu was already part of the guild when Lisanna "died" so the idea that it is still super underdeveloped when a child saw the need to travel to a different world to stop it seems doubtful but not beyond all realm of reason I guess.
*** He tried to prevent Anima. Simple as that. Some people won't let the problems manifest first. In fact, there could have been successful uses of Anima, but it might have not been consistent enough until recently.
*** That still does not explain why she did not turn into Lacrima like every other non Dragon Slayer or native to Edolos does when they go through anima.
*** Err, it does. Like I said, the Anima Edolas was previously using could have been just a prototype. Also, Lucy didn't turn into Lacrima as well.
*** Lucy was sent by Mystogan and that at least makes sense. Anima's entire purpose was to take magic from Earthland and turn it into usable magic, Lacrima, for Edolas. If its prototype did not do that it would be like testing a prototype car with no engine or wheels which just does not make any sense in the slightest.
*** Ok, wrong about Lucy. However, Anima is supposed to 1) take magic and 2) convert that magic into lacrima. Simply put, what if the prototype could fulfill function 1 but not function 2? Alternatively, there was a glitch in the Anima prototype that spared Lisanna from becoming a crystal. Besides, Mashima runs on RuleOfDrama more than logic.
** There's nothing that says Anima is the device that converts magic to lacrima. Anima is the dimensional portal that sucks magic across the hyperspacial boundary. It would make sense that a secondary device would be necessary to convert that magic to lacrima - otherwise simply reversing the direction of anima like Mystogan does would result in everything converted to lacrima on the other side in Earthland. It's important to remember that the point of anima was to suck magic into the world of Edolas - and we know that from there it could be converted into lacrima at will and[=/=]or monopolised. With a giant anima, converting directly to lacrima makes sense but otherwise when small anima are opening up all over Earthland to take magic to Edolas, and they are opening up in Edolas at different places all over as well, it would be inefficient to convert everything to lacrima and then have to hunt and find it.
* Secondly it's such a huge cop out. It mocks everything that Elfman and Mirajane went through after her death. Also did they not find it at all suspicious that her body disappeared? Is this common in Earthland? Seriously what the fuck.
** Uh, this is a world of ''magic''. [[AWizardDidIt Anything can happen]]. Anything can kill you in all sorts of ways. And I don't know about you, but I certainly don't feel cheated for mourning someone who's not dead, in fact I'd be more than happy. What, just because your reason for CharacterDevelopment was ultimately invalidated doesn't mean it was ultimately pointless. If something should bug you it should be the fact that Mira and Elfman just readily accepted Lisanna's alive.

The thing about the key and the Dragon Cannon [[FridgeLogic don't make sense]]. If Edoras is planning on firing it at the lachryma, they said that it would fuse them together with the magic of Exteria. But Sugarboy told Gray that it would turn the people back to normal. I suppose we have to assume Sugarboy really was bluffing, but he seemed really serious about it, especially after the key was destroyed. But even if he WAS bluffing, then Gray went ahead and made a replica, so we can only assume he plans to use it.
So... Will it [[NiceJobBreakingItHero kill everyone in Magnolia Town]], or save them?
* The plan wasn't to aim it at the lachryma, the plan was to aim it at the floating rock the lachryma is on and then guiding it to crash into Extalia.

[[WMG: Why Natsu didn't become sick when he rode that GiantFlyer thing during the Exteria Arc?]]
By that time it's been established that he's still prone to carsickness at all kinds of vehicles other than Happy. When he was heading out for the giant lachryma, he looked fine when he rode Coco's... uhhh... demon rabbit... thing.

** It could be that both creatures are living and thus not actual vehicles. Has Natsu ever rode a horse-or-the-like in canon? The "both from Edoras" theory is a hella interesting theory, though. I like it.

*** As one of the IJBMs above said, Natsu's motion sickness is probably mental as well as physical. Natsu only gets sick on things he ''considers to be a vehicle''. He doesn't consider Happy to be a vehicle because he thinks of Happy as a 'friend'. That's probably why he can get sick on some things and not others.
** It's more of WMG, but I think, here's appropriate place for it, so... {{WordOfGod}} says that every Dragon Slayer starts suffering motion sickness at certain age/power level, and also said (IIRC) that learning Dragon Slayer magic changes the mage's body. I think, one of such changes is modification of cerebellum for better coordination in fight versus dragon, who can, you know, [[DoABarrelRoll do a barrel roll]], for example. So every Dragon Slayer is very good at coordination and motion prediction, as Natsu and Gajeel show during their fight with Sting and Rogue, but what if motion sickness is drawback of such mutation? Also it may be connected with actual flight, IIRC, Natsu has no problem with flying on anyone (Happy or winged whatever-it-is from Edolas), which actually makes sense: Dragon Slayer hardly can slay a dragon, if he get motion sickness every time he rides one.

* It bugs me that the character's find Nirvana's ability to do a forced FaceHeelTurn to be morally reprehensible, but they're just fine with a forced HeelFaceTurn. Likewise, Sherry is depicted as being possessed by an evil spirit whereas Hoteye is depicted as just changing his mind. He even says that "People's hearts shouldn't be manipulated by magic" but that reeks of FridgeLogic since that's exactly what happened to him. Hoteye's HeelFaceTurn was still forced upon him. He had no choice in the matter.
** I had that exact same concern with the whole Nirvana thing. I mean, being angry because your friends are in danger is not supposed to make one do a FaceHeelTurn, as is the case with Natsu. But Sherry was angry only because Leon died, which is pretty much the same thing. So, I just took Hoteye's HeelFaceTurn as [[HandWave him actually being good deep inside all along]]. And I just chanted the MST3KMantra.

** Remember that at that stage it only switches over people who are "wavering between good and evil." Hoteyes was already capable of turning into that person eventually, Nirvana just gave him a push.
*** During his conversion (in the manga), Hoteye actually declares that his ORIGINAL GOAL was to find his brother. And for that he needed money, and he was eventually consumed by greed instead. His brother is, of course, the only OTHER person in the series with a polygonal face. We've already met him.
** There's similar concept in russian fantasy book, Night Watch, - remoralisation. It has different effects depending on which side used it: if used by light mage, it forces target to behave according to their morale, literally (for example, you can remoralise cannibal with all power in the world, but he still be cannibal, except he won't play with... food. Maybe.), and if used by dark mage, it unshackles target's hidden desires, emotions etc. It also said that, despite effects don't wear off or escalate by themselves, they can be amplified/inhibited by influence of other people. So in case of Hotey Jura's influence amplified the effect of Nirvana, forcing his {{HeelFaceTurn}}, and in case of Sherry it was mitigated, thanks to the fact that Lyon survived, and so her {{FaceHeelTurn}} effect was negated.

** I saw it as, yes, traumatizing, but not in an abusive way. The guild master's ghost wanted to do whatever he could for Wendy, and to that point, created illusions of all of the comrades he'd lost so she wouldn't be lonely. In the end, he sees that she has the potential to join another guild and make real friends, so he decides to be honest and tell her the truth, showing that he did it all out of love for her, but now it's time for both of them to move on. Him to rest, and her to join a real guild and begin growing up. It's entirely possible that this is how the cast saw it, which is why they weren't freaking out about it.
** I think you're overreacting a little. First, it wasn't over a decade, it was less than seven years. Second, as you might recall, when Wendy first arrived at Cait Shelter, she was five, and didn't even have Carla. Mystogan told her "there's a guild in that direction, go there" (I presume he meant Fairy Tail) and Wendy headed in that direction. Tragic as it might have been, if Wendy hadn't made it to Cait Shelter, or if the leader of Cait Shelter [[spoiler: didn't make the illusions,]] it's very likely she might have died of starvation before finding someone who could help her. While it might have been a sad or cruel thing to do, if he hadn't done it, Wendy might not be alive.
* There's another thing too... it's that the reveal turns all the drama build-up moot. See, 10 and more strips before building on the drama and tension of Cait Shelter being hit by the Nirvana, but if it turns out [[spoiler:even the only person who's real to some extent is just a ghost]], it wouldn't really matter, would it? It's a lot of anti-climax, when you think about...
** Well, if you think about it, the ghost was absurdly powerful. If I recall, everyone was impressed with his illusion abilities, because making sentient, self-sufficient illusions was unheard of. Not to mention just being a ghost in the first place has to be some sort of crazy magic. Then you combine that with his absolutely good nature, and Nirvana would completely warp that to something that might rival Zeref in evil-ness if not outright power. Plus if they can't stop one shot, what's stopping the bad guys from shooting more, taking advantage of the ghosts knowledge to recreate Nirvana, etc. I didn't see it as an anti-climax at all.

* If Gemini can command Lucy's spirits when Lucy summoned them, why can't Lucy command them when Gemini summons them? She/they only have the power to mimic her abilities, right? For that matter, why can Gemini summon her spirits at all--isn't she still holding the keys? We know well by this point that she can only summon while holding the keys (except for Loki, but Gemini doesn't summon Loki) and that there's only one of each. Does Gemini get a duplicate set of keys? If she/they handed one to Angel, would she have been able to summon Lucy's spirits herself? Would the key disappear when they turned back?
** Dunno about the first part, but Gemini does get a duplicate set of keys. They were shown holding the key for Sagitarius just before they summoned him. And seeing as Sagitarius got dismissed as soon as Gemini left Lucy's form, I'd say that these duplicates disappear when they turn back.
** Gemini can literally copy powers. They just copy Lucy’s ability to summon. It’s pretty unlikely that they can just hand this power over, since ''they'' specifically are the ones doing the copying...does that make sense?

*** We don't know quite how far he was, but frankly the motorbike is a very reasonable answer. For zipping out, the bikes have to be stored somewhere. All he has to do is get them, go there and get Jellal, come back and get within the set distance to Brain for his ability, and then bam, he zips back in while carrying the thing. Nothing remotely out of place for that to say the least, particularly since he had like four of those bikes.
*** It was never said how far it was, but it was said that it would take him an hour at least, it was also mentioned that the coffin slowed him down, we don't know that he actually got it any faster than anybody else with those motorbikes would. While Brain comments on "No man being faster" than Racer, it's possible that no one in that guild actually knew how his magic worked. I mean, if I were him I'd keep a few things secret as insurance.

** If that were true characters would do stupid things like walk into walls because they don't realize how fast they are moving, or at the very least have a very fast breathing and heart rate, because such things aren't controlled consciously.
*** It's a little more complicated than people "thinking" they're slower, in my opinion. I think it's more of a territory magic, where everyone in the area perceives time at a different rate than he does, causing their minds and bodies to slow down to the point they can barely move. Therefore, Gray, outside of the range of his magic, saw Leon moving extremely slowly, and Racer standing completely still.

* How is [[spoiler:over a decade of Wendy's life being spent talking to an entire village that didn't actually exist]] treated as anything other than a MoralEventHorizon? What kind of lifelong trauma would a realization like that leave? It is quite possibly the most heinous act of deception and psychological abuse I've ever heard of, and it's not even worthy of note to the rest of the cast.
** While I see why someone could think that, there were a lot of issues going on after that whole fiasco, it's not even a day after they just fought for their lives, and really whether or not you hold such an opinion is really up to the individual. While the impact literally should be many degrees worse, the methodology behind it is really kinda similar to why parents go with the whole Tooth-Fairy-and-Santa-Clause-are-real route, which while it doesn't make things any less severe certainly shouldn't make it just as bad as the usual standards people hold for a MoralEventHorizon.

** It's probably more along the lines of the first one, as we have things like Natsu jumping off a cliff and such that would really make it all too obvious what his power really is, to say nothing being able to catch and ride the motorcycles. I think it's more along the lines of ''everything in a certain range'' as things like the wind and leaves falling to the ground and the like would probably give him away all too quickly. Though yeah, trying to wrap your head around it brings in all kinds of issues.
*** I thought it was probably that, until I remembered Racer failed to dodge Gray's attack because it started from out of his range--but still went ''into'' his range on the way there. So what, does it only affect what objects were in range when he started using it or does it take a while for objects that enter his range to slow done after the initial activation?

** What I don't get is how the hell he got Gerard so fast. He isn't moving any faster and even if the range had anything to do with it, the world is still outside his range. Logically he wouldn't be moving any faster with or without the power. The only argument I could find is that he used his motorcycle, but you see him zipping there and back like he ran the distance. I recall his comment upon coming back is that it slowed him down carrying it there. The other members while being still as fast as an average human, has more physical strength than he does.
*** We don't know quite how far he was, but frankly the motorbike is a very reasonable answer. For zipping out, the bikes have to be stored somewhere. All he has to do is get them, go there and get Gerard, come back and get within the set distance to Blaine for his ability, and then bam, he 'zips back in' as you put it while carrying the thing. Nothing remotely out of place for that to say the least, particularly since he had like four of those bikes.

[[WMG: Brain [[spoiler: shooting Cobra in the shoulder after he basically ''won'' his fight against Natsu, I mean, what the hell!? There's clinging to the [[VillainBall ball]], and there's simply going out of your way to ''not make sense''.]]]]
* I think it was supposed to be similar to how the chick Lucy defeated got up, it wasn't going to last long (Given both the fall and the super hearing overload), and that Blaine didn't have one of the lines disappear after he shot him seems to support that. But yeah, that's a stretch no matter how you look at it.
** From a villainous point of view, it makes sense. Cobra's severe injuries had screwed him over completely (injuries from the fall and possible brain damage due to the overload). Even if he did finish off Natsu he would have been useless to Brain afterwards. Brain probably killed Cobra both to punish him for failure and to save Natsu. Brain was impressed by Natsu's power and wanted to use Nirvana to turn him into a suitable replacement for Cobra.
*** At least in the dub, he outright says Cobra's failure to crush Natsu proves the 2nd generation Slayers are inferior to the 1st and therefore Cobra is no longer of use to him. So yes it's likely he was going to use Nirvana to make Natsu evil and replace Cobra with him.
** Defeating Cobra released one of the seals on his Zero personality, it's probably for that same reason that he impersonated Hoteyes and ask them to defeat Midnight.

* In the anime, this is what is established: he is impressed by Natsu and as a result of his battle with Cobra he thinks second generation dragon slayers are inferior to first generation (that the second generation are "fake"), and that Cobra is trash and a failure - notably Cobra is on his last legs after fighting Natsu - but Brain is also stopping him from damaging Natsu anymore, intent on taking Natsu and using him in a new Oracien Seis (and says as much). In addition to getting rid of Cobra, he is punishing him for his failure, letting him know what he thinks about him (implying that previously Brain either had measures in place to either deceive Cobra as to his thoughts or mask them, or Cobra never listened in to his thoughts).
** Disregarding all the mistakes that Natsu made. Even when Natsu unleashed his attack in the hopes of turning the tables, he is left immobilised and Cobra is completely fine, even walking on both legs. This is also neglecting the fact that it took THREE first generation Dragon Slayers to defeat a single Second Generation dragon slayer in a prior arc.

* What the FUCK? Just what. The. ''Fuck?'' How is [[spoiler:over a decade of Wendy's life being spent talking to an entire village that didn't actually exist]] treated as anything other than a MoralEventHorizon? What kind of lifelong trauma would a realization like that leave? It is quite possibly the most heinous act of deception and psychological abuse I've ever heard of, and it's not even worthy of note to the rest of the cast.

So the whole premise of the arc is they keep falling into Freed's traps and "only the strongest can pass" so they have to beat the hell out of each other. Except they don't. As we saw at the beginning of the arc, the age-restrictive barrier keeping old people in the guild stopped Natsu and Gajeel even though they had no idea that they were 80+, so by that same token, they should all just be able to walk up to the barrier and only one of them (whoever is will get through. one doesn't actually have to figure out who's strongest for the barrier to do its thing.
** Presumably flowery language doesn't alter the actual purpose of the barrier. I would imagine Freed set the barriers up so that only the person who defeated everyone else could pass through, not just the one guy who was numerically stronger than the others.

* Not the fact that he's a [[spoiler:Dragon Slayer]], but the way he's handled as a villain. Chapters of showing how he's willing to kill everyone, making friends fight friends and trapping them in a diabolical death magic...and then it turns out that [[spoiler:no, he's not serious about it, and secretly doesn't want to hurt them]]. That's enough of a wall-banger on it's own, but then he's cool with trying to kill Natsu again. The hell?
** It's the for the whole TrueCompanions thing that's [[strike:shoved down our throats at every available moment with the subtlety of a brick]] presented to us as a open and positive thing that transcends all boundaries and motivations.
** Actually, while the bit about true companions is indeed correct, the issue in question has to do with that [[spoiler:Fairy Law]] spell he uses. It's specifically designed as an attack that only works on those that you deem an enemy, and since for some reason deep down he still thought of them as true companions, it didn't take effect. This does not change the fact that he was still willing to kill and harm them, but note that you don't necessarily have to be fully willing to do something to actually go through with it (hence why people harbor regrets and such). Basically the spell not working was a kind of wake up call that Natsu was right all along, [[UnstoppableRage which he didn't take well]]. Least that's how I interpreted it, and certainly makes sense in theory.
* I saw it as Laxus wanting desperately to be his own person, since he saw himself as always being in his grandfather's shadow, and simply allowing those negative feelings to build up way too far. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but the frustration that had built up over the years was just far too great for him to resist.
** Compounding that was the fact that Fairy Tail was almost destroyed by Phantom Lord and was now a target of mockery. Laxus does love the guild in his own twisted way. In his eyes if the current members and Master cannot protect the image of Fairy Tail, then he would start from scratch and build a Fairy Tail that commands respect.

So the whole premise of the arc is they keep falling into Freed's traps and "Only the strongest can pass" so they have to beat the hell out of each other. Except they don't. They should just be able to all try to walk out and only one of them will get through. For example, the barrier keeping old people in the guild stopped Natsu and Gajeel even though they had no idea, so by that same token, one doesn't actually have to figure out who's strongest for the barrier to do its thing.