Fairy Tail Theories and Opinions (POST 417)
Some people are raging about the fact that Fairy Tail 417 had no conversations and also raging that Hiro Mashima is trolling us after the chapter from hell, which is what I have dubbed 416.
Obviously, you can tell that these people haven't realized that he's always been a troll--thus the rest of the fandom's affectionate nickname, Trollshima.
I've got my own opinion on this, as everyone else does.
My personal opinion is as follows:
After 416, a bridge chapter was necessary. Too many Fiore-shattering events happened in that hell-chapter for him to immediately jump into the next story arc. These events include the revelation that Mest (my absolute favorite non-main-cast character) had been a member of the guild all along and had erased his own memory for the sake of infiltrating the Magic Council, Lucy is lonely without Natsu, Fairy Tail was dissolved, Gray wants to take down END like Silver told him to, and Natsu is, as I have feared for several months now, END, the flame demon.
For several people, I'm sure the world of Fairy Tail ended for them when the guild was dissolved. And whereas this fact killed me, the parts that killed me even more were Lucy's reaction to Natsu leaving her behind (because let's face it, I'm a shipper), Gray's resolution to take care of END, and the revelation that Natsu is, in fact, END.
Some people still haven't realized it, but this means that Natsu and Gray may potentially have a fight to the death.
"But no, this is Fairy Tail and good guys don't die!" is echoing in everyone's heads. And let's face it, until fairly recently this had been an undeniable truth. But now everything is falling together, and we've witnessed at least a sort of "character death" with not only Silver and all the bad guys, but Aquarius as well (even though Aquarius is alive still, as she assured Lucy, she is supposedly now out of the blond's reach).
That was a lot of shit to happen in a single chapter, guys.
I know that everyone wants to know what the hell happened to Fairy Tail's infamous members after the dissolution of the guild--I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know--but I understand that this single, lighthearted chapter is almost just what we needed. Dedicated fans are still picking up the shattered pieces of their hearts right about now.
Chapter 416.5 was a fun, light read to remind us all of the days when everything was well in Fiore. Chapter 417 was the tiniest hint of what Natsu has been doing in his year-long journey, and evidence that Gildartz Clive is still quite well, thank you very much.
The importance of 417, however, rests not with revealing that Natsu, Happy, and Gildartz are alive, or even that they met each other. The importance is that Natsu and Gildartz had a match...and Natsu pushed him back.
And then got eaten by a beastie and saved by Gildartz and then was the same terrified child he always is around the big guy...but who's counting that?
THEREFORE, because of this continuation of the earlier, wordless Gildartz chapter, we know that Natsu is getting even stronger.
What we don't know, however, is how strong everyone else is, where Zeref is, what has happened to the displaced guild members, how much training Gray has put himself through, how much punishment the members of Crime Sorciere have brought upon themselves, and lastly and least important, if there are any new couples.
THAT, my friends, is what chapter 418 is for.
FURTHERMORE, as much as it pains me to say this, I'm afraid we will have to start preparing for the end. Loose ends are falling together more quickly than they have in the entire series (hello, the dragons, END, Gray's father, etc.), and there's a looming battle between best friends. I'm willing to bet that if we're ever going to find out how Layla Heartfilia was related to the dragons and the One Magic, this arc is the time.
If that doesn't spell out "hey, guys, I'm winding this down, and thanks for riding this emotional rollercoaster of blood and tears with me", I don't know what does.
Anyway, that's the end of my theories and expounding my beliefs about the importance of the bridge chapter.
