Given the lack of participation (or general clarity), what is Ivan after? What's his purpose in opening Raven Tail?
This is a great question!
Canon never gives us any reason of why Ivan was excommunicated, how his relationship with Makarov was before, how the guildmaster/mage relationship affected their father/son relationship. All we know is that they definitely do not get along by the time in canon, Makarov is lowkey obsessed with what Ivan is up to (as much as Ivan is lowkey obsessed with what Makarov is up to) but doesn't know. Ivan apparently has some secrets he doesn't reveal, but somehow knows. And I think if we look at what we do know through Laxus' POV and the relationship with Makaorv and Laxus, the one with Makarov and Ivan must have been somehow even worse. I think, for Makarov, he's trying to learn from his mistakes with Ivan re: Laxus but he ends up excommunicating Laxus anyway! Which, I think punishment was needed, but for some reason excommunication means...banishment from the city? From your support system? (Which imo, Laxus needed post-Fantasia.) Why does being fired from your job mean leaving the city you were born and raised in? Anyway. There are all these little bits and pieces that are mentioned but never brought up again.
I think that, like canon states, Ivan made Raven Tail to get at Makarov. I don't think his overall grudge is with the Fairy Tail members (def not at his own child or other children) but it is focused on Makarov and Makarov is so attached to Fairy Tail. Makarov is the son of one of the founders, we know his mom died when Makarov was young and that his dad died as well. So his attachment to the guild on a deeply personal level was set up from the time he was very young. Ivan would know this. Ivan lived this. I do think, just like it affected Makarov&Laxus, it affected Makarov&Ivan. So going after the thing Makarov cares the most about — Fairy Tail — is the correct move. Ivan wants to destroy everything Makarov cares about as punishment for his bad decisions re: Ivan and also, in my canon, he holds Makarov responsible as GM for the death of his wife, Leona. Ivan is driven by vengeance and well, hatred for Makarov and that poisons other connections to Fairy Tail, like Laxus.
However, what it ends up becoming is a guild filled with people who are negatively affected by society in some way. Flare was an outcast by virtue of have one of the most unique life experiences of growing up in a hidden village of Giants. Sadly, she's the only RT member we get a full backstory on, but I don't think she's the only one in the guild to have a life like that. Look at Nullpudding. He is clearly Not fully human, neither is Obra. And we see in other arcs how Others are treated (Galuna arc, they assumed the curse turned them into Demons, when the curse turned them into humans but they're happier in their Demonic form!) Honestly, I think this part of it goes back to Zeref and his hmm. Actions. And how it shaped the magical population's reputation in the sea of non magical people. But that's a sidebar of this conversation.
Raven Tail, in practice, becomes a place for Others to gather. As a dark guild, what did they accomplish, lmao? They weren't apart of the Dark Guild alliance, they didn't terrorize people of Fiore. It was really easy for them to become legitimate in canon because it happened three months before the GMG. In a hilarious way, they are like an edgier Fairy Tail.
I would also like to point out the fact that in chapter....2 of the manga, I beleive, Makarov scolds a bunch of members (Natsu, Cana, Gray etc) for their destruction before burning up the council paperwork. And like...I think if they're causing That much destruction...there probably are Raven Tail members who dislike Fairy Tail because they may have been negatively impacted by their destructive tendencies. And some of that cannot be canon div'd away because its a core canon aspect of the guild. So, the members are a mixed lot!
Overall, I jokingly call Raven Tail "Daddy Issues But Make It a Guild" and this is parts of the reason for that.
edit: im just now realizing that hilariously, Phantom Lord does worse things to Fairy Tail in canon and Phantom Lord was a legitimate guild!
