Summary Key Points:

[spoiler]

• Levi is pondering on the current state of affairs and about how Natsu and Gajeel need to take on Laxus
• Poluchka comes in, asking to be taken to Makarov
• It turns out that Makarov is gravely ill and doesn’t have long to live, Levi is asked to bring Laxus to Makarov quickly
• Laxus reminiscences about a talk with his grandfather, where he asked him why Makarov expelled his father from the guild
• It seems that Ivan, the one in contact with Gajeel, actually tried to harm the members of Fairy Tail at one point
• Mystogan shows up and beckons Laxus to stop his doing
• Laxus refuses and a battle insues
• Mystogan is distracted by the arrival of Erza and Natsu
• Laxus takes the opportunity to blast his mask off
• It is revealed that Mystogan is actually Jellal, or is he?
• Mystogan comments that he does know of Jellal, but he is not him
• He leaves and says that he leaves the rest to Natsu
• Erza freezes up and is hit by a bolt of ligtning
• After a bit of battle, Erza decides to go save the city and take out all the Lacrima
• Natsu and Laxus begin battle

[/spoiler]

Opinions: (A)

Pretty strong episode. A lot of interesting reveals and developments, along with some small  doses of intense action.

We finally get to see who Mystogan is, and it actually is someone who at least looks like Jellal. Thing is… he’s not Jellal at the same time? Hrm… I’m sure there’s tons of speculation in the fan community as to who he is, and I’m guessing he’s some sort of clone, or as my friend pointed out, he might well be the real Seigfried/twin that Jellal had.

Mystogan’s spell work and fighting abilities were pretty top notch. It was kind of sad that Erza came in and spooked him away. It was touching to see Natsu and Erza believe in on another and head on to fulfill their respective roles.

The whole reveal that Ivan, the guild master that was seen communicating with Gajeel, is actually laxus’s father was an interesting development. It seems that Ivan tried to destroy the guild before, and it seems like he’s starting that up again soon.

The other big thing was the fact that Makarov doesn’t have long to live. I wonder what will happen once the Laxus/Natsu/Gajeel fight concludes and the dust settles. Will Makarov be dead? Will Laxus realize the error of his ways and take over? Whatever the case, it seems pretty obvious that Ivan seems to be the next villain of the new arc.

And given that Fairy Tail was recently confirmed to be going for another solid year, I’m pretty sure we have a lot of great things coming. That said, I’m looking to the more immediate future and the next episode, which will finally give us the Natsu and Gajeel versus Laxus fight.

Preview:

The Next episode is called “The Dragon Slayer Trio” or something like that, and it seems to imply that laxus is also a dragon slayer. Is he? We’ll find out in the next episode, next week!