u/Rigel27

During the Tartarus arc, Lucy experienced the best development of her entire journey within the franchise. It was in this arc that the character reached the peak of her emotional writing, both through the traumatic experiences she endured and the depth of the bond she shared with her Celestial Spirits. Every one of her moments in this arc reinforces Lucy’s growth as both a mage and a person, making Tartarus the highest point of her evolution in Fairy Tail.

Beyond the emotional development, Lucy also achieved the highest level of Celestial Spirit Magic shown up to that point: the simultaneous summoning of three spirits. Even in the middle of an almost impossible battle against three Tartarus demons, Jackal, Torafuzar, and Lammy, she managed to summon Leo, Virgo, and Aquarius at the same time, using them to fight and stall the enemies. This achievement became the bridge for Lucy to reach a completely new level: the summoning of the Celestial Spirit King, something that was only possible because she surpassed her own limits by sustaining three spirits simultaneously.

After his summoning, the Celestial Spirit King completely dominated the battlefield. He defeated Plutogrim, fought Mard Geer, dispelled Alegria, and even petrified the main antagonist of the arc. At the same time, Lucy defeated Jackal while using Star Dress together with Uranometria for the very first time.

But for all of this to happen, Lucy had to sacrifice Aquarius because there was no other way for her to survive and save her allies during the confrontation against the demons. It was a terrifying experience for her.

For the readers, or at least for Lucy’s fans, it felt like her growth would finally begin to accelerate, since all of those traumatic experiences would naturally culminate in major development. After all, the most logical direction for the story was for Lucy to train in order to become stronger and prevent something like the events of Tartarus from ever happening again.

To some extent, that did happen. However, not nearly to the degree it truly should have, since Lucy goes through countless situations in the following arc, Alvarez, that barely feel different from how she acted before her growth in Tartarus. It almost feels as if Mashima slowed down, or simply stopped caring about, everything he had written for the character in that arc.

We even had a scene during the Avatar arc where Lucy mentions training her body and even challenges Natsu to a fight, despite acknowledging that she would not win. At the time, that scene genuinely made me excited.

It is also important to point out that Hiro used the events of Tartarus to emotionally develop Natsu and massively increase his power level, since the protagonist also went through a traumatic experience after losing his father figure, Igneel, during the battle against Acnologia. Natsu evolved to a stage where the majority of the Spriggans no longer posed any real threat to him. Even Zeref with Fairy Heart ended up being defeated by the emotions behind Natsu’s wild flames.

By no means am I saying that Lucy should have become as powerful as Natsu, because that would be completely unrealistic. But if the author was willing to connect Natsu’s emotional development with his growth as a mage, why could he not do the same thing with Lucy?

She also lost her first and closest friend because of her own weakness. However, that event was never fully utilized to properly strengthen the character. If I remember correctly, the only moment where one of Lucy’s Star Dresses truly had major relevance during the Alvarez arc was when she used Gemini Star Dress to save the entire guild from Jacob.

And speaking about Star Dress, I feel that Mashima focused far more on showcasing the beauty of those designs than on making them truly relevant in battle. Compared to what we are currently seeing in 100 Years Quest, the Star Dresses in Alvarez almost feel like a fashion show.

But beyond that, when discussing Lucy’s main storyline in this arc, there is Brandish. This character was introduced specifically to serve as Lucy’s counterpart, since her story was directly connected to Aquarius, Layla, and consequently Lucy herself.

Brandish held deep resentment toward Lucy because she believed Layla was responsible for her mother’s death and for the supposed betrayal involving Aquarius’ key. Because of that, she blamed Lucy and intended to kill her. It was an extremely promising storyline for the final stage of Lucy’s development in the manga. However, for some reason, Mashima completely rushed this plotline before the arc even reached its climax, resolving everything quickly and without any truly strong emotional impact.

Aquarius suddenly appearing during that moment also weakened the emotional weight of her sacrifice in Tartarus because Hiro brought the character back far too early and in a way that did not feel natural.

What makes this even stranger is that Hiro later tries to revive the concept of “Lucy vs Brandish,” which makes it obvious that this was originally meant to be Lucy’s central conflict in Alvarez. However, because he had already resolved the relationship between the two before their actual confrontation happened, he ended up resorting to an artificial fight where Brandish was clearly holding back and still dominating Lucy during a battle that lasted only a few pages. For a protagonist like Lucy, it was an extremely embarrassing moment.

I genuinely suspect that Mashima changed his plans during the development of the arc because he became too attached to Brandish as a character. Hiro himself mentioned that he loved drawing her, and honestly, I feel that this heavily damaged Lucy’s development.

And despite how ridiculously overpowered Brandish’s magic is, the manga itself states that she cannot explode someone whose magical power surpasses her own. Mashima could easily have explored additional weaknesses for the character and made Lucy strong enough to fight her on equal footing. Aquarius’ return should have happened at the end of that battle, together with the explanation of what truly happened in the past involving Brandish’s mother. Unfortunately, none of that happened.

Lucy’s role in the Alvarez arc is far weaker than what she received in Tartarus. In my opinion, her best moment in the arc is the fight against Jacob alongside Natsu because Lucy was incredibly intelligent there and accomplished something that nobody else could have replaced her in doing. It was an amazing moment, but still far below what was expected from a protagonist, especially compared to what she is currently doing in 100 Years Quest.

And before anyone says that Lucy should not be strong, that she lacks potential, or anything similar, I recommend reading 100 Years Quest. That is exactly where Lucy receives much of the development she should have received during Alvarez.

I think Mashima focused far too much on creating romantic moments between Lucy and Natsu in order to mask the lack of Lucy’s individual development in this arc, trying to satisfy fans of the pairing. If he had at least concluded Nalu’s development and officially made them a couple, I could understand this direction for Lucy during the final stage of the manga, since it would simply be a different form of character development. But that never happened either. Because of that, I honestly feel that Lucy should not have spent practically the entire war glued to Natsu.

Anyway, what is your opinion?

Let's assume Lucy also obtains Mercphobia's Star Dress; what power level will the character be at by the end of the fight against Earth Build?

Let's place our bets and see how right or wrong we are in the coming chapters.

This spin-off is a possibility, given that the Fairy Tail magazine (the fact that the magazine is interested is already a major incentive) and an anime producer have shown interest in exploring this God.

Let's assume Mashima decides to move forward with this idea—what would you like to see in this continuation?

I get the feeling that Mashima would repeat one of the concepts from 100-Years Quest, and we’d end up with a guild full of "Take Over: God Soul" users.

Or perhaps we had a lot of God Slayers. That premise would be interesting for bringing Sherria back into the story, since Mashima mentioned she could eventually become a mage again.

Both at full power and devoid of morality.

I was rereading the beginning of this arc and realized just how much damage Lucy has already taken and how much magical power she has spent throughout the battles she has been involved in.

Initially, she fought Karameel and took several hits from her opponent due to her moment of distraction, thinking about Aquarius, as well as the circumstances that prevented her from using other Star Dresses and spirits during the battle. On top of that, Karameel had resistance to the water element because of her dragonization from Mercphobia’s lacrima.

Later, Lucy spent a considerable amount of raw magical power to attract and distract the out-of-control Mercphobia from the giant lacrima, which Brandish was initially responsible for destroying.

While inside a giant body affected by Brandish’s magic, Lucy endured a massive amount of damage from Mercphobia’s attacks, yet she still kept moving and managed to physically overpower the dragon for a brief moment, allowing her to throw her body toward the lacrima and destroy it.

After that battle, Lucy, alongside the rest of Team A, fought the members of Fire and Flame for a long period of time, although we did not see every event, only fragments of the fights. Within those moments, we saw Lucy withstand attacks from the dragonized Luso Signario, who was stronger than she was in the Viernes arc, retaliate at certain points, use Virgo Star Dress, summon Taurus, there is even a scene where Lucy is holding his key, and later defeat Luso Signario using Aquarius Star Dress with the spell Aquametria.

Afterward, Lucy entered a battle against Earth Build, but she was brutally beaten due to his overwhelming power. The dragon’s rock attacks in human form caused significant damage to Lucy, drawing blood from her multiple times. Beyond that, Lucy also endured numerous physical attacks while protecting Natsu, yet she kept getting back up over and over again, demonstrating tremendous stamina and endurance to continue fighting.

To understand the level of Earth Build’s attacks, it is worth noting that when Lucy and Wendy stopped Wed’s attack, Wendy used her hands enhanced with magic to neutralize the enemy’s strike. She attempted something similar against Earth Build, but the spell made of small stones pierced her hands and pinned her against a rock, causing them to bleed heavily.

Additionally, Lucy summoned Virgo and used that spirit’s Star Dress in an attempt to gain an advantage in the fight, but it proved ineffective. After that, she used Virgo x Leo Star Dress Mix to cast the spell Lion Maiden, but she was interrupted by a gigantic fist spell that destroyed her dress and dealt heavy damage to her.

Fortunately for Lucy, Natsu got back up and saved her, defeating Earth Build’s human form with a super spell from his strongest form. Minutes later, Wed appears again, to everyone’s misfortune, attempting to attack Natsu, but Lucy, using Taurus Star Dress and her axe alongside Wendy, manages to stop the attack.

Natsu then decides to leave the conflict against Wed to Lucy and Wendy. Lucy uses Leo Form and the spell Regulus through her kicks to damage Wed and send him flying away.

However, the fight is briefly interrupted because Earth Build transforms into a dragon and begins petrifying everyone on the battlefield. Apparently, Lucy’s body was also starting to turn into stone, causing her intense pain. However, Selene appeared to save everyone and dispelled the spell.

Continuing onward, Lucy faces Wed again in the most recent chapter using Leo Form, later switching to Gemini. She also takes attacks from Wed and withstands his flames, stating that they were not as hot as Natsu’s and that she has resistance to the element. Concerned about the situation, Selene summons water so that Lucy can summon Aquarius, but she is surprised when Lucy summons Mercphobia instead.

At the moment of Merc’s summoning, Lucy is visibly in good condition, without any relevant injuries, standing and fully prepared to continue fighting.

Throughout this entire arc, Lucy has constantly been involved in action-heavy scenes and, consequently, has spent a large amount of magical power while taking considerable damage during battles, yet at no point did she complain about exhaustion or stop getting back up. This is different from what we are currently seeing with Gray, who ran out of magical power after fighting Viernes. Obviously, Gray’s situation is more complex because the battle against Viernes demanded an extreme amount from him, but the fact that Gray ended up in that condition shows that Mashima is taking previous battles into account to demonstrate that even the main cast becomes exhausted and runs out of magical power.

With that in mind, I do not think Lucy’s brief battle against Wed ended negatively for her because she did not use her strongest abilities against him and, although Wed was injured from his previous fight against Natsu, he still had time to recover to some extent. Even so, he remains injured, while Lucy went through far worse situations throughout the entire arc without ever complaining about her injuries and has continued standing until now. Overall, her performance has been superior to his.

These displays of endurance and magical power are clear evidence of Lucy’s growth as a combat mage and also reinforce the statement Mashima made during the Viernes arc, when he implied that Lucy was already on Brandish’s level at that point. Currently, she is far stronger.

I think it would be interesting if there were some characters protecting the Aldoron core so Wendy could showcase her growth during a fight.

The Signario Sisters being responsible for protecting the core would make sense because they were the ones responsible for casting the dragonization magic.

Maybe we'll see them again.

Mercphobia was the Dragon God with the most nerfs in the manga due to numerous circumstances, but mainly because he was never in a mental state to demonstrate his abilities in battle. He was always portrayed as an uncontrolled dragon, attacking randomly.

But, thankfully, the situation has changed, and this time we'll see how Merc behaves in a battle without so many restrictions. I'm eager for Mashima to give the character new abilities, as Merc has the potential to do many different things with his water magic. Unlike Anchor, Merc uses water magic in an overwhelming way, without many tricks. I hope Mashima continues to explore the character in this aspect.

And it's really cool that, in Lucy's hands, Mashima has drawn him as a gentle creature. I've seen some people commenting that he lost his imposing presence, but I think Mashima nailed the design.

Mercphobia is a gentle dragon who loves humanity. And his summoner is one of the kindest mages in the series, so I think it's appropriate that he's portrayed as a friendly creature when he's with Lucy.

To defeat his human form, Natsu, in his most powerful form, had to destroy him with a super attack. Before that, he defeated Lucy, Wendy, and Igneel.

Now he's facing Selene and it seems he'll be facing Mercphobia.

And for those who complained about his abilities (myself included), he demonstrated petrification and movement restriction spells. Two powerful and interesting spells.

He's definitely the big surprise of the Calamity Bloods, since in the initial conception (character introduction) of most readers, Earth Build was the most boring and weak dragon of the group.

I've seen some people saying that Lucy was acting tough against Wed, but that's not true. Mashima is correct in what he wrote, based on several examples he wrote throughout the franchise.

Lucy has fire resistance and she is naturally super resistant to attacks. Mashima wrote Lucy as a character who can withstand many blows.

Living with Natsu made Lucy resistant to fire.

NOTE: I had to include Lucy's Fire Kick as an illustration. Hahaha.

She is able to face Wed, counterattack, and withstand his flames, using only basic Star Dress.

And her ability to switch with Gemini to surprise her enemies is a powerful close-range skill.

I think Lucy has evolved a lot throughout the manga and will finally demonstrate all of that evolution in the next chapters.

It's been a long time since Hiro created new characters to join the Guild.

I think it would be cool to introduce new characters to interact with the existing cast, creating new dynamics.

What would your suggestions be for characters? Design, personality, magic and objectives?

Round 1: Zeref is not present.

Round 2: Zeref is present and in possession of Fairy Heart.

I had the impression that Motherglare was the strongest dragon in the GMG arc, but upon rereading the arc, I noticed that there are no quotes or anything established about the power level of the dragons. In fact, Atlas Flame managed to boost Natsu's power level enough for him to defeat Future Rogue and inflict significant damage on Motherglare. It even seems like she was defeated.

So there's no defined hierarchy among the Calamity Bloods; whoever has the best feats will have the best representation.

To a lesser degree, Lucy has demonstrated that she can access the power of anyone she has known throughout her life through this Star Dress combination. The only limitation must be that established in Gemini magic, since it is not possible to completely copy anyone who is above Lucy's power level.

The difference with this Star Dress is that Lucy can create many clones with the appearance, memories, and abilities of her allies, but only some clones of her friends are "real," only those with whom Lucy possesses the same or higher level of magical power.

I would like to see this combination again, but I think it's unlikely it will appear again in this spin-off.

But it is something extremely powerful.

Anchor in human form being defeated by Gray and Juvia without Dragon Slayer magic was difficult to accept, but people bought into it due to the development of the two characters as a couple. However, Mashima could destroy all the concepts he created about dragons throughout the franchise (original series and The Hundred Year Quest), and there are no arguments that can be used to defend that.

Before people start mentioning Fairy Tail's inconsistencies to justify Mashima's terrible decision, I want to say that dragons are an essential part of the franchise and one of the few things Mashima has remained consistent with to this day. No dragon has lost to humans without context, specific circumstances behind it, and Dragon Slayer magic has always been involved in some way.

Recently, in this chapter, Erza received a Dragon Slayer armor to be able to face a dragon. So there is absolutely no sense in Gray and Juvia being able to face Anchor in his dragon form.

They need help from a Dragon Slayer or some plot device that grants them this magic, otherwise Mashima will be making a very serious mistake for the franchise's structure.

I pray to God that Mashima doesn't sacrifice the little logic that gives narrative structure to his manga for the sake of readers who only care about the couples.

And mind you, it's not necessary for Gray and Juvia to be removed from the fight, but rather that they receive help from a Dragon Slayer or that Mashima somehow gives them Dragon Slayer magic.

Initially, I wanted to say that this fight gives off RPG vibes where a warrior has to deal with a gigantic boss. This also happens in movies and other media. I hope Mashima puts a lot of effort into developing this fight because there's a good chance we'll get insane panels of pure destruction and badass moments from Erza.

This new armor of Erza's also has a lot of potential, so I'm curious if it will have any special abilities beyond just the dragon-slaying characteristic. I hope Hiro gives Erza some new spell in this form.

But I think it's possible that Erza will combine other enchantments with this armor to amplify its power. Similar to what she did with the Fairy Armor and Heavenly Body Magic.

What do you expect from this armor?

With the appearance of Earth Build's dragon form, there's no way Wed can become the center of attention as Lucy and Wendy's enemy. In fact, it seems that Wed, in his injured and tired condition, wasn't performing well against the girls. They were shown standing, without many injuries.

In that case, do you think Wed will try to ally with Earth Build or will Mashima make him help the girls? The second option doesn't seem possible, since Wed is determined to support Ignia.

However, Earth Build hates humans and sees them as food, so it's possible that Wed will end up being badly injured trying to ally with the dragon.

What are your thoughts? In any case, I think we've moved out of the danger zone where Lucy and Wendy would perform poorly against a recycled character.

It was very obvious, but some people in this sub refused to see reality.

Erza is far superior to Wed, and that will become evident.

And Gray will once again be inferior to Erza.

Thanks, Mashima.

Erza hasn't had a moment to shine in this arc yet, so I'm expecting Mashima to have some kind of plan for this fight against Motherglare.

Motherglare is a character with a lot of potential and was incredibly amazing in the GMG arc. She exudes an overwhelming presence, something that only Irene, Dark Faris and Selene manage to convey among the female characters.

I think it's an obligation, at this point, for Hiro to deliver a great fight for Erza. Furthermore, she came in second place in the most recent popularity poll, which is a sign that fans following the 100-year quest are eager to see the character give her all in a decent storyline.

I really hope Hiro brings a bit of Irene's story and Erza's feelings towards her mother into this fight, just to add an emotional touch.

And I feel that Motherglare will use her dragon form in this fight, regardless of whether the other Calamity Bloods use it.