Fairy Tail: Final Season

Episode 302

This season of Fairy Tail has a consistent issue where it tries to introduce too many plot threads in a single episode. I can see why it'd want to try that approach – there's a ton of characters all doing a lot of things, all of which are important and happening concurrently. Giving each its own episode would not only potentially raise the number of episodes needed to cover the material, but also feel like the show was choosing sides, so to speak, in terms of which were the most important. The unfortunate downside is that you get episodes like this one, where maybe one major thing is allowed to happen and everything else is in various stages of happening, with none of the plots getting quite enough development.

The winners of this week's plot lottery are Levy and Gajeel, and now that I've written that, I admit to qualms about my word choice. The two of them are engaged in the fight against Bloodman, a wizard made entirely of Bane Particles, which are deadly to wizards. Gajeel's all right because of his particular skill (iron lungs make for difficult Bane absorption), but Bloodman's not going to concentrate his attack on only one person. That means that everyone fighting with Gajeel, including Levy, is in danger of dying, and that's not something Gajeel can stand. What he doesn't realize (or want to acknowledge) is that Levy can't stand for that either, and she's not just going to sit on the sidelines and watch him fight, or worse yet, leave him alone to fight himself. They may have had a questionable start to their relationship (which Gajeel seems to acknowledge this week and definitely feels guilty about), but they're one of the few officially committed couples in the show at this point. Either would sacrifice their lives for the other.

That's a vaguely selfish way of thinking, of course. It leaves one half of the couple alive knowing that they're only that way because the other died. As of the end of this episode, it looks like Gajeel's going to be the one left alone, and I don't see him handling that well. Of course, Levy didn't only save him with her actions; her magic protected a lot of other people as well. But Gajeel is likely to see it as entirely his fault if she dies, and while that might motivate him to kick major ass, it could also cause him to lose his way.

While all of that is going on, there are other plots simmering. The least acknowledged is Mavis trying to get Cana to free her real body from the lacrima that imprisons it, but we also have Saber Tooth and Blue Pegasus regrouping and getting their feet back under them after Sting suffered an emotional setback. Probably the most fun this week, though, is Brandish solving Natsu's travel problem by simply growing Happy to an enormous size so that they don't have to walk to meet August. (Or is it so that she can snuggle a giant kitty…?) Mest, who snuck along for the trip, rightly assuming that Natsu is the least suitable person to send on a diplomatic mission, is less impressed with his companions' attitudes and trusts Brandish as far as he can throw Giant Happy, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll be an asset when their discussion with August gets going. He's clearly thrown by August's power level, which Lucy and Natsu seem to be ignoring, which could make him as much of a threat as Natsu himself if he lets his nerves get the best of him.

Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, along with whether Levy lives or dies and if all of the foreshadowing that's going into Irene's appearances is a red herring or not. This may not be the best-structured episode, but it's still moving things in exciting directions as the story inches closer to its endgame.

Rating: B

Fairy Tail: Final Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.