Fairy Tail: Final Season

Episode 293

Ichiya puts the “plus” on what would otherwise have been a perfectly fine “B” episode. He's never been my favorite character, but this week definitely moves him up a few places, because even if you don't find his schtick funny, there's no denying that he more than steps up when he's needed as the Alvarez Empire continues their attack on Fairy Tail. Even more than that, he puts himself in the line of fire after Fairy Tail commandeered his ship when they were trying to get the guild back together, completely ignoring Ichiya's help or that it stranded him in Magnolia afterwards. He could easily have adopted a “not my problem” attitude at that point.

Not only does he not (although he is clearly peeved), but he comes in when he's truly needed. Wall, as it happens, has a very particular type of magic that's especially hard to cope with: his magic targets a wizard's specific weaknesses. Because Wall is a Machias (giving a totally different meaning to the Revolutionary War “Battle of Machias” than I learned in school), he's able to target those weaknesses with precision. That means that he fights ice with fire, water with steam, black magic with white, and so on, effectively crippling his opponents. But Ichiya's something else entirely – he's a man with so many weaknesses that he basically overloads Wall's processers. Granted, a machine-based lifeform like a Machias doesn't have a sense of smell and therefore isn't all that susceptible to Ichiya's magic, but he buys Fairy Tail the time they need to allow Fried to drop his enchantment and take Wall out.

Or at least kind of take Wall out. Because he's a Machias, the body everyone was fighting in Magnolia turns out to be a mechanical puppet he's been controlling from the ship where he really is with Dimaria. That makes him very much still a threat, and a Spriggan 10 probably isn't that much less awful than a Spriggan 12. This is where Ichiya comes through yet again – not only does he sacrifice his ship to save Magnolia from the long-range blast real Wall sends, but he also is the one to reach out to Fiore's other guilds for help, telling Fairy Tail that this isn't just their fight any more.

That's a powerful move, and it really puts Ichiya's money where his mouth is. Throughout the episode he's told the Thunder Legion that because they were briefly a part of his guild, that makes them family, something they've reciprocated by episode's end. That's all well and good, but in the long game doesn't do all that much. When Ichiya throws his ship into the fray and calls on everyone else, however, he's proving that he means it – the Thunder Legion is part of his family and damn it, he's going to help them no matter what.

The little detail that if Magnolia falls the Alvarez Empire will have a foothold in Fiore doubtless also helps. The fight truly is bigger than Fairy Tail, although I'm not entirely certain that Zeref has really thought of it that way. It's in everyone's best interests to fight, and following Ichiya's logic, enough Fairies joined other guilds when their own was disbanded that they could all say that they're standing with their families. Not that they need an excuse, but it does help to get the overall series theme across.

Meanwhile the fact that Canna and Lucy have captured Brandish (hay fever's a nasty thing) is likely to give them an edge going forward. Brandish has proven that she's not averse to talking if she's so inclined, and she's definitely a case where honey will work better than vinegar. That means that if Lucy wants to know how Brandish knew her mother, she's going to have to play a friendlier role than she might be inclined to, but it could pay off in a big way. (And it's probably a good thing that Erza's being healed by Wendy and thus can't unleash her temper on Brandish.) The tide feels like it is definitely turning for our friends, and with all of their new support, things may not be as cut and dry as Zeref was thinking.

But as long as he's not bored, I doubt that he'll care.

Rating: B+

Fairy Tail: Final Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.