User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail 522 & 523: Gray's Trump Card & Is Destiny Burning, Review/@comment-31.132.65.54-20170218162605/@comment-25111584-20170220034809

I wouldn't really agree with the anon's first two points, but the third point? Definitely agreed.

The problem is from an out-of-universe perspective. Heck, in this very Chapter Erza says that it would be useless to have tried to save Makarov. Ultear sacrifices herself? Everybody respects her choice. Reacting and sacrificing yourself to save your popular ship partner? Admirable! ...And then we get Mashima throwing the, "Live for your nakama!" line when he simply wants to show a character's resolve, but doesn't have the guts to actually deliver. Mashima is like the teachers who discriminate between their pets and regular students, except obviously nowhere as bad 'cuz just fictional characters. Doesn't change the fact that the entire thing becomes a farce, so fans of the disrespected characters feeling frustrated is definitely understandable, imo. ._./