User blog comment:Uraharattack/Theories and Predictions, Round 2/@comment-24228963-20150627091127/@comment-24228963-20150628045115

We shouldn't underestimate those old characters and saying they are weak. The Tenrou team was gone for 7 YEARS and another 1 YEAR timeskip. Surely they would be stronger than before. And Bluenote is not part of Alvarez Empire so you can't compare him to other characters that may or may not be part of the empire. The whole Avatar arc was just to show how strong they have grown after the 1 year timeskip.