User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail 522 & 523: Gray's Trump Card & Is Destiny Burning, Review/@comment-31.132.65.54-20170218162605/@comment-25111584-20170222151517

Ultear clearly had alternatives. She was contemplating Rogue's murder. She didn't want to do that? She could have tried to destroy the Eclipse Gate. 'Cuz, y'know, it is the exact same logic she used to determine that Rogue's death would solve the problem. But apparently that didn't occur to a character who easily places in the list of top 10 most intelligent chars in FTverse... And, as far as I know, nobody died in the Eclipse Gate arc aside from the deaths during the one minute Ultear rewound, deaths she was clearly unaware of... Of course, I could be wrong, but it's not really the point anyway.

Conversely, what alternatives does Gray have? Let his friends fight Zeref? That's not an option as any rational person would not only consider heavy casualties likely in the situation, but even victory unachievable. And even Zeref's death would not solve the problem as it would result in Natsu's death. Death and destruction? That has occurred in this war too. Far more, surprisingly, than in the battle against F. Rogue. Gray has the perfect solution for all their problems (regarding Zeref). He does not know of any other way which would save his comrades from harm. Saying that he should hope for somebody to come up with a better solution is asinine. If anything, Gray has far less of a choice than Ultear.

Not only are we not talking about guilt, that argument would mean that OS and Meredy should also sacrifice themselves. And, when Jellal felt guilty and Erza considered it right for him to feel so (which means out take on the matter does not matter), sacrificing oneself was considered to be running away from the guilt.

...And all of the above is invalid because I mentioned that the problem exists from an out-of-universe perspective. The existence of alternatives depends on the author. So how is it that Carla's premonition led her to Juvia instead of Makarov? How is it that Gajeel survives because U1 is cast at the exact moment most convenient for him? How is it that Gray survives because he conveniently dies in the single minute that Ultear manages to rewind? On the flip side, why is it that Gray, known for his extremely fast molding, decides to push Juvia out of the way instead of simply creating an ice shield? Mashima will turn the entire situation into a pathetic farce simply to show his chosen few's resolve to die for their ships comrades rather than actually delivering their deaths, but won't do so for the characters he clearly has no more interest in.

And even that is not the entire point. Mashima bandies about the, "Live for your nakama!" philosophy only when it is convenient. Gray and CrimeS didn't go, "Let's try to get Ultear back!" No, they apparently decided to respect her decision. Did anybody try to physically stop Makarov? The problem is that we can actually see Mashima make a clear distinction between characters he likes and those he isn't interested in anymore. He's like the teachers who discriminate between their pets and the regular students. The guilt point you brought up also ties in with this. Do you think OS or Meredy will be sacrificing themselves? Of course not. Because Mashima clearly does not intend to do so. This seems like nothing but disrespect for characters whom it is difficult to term as anything other than 'discarded'.

Welp, it hardly matters though. Every author, just like every fan, has their biases. Doesn't mean that fans of particular characters can't get frustrated or feel disrespected due to this. Especially when the bias is coupled with Mashima-tier BS. .-.