User blog comment:Nerdyanimegirl225/The 3 picks/@comment-24934658-20140515004702/@comment-7418318-20140515010615

She threw them in the dungeon so they could rescue Arcadios, not to let them die. When she learned that the Garou Knights went after them, she was worried. Most likely she intended to secretly open the gate, trusting that Arcadios knew the way to it.

But other than that I have to agree that she could potentially be more on the villain side than on the good.

Most likely she would have had the authority to simply order Arcadios released/rescued from Hell's Palace, but instead she decided to use the Fairy Tail Mages and risk their lives just so she could protect her reputation.

That she was willing to act to save the country doesn't really count, since it was also in her own best interest. If the Dragons invaded, she'd have been as dead as anyone else and there wouldn't have been any save place to run to, so defeating them is the best choice for pure self-preservation too.

In a similar discussion someone said that she was good because in the end she apologized to Fairy Tail, but that's not really saying anything either. Apologizing could very well have been yet another move to get away with as little damage to her prestige and reputation as possible. She was busted, Fairy Tail knew how she messed up and how she had tried to use them, so staying quiet or trying to blame it on someone else, would have raised antipathy. So while happens to be both the morally right and the most benefitial (from a selfish point of view) option.

I wonder if they'll flush her true motives out better in the anime... though I am hoping they'll keep her ambiguous.

It'd be nice if Mashima picked her up for a later arc again, where we have to keep guessing whether she's good or bad for some time.