User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 402: Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon, Review./@comment-1359322-20140929144423/@comment-25111584-20141002165306

@Nick: If Cobra had heard about Project Face, his attitude would have been quite different when OS are released. More serious, etc. That's why I believe he doesn't know about it. All he might've heard is that Tartarus is going to make their move. Considering even the all of the NDG didn't have all the facts about the Face Project, the chances that Cobra 'heard' it are extremely low. On the other hand, he could have heard about Tartarus setting their plan in motion from a common Tartarus grunt who happened to be in the vicinity. As one of the members of the Balam Alliance, he could've known about Tartarus members being Demons from the book of Zeref from just meeting one of them much earlier, before Project Face had even been devised, at least by nobody other than Mard, who is hardly going to meet a mere human. I don't think Jellal has any defences against Cobra. In the end, whatever Cobra hears, he also has to have the reflexes and speed to then dodge or counter. I just see it as Jellal's speed being too much for his reflexes to keep up with. I mean, he was able to respond to Racer too. So he mp already knows about Jellal's plans and him actually being honest. But his reactions seem to indicate that he doesn't care, preferring to act on his own. Plus, I think that all of the OS already know about how Jellal feels about his past 'crimes', so I don't really see them empathizing with him over that, though this is pure speculation based on no hints given. On the other hand, if Jellal does have something to counter Cobra's techniques, Cobra would actually trust him even less. If he can defend, who knows what else he can do, like being able to fabricate his intentions. Still, I think Jellal was just too fast for Cobra, not that he could defend against his thoughts being read.

@Johnny: The only person he can strike such a bargain with is Angel. Mashima has indicated that he's going to continue the manga as if the Zentopia filler arc had happened. So Erik already knows about Kinana. And this is where Cobra's Deux ex machina that Nick mentioned could come into play. He could easily have heard Yukino talking about her sister, and might have already deduced that she is Sorano's sister. Though this will only work if OS have shared their histories with each other, though it is doubtful, considering they didn't even share their own names, thinking it to be showing vulnerabilty. But if they did, Jellal won't be able to bargain with anybody except Hoteye, who, as you've already stated, doesn't need convincing.

Looking at the Chaos' translation, I've more or less accepted that Jellal won't die, but I am quite interested in knowing how Mashima plans on resolving these issues ... Unless he just ignores them all. >.>