User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 518: Master Enchant, Review./@comment-30338537-20170122121244

If Jellal hadn't been, I could've hoped he'd somehow redirect the meteor to crash into a surprised Irene or simply take the bullet, or meteor in this case, for Erza.

Jellal then dieing and all the sorrow involved would make Irene realize love exists after all and she'll reform her ways.

In the end he'll still be alive, since nobody connected to a main character ever dies in battle.