User blog comment:Wrath022/Chapter 524: Black Future, Review/@comment-7418318-20170225074632/@comment-27281341-20170225121908

I like to think that Irene getting stomped by Acno is just symbolic. It symbolizes her role in this arc. In the end, it didn't even matter that she is Erza's mother, nobidy cared, not even Erza for that matter. She used Universe One, which ended up doing nothing bar saving Gajeel and stalling Acno, which in the end doesn't matter, because she was played by Mavis and Zeref didn't obtain Fairy Heart. Her character was pointless after all and for that reason she was reduced to nothingness by Acnologia.