Now that the darkest secret is out in the open, it seems like Rogue of the current timeline will be put in a tough spot – his self-esteem was never very high to begin with and the latest revelation is bound to exacerbate his identity crisis further. Of course, there are questions that remained answered and we are still completely in the dark about why his future self turned out the way he did. The latest unveilings weren’t even conveyed first-hand by the perpetrator himself and with Natsu’s head-on confrontation keeping future-Rogue swamped, it looks like the highly anticipated showdown between the two Rogues might not be happening as soon as I thought. But even without a proper clarification, Rogue probably harbors a secret desire to bring upon all the faults and contempt on himself, and I suspect we might start to see evidence of that transpire in the next few chapters – perhaps in the form of a deliberate suicide! Such an undesirable development is obviously not going to sit well with Natsu – or Sting, for that matter – and it almost goes without saying that they’ll do everything in their power to prevent the aforementioned outcome.

But as always, things are almost never quite as simple in the Grand Magic Games Arc, and what comes next for Rogue could very well hinge on Ultear’s assessment and self-restraint. Ultear, like Jellal, remains a wild card in all of this, and as she has aptly pointed out, the Rogue of the present is a conspicuous weak spot for his evil future counterpart – putting the current one to rest would almost immediately resolve the time paradox, thereby limiting the casualties to the minimum. It’s hardly a surprise to learn that Natsu’s response to her proposal was nothing short of a blatant “No”, and while the quick retorts unmistakably argue in favor of his own idealistic views, the answer that he put forth were perfectly consistent with his characterization – after all, he wouldn’t be the Natsu we all love without such unwavering optimism and dignity. Whether Ultear will uphold her end of the bargain or not is a subject that remained shrouded in a constant state of flux – my guess is that someone or something will thwart her attempt at the critical juncture, but that’s clearly an off-the-cuff prediction on my part and your hunch is probably as good as anyone’s at this stage. For now, the only thing that we can say for certain is that what Ultear does next is key in determining Rogue’s ultimate fate and without a doubt, I’ll be on pins and needles waiting to see how the latest events unfold.

Random tidbits:

  • The Daimatou Enbu Chronological Chart is pretty useful in illustrating what has happened thus far. I’m sure there are some out there who are still confused by the many turn of events.
  • “We just became friends right?” – Future-Rogue seems slightly perturbed by the fact that his Dragon Manipulation Magic can be overwritten by mere friendship!
  • “He ate Altas Flame’s flames?” – Clearly, future-Rogue doesn’t know Natsu very well. He shoves almost anything into his mouth!
  • That’s quite a seductive posture that Ultear is donning over here – Needless to say, she is insanely hot!

tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #FairyTail 333: The dark secret it out in the open – Rogue knows! What’s Ultear gonna do next – kill or show mercy? #Manga
 

26 Comments

  1. I see both Natsu and Ultear’s views as valid. It’s an immense decision to persecute someone for crimes that they have yet to commit. Considering the events, though, wouldn’t Rogue knowing that he will do all this not do it? However, since nothing has immediately changed despite being told his future, he probably will become possessed by the dark side. If I were Ultear, I probably would have reached the same decision but instead of killing him, ask him to sacrifice himself for the greater good. If not, I’d make his death swift and painless.

    All I know is that future Rogue has to be killed for killing future Lucy. Unforgiveable.

    Horus
    1. Also, as Meredy pointed out, there will be a time-paradox.

      If they do kill Rogue in the present, it will cause future Rogue to never exist, and thus the current crisis would be prevented. However, if that were the case, then Ultear would not have the motivation to kill present Rogue, allowing the normal timeline to proceed uninhibited, future Rogue to rise up, and then tried to destroy the world. The same paradox would repeat indefinitely.

      Alternatively, if we accept the case of multiple timelines existing, then killing present Rogue would merely create a brand new timeline, but all the current disaster to continue, except without a second Rogue.

      The only way to resolve this would be to have someone be unaffected by the ripples of time, and be able to perceive the different timelines at once. The power of the Reading Steiner.

      El Psy Congroo.

      MasterDragonKnight
    2. Indeed, future-Rogue deserves a painful death for doing such atrocious things to Lucy T__T
      It’s hard to speculate what can or cannot happen in a time paradox – it seems like every fictional story makes up their own set of rules for that and clearly, I’m not smart enough to figure that out just yet 😡

      Seishun
  2. At this point, I can imagine Ultear is smarter than she looks. I think her goal is to kill Rouge’s shadow. All of this may have happened because Rouge became permantly possessed, at this point I can imagine Ultear may have something clever in mind.

    L002
  3. I have to wonder, is that shadow that present Rogue is talking to part of him, or something from future Rogue?

    If it’s part of present Rogue, then it means that Rogue indeed has darkness dwelling in his heart, just waiting to be unleashed. It also means that when he fought Gajeel, he was not actually being controlled, but just having his dark side taken over. Furthermore, if this is the case, then Ultear may be correct in saying that it’s best to take out Rogue right now, because who knows what other triggers may cause the dark side to resurface and possibly posing a threat later even once this crisis is over. A preemptive strike to prevent future disaster.

    But if it’s actually something from future Rogue that is hinting him, then it would mean that present Rogue is really innocent. Natsu would be correct in saying that they would be wrong in taking an innocent life. However, that also raises the question of what caused this darkness to be born in future Rogue to begin with.

    MasterDragonKnight
    1. Hmmm… I have a feeling Zeref’s the one who’s behind the evil shadow. I highly doubt present-Rogue will be killed off in this arc, such an outcome is simply inconsistent with Fairy Tails’ theme, not to mention the fact that Natsu will never allow it :3

      Seishun
      1. Really? Ever since the Tenrou Island arc, Zeref has appeared to be more of a sympathetic character. He really regrets his past actions and is seeking death to atone for it.

        It would be very unlikely that he would be actively manipulating Rogue right now.

        MasterDragonKnight
  4. Here is my guess as to what really made Rogue turn evil and Ultear may have contributed to this by trying to strike Rogue dead but Rogue’s exceed Frosh shields Him and dies, and then Rogue losing His best friend gives into the shadow that possesses him and turns evil and from henceforth begins his evil path to world domination( notice that future Rogue doesn’t have future Frosh with Him). This is so typical of Shounen Mangas about why good characters turn evil just like how Obito turns evil after the death of Rin (Naruto), Nagato turns evil after the death of Yahiko (Naruto),Monk Anji turns evil after the death of five Orphans that were dear to him(Rurouni Kenshin), Kaname Tousen turns evil after the death of His dear friend who became a shinigami and who was killed by her own husband(Bleach), Arlong turns evil after the death of Fisher Tiger(One Piece). I could go on with many examples from other Mangas and Animes but I’ve said enough.

    K C M
    1. That’s a good one you have over there KCM. Though I wonder, why wouldn’t future-Rogue save the Frosch in the current timeline if he’s in the know of the unfortunate event 😡
      I agree that Frosch is pretty much the wild card over here, and her role in this story arc could be more crucial than we think.

      Seishun
      1. Thanks Seishun and that’s a good question, My guess is that Future Rogue may not want to save Frosch after all because He has transformed a lot in the past seven years from the normal time and if you observe the clear differences between the present Rogue and the future Rogue then you’ll understand why Future Rogue wouldn’t care about Frosch anymore, remember in chapter 326 Future Rogue told Natsu that He killed Sting(maybe Lector too) to steal His power when He(Future Rogue)revealed to Natsu his White Shadow Dragon Mode and that is something that the present Rogue would never do to Sting. So if Future Rogue would do an awful thing like that to His own comrade then it’s safe to say that saving Frosch is not His priority gaining power and world domination is. Another point is that without Frosch around Future Rogue may have been corrupted by that evil shadow for seven years which is another reason why Frosch wouldn’t matter to him. I still don’t know what happens then so we will have to wait and see.

        K C M
  5. I doubt the Dragon will just stand and watch as Ultear is killing the one they were ordered to keep alive… Also, Minerva still has to come into play somewhat. This has gotten quite interesting.

    Misk
  6. Ultear is one of my favorite characters in the series and yet I can never tell if she’s distinctly good or evil. I personally hope that she doesn’t kill Rogue, but at this point I’m not sure who’s around to stop her so an assassination could be in the works (if so hopefully she can undo the act with Time Ark-not sure if that’s possible but hey, one can hope-). Like you said, I thought that Rogue might try the self suicide thing, but as I don’t think such a Grand (excuse pun) arc would end without Natsu and Rogue having a final showdown, which would be impossible if he was taken out another way.

    My ultimate hope for the future is that Igneel and the other dragons make an appearance. Lets be honest, if ever they were to shop up, now would be the time. Though, that said, it’d be nice to see the Dragon Slayers do their job and pull off some slaying. Plus, I’m not completely convinced that Zeref won’t make some kind of move before this is all over. He’s been absent for seven years since he last (and first) showed himself and he must have amassed some kind of power and plan by now. Can’t wait to see how things develop next week, one chapter is just not enough anymore!

    Celecia01
    1. I agree, something tells me Zeref has a hand in this conspiracy. It’ll be nice to see Igneel and the other dragons in this timeline make their appearance – that would be quite an epic spectacle :3

      Seishun
  7. i don’t really think kill current Rogue can change the future
    future Rogue is not on future right now instead on the past,he currently on astray position in timeline.kill current Rogue only will create alternate universe imo.

    Ananas2
  8. What the king said “man vs man, dragon vs dragon, demon vs man” (I hope get all right) just like in ancient times its questioning me what kind about that past if that history is revealed then we might understand more of the true nature of the game.

    Still we have questions need to answer like Lucy’s dairy its content? the present dragons we saw in the previous chap will they appear in battle? & The dragon King who Rogue said to have destroy everything in the future will he appear at this time as well as Zerfe (I hope got the spelling right) will he appear again Im still wondering his connection to Natsu.

    So many question that needs an answer!

    lune
    1. Ultear is about 27-28 give or take a year. As Grey was stated to be between 17-18 in the Tenrojima Island Arc and was about 3-4 years older then Grey was when he was training with Ul. So that would mean she was 20-21 during the Tenrojima Island Arc and now 27-28 post time skip.

      Moridin

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