History Recap / FairyTailTartarosArc

** The violence and gore is also somewhat toned down due to the airtime. There is also a lot more humor added into the arc. Even with the darker elements, the anime still tries to be for younger ages.

* FreudianExcuse: When Minerva was young, Ziemma abused her while training, pounding into her head that MightMakesRight and all that jazz. Minerva acts the way she does because that's how she was taught, and it's greatly implied that deep down, she knew it was wrong, but didn't know how to stop.

* FromBadToWorse: Progressively as the arc continues (mostly from chapters 1 and 2 of the story). The Magic Council is wiped out, the previous ones are killed to unlock a weapon with one of them having turned traitor and sided with the demons, and Fairy Tail's strongest is systematically put out of commission (Laxus and the Thunder Tribe are poisoned, Erza and Mirajane are captured and set to be converted to demons, Elfman is brainwashed to attack the guild, and Natsu likewise is captured). Then the guild hall is destroyed... again. And now we have [[FantasticNuke Face]] about to detonate until Wendy and Charle stop it. The third chapter of the arc has Tartaros deciding to cross their equivalent of the GodzillaThreshold, however, and are now looking to summon [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast E.N.D.]]. To top it off, their EldritchAbomination Guild Hall absorbs every member of Fairy Tail (except one) into it's being. The only one left is Lucy. Lucy is then told by Aquarius to shatter her key in order to summon the Celestial Spirit King. While summoning him turns the tide, it also effectively means that (barring a miracle)Lucy and Aquarius may never see each other again. And if that's not enough, despite the King freeing all the other members of Fairy Tail, Doranbolt reveals to Wendy that even though that one Face was destroyed, there are ''at least'' 3000 more Face bombs all around the landscape waiting to go off. With just thirty minutes left to go until they do, a loud, piercing roar rings out across the entire landscape, causing Wendy to faint, Natsu to [[OhCrap start shaking]], and [[ArcVillain Mard Geer]] to slightly panic. What's the one thing that could cause a MassOhCrap reaction of this magnitude? Who else but Acnologia?

** Lucy's outfit from the siege on Tartaros to her [[spoiler:sacrifice of Aquarius]]. In the manga, it's damaged in her battle with Franmalth, necessitating her to change the way it's worn. Said ClothingDamage never happens in the anime, leading her outfit change to be questionable. Can cross over with AdaptationalModesty.
** In the manga, Lisanna is stripped nude under Tartaros' captivity, compensating for it with Animal Soul once freed. She's still wearing clothes in the anime, so when her Animal Soul deactivates [[spoiler:as Face starts to activate]], there's no reason for her to end up nude.

* BackFromTheDead: What, you thought you could just kill demons and they wouldn't come back? [[ResurrectiveImmortality Nope]].
** Eventually stopped when Mirajane destroys Tartaros's labs.
* BackForTheDead: Almost the entire Magic Council gets killed off by Tartaros.
* BadassCrew: The Nine Demon Gates, even more so than past enemies. Each one gives the top Fairy Tail Mages one hell of a fight.
* TheBadGuyWins: Acnologia kills Igneel in their duel, devastating Natsu.

* BigDamnHeroes: Cana when she stumbles upon Elfman (who's being mind-controlled) setting up a bomb to destroy the guild. Elfman attacks her and she just barely manages to knock him away and turn all the guild mates into cards before the bomb destroys their headquarters.

* BittersweetEnding: The reunion between Dragon Slayers and their Dragons takes a grim reality as not only Igneel was killed by Acnologia, but it seems the other Dragons have to go away now. True, Tartaros minus E.N.D. has been defeated and Minerva has been redeemed, but there were casualties this time around, and Zeref is still out there. And to make matters worse? The second Magic Council is no more, the Fairy Tail members go their separate ways after so many years together, and we learn who E.N.D.'s true identity is.

** The violence and gore is also somewhat toned down due to the airtime Fairy Tail airs. There is also a lot more humor added into the arc even with the darker elements the anime still tries to be for younger ages.

** GroinAttack: The very first thing Kyoka does in her attempt to break Erza. It's drawn in a way to obscure it, but it's pretty clear from the angle Kyoka is grabbing and her claiming that she can "Turn sensation to pain" what the implication was.

* ContinuityNod: Cana used Sho's technique to turn people into cards and is implied to have learnt it from him too.
** And then [[TheAssimilator Franmalth]] shows off his 'most powerful soul' that he had absorbed seven years ago. It's Hades. Yes, [[Recap/FairyTailTenrouIslandArc THAT Hades]].

* CurbStompBattle: The Thunder Tribe against Tempester. He practically brushes them aside before Laxus shows up. And even then, Laxus's attack hardly phases him.

** And then there's Silver freezing Natsu solid with one wave of his hand, though he kind of [[LeeroyJenkins had that coming]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Holy crap.''

* DeusExMachina: Face is ultimately stopped not by Fairy Tail, but when TheDragonsComeBack.

* DiabolusExMachina: He's baaaack... Acnologia reappears in Chapter 399, and even Mard Geer looks nervous.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: After a lifetime of being abused by her father and becoming a demon, Minerva is rescued by Sting and Rogue, who welcome her back into Sabertooth.

* TheGhost: E.N.D., despite being mentioned and referred to several times in the arc, doesn't make a single appearance.
** TheReveal: Oh yes it did. It's Natsu

* GreaterScopeVillain: E.N.D., the ''real'' Guild Master of Tartaros.
** Also, Zeref. Even moreso than in previous arcs.
** Worst of all is Acnologia.

* HeroicSacrifice: Attempted by Laxus to contain Tempester's poison attack. It's enough to get the tribe and Yajima out of there so they can be heal but the rest of the town winds up infected as a result with a massive body count.

* TheWorfEffect: Igneel returns only to be brutally dispatched by Acnologia.

* YouCantThwartStageOne: Mard Geer wasn't kidding when he said Face being destroyed was AllAccordingToPlan. One down, thiry left to go before they all detonate.

* TheAdventureContinues: Fairy Tail all go their separate ways, with the guild seemingly disbanding. Natsu goes off - with only Happy in tow - to go train to become strong enough to take on Acnologia... and then we see Zeref referring to E.N.D. by its true name: '''E'''therious '''N'''atsu '''D'''ragneel.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Tempester's DeadlyGas was noted to have killed over 100 people, though what provokes Fairy Tail into declaring war on Tartaros is the (non-lethal) poisoning of Laxus, the Raijinshuu, and Yajima. Granted, it's only because Laxus took the great personal risk of sucking up as much of the DeadlyGas as he could that they didn't join the body count and/or the kill count wasn't even higher.

* FromBadToWorse: Progressively as the arc continues (mostly from chapters 1 and 2 of the story). The Magic Council is wiped out, the previous ones are killed to unlock a weapon with one of them having turned traitor and sided with the demons, and Fairy Tail's strongest is systematically put out of commission (Laxus and the Thunder Tribe are poisoned, Erza and Mirajane are captured and set to be converted to demons, Elfman is brainwashed to attack the guild, and Natsu likewise is captured). Then the guild hall is destroyed... again. And now we have [[FantasticNuke Face]] about to detonate until Wendy and Charle stop it. The third chapter of the arc has Tartaros deciding to cross their equivalent of the GodzillaThreshold, however, and are now looking to summon [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast E.N.D.]]. To top it off, their EldritchAbomination Guild Hall absorbs every member of Fairy Tail (except one) into it's being. The only one left is Lucy. Lucy is then told by Aquarius to shatter her key in order to summon the Celestial Spirit King. While summoning him turns the tide, it also effectively means that (barring a miracle)Lucy and Aquarius may never see each other again. And if that's not enough, despite the King freeing all the other members of Fairy Tail, Doranbolt reveals to Wendy that even though that one Face was destroyed, there are ''at least'' 3000 more Face bombs all around the landscape waiting to go off. With just thirty minutes left to go until they do, a loud, piercing roar rings out across the entire landscape, causing Wendy to faint, Natsu to [[OhCrap start shaking]], and even [[ArcVillain Mard Geer]] to slightly panic. What's the one thing that could cause a MassOhCrap reaction of this magnitude? Who else but Acnologia?

* GoryDiscretionShot: Most of the council members Tartaros has killed have been subject to this.

* OneManArmy: Jellal vs the Oración Seis. The only trouble he runs into is Midnight trying to pull another DaydreamSurprise on him. He manages to break free and easily mops the floor with them.

* KarmaHoudini: Just like last time, Zeref and Acnologia get away completely scott-free for their atrocious actions in the arc, though the latter has at least lost an arm.

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Crawford probably should have realized that [[TooDumbToLive announcing to a room full of genocidal demons]] that he had made himself the last LivingMacGuffin key to Face was a really, really bad idea. Granted, he was still the only person who was capable of activating Face remotely, but he definitely should have mentioned that sooner.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''[[UpToEleven Holy crap.]]''