Episode 287

Emperor Spriggan is the 287th episode of the Fairy Tail anime, and the 10th episode of the 2018 series.
Fairy Tail's infiltration team encounters Brandish, a powerful member of the Spriggan 12 who gives them a warning before departing. Meanwhile, Makarov continues his negotiations with the Alvarez Empire, finally encountering their emperor after a year-long absence, but is shocked to see it is none other than Zeref.
==Summary==
At Pegasus Village, Team B are relaxing at the hot springs alongside Ichiya, where the latter reveals to the Fairy Tail Mages that the Thunder God Tribe and Laxus have actually joined Blue Pegasus, much to their surprise. Back at Caracole Island, Natsu and Gray are still in awe of the Magic Power of the Spriggan 12 they are facing: Brandish μ. Unexpectedly, the Shield of Spriggan decides to leave the island after finding out that the Star Mango booth she wanted to visit was destroyed. She then orders Marin to return Lucy and Erza from his pocket dimension, to which he protests, saying they shouldn't leave the alleged spy or the Fairy Tail Mages unharmed. However, he soon heeds her request after she expresses her Magic, causing Caracole Island to grow into a tall mountain out of the sea. As she turns around, Natsu stops her, declaring that they have hurt one of their comrades, and that he can not let them leave. Glancing his way, Brandish signals at Marin with her hands, causing him to seemingly vanish, claiming that now they are even and revealing afterword that Makarov was still alive, before shrinking the entire island to the size of a stepping stop under her feet, throwing all the residents in the water. She then goes on to warn the Mages of the immense strength Alvarez has, considering that it contains eleven more Mages in its ranks other than her with equal power, much to the group's fear.
After being rescued by some fishing boats, Erza ponders the Shield of Spriggan's Magic, being able to manipulate the mass of the island at ease. Before she could instruct the group on their next moves, Mest hastily teleports the Mages into the Sailing Temple: Olympia, where they meet up with Sorano, discovering that she was the spy and, having blown up her cover, fled to the Caracole Island. As the temple begins to move, the Crime Sorcière Mage reveals that they're heading to where their Master is at, causing Lucy to thank her by her code name, Angel, before correcting it to the birth name. This prompts Sorano to pull the former closer, stating that she should not forget that it was her who killed Karen, just to back off upon Erza's demand.
At the Imperial Capital, Vistarion, Makarov is seen discussing how Alvarez came to be and its Emperor's nature with the Empire's minister, Yajeel, while they are playing Rejenca. After Makarov loses once again, Yajeel remarks that the key to this game is to not lose the "Goddess". They are then interrupted with the celebrations in the streets, announcing Emperor Spriggan's return after a one-year absence. Makarov expresses his enthusiasm to finally meet the Emperor, just to fall into sheer horror upon realizing him to be none other than the Black Mage, Zeref. As the ancient Mages enters the castle, he is greeted by his Shields, Invel, Dimaria, Ajeel and August, with all of them commenting on their leader's malicious nature and preparations for the Dragon King Festival. Soon after, Yajeel appears and introduces a worried Makarov to the Emperor. Alone, the two discuss how the Black Mage managed to build the Alvarez Empire and its goals: defeating the Black Dragon Acnologia, and obtain Lumen Histoire, which Zeref reveals that he already knows its real name, Fairy Heart. Realizing that war is unavoidable, Makarov lashes out at Zeref, swearing to not give up their First Master to him. Zeref then begins to crush Makarov with his Magic, but before he's able to kill him off, the Ten Wizard Saint is saved by a teleporting Mest. Outside of the capital's borders, the two escapees then meet up with the rest of the rescue team, all glad to see Makarov unharmed.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
==Battles & Events==
*Makarov Rescue Operation
==Magic, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
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===Spells used===
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===Abilities used===
*Flight
===Items used===
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==Manga & Anime Differences==
*The following parts occur only in the anime:
**Angel mentioning the Infinity Clock event to Team Natsu.
**Mest filling in Team Natsu on the aftermath of former Oracion Seis members who all joined Crime Sorcière.
*Certain scenes from Team B's hot springs detour were off-paneled or omitted such as Evergreen and Jenny trading barbs at one another.
*Juvia's imagination of Laxus in Blue Pegasus doesn't include them speaking. 
*Silhouettes of the Spriggan 12 and Brandish's following disappearance were both omitted.
*Erza addresses Erik by his real name in conversation with Mest in the manga while in the anime she addresses him as Cobra. 
*Angel backing off from Erza's request wasn't shown.
==Navigation==
Category:Episodes