Ep. 36: Irene's tragic past reveals her role in dragon extinction and her failed attempt to merge with Erza.
Flashbacks show Irene ruling during the Dragon King Festival, where she created Dragon Slayer magic to help humans fight dragons. This magic accidentally turned Acnologia into a dragon and wiped out most dragon species. While pregnant with Erza, Irene began transforming into a dragon herself. Her paranoid husband imprisoned and tortured her, prompting her to magically stop Erza’s growth to protect her. When he threatened the baby, Irene fully transformed, killed him, and fled. Centuries later, Zeref found her and restored her appearance but not her humanity. Insane from inability to adjust, she tried to enchant her consciousness into Erza. The attempt failed, leading her to abandon newborn Erza, who later claimed Fairy Tail as her true family.
Episodes
- Ep. 32 · Natsu and Gray fight while Erza's group faces a massive enemy army.
- Ep. 33 · Erza’s tears halt Gray and Natsu’s conflict while Spriggan 12 attacks Ishgar
- Ep. 34 · Natsu enters his subconscious mind to confront forgotten memories while allies fight Larcade
- Ep. 35 · Natsu confronts inner demons while Sting battles Larcade and gains White-Shadow Dragon Mode
- Ep. 36 · Irene's tragic past reveals her role in dragon extinction and her failed attempt to merge with Erza.
- Ep. 37 · Natsu faces dragon-demon hybrid threat while Wendy and Irene swap bodies during Irene's meteor attack
- Ep. 38 · Erza confronts Irene while Natsu rejects dragon or demon transformation to save Fiore
- Ep. 39 · Gray Confronts Zeref and Uses Lost Iced Shell to Save Natsu
- Ep. 40 · Gray and Natsu halt their fight against Zeref as Acnologia arrives and mutilates Irene's corpse.