In Fairy Tail Chapter 462: Battlefield, the Fairies were given their final assignments. It was also revealed that the Heavenly Kings of Ishgar will be their allies.
No sign of Gildarts of Crime Sociere..for now.
Now, unto the predictions:
The final panel tease was not so subtle-Natsu is blazing to face Zeref! It may be a surprise as most bets have that as the final "boss" battle, but it could be a narrative that may drag on with more battles in between.
The Brandish-Lucy reveal still did not happen even as Lucy interrogated a chained Brandish. 'Randy' would rather die than answer her query. This tease is dragging with every chapter and it should be a revelation that would not disappoint.
It's possible that Brandish is not revealing her secret so Lucy would keep her alive. However, it seems clear that the orders were "to treat her hospitably" so they do not intend to kill her. Perhaps Brandish does not want to reveal her secret from a position of weakness. Her escape is coming-courtesy of Marin who actually survived.
In the Fairy Tail Reddit page, user 'Igneel' had some interesting observations:
"Marin survived Lucy Stomp! Fairy Tail is going to get screwed - Zeref says it right - weakness is not killing anyone" - Zeref is not even flinching.
"All the guilds joining together - reminds me of Naruto and the final battle" - This arc may be the final battle and possibly the countdown to big Chapter 500.
"Ain't nothin' gonna keep Erza down!" - And nothing haters can do about it. Erza's back, bandages and all.
At Mangahelpers, discussion was all about the division of the Guilds and how it was uneven. Questions on Mavis' abilities as a tactician abound.
The consensus is that the South team (Juvia, Gray, Natsu, Wendy and Laxus) is much stronger than the other teams. Of course, Natsu threw a wrench on all that by raiding Zeref. Will there be a big END revelation?
Find out when Zeref rolls out the "Black Carpet" in Chapter 463.