TheFairy Tailseries is laden with mysterious events and secretive plottings, and the 400 Year Plan is one such overarching plot. Similar to many other aspects, the 400 Year Plan was kept in the dark, only to be revealed to the viewers in the latter part of the series. The rattling development tied together the premise and allowed the audience to piece together several events.
The revelation of the 400 Year Plan explains the existence of Dragon Slayers in the current timeline, despite Dragons being extinct for several centuries. It further ties together a link between Lucy and Natsu, one that dates centuries back.Zeref’s involvement in the planalso makes his character slightly conflicting and morally ambiguous, since the sole motive behind this mission was to save mankind.
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The Events That Led to the Plan
During the era of Dragons, almost 400 years from the series’ set time, Zeref stumbled upon the Fire Dragon Igneel, one of the pacifist Dragons that believed in the coexistence of humans and Dragons. With no threat to either side, the two grew closer and Igneel agreed to take Natsu under his wing and teach himDragon Slayer Magic. However, this meeting took place during the time of Acnologia’s bloodthirsty rampage, turning him into humanity and Dragonkind’s biggest threat.
Zeref knew that teaching humans Dragon Slayer Magic would never be enough to take down Acnologia, forcing him to look elsewhere. Luckily, he became acquainted with Anna Heartfilia, a mage skilled in the rare Celestial Spirit Magic. In collaboration with the pacifist Dragons and Anna, Zeref came up with the audacious plan ofusing Celestial Spirit Magicto open the Eclipse Gate, a device that can allow beings to travel to the future. Through the Eclipse Gate, five chosen Dragon Slayers would be sent to the future with their foster Dragons sealed inside of them.
The 400 Years Plan
With time-travel at its core, Zeref’s plan initially seemed baffling and absurd. However, the other two parties were bound to agree given the looming threat of annihilation at the hands of Acnologia.Five pacifist Dragonswere sealed inside their foster children: Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Rogue, and Sting. The objective was to bring the Dragons to a time period rich in Ethernano, allowing them to heal their maimed souls and rejuvenate their strength.
For the Eclipse Gate to be opened, however, someone in the future has to utilize Celestial Spirit Magic to allow the two timelines to connect. It was up to Anna’s descendants to fulfill this duty, andthe Heartfilia Clanupheld this ardent task by passing along the 400 Year Plan’s secret. 400 years later, Layla Heartfilia finally opened the Eclipse Gate on 7th July, X777, allowing the chosen Dragon Slayers and Anna Heartfilia to travel to the future. Once the plan was successful, Anna went on to find the scattered Dragon Slayers, and the pacifist Dragons remained sealed inside their foster children, waiting for the right time to reveal themselves.
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However, the plan ended up with a few dire consequences for some of those involved. The Dragon Slayers were scattered and lost in the new timeline, and they were completely unaware of the transpiring events. This led them to believe they had been abandoned by their foster parents. Layla Heartfilia also suffered a grave consequence as she only had11 of the 12 ZodiacKeys during the time of opening the Eclipse Gate. Since Layla was forced to use her own life force for the missing key, her body suffered considerably and even developed an incurable disease.
The Aftermath of the 400 Year Plan
The 400 Year Plan became a success with the opening of the Eclipse Gate, since it meant that the pacifist Dragons will have another chance to fight for their fallen brethren. Layla, Anna, and Toma E. Fiore, theruler of the Kingdom of Fiore, discussed the events and the plan of action going forward. Anna decided to find the missing Dragon Slayers and aid them in the plan. Layla simply asked Toma E. Fiore to destroy the Eclipse Gate, though he did not comply with the request seeing how it was used once more during the Grand Magic Games. Layla’s body eventually gave in to the Magic Deficiency Disease from opening the Eclipse Gate using her own life force.
During the Tartaros arc, Igneel and the other pacifist Dragons finally made an appearance, fighting off theDragon King Acnologia. While the Dragon’s failed to defeat Acologia, they were still able to deter him and buy time for the Dragon Slayers. Before their souls disappeared, the Dragons explained some of the events briefly, offering some closure to the Dragon Slayers that were kept in the dark.
