Quote Originally Posted by Marik View Post
Gildarts wasn't mentioned until now because they didn't know the anime was going to be this long. It was originally supposed to end after the Fighting Festival arc, so they avoided mentioning him. He's was mentioned multiple times in the manga before this point.
Was he mentioned in that part where they introduced the concept of S-class quests, and they talked about Mystogan or Laxus being the strongest person in Fairy Tail? They all seem pretty certain there aren't any contenders for the position when Gildarts showed up.