Let's Watch FMA: Brotherhood

[Dragonus45]

Yeah; the specific reason given was that, well, because he's Wrath, the wrathful souls in his body fought one another over and over, until only one was left. He's the only homunculus whose souls turned on one another, because wrath is the most directly destructive of human impulses. (The end result was that the energy of all those souls permanently enhanced his body and gave him his homunculus eye.)

Ironically, it also makes him the homunculus who is closest to humanity.

Which makes him such an interesting character.

[Randomguy]

Aaand, we're back!

Episode 47: "Emissary of Darkness"

Watchthrough Thoughts

• I didn't think Pride could get much creepier, but here we are.
• I love the contrast between Hohenheheim's father-son reunion with Edward compared to his reunion with Alphonse
• My animal instincts are getting really tired of this particular line.
• Was that Lan-Fan that just took out Gluttony?
• It was! And she's got upgrades!

Episode Notes


Hooray! Edward's willing to swallow his personal distastes to work together with his father on a temporary basis! He sure has come along way since the first episode. He's still got a far too negative opinion of his father though. The sucker punch at the start of the episode was entirely deserved, but it's not as if Hohenheim voluntarily caused what happened at Xerxes, or chose to become a living Philosoper's stone, and yet Ed's blaming him for it anyway. I suppose that makes sense, though: Hohenheim seems to blame himself as well. It must run in the family.

Now that I think about it, Ling's a lot better at cooperation than Edward is. He managed to work together effectively with the guy that's wearing his own flesh like a cheap suit! I guess sharing the same skin is the most extreme possible way of being in the same boat as someone, though.


That one line from Major Miles' monologue: "It wouldn't surprise me if that's what [Grumman] is plotting", makes it unclear if we were hearing Grumman's thoughts, or what Miles thought that Grumman was thinking. So it's possible that Miles is just being paranoid, and this distrust could lead to their downfall.

It doesn't seem like Grumman to be plotting a takeover: Before he got involved in this whole treason thing he was planning on retiring soon, wasn't he? In either case, it's not too big a deal, since he wouldn't be sabotaging Mustang and Olivier's chances, he'd just be giving them the room to fail from their own incompetence, and putting himself in a position to benefit from that failure. A time honoured military tradition for dealing with people you don't like, really. Mustang and Olivier just need to be sure that they don't screw this up, but the entire country is domed if they fail anyway.


I wonder how exactly Pride was controlling alphonse? Is it just because Alphonse's soul was temporarily somewhere else, or could he do that to anyone? As if he's not terrifying enough already.


Things to add to my List Of Stuff That Will Become Important Later:

• Pride's shadow-body can't manifest in the dark.

[Suichimo]

I wonder how exactly Pride was controlling alphonse? Is it just because Alphonse's soul was temporarily somewhere else, or could he do that to anyone? As if he's not terrifying enough already.

Pretty much, Al is still just a suit of armor. Remember back to Dublith when the Chimera under Greed had Martel go inside of Alphonse to keep him under control. Al was able to put up a fight against her, but he can't do anything currently since his soul is undergoing temporary rejection.

[Randomguy]

Episode 48: "The Oath in the Tunnel"

No watchthrough thoughts this episode.

Episode Notes


I can’t wait for the dramatic costume change when Ed actually puts on the cloak that he alchemized last episode. That’s going to be awesome.


The Fight With Pride

I half expected Hohenheim to turn on the lights in the town halfway through the fight, to help the townspeople.

Pride’s bits can apparently be “severed” the same way the regular Homunculi’s limbs can, only you need to use sudden bright light to do it. This brings him down from "completely unstoppable" to "extremely dangerous", but it's enough to give our protagonists a fighting chance.

Ed’s northern automail is impervious to Pride, for some reason. It’s still a very risky situation for him, though, since it covers only a small part of his body and Pride can do almost omnidirectional death attacks. Of course, Pride might find a way around it, now that he knows it’s carbon fibre. At the very least he could tell The Father about that little trick and The Father can transmute it into something weaker, just like Ed did to Greed.


Madam Christmas

It turns out that Madam Christmas, the owner of the bar/brothel of the same name, is Mustang's foster mother. Wow, I didn’t see that coming. I wonder what his family history is? Why did he grow up an orphan? Where his parents killed in some war? I have the feeling this is something that was in the manga or original show, but that they decided not to spend time on in Brotherhood.


Om nom nom

Gluttony gets a deliciously karmic death here. This is also one of the episodes where you can’t help but feel a little sorry for the guy, and this time around he doesn’t ruin it by going all eldritch abomination.

The other homunculi are probably going to get killed by their fatal flaw as well. Sloth was already beaten once by making him immobile. Wrath (who I still expect to show up again) might get himself killed trying to hurt Mustang as revenge for kidnapping his wife, and Pride might get killed within the next few episodes by trying to take on Edward, Lin/Greed, Lan Fan, and whoever else isn't too injured to keep fighting or looking after Alphonse.

The most interesting part about this scene was that when Pride “ate” Gluttony, and it turns out he absorbed not only Gluttony’s powers but also his… well, his gluttony. This gives us an interesting piece of information: When The Father extracts a homunculus (at least, a homunculus based on an emotion or a Sin) he loses some or all of that corresponding Sin. That might explain why he chose to make his agents Seven Deadly Sins: To remove the sin from himself, so he can become closer to a “perfect being”. Well, assuming that The Father is trying to make himself more powerful than God, like the tablet from Xerxes suggested.

Have we seen The Father display any sins, post Xerxes? No sloth, no lust or bloodlust (he is planning on murdering a lot of people, but to accomplish a goal, not for the sake of murdering them). No wrath either, except maybe from Hohenheim's weird dream in the breather episode. Definitely no gluttony. Arguably some pride, because he considers humans to be resources or insects, but I don't think that The Father actually acts prideful, he just doesn't value human life as anything other than a resource, and his beliefs about humanity are just a consequence of that. The big one is avarice: He's trying to get something, and he wants it badly enough that he's willing to dedicate more than a hundred years to do it. I guess this depends on whether or not you equate avarice and ambition.


Things to add to my List Of Stuff That Will Become Important Later:

• The people at Central have, apparently, somehow not realized that Olivier's working against them. Either that, or that's what they want her to think.

[Dragonus45]

Just want to post to say I'm here reading and enjoying the thread but don't have a lot to add.

[lord_khaine]

Not much to comment on either, besides really looking forward to see your reaction to the final episodes.

[Kato]

Have we seen The Father display any sins, post Xerxes?

Eh, as you say, it IS debatable. Certainly no obvious things like lust or greed for money. But greed for power? Yeah, definitely. I think there was some moment when he showed wrath, too, but then this might have been later and I'm not sure. Pride is similarly debatable but in my book he IS proud, though maybe not in the same way Pride is but it's there... belittling people because he is more powerful than them is definitely pride.


sidenote regarding Roy's past: I think there is a little more coming, but I don't think the mana or the first anime covered anything Brotherhood does not.

[Calemyr]

Eh, as you say, it IS debatable. Certainly no obvious things like lust or greed for money. But greed for power? Yeah, definitely. I think there was some moment when he showed wrath, too, but then this might have been later and I'm not sure. Pride is similarly debatable but in my book he IS proud, though maybe not in the same way Pride is but it's there... belittling people because he is more powerful than them is definitely pride.


sidenote regarding Roy's past: I think there is a little more coming, but I don't think the mana or the first anime covered anything Brotherhood does not.

I'd point out that deadly sins are mostly sins of excess. You have to eat. You have to rest. You can't really survive if you have no ambition or self esteem or willingness to fight your own survival. The species itself wouldn't survive without a reproductive drive. The sins are not, of themselves, sinful. It's only when they are taken to excess that the need to eat becomes gluttony or the appreciation of other peoples' things becomes envy. A little of any of the "sins" is, in fact, healthy, but too much of any of them is unhealthy and thus a Sin. Moderation is the key. One could argue that the dividing line is control: when you control the instinct, it's healthy. When the instinct controls you, when it drives you to make bad choices to satisfy its impulses, it's unhealthy.

Father does display signs of greed and pride, but most examples of them are well controlled. Father's greed for power is not power for it's own sake, but rather power to achieve a goal. If his pride really made him feel untouchable, he wouldn't be hiding and operating in secret via long games and subtle manipulations. He recognizes his superior power, but also the limitations of that power. The problem is that it's rather hard to gauge where danger zone for greed and pride actually is. Without them, there is no forward progress, but at what point do they stop being motivating factors and become obsessions? Everyone draws the line in a different place with those two, it seems.

Does that make any sense?

[HandofShadows]

Not much to comment on either, besides really looking forward to see your reaction to the final episodes.

I second this. Your in for a fun ride.

[Ravian]

Have we seen The Father display any sins, post Xerxes? No sloth, no lust or bloodlust (he is planning on murdering a lot of people, but to accomplish a goal, not for the sake of murdering them). No wrath either, except maybe from Hohenheim's weird dream in the breather episode. Definitely no gluttony. Arguably some pride, because he considers humans to be resources or insects, but I don't think that The Father actually acts prideful, he just doesn't value human life as anything other than a resource, and his beliefs about humanity are just a consequence of that. The big one is avarice: He's trying to get something, and he wants it badly enough that he's willing to dedicate more than a hundred years to do it. I guess this depends on whether or not you equate avarice and ambition.

Interesting you noticed this, it's especially interesting when you look at his behavior in the past as relating to the presence and absence of sin.

Spoiler: Possible Spoilers

Show

I especially like the bit that Father's primary sin is greed, he wants to consume God and become a perfect being, and he can't just remove that part of himself completely. Thus Greed the homunculus lacks the same taint his Father has and has the more material aspects of greed along with the greed for friends, which ultimately becomes his reason for his constant betrayals.

[Dragonus45]

Eh, as you say, it IS debatable. Certainly no obvious things like lust or greed for money. But greed for power? Yeah, definitely. I think there was some moment when he showed wrath, too, but then this might have been later and I'm not sure. Pride is similarly debatable but in my book he IS proud, though maybe not in the same way Pride is but it's there... belittling people because he is more powerful than them is definitely pride.


sidenote regarding Roy's past: I think there is a little more coming, but I don't think the mana or the first anime covered anything Brotherhood does not.

I allways felt like he siphoned off what he felt where his weaknesses but being unable to objectively view himself left a great deal behind.

[Suichimo]

Madam Christmas

It turns out that Madam Christmas, the owner of the bar/brothel of the same name, is Mustang's foster mother. Wow, I didn’t see that coming. I wonder what his family history is? Why did he grow up an orphan? Where his parents killed in some war? I have the feeling this is something that was in the manga or original show, but that they decided not to spend time on in Brotherhood.

Unfortunately no, this is as far in to Roy's personal back story that we get.

The other homunculi are probably going to get killed by their fatal flaw as well. Sloth was already beaten once by making him immobile. Wrath (who I still expect to show up again) might get himself killed trying to hurt Mustang as revenge for kidnapping his wife, and Pride might get killed within the next few episodes by trying to take on Edward, Lin/Greed, Lan Fan, and whoever else isn't too injured to keep fighting or looking after Alphonse.

You're close on one of them. The downfall in question is VERY surprising and a crowning moment. The other two aren't even on the map.

Things to add to my List Of Stuff That Will Become Important Later:

• The people at Central have, apparently, somehow not realized that Olivier's working against them. Either that, or that's what they want her to think.

I'm surprised you haven't noticed it yet, as I'm fairly certain they've talked about it, but they are fully aware that Olivier would try something. The head is separated from the beast, so to speak, though.

[Randomguy]

I allways felt like he siphoned off what he felt where his weaknesses but being unable to objectively view himself left a great deal behind.

Oooh, I like this theory. It works great for pride: The Father doesn't see himself as proud, and thinks that his assessment of humans as resources/insects is entirely reasonable and accurate, but from the perspective a human he's still got some/a lot of pride. Really, though, it would be hard to be entirely humble if you could warp reality with but a thought. That said, Hohenheim seems to manage.

[Dragonus45]

I'm surprised you haven't noticed it yet, as I'm fairly certain they've talked about it, but they are fully aware that Olivier would try something. The head is separated from the beast, so to speak, though.

They are of the mistaken belief that the North won't act if their leader is held hostage... lol

Oooh, I like this theory. It works great for pride: The Father doesn't see himself as proud, and thinks that his assessment of humans as resources/insects is entirely reasonable and accurate, but from the perspective a human he's still got some/a lot of pride. Really, though, it would be hard to be entirely humble if you could warp reality with but a thought. That said, Hohenheim seems to manage.

Hoenheim was was a mortal man before he gained his powers and is remarkably humble as a result of his guilt over the fall of Xerxese. Or at least that was always my theory for how he kept himself grounded.

[Grif]

Hoenheim was was a mortal man before he gained his powers and is remarkably humble as a result of his guilt over the fall of Xerxese. Or at least that was always my theory for how he kept himself grounded.

He also took the time to talk with each and every one of his souls. I'd imagine that does wonders to keep your mind firmly grounded.

[lord_khaine]

I think you should swiftly spoiler that Grif, i dont recall it has been revealed yet.

[Cizak]

Randomguy, if you're reading this first: There is an unmarked spoiler two posts above this one.

[Rodin]

Ed’s northern automail is impervious to Pride, for some reason. It’s still a very risky situation for him, though, since it covers only a small part of his body and Pride can do almost omnidirectional death attacks. Of course, Pride might find a way around it, now that he knows it’s carbon fibre. At the very least he could tell The Father about that little trick and The Father can transmute it into something weaker, just like Ed did to Greed.

I believe the reason on this is that Ed is transmuting the automail into the same stuff as Greed's Ultimate Shield. He couldn't do it with his normal auto-mail because it was made of iron/steel. The carbon fiber has a higher amount of carbon in it, which lets him transmute it without needing additional materials.

[Randomguy]

Episode 49: "Filial Affection."

Watchthrough Thoughts

• Ooh, cool boss fight music! This must be Pride's final form. Well, unless he gets more powerful on The Promised Day or something.
• Does Al see out of his neck-hole? Am I only just noticing this?
• This was Mustang's big plan? Seriously?

Episode Notes

Al's idea to deal with Pride was a good one. They don't really have to wait until they have a way to deal with Pride to open up the trap: Alphonse could end him right there, by just hitting him until the philosopher's stone runs out of charge. Not that Al would ever consider a plan like that, though. He seems to have accepted the idea that they're going to have to kill Pride, despite the Elric brother's normal anti-murder philosophy (I'd say "nonviolent philosophy", but the Elric brothers don't exactly hesitate to solve their problems with violence), but even so there's no way he'd have the stomach to spend hours bludgeoning a small, helpless child to death, even if it was really an eldritch abomination that only looked like a child.

Hmm... I wonder if Al could transmute all the oxygen in the place into something else? Combine it with silicon in the ground to make silicon dioxide, or something.

There's nothing really stopping Al from tunnelling out of the trap using alchemy, though. He could start by enclosing himself in a smaller shell with Pride on the outside, and then dig out through the bottom, sealing the tunnel behind him.

Okay, I'll stop nitpicking now.
I guess on the bright side they're making it harder for The Father to grab Al and use him as a sacrifice to open the portal of truth.


I really thought Mustang's strategy was more than just grabbing a hostage and barging in to shoot/incinerate everyone wearing the enemy uniform (and not just because it's the same one he's wearing). I guess this is just a distraction while the Ishvalan army, or the people from Eastern Command and Fort Briggs get into position? Or are they trying to get towards some goal, too? Hmm. Now that I think about it I don't really know what Mustang's plan to disrupt the ritual actually is. Kill The Father? That might work, but it'd be near impossible to achieve, even if they manage to wipe out Central's army.

...I wouldn’t be too shocked if Greed tried another power grab at the end: If he got the ritual going in his favour, and used that to create an army of immortal soldiers, then he might be able to reach his goal of ruling the world.

It looks like Greed's trying to pull this off. Unless he has a change of heart last minute or something.


When I saw this episode, I thought "filial" meant "between siblings", and thought that it might have been referring to both affection between Ed and Al and affection (well, sort of) between Al and Pride, since they're technically/sort of cousins. As I was writing this, though, I looked up "filial" and it turns out to mean "between parent and child": It's referring to Pride and Mrs. Bradley. (Well, maybe Al and Hohenheim, too).

The Promised Day

Well, this is it. Next episode is the start of the long awaited Promised Day. I still don't really know what to make of the shear number of episodes remaining, since like I said earlier I expected the Promised Day to be closer to the end. Then again, these past 4 episodes have only covered about 24 hours (From just before sunrise on the day before the Promised Day to sunrise on the Promised Day), and the actual Promised Day is going to be even more eventful, but even if it takes 10 episodes there's still a good chunk until the end of the series.

Things to add to my List Of Stuff That Will Become Important Later:

• The blood relation between Ed, Al and some of the homunculi. Especially since blood is apparently "Soul Data".

And, since we're about to enter the actual finally, I think I should include a new list:

The List of Things That Will Probably Happen during The Promised Day (In no particular order)

• The Ishvalan army is going to attack something or other. (Well, what's left of it after Kimblee had his fun this episode).
• The combined Easter/Northern army advances on Central.
• Wrath shows up again and attempts to slaughter either Mustang or the people who decided his wife was an acceptable loss.
• Pride might help him.
• Kimblee and Scar face off, and Kimblee doesn't get curb-stomped this time around.
• Kimblee destroys a small army.
• Hohenheim vs. The Father show down.
• May Chang returns in a suitably dramatic manner, although probably not outdoing Lan Fan's entrance last episode.
• Envy escapes, takes over someone's body and grabs someone's philosopher's stone. (Ed's? Kimblee's? Sloths?)
• Dr. Marco uses his stone-draining alchemy again. Maybe on Sloth (He certainly wouldn't be able to dodge it).
• Someone breaks Pride and Al out of the trap so that Al can be sacrificed.
• Izumi shows up.
• Lieutenant Ross might show up.
• We find out how exactly the entire system of alchemy was set up by The Father, and what the difference between it and Alcahestry is. (Okay, this one's just wishful thinking).

[Suichimo]

[*]This was Mustang's big plan? Seriously?

This is Mustang's part of the plan. There are multiple sides working on this same gig.

Hmm... I wonder if Al could transmute all the oxygen in the place into something else? Combine it with silicon in the ground to make silicon dioxide, or something.

If he had the correct transmutation circle, yes. This is how Roy's trasmutations work, after all. However, from what we've seen, clapping transmutation is restricted to more general, earthen transmutations. This is all we've seen Ed, Al, and Izumi use.

Spoiler

Show

At least until Mustang.

I really thought Mustang's strategy was more than just grabbing a hostage and barging in to shoot/incinerate everyone wearing the enemy uniform (and not just because it's the same one he's wearing). I guess this is just a distraction while the Ishvalan army, or the people from Eastern Command and Fort Briggs get into position? Or are they trying to get towards some goal, too? Hmm. Now that I think about it I don't really know what Mustang's plan to disrupt the ritual actually is. Kill The Father? That might work, but it'd be near impossible to achieve, even if they manage to wipe out Central's army.

There is a bit more to it than just taking a hostage and starting a war. Having the city is extremely important.

Also, holy crap I didn't realize how packed the next four episodes are after this.

Spoiler

Show

Ross and Rebecca showing up with the resupply and of course "JEAN HAVOC!" next episode, not to mention the reinforcements for Mustang's team(his Ishval squadmates and the Briggs soldiers). Episode 51 has the start of the Al vs Pride/Kimblee fight and has probably the best ending to any of the episodes, Al walking out of the dust with newly formed legs using a Philosopher's Stone(felt like Gohan's SSJ2 transformation for me). 52 has Al wrecking Pride and Kimblee, Al and Kimblee talking about how there are only two options that they can take, and Kimblee's death. Envy also returns to form in 52. And 53 is the probably the single most justified curbstomp in the history of anime. Oh, and from 51 you have the Sloth fight starting.

The List of Things That Will Probably Happen during The Promised Day (In no particular order)

• The Ishvalan army is going to attack something or other. (Well, what's left of it after Kimblee had his fun this episode).
• The combined Easter/Northern army advances on Central.
• Wrath shows up again and attempts to slaughter either Mustang or the people who decided his wife was an acceptable loss.
• Pride might help him.
• Kimblee and Scar face off, and Kimblee doesn't get curb-stomped this time around.
• Kimblee destroys a small army.
• Hohenheim vs. The Father show down.
• May Chang returns in a suitably dramatic manner, although probably not outdoing Lan Fan's entrance last episode.
• Envy escapes, takes over someone's body and grabs someone's philosopher's stone. (Ed's? Kimblee's? Sloths?)
• Dr. Marco uses his stone-draining alchemy again. Maybe on Sloth (He certainly wouldn't be able to dodge it).
• Someone breaks Pride and Al out of the trap so that Al can be sacrificed.
• Izumi shows up.
• Lieutenant Ross might show up.
• We find out how exactly the entire system of alchemy was set up by The Father, and what the difference between it and Alcahestry is. (Okay, this one's just wishful thinking).

You're starting to slip. A few of these are spot on. The rest are pretty far off though.

[F.H. Zebedee]

The List of Things That Will Probably Happen during The Promised Day (In no particular order)

• The Ishvalan army is going to attack something or other. (Well, what's left of it after Kimblee had his fun this episode).
• The combined Easter/Northern army advances on Central.
• Wrath shows up again and attempts to slaughter either Mustang or the people who decided his wife was an acceptable loss.
• Pride might help him.
• Kimblee and Scar face off, and Kimblee doesn't get curb-stomped this time around.
• Kimblee destroys a small army.
• Hohenheim vs. The Father show down.
• May Chang returns in a suitably dramatic manner, although probably not outdoing Lan Fan's entrance last episode.
• Envy escapes, takes over someone's body and grabs someone's philosopher's stone. (Ed's? Kimblee's? Sloths?)
• Dr. Marco uses his stone-draining alchemy again. Maybe on Sloth (He certainly wouldn't be able to dodge it).
• Someone breaks Pride and Al out of the trap so that Al can be sacrificed.
• Izumi shows up.
• Lieutenant Ross might show up.
• We find out how exactly the entire system of alchemy was set up by The Father, and what the difference between it and Alcahestry is. (Okay, this one's just wishful thinking).

Well, as for accuracy... I'd say over half of these are spot on, really, and quite a few are close, but not perfect.

[Suichimo]

Well, as for accuracy... I'd say over half of these are spot on, really, and quite a few are close, but not perfect.

Spoiler: Don't look in here whatsoever, Randomguy.

Show

Going down his list:
There is no Ishvalan army. There are the refugees but they don't come to help fight in the uprising, they are there to help put the pieces in to place for the reverse Amestrian transmutation circle.

Technically, only Northern forces come to help Roy's uprising. You do have the involvement of Rebecca from Eastern Command, but we don't know where Mustang's old buddies are from. Grumman had to keep the Eastern forces back because Fuhrer Bradley came to personally oversee their joint exercise.

Wrath does show up again, but he doesn't attempt to kill Mustang and the people he is killing he kills simply because they're the enemy and has nothing to do with Mrs. Bradley.

Pride doesn't help him in that, we don't see him again until he and Wrath force Mustang to open the Gate of Truth.

Kimblee is killed in the current battle, so the next two are wrong.

Hohenheim does fight Father.

May does return.

Envy does return, but I'm not sure how to include him taking over one of the immortal bodies in this, as they aren't people.

The last we'll see of Marco until the end of the series is him healing Heinkel right before Kimblee's death.

Kimblee breaks Pride out of the trap, but I don't believe it was to get Al back. I imagine Father could've brought him to Central at any point, as long as he was in Amestris.

Izumi and Ross do return.

We don't get any information about how Amestrian alchemy works other than that the inhibiting barrier is removed.


So he is correct on roughly 5.5-6/14 items.

[Randomguy]

The school year has ended, and the seven ancient seals that have prevented me from watching anime are broken. It's time to end this.

Episode 50: Upheaval In Central

Watchthrough Thoughts

• From the title I'm guessing that Wrath shows up again in this episode.
• Having backup in the rafters was clever. Well played, Mustang.
• Okay, so the entire reason Olivier is there is as a hostage to stop the Briggs soldiers from revolting. That part makes sense: they always had enough information to know that she wasn't entirely loyal. I still don't get why they decided to show her the alchemical army, though.
• Wow, they weren't kidding when they said the Briggs soldiers would shoot to kill.
• Ice cream truck full of munitions.
• Lieutenant Ross is back!
• What if all of this was planned to carve out one last seal of blood? Eh, probably not, about a quarter of the people involved aren't even shooting to kill.
• Pride is apparently communicating with Father through morse code, somehow.
• Okay, Hohenheim. That was really creepy.
• I love how Lan Fan didn't even react to the creepiness.
• That was actually pretty sweet of him. Very fatherly.

Episode Notes

Wrath did not, in fact, show up yet. I guess things were leading towards an upheaval with or without him. I still expect him to show up at some point: No way they killed him off so easily and indirectly.

Lieutenant Ross returned, so I guess I can cross that off the list of predictions. Also back are Hawkeye's friend Rebecca (who is absolutely hilarious), and Havoc (which I really didn't see coming). Ross's old partner showed up too, but he was in the last episode and I just didn't recognize him. May Chang finally reappeared as well, but without the dramatic entrance I was expecting. Eh, there was enough of that in the first half of the episode.

Hohenheim has some sort of countermeasure for the transmutation circle. Using it probably involves using up some of his own reserve of souls, which would explain why he'd rather not have to.

I really didn't expect the soul puppets (which are about twenty times creepier than I thought they'd be) to be activated this episode. I didn't realize that they already had the philosophers stones they needed to power them. I assumed that's why they were doing the country wide transmutation circle thing again.
It looks like the general that activated them made a terrible mistake. Somehow I doubt they're going to be very obedient.

What's the giant transmutation circle for, if it's not for getting souls to fuel the soldiers? That was my one lead, the one thing that I was sure they were going to use it for, and it turned out to be wrong. I have no more idea of what The Father's ultimate goal is than I did 15 episodes ago. It could be anything from selling souls to go Truth in exchange for knowledge for its own sake, to getting more personal power (and maybe finally ditching his flask) to WORLD DOMINATION, or even all of the above. Hopefully The Father enjoys monologuing, and I'll be able to find something out eventually.

You know, I'm starting to really hate the "what happens next episode" thing at the end of each episode. They don't actually add anything other than spoilers, and I can't really stop watching before they start because there's a chance of there being an after credit scene. This time I was exposed to a brief shot of May Chang, holding Envy's empty jar above her head. So I guess Envy escapes next episode.

Things to add to my List Of Stuff That Will Become Important Later:

• The Father is getting more powerful, probably due to the oncoming eclipse
• Hohenheim has a countermeasure to the country wide transmutation circle

[Hiro Protagonest]

Well, I thought it was fairly obvious that Wrath was tricking the generals and that The Fathers' plans would be much more than simple "giant zombie army".

[Suichimo]

The scene where Havoc comes back is easily my favorite in the series. Also, if you had any doubts about how good of a commander Mustang is, this is the episode for you.

Also, yeah, they should've dropped the next time stuff.

[Randomguy]

Episode 51: The Immortal Legion

Watchthrough Thoughts

• Oh, hey, a new intro scene! I haven't been warned about this one, but I'm going to avert my eyes just in case.
• Yup, you sure did add "obedient" to that list of descriptors, Mr. General. Now let's find out if that's actually true.
• I am unsurprised.
• "Okay, Edward, it looks like you chose Door Number 1. Let's see what's behind it!" This part managed to be equal parts funny and terrifying.
• I expected Alphonse and Pride to be broken out, but I didn't think Kimbley would do it!
• I'm surprised Major Armstrong can punch that hard. On the other hand, the shirtlessness and the sparkles are par for the course.
• Heinkel had Kimbley's old stone this whole time? I assumed he'd given it to Edward at some point.
• Turns out the clip I saw at the end of last episode wasn't that much of a spoiler: I thought the jar was open, but Envy's still in there.

Episode Notes

So General Stupidity released the alchemical mannequins, and to his (but almost no one else's) surprise they start running out of control. Man, the scientists need to do a better job of keeping the military people out of the lab. What's up with those things, anyway? I mean, why eat people? Do they even need food? Are they trying to eat peoples souls? In any case, they're probably going to make their way to the surface. Edward cut off one entrance, and Envy subsumed all the ones taking another entrance, but there are more than two ways out of those tunnels.

Even with that close up look at Kimbley's alchemy, I still have no idea what he could be transmuting to get that "death ray" effect. It's not Scar-style annihilation, either, it looked different from that. Lightning, maybe?

I wonder what Mustang's going to transmute the ice cream truck into? If he turns it into a school bus I'll be able to make a few Magic School Bus jokes, but I think that'd be an anachronism.

The two Armstrong siblings are going up against Sloth. This is going to be fun. I doubt heavy artillery would do too much to him, though, and even Major Armstrong probably won't be able to pummel him to death. I'm not sure how they're going to beat him, unless they just keep him busy until he gets tired and falls asleep.

Heinkel managed to make a very convincing argument for Alphonse using the philosopher's stone, but even with it he's not much of a match for both Pride and Kimbley put together, especially not if he just charges in there. He's smarter than that though: I think that huge red lightning bolt was more than just him putting himself back together and healing Heinkel. I don't think we've ever seen a philosopher's stone do something like that before.

It's a good thing Dr Marco knows the alchemy to drain a philosopher's stone. That'll be a good way of getting rid of the uberzombies. Also Sloth and Envy. And the Father. Too bad Dr Marco's not anywhere near any of that. He might be able to help Ed against Pride, but that would be very tricky. Pride and Kimbly probably won't kill him, since he's a potential sacrifice, but they can still maim him badly enough that he won't be a threat.

Looking back on this episode, it looks like almost all the protagonists have split off into their own little versus battles. Al's up against Pride and Kimbley; the Armstrongs are fighting Sloth; Ed, Scar and the chimaeras are fighting a small army of immortal zombies, and May Chang is now dealing with Envy. The only exceptions are Hohenheim, who's probably going to end up facing down The Father, and Mustang, who's about to reenter the battle.

Hey, you know who hasn't showed up yet? That doctor with the golden tooth who knows how to use philosopher's stones that healed up Kimbley way back when. Where'd he run off to? I have the feeling he'll be back within the next few episodes.

[Suichimo]

Episode 51: The Immortal Legion

Watchthrough Thoughts

• Oh, hey, a new intro scene! I haven't been warned about this one, but I'm going to avert my eyes just in case.
• Yup, you sure did add "obedient" to that list of descriptors, Mr. General. Now let's find out if that's actually true.
• I am unsurprised.
• "Okay, Edward, it looks like you chose Door Number 1. Let's see what's behind it!" This part managed to be equal parts funny and terrifying.
• I expected Alphonse and Pride to be broken out, but I didn't think Kimbley would do it!
  
• I'm surprised Major Armstrong can punch that hard. On the other hand, the shirtlessness and the sparkles are par for the course.
• Heinkel had Kimbley's old stone this whole time? I assumed he'd given it to Edward at some point.
• Turns out the clip I saw at the end of last episode wasn't that much of a spoiler: I thought the jar was open, but Envy's still in there.

Yeah, pretty much skip all opening scenes.

Why would you think Major Armstrong couldn't hit that hard? That is basically his thing.

Episode Notes

So General Stupidity released the alchemical mannequins, and to his (but almost no one else's) surprise they start running out of control. Man, the scientists need to do a better job of keeping the military people out of the lab. What's up with those things, anyway? I mean, why eat people? Do they even need food? Are they trying to eat peoples souls? In any case, they're probably going to make their way to the surface. Edward cut off one entrance, and Envy subsumed all the ones taking another entrance, but there are more than two ways out of those tunnels.

Even with that close up look at Kimbley's alchemy, I still have no idea what he could be transmuting to get that "death ray" effect. It's not Scar-style annihilation, either, it looked different from that. Lightning, maybe?

They're mindless beasts at this point. Even though they can talk, nothing they say means anything as they are just a torrent of souls.

Death ray effect? I can't remember Kimbley ever doing something like that.

I wonder what Mustang's going to transmute the ice cream truck into? If he turns it into a school bus I'll be able to make a few Magic School Bus jokes, but I think that'd be an anachronism.

[quoteThe two Armstrong siblings are going up against Sloth. This is going to be fun. I doubt heavy artillery would do too much to him, though, and even Major Armstrong probably won't be able to pummel him to death. I'm not sure how they're going to beat him, unless they just keep him busy until he gets tired and falls asleep. [/quote]

All I'll say is it's probably one of the more entertaining fights in the series. A lot of great banter is thrown around.

Heinkel managed to make a very convincing argument for Alphonse using the philosopher's stone, but even with it he's not much of a match for both Pride and Kimbley put together, especially not if he just charges in there. He's smarter than that though: I think that huge red lightning bolt was more than just him putting himself back together and healing Heinkel. I don't think we've ever seen a philosopher's stone do something like that before.

Dat ending scene, yo. Seriously, outside of "Revving at Full Throttle"(I think) and "The Oath in the Tunnel", that is my favorite ending scene.

And of course Al one charge in to the fight. This isn't a spoiler and it should only hype you up for it, assuming you haven't watched it at this point yet, but the upcoming fight is easily the most creative one in the series and it has a great surprise in it.

Looking back on this episode, it looks like almost all the protagonists have split off into their own little versus battles. Al's up against Pride and Kimbley; the Armstrongs are fighting Sloth; Ed, Scar and the chimaeras are fighting a small army of immortal zombies, and May Chang is now dealing with Envy. The only exceptions are Hohenheim, who's probably going to end up facing down The Father, and Mustang, who's about to reenter the battle.

Still one versus battle left.

[Randomguy]

Yeah, pretty much skip all opening scenes.

Thanks for the heads up.

Death ray effect? I can't remember Kimbley ever doing something like that.

The thing he did to break Pride out of his prison, that Heinkel got hit by. That's how I'd describe it, at least.

Why would you think Major Armstrong couldn't hit that hard? That is basically his thing.

Well, yeah, but Sloth literally took a tank shell to the stomach and was only knocked back by one step! This means that Major Armstrong's punches have an order of magnitude more force behind them than tank shells do!
...
Yeah, you're right, I shouldn't have been surprised.

[Rodin]

If I recall correctly, what Kimblee does is something like smashing two opposing types of Alchemy together in a manner similar to adding an acid to a base. The result is wild, barely controlled explosions that only someone as crazy as Kimblee would be prepared to use. That's why he has to use two transmutation circles - one on each hand. It's in contrast to Mustang's Flame Alchemy, which is actually pretty carefully controlled (as you see from how he's able to target explosions to knock about the Central troops without actually hurting anybody).

[Hiro Protagonest]

It's in contrast to Mustang's Flame Alchemy, which is actually pretty carefully controlled (as you see from how he's able to target explosions to knock about the Central troops without actually hurting anybody).

You'll get to see exactly what Rodin's talking about soon.