Let's Watch FMA: Brotherhood

[Closet_Skeleton]

Are you joking? Al has a laughable amount of plot armor in both versions. Arakawa had to make the "Human Sacrifice" thing just so that the homunculi wouldn't kill the protagonists instantly.

That's not plot armour, that's just plot. Plot armour is when there's no explanation for the characters surviving. If anything the sacrifice thing (which has come up already so isn't a spoiler) is a neat work around.

[Ravian]

Yes but the info on the who the villains are only comes up after the introduction of you-know-who later on.

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Homunculi are only revealed with Greed people seriously he still thinks they might be some kind of alchemist.

[Randomguy]

Update postponed on account of headache. Mark my words, though, there will be a post tomorrow! It'll give you time to spoiler tag everything that needs spoiler tagging, though. (I only skimmed the last few posts.)

[Knaight]

First of all, certain things need to make it into spoilers pronto. You know which ones.

Next, Rush Valley

My personal theory was that Rush Valley in a mining town or the most central town in an area that does a lot of mining. That being a job that tends to have a high injury rate which means that you start to see a big jump in auto mail sales so the best people start to set up shop for better sales, so people who need auto mail start to travel because the best of the best have set up shop and the next thing you know it's the mecca of automail.

I assumed this was part of it - there's also the train system. The map shows that Amestris pretty much has four main rails that interconnect, one for each compass direction. Which basically means that anything on the rail system can be frequented by anyone. Meanwhile, the rails lead directly into Ishval, among other warzones - I assume a lot of the people in Rush Valley are veterans of one of the wars.

Also, Episode 11 was terrible. I'm just putting that out there.

[Randomguy]

Episode 12: One is All, All is One

Watchthrough Thoughts

• The episode starts off with Ed having a dream about his father probably.
• Their alchemy teacher, is in fact, terrifying. Also, Illness induced from human transmutation? That’s a wild guess at this point.
• She has a Flamel cross tattoo!
• Hey, what do you know, I was (tragically) right about the sickness being caused by an attempt at human transmutation!

The Father and the Stone:

• Ed and Al’s father is named Poenhighm. (someone please let me know how to actually spell that) He was “from central” and he knew a good amount about the philospher’s stone.
• I want to look up the significance of the name Poenhighm, but I’m pretty sure I’d get spoilered pretty badly.
• It occurs to me that the list of researchers working on the stone are all government researchers, so it’s quite possible there are non government alchemists working on the stone that the government doesn’t know about, or that the Sins haven’t gotten to. Ed’s Dad isn’t one of these, though, since he was from central, so he was associated with the government. Hang on: Aren’t the people from central the ones that are really high ranking? This would explain why he wasn’t on the list of researchers working on the stone. Or maybe he wasn’t actually researching the stone, he just had the authority to take a look at their research? In either case, he’s a powerful alchemist who knows about the stone, which makes him a possible suspect for being Lust’s Father, or the guy in charge of the Sins and the Enemy (or both, if they’re the same person, which I suspect they are). This isn’t strong evidence, though, since we don’t know a lot about Poenhighm or about Lust’s Father.
• Edward blames his dad for his mother’s death. Maybe he thinks that if his dad was still around, he’d have been able to use alchemy to save her?
• Poenhighm said something about a lifelong dream coming true, and he seemed happy when he said it. This implies that, at the time he said it, he had recently discovered something about the stone, either how to make it or how to use it to achieve a lifelong goal. Suppose he’s evil, and Lust’s father, then that goal could maybe be the creation of loyal, intelligent servants, i.e. the Sins? That’s a bit of a stretch. It could be anything.

The Teacher and the Tattoo.

• Their alchemy teacher has a tattoo of the Flamel cross, in blue ink. It was there in the flashback when the Elric brothers first saw her. However, in the flashback where she attempted transmutation, she didn’t have it yet. Same with the Elrics: the Flamel cross has never showed up in a flashback that came before their attempt at human transmutation. Whatever else it means, if we see anyone else with the Flamel cross we can assume that they’ve attempted human transmutation, especially if the show any sign of illness, or have missing limbs, or automail limbs.
• The Flamel cross was on the armour that Edward bound Alfonse’s soul to before hand (I think? Someone let me know if I’m wrong about this), but he chose it as his symbol, and it was so important to his teacher that she got a tattoo of it.
• On the Flamel cross itself, I’m not really sure what it could symbolize. On this website it is described (allegedly by flamel, but It’s a sketchy source) as a “cross where a serpent is crucified”
• My interpretation of this is that the symbol is taken on by alchemists who've attempted human transmutation because they have fallen and suffered from their attempt at playing God, much like the Serpent.

The Training and the World:

• We can see that one of the reasons that Edward is so good at alchemy is that he went through such intense training.
• The “all is one, one is all” stuff brings to mind human transmutation again. Maybe the reason that it’s impossible is because it breaks the flow of the universe, and the cycle of life? Maybe it’s not getting back a human soul that’s impossible, but getting back a human life?

I’ll end off with one last note: Earlier, I mentioned that the only reason Edward needs to be sacrificed as opposed to anyone else is that Edward saw the Truth. But his teacher saw the Truth as well. (I understand now why the Fandom calls him Truth). Perhaps, if the Sins find out about this, then they’ll change plans and use her as the sacrifice instead?

The trailer for the next episode says we’re going to be introduced to another sin, so I’m looking forward to that. I should probably stop watching the trailers at the end of each episode, though. The trailers always spoil.

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

• Poenhighm, Ed and Al's father, knows a lot about the Philosopher's Stone and is using it (maybe) to achieve "lifelong goals"

[Math_Mage]

Poenhighm? Wat? I've never seen it transliterated that way, so I'm pretty sure it's wrong. The name is Hohenheim.

[Forrestfire]

Spoiler: Next (few?) Episodes

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Here comes Greed... And with him, explanations on a lot of stuff, like Bradley and the Sins.

[TheSummoner]

Spoiler: Big Spoilers, Keep Out!

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Poenhighm Hohenheim said something about a lifelong dream coming true, and he seemed happy when he said it. This implies that, at the time he said it, he had recently discovered something about the stone, either how to make it or how to use it to achieve a lifelong goal. Suppose he’s evil, and Lust’s father, then that goal could maybe be the creation of loyal, intelligent servants, i.e. the Sins? That’s a bit of a stretch. It could be anything.

Show of hands. Who here can't wait until he sees Father and freaks out because Father looks exactly like Hohenheim?

[Forrestfire]

Spoiler: Massive, massive spoilers

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*Raises hand*

[Ravian]

From a purely historical standpoint the name Hohenheim is simply the name of another famous (sort-of) alchemist. He more commonly went by the name Paraselsus (Meaning equal to Selsus, an earlier alchemist of the time)

Interestingly his most famous works involved medicine rather than Alchemy, and he helped debunk the whole four humors myth.

None of this is really spoilers though, just a nice little historical nod. Similar to how Amestris is modeled after Germany, where many famous Alchemists worked.

...I may or may not have written a paper on the history of Alchemy for a class after I watched this series.

Also

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*Raises hand so hard it hurts*

[Cen]

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, also known as Paracelsus, coolest guy ever.

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Raises both hands and legs

[Calemyr]

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, also known as Paracelsus, coolest guy ever.

Just in case it isn't clear, Hohenheim is the name of a real life, historical alchemist. One of the big ones, in fact.

If I remember correctly, the name in FMA is Van Hohenheim, with Alphonse and Edward using their mother's family name.

[Randomguy]

Poenhighm? Wat? I've never seen it transliterated that way, so I'm pretty sure it's wrong. The name is Hohenheim.

I must have misheard. It was only mentioned in one scene.

[TheSummoner]

In any case, his name being a nod to a real world Alchemist isn't a spoiler, but I would still avoid the Wikipedia page. The "references in pop culture" bit of the real world Hohenheim article goes into spoiler territory.

[Eldan]

Still, the real man was impressive. In fact, impressive enough that the adjective "bombastic" is derrived from his name. Plus, his entire life. He was born near Devil's Bridge, I've been there. Studied medicine at 16. Bachelor of Medicine at 17, Doctor at 23. Became a university professor at 35 and refused to hold his lectures in Latin, doing them in German instead, plus he made them public instead of private.
Quite, quite opinionated. He publicly burned books of his enemies and some ancient Roman and Greek medici. Wrote some utterly scathing letters to everyone from dukes to archbishops if they displeased him. Famous said that he had more knowledge in his pinky finger than the sum of all medical faculties of Europe together.
And while he overthrew the idea of the four humours, he only did it to bring it all back to the idea of the three basic alchemistic substances of salt, sulphur and mercury and their imbalance. Still, he publicly stood for the idea of finding plants and plant extracts to heal people, instead of diets and bleeding to balance the humours.

On the other hand, relating to the show... "The visible, natural human body ... is only a tiny part of the invisible, holistic body. ...Those who transform themselves and work on their enlightenment ... will see all in the light of nature... the fire of science is our greatest teacher ... and this fire reveals the truths that are hidden..."

Paracelsus might mean "equal to Celsus", a Roman doctor who was quite famous, or it might just be a latin form of Hohenheim, as the German wiki claims. "Hohen" derrived from either Höhe (Height) or just hoch (high), Celsus being "lofty, proud, tall, sublime, elevated, prominent, noble, distinguished".

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Still, the real man was impressive. In fact, impressive enough that the adjective "bombastic" is derrived from his name.

...huh. I'd assumed that the name was "Bombastic" because of the adjective. Didn't realize it was the other way around!

Spoiler: Reply to massive spoilers above

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*raises the dead*

[Forrestfire]

Spoiler: Reply to massive spoilers above

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*raises the dead*

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Do you want automail? Because that's how you get automail.

[TheSummoner]

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If you're LUCKY, that's how you get automail.

[Dragonus45]

Found this, felt it was my duty to share it while we wait for the next episode.

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[Ravian]

Found this, felt it was my duty to share it while we wait for the next episode.

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...

You monster...

[TheSummoner]

That's awful and you should feel awful

[tomandtish]

Found this, felt it was my duty to share it while we wait for the next episode.

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.... Remind me to never play Cards Against Humanity with you.....

[Forrestfire]

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Cosplay idea: Shou Tucker, Scar, and a dog dressed like this. Teach the dog to play dead when Scar puts his hand on it

[TheSummoner]

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Cosplay idea: Shou Tucker, Scar, and a dog dressed like this. Teach the dog to play dead when Scar puts his hand on it

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... I'm in.

Anyone in within say an hour of Chicago who owns a dog want to make this happen, and would you rather be Tucker or Scar?

[Cizak]

Brotherhood is my favorite anime of all time and saved the FMA franchise from the abyss of stupid that was the 2003 anime*. I watched the entire series in one sitting for the second time just a week ago.

Oh, and...

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*Raises hand so hard it's torn off. Gets automail. Raises automail.*

*The 2003 was fine, actually sort of awesome, until the last two episodes. You're right on the edge of your seat thinking "Oh man oh man oh man how in the world are they going to resolve everything that's going on right now??" And then you realise... "Oh. They aren't. Well this is dumb."
I do think that the episodes of FMA that followed the manga are better than the first 12-13 of FMAB, but FMAB does everything better after that.

[Randomguy]

Episode 13: The Beasts of Dublith

Watchthrough Thoughts

• So as their friend, their Izumi supports them emotionally, but as their teacher she can’t abide by their breaking the taboo.
• Retrieving Al’s memory strikes me as a very, very bad idea.
• “The rumours are true. He’s able to transmute human souls” —> Lizard person is either a Sin or a really, really advanced chimaera.

Episode Notes

Hooray! Exposition! We now know that the Sins are homunculi, people created entirely out of alchemy. They’re mostly human (at least, Greed is. The others might be less human I guess) with the exception of a few abilities (Greed has his shield, Lust has her spear-hands, Envy has shapeshifting, I’m not sure about Gluttony yet) and their regeneration, which makes it very, very hard to kill them. So far we’ve seen various Sins survive a knife wound to the head, removal of the large majority of the brain, losing an entire arm and some pretty serious chest wounds. I assume that to actually destroy one you’d need to unmake more than half of one, whether using a very powerful explosion or with Scar’s technique (which, interestingly enough, Edward chose not to use during this battle).
The sins are over 200 years old (assuming they were all made at the same time as Greed), which would put their creation in the early 1700s or the late 1600’s. Historically, in real life, this coincides with the decline of alchemy and the rise of modern science. Assuming Lust’s “Father” is really her creator, then that would mean that he’s also over 200 years old. This means he must have his own method of immortality. It's probably a philospher's stone, maybe a soul in armour, maybe he’s a tortoise chimaera to get tortoise longevity, maybe he’s dead and has heirs that took his role, maybe something else.
The homunculi (or at least Greed) know how to teach alchemists to make other homunculi (unless Greed was lying about being able to teach Edward how to make homunculi). If this knowledge has been around for over 200 years then why aren’t there more Homunculi? The secret of creating them must be very closely guarded, or else they must be very hard to make. Probably both.
The advanced chimaeras are another matter. This tells us that there are a lot of ex-military alchemists that have gone underground and used military secrets for their own intelligence. But why? Did they leave the military because they were horrified at what was going on, or because they were stopped from preforming their own, even more horrific experiments? There are probably some of both types, like the doctor from a few episode 6. I wonder which type the creator of these chimaeras is? Given that he might be working with Greed and is doing human experimentation, he's probably the latter.

Asides from using Scar's technique, a few other ways to get past Greed's shield would be to either use fire or ice, unless it insulates really well, in which case freezing him solid is still possible.
That reminds me, I notice that we’ve only seen an alchemist use one element. The Freezing alchemist transmutes water and ice, the flame alchemist transmutes fire, the Elric brothers and a bunch of other people transmute earth and iron, but we haven't seen anyone do any transmutations outside of their associated element. Is this a coincidence, or is it impossible for them to do this? Am I missing some backstory that I would have if I started with the other series or read the manga?

It seems like Greed has spent too much time living a life of crime. He would have had a better chance of getting Edward to explain the theory behind the soul binding technique if he had just offered an exchange of information without kidnapping Alfonse. Speaking of which, Alfonse should really have known better than to just go to that alley without telling anyone where he went, especially with multiple people out there who want to kill him and Edward.

Personally, I think Edward was a little too offended when Greed said that Alfonse was in the perfect situation. I mean, Alfonse certainly went through hell and back to get his metal body, and he's not happy with it, but I'd be surprised if there was never a time when Edward envied Al's situation. If he ever got a nasty case of food poisoning or the stomach flu, for example.

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

• Greed, and probably the other Sins, are over 200 years old.
• It's possible to make chimaeras that look human and have human level intelligence.
• There's basically a black market for illegal alchemy research, which created the aforementioned chimaeras.

[Forrestfire]

That reminds me, I notice that we’ve only seen an alchemist use one element. The Freezing alchemist transmutes water and ice, the flame alchemist transmutes fire, the Elric brothers and a bunch of other people transmute earth and iron, but we haven't seen anyone do any transmutations outside of their associated element. Is this a coincidence, or is it impossible for them to do this? Am I missing some backstory that I would have if I started with the other series or read the manga?

Mostly they do what they know. Advanced alchemical techniques like the Freezing Alchemist's water and ice or the Flame Alchemist's fire (which is transmuting the air into flammable gasses and igniting it with special gloves that spark when he snaps) are generally things that take a lot of work to learn (and are also often trade secrets), and I guess when you have a very nice hammer, problems do begin to look like nails. Ed transmutes lots of things, like wood, metal, the ground, his mother... The other alchemists are generally fairly versatile as well, but remember that you need to draw a transmutation circle to transmute things, so while combat alchemists generally have a few circles prepared for use, those circles are specialized for a specific transmutation.

People who can transmute by clapping like Ed tend to be a lot more versatile in combat.

[TheSummoner]

Congrats Randomguy, you just reached the point where 2003 FMA and FMA: Brotherhood stop telling the same story. Up until this point, Brotherhood has been speeding things along because the series assumes you watched the original 2003 series and know the first part of the plot already. Starting next episode, things stop being good, but skimmed over and start being great. Also starting next episode, the **** hits the fan, so I suggest watching it as soon as you have time to.

[Ravian]

And Homunculi are a go!

Can I just say right here that I love Greed? Because I do, he is awesome. His design, his powers, his personality, he's just great.

Spoiler: Pretty big Brotherhood Spoilers

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I will admit that I prefer his previous appearance to Greedling, and the death in that form in the first anime was pretty darn amazing. Still I don't hate Greedling, it actually helps keep Ling's character pretty relevant throughout the manga. Otherwise he just keeps on playing Second Fiddle to Ed (and taking Al's spot for that role)

Things are about to get really interesting in your list of important things to remember...

[Forrestfire]

Greed's so awesome that he took possession of the fanbase's adoration. How fitting.