A comparison between 03 and BH Riza

Hey, I got an ask requesting I give my thoughts on the differences between Riza Hawkeye in 03 and Brotherhood. Here’s my response.

To talk about Riza, I first have to talk a little about Mustang. Mustang is portrayed quite differently in each series. In Brotherhood, Mustang is a hero that gets tempted but ultimately manages to overcome and help save the day. In 03, Mustang is a person who wants to be a better person but is haunted by his past and yet does the right thing in the end to become a hero. That’s how I see them at least.

It is quite emphasised in 03 that Mustang has done awful things and even in the present he still struggles with being a good person. He’s kind of a manipulative bastard and is defined by the military he’s a part of. He wants to change it in order to help justify his past and he finally does so by abandoning his dreams of power to kill the Fuhrer. He’s quite distant with Ed and Al for much of the series.

BH Mustang is nicer, he’s always fighting for the right side and wants to do good and he cares for his men and for the Elrics. He does nearly become obsessed with revenge but overcomes that. His trauma over Ishval is less explored though it does partially explain his motivations. Still we never see him kill children, or doctors or use his flames to control a group of refugees who hate the military.

Yet Riza is completely loyal to Mustang in both versions. 03 Riza in not explored in much detail but what we do see of her is a faithful soldier who is always supporting Mustang, no matter what he is doing. She truly believes in him and his mission. When speaking with Winry, she confesses that she does hate the military but joined in order to protect Mustang – it is the choice she has made.She knows what he’s done in Ishval but stays with him anyway. We hear nothing of her own past. Given how much she knows of it, it is reasonable to assume she was in ishval as well but even that isn’t confirmed. She seems fairly clever and reasonable and we rarely ever see her break composure.

I should note, I’m reading into her character quite a lot to get such an interpretation. She’s not explored much at all. She’s merely a constant presence at Mustang’s side. I like her well enough, her personality as a strict, reasonable woman works well amidst some of the zanier soldier personalities but she’s not nearly so much of a major character. I don’t know about positive and negatives, she’s reasonably likeable but underdeveloped when she could have had an arc. She’s a pretty static character.

BH Riza gets a ton more development. We honestly explore Ishval more from her point of view than Mustang’s, looking into her own actions in taking lives in a war. That conversation with Kimblee where he suggests she takes pride in her actions over killing rings very true and seems to scare her.

We explore her family a little, how her father was a cruel person who tattooed dangerous knowledge onto her back. It’s pretty awful and yet she also seems to, in some ways, still respect her father; clearly the relationship was a complicated one. Mustang’s learning of Flame alchemy was directly linked to her and her father and she holds herself a little responsible for it. Her back is burned so the secrets of the incredibly destructive alchemy can die.

Her loyalty to Mustang is less questionable here as he’s more heroic, as I noted earlier. She’s also very willing to challenge him over his heroic actions, criticising him whenever he goes out of his way to save her.

There is this element of her character that I’m not quite so fond of where she is prepared to die if Mustang is dead, she can’t live without him. She completely loses composure when fighting Lust while Alphonse is encouraging her to keep on fighting because she thinks he’s dead. Against Envy she threatens to kill Mustang and then herself if he goes through with killing Envy. She might be saying that just to get him to stop and think but it’s frightfully similar to the battle with Lust.

Now, this is sort of interesting but I feel like it’s not something that should be portrayed romantically and I kind of just dislike how she’s such a strong person who can live with many things and evils such as her actions in Ishval, yet she can’t live without him. It gives their relationship this sort of unhealthy feel which I’d appreciate exploring but not in an idealistic romantic way.

The fight with Lust somewhat reminds me of the 03 fight with the Fuhrer in the last episode. In both of those we see Riza show her vulnerability but in 03 it’s practically the first time and well-earned after 51 episodes and Mustang is literally bleeding out, very close to death and she also just killed the person attacking him, in BH it’s only episode 19 and she hasn’t seen Mustang and Lust is still there threatening her while its Alphonse staying strong and Mustang saves her.

That said, Riza’s relationship with Mustang is well-explored in BH, we see how close they are and how they understand each other with all their coded messages and how Riza is used against him and there’s like that whole scene where Mustang refuses to perform human transmutation and also at the end where Riza’s guiding a blinded Mustang.

I won’t go on any further, others have talked plenty about BH Riza and Mustang. Suffice to say, there’s a lot of them. She’s a far more major character than 03 Riza and I don’t like every part of her character development but she certainly gets far more of it. I have no problems with 03 Riza but there’s just less of her.

Maris Ross in 03

Maria Ross is lovely. She’s introduced in Episode 18, which is while Ed’s studying Marcoh’s notes and she immediately gets into conflict with him. She sees Ed’s complete lack of concern for his own safety to be an issue when she’s been tasked with protecting him.

But it’s not just her job that compels her to care for the Elric brothers. She sees them as lost children getting in over their heads and needing someone to look after them. And she’s fully prepared to step into the role herself – whether Ed likes it or not.

Throughout this episode, she and Ed conflict with each other, Ross gets irritated at his impulsiveness and gets angry when he insists on working in the library where she isn’t able to provide him proper protection. Ed refuses to listen to her and he’s not obliged to (due to his rank as State Alchemist). He’s been dismissing her and Denny Broche repeatedly and very much sees bodyguards as another hindrance to his goals – another thing forced on him. (Ed sees the Military as a necessary evil.)

So, Maria talks to Hughes about it instead. And nice as Hughes might be towards Ed, consistently helping him where others wouldn’t, Hughes takes Ross’s side in their argument.

Hughes is often bending the rules for Ed and Al, he told them about how Scar killed Nina, offered him case files when Ed was investigating Barry, and helped him fight the terrorists on the train. Ed was fully expecting Hughes to be on his side. And Hughes knows it too – he doesn’t like denying them. But he cares about their safety too and recognises that Maria Ross cares.

Ross inquires about why Hughes would let them chase after the Philosopher’s stone at all and Hughes offers some nice insight. Ed and Al would chase after it regardless of whether he let them or not. By helping them, he is able to better protect them and, uniquely among the military, has Ed and Al’s trust. (Because Ed certainly doesn’t trust Mustang at this point in the series.)

Additionally, Hughes says that the State’s future is in their hands. That he and Ross have a duty to enable them to research into the Philosopher’s stone. Clearly, Hughes recognises the importance of their quest and is already looking into the bigger picture. Looking into it further is dangerous, as Hughes will soon learn though. Ross doesn’t like this but accepts it. From here, she’s more actively supporting their endeavours.

In the next episode, the Truth behind Truths, Ed has found out the secret of the Philosopher’s stone and wants to just give up. It’s practically what Ross was aiming for an episode ago but now she actively encourages him to continue searching, citing the importance of it, how it goes beyond their own personal goals.

Like, Ed wanted to make a stone to save his brother but after learning the cost, he realises he can’t go through with this any more. But he’s also finding out a lot about the military’s corruption and how the stone has been used in Ishval. There is more to look into, namely Lab 5 and what lies at the heart of this conspiracy. Ross encourages Ed to continue looking even if they themselves won’t gain anything from it because there is more to learn. He can’t let himself be turned away because he doesn’t like the answers he’s getting. Ross recognises he’s scared and still essentially a child, but encourages him anyway. It’s a great scene.

When Ed finds his determination once more, Ross gives this smile, like she’s proud of them.

‘Course Ed and Al still don’t trust her fully yet, though he did share his conclusions concerning Lab 5 with her. Ross promised to use the military to look into it but Ed and Al decide to sneak out.

I try not to bring up BH too much in comparison so… sorry. But the two different responses from their respective Maria Ross’s highlight their differences. When BH Broche and Ross discover the boys have snuck out, they’re comically worried and don’t want anyone to find out they lost track of the boys as it might get them into trouble. They’re concerned about the Elrics too, yes, but also themselves.

Maria Ross in 03, meanwhile, looks betrayed to find they’ve snuck out and informs Hughes. He agrees to authorise a military sweep of the abandoned Laboratory, getting a bunch of other soldiers, including Armstrong involved even though it’s the middle of the night. Fuhrer Bradley actually runs into them and goes along with it (likely realising it would be too suspicious to deny their operation.)

Upon entering Lab 5, Ross finds Ed in the red room and bravely wades into the room to calm him down. He had absorbed incomplete stone material and was in great danger of some sort of alchemic backlash as he was unable to control all that energy. Even Armstrong seemed to think it was too dangerous to go near him. Maria Ross calms him with a motherly hug, likely the first Ed had received in a long time.

In the aftermath of Lab 5, Ross confronts Ed, slapping him when he tries to brush the whole incident off. She asks him to try and start trusting adults more and he agrees, apologising for some of his reckless behaviour. It’s a good start to an episode about opening up emotionally.

Ed and Al leave for Dublith so Ross doesn’t show up much more for a while. In Episode 38, she spots Winry and Sheska eavesdropping in Central and helps them out against Sloth, where they reveal some of what they’re learning to them. Ross is quite observant to have noticed Winry there and this nicely leads into Ross’s next significant appearance.

When she hears Ed and Al are on the run from the military, she and Broche decide to have an abrupt ‘vacation’ in Risembool. She tells Winry and Sheska how Ed and Al are wanted by the military and how she doesn’t believe it. Here we see Ross actively going against the military she’s a part of.

And then again, when she hears news that Ed and Al have been arrested by the military, she goes to break them out. That’s direct action against the military. It’s really the Tringham brothers she ends up saving but they run into Ed and Izumi again anyway and Maria ends up actively fighting against Archer, who pretty much represents some of the worst of the Military while she’s basically become a rebel.

The epilogue shows her working in the new Government now that the Military state has been overthrown. She seems fairly busy so there’s a lot being done. She’s clearly doing the best for the State’s future.

So, all in all, Maria Ross is a character who has the Elric brother’s best interests at heart. She’s a part of the military but she’s nice and goes beyond her duty for them. She represents the best parts of it – the good people working within it who care and want to protect others. Unlike everyone else, she still sees the Elrics as children and tries to encourage Edward to trust her.

She is very principled and when she disagrees with something she will not stand for it. She does not let Edward get away with whatever he wants, she’s ready to question Hughes and she’s ready to question the Military too. Ultimately, her intentions are good and it’s a greatly encouraging sign to see her and Broche and Sheska working in the reformed State.

My top 10 favourite FMA 03 episodes

Hey, I figured I’d make a list. Everyone likes lists, right?

This was going to be just the list but then I decided to add some thoughts and add pictures so now this is a long post… I’ll be counting down from my tenth favourite.

10. Episode 23: Fullmetal Heart/Heart of Steel (whichever title you prefer)

Odd choice, much? This is only a breather episode yet for some reason it’s one of my favourites. Maybe it’s because the characterisation of everyone is just great. You’ve got Edward, Maria Ross, Hughes, Winry and Alphonse all interacting and going through all the aftermath of Lab 5 and it’s just the kind of episode that appeals to me. It’s got some moments of humour as well as the angst. I’ve already made a separate post on this episode actually.

There’s a negative in that Al’s identity crisis is present here and that’s not my favourite arc. That actually gets more focus in the next episode though. I wouldn’t exactly call it an eventful episode either unless you love intense conversations like me. (Hughes is the best, by the way.)

9. Episode 8: The Philosopher’s Stone

Better known for being the Barry the Chopper episode. It also comes immediately after Nina so a lot of it deals with the aftermath of that. Of course, where Fullmetal Heart is a breather, this is the opposite. This is where the evil writers decide to twist the knife that was the Nina incident by putting our beloved 12 year old hero through even more emotional turmoil. As a lover of angst, and exploring fallouts, I loved this episode. (I debated including the Nina episode, Night of the Chimera’s Cry, for this list but chose this one instead.) The encounter with Barry is always very striking, seeing how worked up Ed gets and how unnerved he is. Meanwhile you’ve got Al keeping a clearer head trying to move on while Ed’s not ready to yet. Meanwhile you’ve got other characters around but not able to provide comfort. Mustang, Riza, Winry, even Hughes. Seeing human Barry adds to the lab 5 arc later on too.

Negatives might be that it’s too angsty, I can see it being a turn off. Villain is very blatantly evil. I personally don’t mind that sort of thing though. Also Winry is present but doesn’t do all that much.

8. Episode 17: House of the Waiting Family.

I swear this list isn’t all Breather episodes! But, yeah, this one deals with the fallout from the Scar battle some and does a bunch of other stuff. I’ve already made a separate post about this one too. It’s an episode of recovery, and family. Ed and Al embracing the past they’ve left behind once more. You’ve got Ed visiting his mother’s grave, WInry encouraging Ed and Al to come home again, Ed almost confessing his guilt about the transmutation to Al, Winry finding Ed’s watch and the message inside, Al having trouble remembering the past, Ed and AL reflecting on their home they lost. It’s a good reflective episode. Family is one of the central themes in FMA, and this episode certainly gives that feeling. It’s a pleasant episode with only a little angst and plenty of humour and heart.

7. Episode 31: Sin

I feel like this might be another odd choice? This is the moment where they reveal the origins of the homunculi and how they do it is absolutely enthralling. Izumi explaining how she tried to bring back her unborn child. Wrath letting himself be led to the island. Izumi attempting to strangle him, but unable to do it. Wrath strangling her. Ed and Al’s horror and instinctive denial as Wrath reveals what the story has been building up to. And there’s all the other stuff that’s going on to. Sloth and Envy fighting Greed. Kimblee and Archer meeting and agreeing to work together. Lust and Gluttony in a group of refugees, intending to cause trouble. This episode is so named to focus on the Homunculi and it very much does. The scene between Envy and Wrath is absolutely enthralling. These are the stories that FMA 03 thrives on, in my opinion. It ends with Al of all people furiously attacking Wrath, so it’s hard to resist not going straight to the next episode.

6. Episode 47: Sealing the Homunculus

This one is right near the end of the series. I was sorely tempted to go with 48: Goodbye. These two are pretty equal in my mind really. This one is more exciting though. Lust is incredible, her fight with Wrath is one of my favourites, she can switch between being utterly ruthless and vulnerable in an instant. Her end completed her character arc in such a compelling way. She’s one of my favourite characters and you can see so much of it in this single episode. But she’s not alone! It’s also got Sloth and we finally get to understand her motivations and feelings while she also meets her demise. Ed and Al both go through more emotional turmoil even though it’s framed as a triumph for them. Wrath is being Wrath. And it leads so tantalisingly into the next episode.

Negatives might be how Al defending Sloth is a touch frustrating. Also Wrath is being Wrath. Yes that’s a positive and a negative.

5. Episode 13: Fullmetal vs Flame.

What’s that, a light-hearted humorous episode with only a small amount of angst? This episode is a gem. It pretty much ties up everything that came before and leads veyr naturally into everything that comes after. I’ve been thinking that if people wanted to watch 03 but have already seen BH, this one wouldn’t be a bad place to start if you don’t want to retread the beginning at a slower pace. (Though you do miss out on some nice episodes). Beyond that, this episode is loads of fun. The fight displays Mustang’s abilities well, shows off the relationship between him and Ed, Hughes is awesome as usual, Al has a cute cat and did I mention the scene where Mustang loves dogs? The little bit of angst mostly comes from Mustang and some trauma he has from Ishval, leading into the Scar battle next episode very well. He’s being built up great. This episode is simply awesome.

4.Episode 3: Mother

Ah, there’s the mix of darkness and family I love. I’m always mentioning this episode and I love how it explores Ed and Al’s past and shows their characters and how they decided to perform the human transmutation. At first it’s heartwarming and then it’s heartwrenching. Ed and Al have always been my favourite characters and seeing their backstory explored in such detail is wonderful. Have I mentioned the part where they walk away from their burning house while Bratja plays with Al narrating? How about Ed coldly standing at the grave swearing to bring their mother back while Alphonse is crying?

3. Laws and Promises

Right to the opposite end of the series. The last episode is so very striking to me. See Ed and Al sacrifice themselves for each other is spectacular. Dante’s plan so quickly unraveling and I’ve talked about how much I love Envy’s final scene before. The epilogue ties off the series fairly well while still leaving things open-ended. Mustang’s fight with Pride is awesome. His scenes with Riza are lovely. Ed’s scenes with his father are interesting. Dante’s demise. Wrath getting to live and getting automail Winry made for Ed. Izumi teaching Al more alchemy. That final speech that closes the series, where the title of this episode comes from. It’s strangely optimistic and hopeful. It’s nice.

2. Episode 28: All is One, One is All.

Another backstory episode. It features Ed and Al’s survival on Yok island with older Ed and Al reflecting on the past. I think this episode builds to its climactic point of Ed and Al coming to understand what Izumi wanted to teach them very well. I’ve made a post about this episode too. (I talk about episodes I like, okay?) The appearances of Wrath leading up to another nice cliffhanger ending are also nice. It’s another episode of reflection and I love it. Young Ed and Al are always great.

And finally:

1. Episode 22: Created Human

I loved the aftermath of Lab 5. I loved the origins of the homunculi. I love when Ed faces emotional turmoil. And I absolutely love this episode where the Lab 5 arc reaches its dreadful conclusion. Everything about it is great. The moral ambiguity, the homunculi’s goals, Ed getting pushed to the brink, physically and emotionally, just everything that Envy and Lust do, even the older Slicer brother advising Ed. Everything has been building to this moment and it’s executed brilliantly. It makes you start to feel sympathy with the homunculi when they compare themselves to Al’s own inhuman state. It makes you feel Ed’s desperation to save his brother. Al protesting but everyone ignoring him. Envy and Lust talking about equivalence. When they reveal that everyone the brother’s has been working for was leading them here. That moment at the end where the military steps in to save the brothers. Scar doing his own stuff and deciding to help them. There’s even the delightful moment where Mustang breaks the fourth wall at the beginning.

Yeah it’s my favourite.

Fmab rewatch episode 26

Table of Contents

Episode 26: Reunion

Hey, this is the final episode in part 2. It’s also the best. Yeah, this is definitely the best episode I’ve watched so far. (That might be heresy, I know a lot of people love Death of the Undying.) But this episode is both Ed-centric and emotional. What’s not to love?

Ling and Ed fight Envy who’s regrettably still in his giant, incredibly distracting form. They’re just swinging swords about and Envy’s absolutely huge so it’s not going all that well. At first, Edward is just as angry and determined as Ling. But then he starts hearing the souls speaking.

Envy’s body is huge, made up of countless trapped souls that make up his Philosopher’s stone core. All over his skin are these faces and they’re in pain and they’re speaking. Seeing one crying out in pain makes Ed freeze as he finds he can’t attack.

Ling’s telling him to ignore them, that they’re just a mindgame and they’re not really people anymore. But Ed hears one that gives him a flashback towards Nina. He’s reminded of his failure to save her and he can’t allow himself to hurt these souls either.

Envy, meanwhile, confirms that these were the souls from the lost city of Xerxes. Edward gathers that Envy’s creator must have somehow been responsible for its destruction and he wonders who might have done such depraved acts. This is all leading up to the introduction of Father.

Outside, Alphonse is still following Gluttony into Father’s lair. Mei and Scar are still looking for her panda and they hear its in the possession of Alphonse. They see him and Gluttony (whom Scar recognises as a Homunculus) and follow them at a distance into the sewers.

The show hasn’t hit me with too many contrivances lately but this one is annoying. Mostly Al has been keeping the panda inside his armour so it wouldn’t be visible to onlookers but just now he’s carrying her around on her shoulder. I know that Mei and Scar were searching but it still seems incredibly convenient that they would spot Al and Gluttony just before they head underground. The fact that Al having her bear by complete coincidence is turning into a plot point necessary for the story to advance is already slightly annoying.

And the presence of both of them in the next episode will be incredibly important. Their presence is critical to the story. Not only in helping save the Elrics in the immediate but also giving the two of them the idea to seek Mei out later which will be their entire motivation for going north to Briggs. It all happened because Al grabbed the panda in their earlier encounter. And then Scar spots Al mere moments before he heads underground so they follow him down.

Oh well. We also get another look at the Fuhrer. He tells Roy the story of how he was made because he felt like sharing I guess. It’s also foreshadowing how a Homunculus can be made out of a human by injecting the Philosopher’s stone into them, allowing for it to take over its host.

Bradley speaks of a program with an evil scientist training a whole class on becoming the perfect leader and each subject being injected. Twelve have already died before Bradley is tried and he of course manages to survive. Unlike other Homunculi, he is a single, particularly Wrathful soul.

He does identify as Homunculus though and makes it clear to Mustang that he has no intention of becoming human, that he takes pride in being Homunculus. He mentions Lust here, how she died with her pride as a Homunculus intact.

Back to the Envy encounter. Ling is still urging Ed to fight, that he can’t let himself be distracted by the faces as they’re no longer people anymore. Edward doesn’t listen. He’s lost his will to fight and no longer puts up any resistance. There’s this awesome image of Envy’s tongue sliding out and the souls inside it all lifting Ed up from the ground, slowly enveloping him as Envy swallows him.

Wow Ed, first you’re eaten now by Gluttony, and now Envy?

Eventually, Ed sees the Philosopher’s stone at the centre of Envy’s body and finally thinks of a way out. Telling Envy he’s thought of a way out is enough to convince Envy to let him out, of course.

Ed points out the stone’s from Xerxes and Envy fetches some of the other pieces. Most of this circle had been swallowed by Gluttony long ago to hide the evidence of the destruction of Xerxes and Ed finds it similar to what he saw in Lab 5. He accuses Envy of trying to recreate the same thing that happened in Xerxes in Amestris.

Ed’s plan is clever. They perform human transmutation- this time on themselves, living people rather than dead – to open up the true portal of Truth. That way they can get out of this fake Gateway and end up back in the real world.

Ed tells them that any backlash would affect him if it goes wrong. To do this though, they’ll need to use the Philosopher’s stone. Edward doesn’t want to ask, he’s afraid and disgusted at the idea of using souls to do this.

(Does he not see that the souls, whatever’s left of them seem to be in great pain? I wish he thought about using them in a way other than simply it being wrong. Or just explored his sense of morality here a little more. Ling and Envy are both perfect people to debate with about this, both being far more willing to use the Philosopher’s stone. There’s this line in 03 where Tucker tries to convince Ed to use the incomplete stones in Lab 5 and when Ed points out that they’re people, his response is a cold “Would you be able to turn them back?” I’m not saying it needs to go the same way as 03, I just sort of wish the topic was being broached here a little more. Sorry, really must stop mentioning 03…)

Anyway, Ed reluctantly goes through with his plan. He offers an apology to the souls he uses up. He opens the gateway of Truth again and their bodies all disintegrate (to be reformed outside Gluttony’s stomach.) Truth, on seeing Ed, notes that he’s not even trying to get his body back. That makes me think he could’ve used a couple of those souls to get his arm and leg back while he’s transmutating Envy anyway. Alas, Edward is not willing to even consider something like that as it wasn’t so much as discussed before.

Anyway, best moment coming up. Ed appears in the void and now there’s two gates here, his and his brother’s. In front of the opposite Gate is his brother’s body. It’s not looking well, being incredibly malnourished with the stomach so sunken in. His hair has grown out too. Ed goes up to him but arms drag him back. Al tells him that he’s sorry but only his soul can take back his body.

Ed’s pulled away. The gate closes. Silence. Then they open up once more as Ed fights against the hands dragging him back. Music comes in as Ed promises that he’ll save him and get his body back before being pulled away once more.

I love that ending. And that’s the end of Part 2. It really closes on a great moment!

No more hearing Hologram, which is probably my least loved opening song anyway. Oh, I like all of them. Rain is my favourite, then Again, then Golden time lover, then Period. Sadly Hologram isn’t my favourite though it does have that awesome image of a grinning Lust and the tree from Rain and the traintracks from Rewrite.

Er anyway, I loved the emotion in this episode. I complained last episode that there was too much comedy and we don’t see Ed being hit with much despair and this episode actually has Ed in a moral dilemma and its good. The tone here isn’t comedic, it’s full of emotion and that’s just what I love.

I’m actually going to skip the next episode. I have no interest in ever watching the creepy episode interlude party again. It’s mostly a recap and it just makes the Trisha/Hohenheim dynamic really creepy by having her show up as a young kid. Ugh. So next episode will be episode 28.

Ed and his meeting with Marcoh in FMA 03

Have I ever mentioned that I really like Ed’s character? It’s great how he develops because early on he can be really selfish and only concerned with his own goals. See the Marcoh encounter:

So Marcoh opens up to the two brothers about the Philosopher’s stone and how it was used in Ishval. He emphasises that it was a massacre that he feels responsible for.

Ed’s response?

He’s not interested in hearing about Marcoh’s guilt or the war or anything. He’s just after the stone. (Also Marcoh deserted the military, Ed. He doesn’t care about your cool title.) At least Al’s being more sympathetic, giving some encouraging news about the situation in Xenotime.

Ed meanwhile, breaks down a wall and finds the incomplete Philosopher’s stone. Basque Grand then comes in and confirms that the stone was used in Ishval to augment their abilities, allowing them to cause far greater destruction.

Ed?

…That’s one of his stranger expressions. A still picture doesn’t really do it justice as you can’t see how his eyes are twinkling. Ed’s very excited to be getting some answers and he’s ignoring all the warning signs. Because this is the biggest break he’s had in almost 4 years of searching for the stone. Wars aren’t anything to do with him; he’s only here for the stone and they’re finally getting closer to it.

It’s pretty Ironic that instead of a flashback of Ishval while Marcoh’s talking, we get shots of the destruction in Liore – something that’s very much to do with him despite his ignorance.

A moment later, he does finally show some anger.

…But it’s because of Grand denying him access to Marcoh’s research about the stone. (Because no one cares about Ed’s cool State Alchemist title.)

Then Grand sends in soldiers to arrest Dr. Marcoh and it’s finally apparent that Ed’s actions have unwittingly caused him harm – his actions do have consequences outside himself. By going here, he’s tipped the military off about Marcoh’s location.

And Ed finally shows some guilt and empathy. This time, he’s angry at himself. We even get a flashback to Nina and Ed’s inability to save her from the military’s clutches. He’s afraid he’s making another mistake.

He runs after the car, trying to make things right.

Exactly how far he would’ve gone to save Dr. Marcoh we sadly don’t find out as that’s when Scar appears and suddenly they all have a different problem.

A bit about 03!Hohenheim

Hohenheim is one of the odder characters in FMA 03. It is perhaps one of the clearest symptoms of how the series overtook the manga as Hohenheim’s story in that isn’t covered until much later. Therefore he’s set up to be important but he’s also not meant to be much more than a minor character.

In the manga, I believe Father’s existence was beginning to be revealed (I haven’t actually read much of it, I confess) and it’s not clear at first that he is a distinct character from Hohenheim- the reader is supposed to think it’s Ed and Al’s father. (He looks just like him, you’re not going to assume its his identical twin.) So, it seems Hohenheim is supposed to be both Ed and Al’s father who their mother clearly loved and also a monstrous person who controls the Homunculi and has some sort of evil plot that involves wars and conflict.

03 Hohenheim is an interesting attempt at this I think, as he has clearly done terrible things in the past but he’s not actually the antagonist. Everything we see of him shows someone who’s trying to be a better person or at least move on from his dark past. He doesn’t make any excuses or apologies for his past (avoids talking about it entirely actually) and doesn’t expect anything from Ed or Al either.

Towards the end, Ed does believe it might be his father behind the Homunculi, until he actually meets Dante at the end. I kinda wish this had been emphasised a little more. The ending is a little rushed sadly.

Hohenheim doesn’t actually do much in the series. He confronts Dante, trying to get her to listen to reason and offers Ed some answers and support in the other world. That’s basically it. His past is incredibly interesting though and works as something of a potential dark path for Ed if he had allowed himself to forget his morals and didn’t have his brother’s influence.

(I intended this to be a quick post but now I’ve mentioned Ed…)

Hohenheim created a Philosopher’s stone, sacrificing other lives to do it just as Ed was tempted to do in Lab 5. He also created a Homunculus, just as Ed and Al did, a failed human transmutation that went badly. In fact, Ed and Al learn how to make one by following his notes. Where Ed eventually has the courage to face his creation and fix his mistakes, Hohenheim has been running from his mistakes for a long time. He never even meets Envy (except in CoS). In the series proper, we finally see him facing Dante but it’s far too little too late.

This change of heart probably comes from falling in love with Trisha. Of course, even with Trisha he’s too afraid to reveal his secrets and chooses to leave rather than reveal the way his current body is beginning to rot. Ed has also had a tendency to run from his mistakes and hide what troubles him. The prime example would be how he wanted to ask Al for years if Al blamed him for the human transmutation and doesn’t find the courage until episode 24, after their fight and with some support and encouragement from Winry. But Ed does get better at opening up and facing his problems. When Al tells Hohenheim how he lost his body, Hohenheim’s talks of taking someone else’s body. Al hates this idea though – he and Ed just want to regain what they’ve lost.

In the last episode, Ed seems to hold no anger towards his father, nor does he try to avoid him but he actually opens up to him about some of his worries and it’s a mark of how much he’s grown. For all that it’s said that FMA 03 is a kind of dark story, Ed avoided the dark path. Hohenheim was able to change too even after everything he’d done in his past (his change came as a result of meeting Trisha and falling in love).

I feel like every character, villain or otherwise, is given a chance to change and do the right thing in FMA. (What is right is subjective but they can at least turn away from their past evil acts.) No matter how awful their crimes are. Not everyone takes this chance but it’s there.

Analysing FMA 03: Episode 28

Hey, here’s just another one of these episode analysis things I’m apparently addicted to. This one was kind of giving me trouble. Maybe because it’s already very good at getting its points across? Oh well.

This is another episode that explores the Elrics backstory. So yeah, more talking about Ed and Al’s characters. It’s a pretty brutal experience, honestly, and demonstrates that Izumi is a wise teacher (but would probably make a terrible mother given these harsh methods.)

Whatever the case, the Elrics are left alone on an uninhabited island. They have to work out what Teacher means by “One is all, all is one.” She means for them to learn about the flow of life.

At first, Ed and Al pretty arrogant and energetic, determined to beat this puzzle and overcome the challenge. But over the course of the episode we see their focus narrow to just trying to survive. They soon no longer care about winning. All their lofty goals are irrelevant to their present situation.

They’re instead learning to do what is necessary to survive.

Early on, they catch a rabbit in a trap. But then they realise they have to kill it to eat it and neither of them have the nerve to do so despite their growing hunger. Then a fox steals their rabbit to feed its young. It gives Ed an awful bite. Ed’s furious but then his expression softens as he realises that the fox mother is caring for its two children.

Meanwhile, they’ve also got to contend with the masked man. It’s Mason in disguise but they don’t know that. He repeatedly attacks them, steals their food and make survival generally harder. They learn to tread carefully and stay alert.

And after about two weeks they’re questioning what they’re even doing here. They barely remember that there’s a greater reason for being here. They’re eating anything they can find, including rats, snakes and poisonous mushrooms.

Ed seems to become particularly depressed. Al is frustrated and desperate as well of course, but he’s always just a touch more optimistic. Though he does at one point confess how much he just wants to go back home. And in that moment where Ed asks why they’re here, Al doesn’t have an answer either. So Al’s not doing all that much better.

But Ed’s state of mind is a bit worse. See this, where Ed’s grimly thinking about death with really deadened eyes:

This is all leading up to this moment where the two of them are fighting the masked man. Ed takes a blow to the stomach and lies on the ground. His brother is still fighting and can be heard taking hits and Ed doesn’t even move out of concern for him – it’s like he’s given up. His eyes have this dead look to them.

That’s when Ed sees this dead cicada and even tinier microorganisms harvesting the little insect’s corpse. That when he comes to the realisation that it’s death is enabling other things to live, that life works in this flow. The natural flow of the world is this cycle of life and death. And he applies this idea to himself and his own situation.

(There’s also this very brief image of his mother appearing once more in his thoughts.)

With newfound determination, Ed picks up his knife and faces the masked man. The message is clear: he’s willing to fight with lethal force to protect his brother. With that, the masked man simply drops Alphonse and finally leaves them alone. He doesn’t bother them again. (And Ed finally gives a brief relieved smile.)

So Ed’s starting to get what Izumi meant by All is one, one is all. With this understanding comes a greater appreciation for the value of life and a understanding of the world as a whole.

As he explains his thoughts to Al, there’s loads of beautiful imagery of wildlife. Actually, this whole episode has lots of nice visuals, I think. Ed talks about death again, this time far less depressed about it. He says that in their subjective mindset, people will be sad and they won’t have achieved anything but looking at their lives as part of a bigger picture, the world would just keep on going as if nothing had happened while their bodies would decompose into their base elements. (Al lists the elements that make up a human body here.)

They realise that they’re only tiny individuals in a greater world where their elements that make them up will keep on circulating through the system long after they’re dead. But without all the individual parts that make it up, the ‘All’ couldn’t exist.

This time, when faced with a rabbit, Ed’s able to kill it. (Foreshadowing how Ed could be pushed to taking a life as the Greed arc is coming up).

And they link it to alchemy. Alchemists like them work by recognising that flow of the world and working within it – to understand, decompose and recreate.

And that pretty much concludes the flashback portion of this episode. Izumi’s impressed with what they’ve learned and agrees to teach them.

In the present, Ed confesses that while they’d learned that much, they hadn’t accepted that life can only flow in one direction. That death is irreversible. They understand it better now as he says how it was a mistake to try and bring their mum back. Coming back here was to give them a chance to reflect on that.

Despite confessing that much, they both stay firm in their choice to continue seeking a way to fix themselves even it means potentially making the same mistakes. This time, they’re far more aware of the costs and dangers.

The storytelling in this episode is pretty nice. It does a bunch of cuts between the past and the present which isn’t something I want all the time but it works here. Seeing how capable the Elric brother are shows how much they’ve grown and changed from when they were kids. It also prevents the episode from being too dark as you get to see the two of them laughing and fondly reminiscing about their terrifying experience on the island as kids.

(This is also the episode which introduces Wrath. He’s observing them as they wander about. Al even somehow mistakes him for Ed at one point. He doesn’t reveal himself until the end, giving a hook for the next episode.)

So yeah, all in all, one of my favourite episodes. Just wanted to talk mostly about the development of young Ed and Al throughout this episode though I feel like I just ended up summarising the story. Oh well.

BH Rewatch episode 25

Table of Contents

Episode 25: Doorway of Darkness

Yeah, doing another of these. Huh this episode felt shorter than normal. I guess that’s a sign that it’s engaging me. It’s pretty good, very memorable. (Especially if you don’t hate Ling!)

It starts strong with the ominous sight of Edward waking up in mostly darkness and with the floor wet with blood. However, it rather quickly goes to comedy. To be honest, I think this has had more comedy moments than the last few episodes.

Theoretically, this could be a really dark moment with how trapped and powerless the characters are. But I guess you want to keep things light? So you get short jokes and the utterly weird moment where Ed grabs Al’s gauntlet and starts shrieking and waving the arm about, saying something about Elric brother telepathy when there could have been a poignant moment of Ed worrying for what his brother must be thinking.

It is Ed and Ling together though, they really bring out the lighthearted sides of each other. And given what’s coming up soon, it’s important to establish that they’re basically friends now.

And the comedy is alright too, for Brotherhood standards. Stuff like Ed threatening to leave Ling but ending up carrying him is nice (bah, it’s showing off Ling’s manipulative side again.) Ed suggesting his boot as a meal and going through with it.

Brotherhood Ed can be such a shonen protagonist. “I’m too stubborn to give up.”

We cut to Mei and Yoki and Scar. Mei is worrying for her bear and she explains how much she means to her (huh, it’s a girl?) with some flashbacks showing how they met. Gosh, I swear flashback!Mei actually looks older than current Mei.

She also explains how her clan is terribly poor and finding immortality for the Emperor is their last hope and she’s got people relying on her. Mei definitely gets my sympathy here. Scar is also moved and volunteers to go look for the bear with her and Yoki notes how Scar has lost his own people, the Ishvalans.

Of Course, the episode gets good when Envy appears. Even Ed is happy to see the Homunculus as he wants some answers. Envy offers some information about how the stomach is a fake gateway of Truth created by his father.

Ah, this sort of stuff is great. It fits into how Father wants to become a god but can only pull off a cheap imitation. Gluttony’s creation was an experiment that didn’t really work. His version is far more hellish with the darkness and the blood.

Envy’s pretty unhappy about how there’s no way out. They’re basically trapped between dimensions. He’s moving around a lot less than normal and doesn’t mind talking and revealing stuff at all.

Ishval is brought up and Envy proudly reveals that he was behind it. He seems so pleased with himself about it. The only thing the Homunculi can create is destruction. Ed’s horrified and angry to hear all that suffering, including Scar and Winry’s parents, was caused by his cruelty.

It’s interesting how similar and how different this is from 03. The same story of a soldier killing a child is spouted except it’s just propaganda, a cover story to hide the fact that the war was really started by a special ops team who were fed misinformation to convince them to start killing and inciting conflict. Said soldiers didn’t officially exist and were then experimented on in lab 5 to prevent the truth from ever getting out. Eh, it’s just interesting how in one series it’s a lie to cover an even less pleasant truth while in the other, it’s exactly as you’re told save for the added element of the homunculi being behind it all.

Sorry for the digression, I love to talk about 03. Anyway, still in the field, Al is sitting with his head tilted down, worrying for his brother. Gluttony is doing the same, feeling bad about eating them. Gluttony brings up that he was made by his father and Al finally looks up and asks to meet with him. Gluttony happily agrees, mentioning that Al’s a sacrifice.

In the military, officers are discussing who will be their sacrifices, saying they only have Ed and Al. (Do they not know about Izumi?) They talk about how Marcoh isn’t ready and how Kimblee doesn’t have the nerve to pull it off. (Really? He seems pretty willful to me.)

Mustang talks to the Fuhrer, trying to threaten his son, which obviously wouldn’t work. The Fuhrer responds by making Riza his hostage by transferring her to work as his personal assistant while Mustang’s other man are transferred out of Central. Yeah, that’s how you do a threat.

Envy reveals his true form and begins fighting Ed and Ling. Ahh, the huge CGI form is back… yeah Envy is a big monster. Ed and Ling prepare to face him as the episode ends.

So, I recently watched 03 episode 28 and I’d recommend not doing so before watching some Brotherhood. Seeing young Ed’s struggle and growing despair at his terrible situation before finally standing up, ready to do anything to survive is a big contrast to BH!Ed’s more typical stubbornness and determination. Really, really wish we could’ve dove into his feelings a little more. (And I know we get a little more anguish next episode.) Not that his refusal to give up contrasted with Ling attitude isn’t something, but I’d have been interested in more. Yes, I want the show to be something it’s not. What of it?

Next episode

Alphonse is an overly trusting idiot

(and I love him for it)

Hey there! Alphonse is one of my favourite characters in FMA. He’s nice and as much a prodigy as his brother – but when it comes to people, he can be really naive and idiotic. (Bear in mind that he is really a kid though.)

This is mostly about 03 Alphonse where his trusting nature is both a strength and a flaw. He’s trusting in BH as well, I think, but I don’t think we see him get into as much trouble because of it. (I mean, there was that time when he spent all night in the dark with Pride, who was banging his helmet in a constant methodical pattern the whole time before realising something was wrong.)

Want some examples? Okay! At the start of episode 10, Ed and Al are playing poker and Ed is blatantly cheating. Al doesn’t suspect his devious brother at all until the cards literally fall out of his sleeve.

Apparently he just thought he was being unlucky.

Later in this episode, even though Clara/Psyren has already lied to them once, he still believes she has good intentions for stealing stuff. He believes her made-up story every single time. Ed only believes her the first time.

Yeah, he’s irritated at his brother for helping to arrest her. (Gosh, Ed spends so much of that episode eating.)

An episode later, the brother are in Xenotime and Ed is angry that a pair of brothers have stolen their identities and as a result the entire town thinks they’re a pair of liars and threw them out of what was probably the inn.

Unsurprisingly, Ed is angry. Al, meanwhile, doesn’t hold any sort of grudge at all and tries to be nice and befriend the younger brother, Fletcher, while calling his brother a hothead. (Like Ed’s reaction is the unreasonable one or something.) This works out for Al as the Tringham’s are not really a bad sort and they start working together. Al also convinces Fletcher to stand up to his brother.

Moving away from the early fillerish episodes, how about that time when Al meets Scar? Scar has already tried to kill he and his brother once. Al’s armour was completely wrecked. But when he meets up with Scar outside the fifth Lab, he is nice and attempts to befriend Scar, asking about his past and such. Nevermind that Scar has told him that he still intends to kill Ed.

Well, I guess Scar did help to defeat his opponent that Al was struggling against-

Oh right. Al also listens to Barry the Chopper and allows the crazed serial killer to convince him that he might not be real. That all his memories are fake. He gets caught up in his emotions and stops listening to logic and this leads to a terrible fallout with his brother. Helping Scar paid off at least as he helps him fight some mercenaries and Scar decides to help and defend the other Ishvalans, ending his crusade against State Alchemists.

Al’s awesome trusting nature also helps him to befriend Marta, as he helps to keep her safe even against her wishes when she and Greed have kidnapped him.

This pays off later when he meets up with Marta again and she gives them a ride.

Though it’s not all so good as he also tries to stop Marta from killing Kimblee because he doesn’t want her to take revenge for betraying Greed. His efforts aren’t enough to save her this time though as she can’t resist trying to kill the Fuhrer and Marta ends up dead.

As for Kimblee? He turns Alphonse into a bomb and Scar has to give up his arm to save Al’s life. (Kimblee is killed by Scar)

Next, the brothers run into Hohenheim and Ed wants nothing to do with him while Al isn’t angry at his father for abandoning them at all. He even sides against Edward. Ed seems incredibly hurt by this.

Gosh, couldn’t Al have pretended to be irritated for five minutes to support Ed before forgiving his dad? Ed’s feelings are hardly unreasonable. Anyway, this means he can spend the night with his dad and get to know him a little.

Then Al gets a call from Shou Tucker of all people and decides to learn about the Philosopher’s stone from him. He goes behind Ed’s back to do this. Al is somehow surprised when this backfires as Tucker uses him and a piece of his Philosophers stone.

Finally, there’s Al’s reaction to Sloth. Ed is not inclined to trust her as he realises she’s not their mother and means them harm. He tells Al as much. Al still wants to trust her though.

He even throws her weakness away and shoves Ed to the ground. Sloth proceeds to manipulate and control Al (she literally hides inside his body) while trying to kill Ed.

Yeah, so in almost every one of these instances, Al ends up fighting or arguing with his brother. Only some of the time does this work out for them. There’s actually only one incident I can think of where Al isn’t incredibly naive and trusting. And that’s against Wrath. This is probably one of the times where it might have been good if Alphonse had been less aggressive as Wrath isn’t actually a bad sort. Edward was already being sufficiently wary and untrusting towards Wrath. The two of them end up handling the situation really badly given its Envy of all people that acts kind and earns Wrath’s trust. It’s because he has Ed’s limbs – that’s like the one thing Al can’t accept because he feels guilty about it.

The Elrics actually complement each other really well. Al’s trusting nature gets people to open up towards them while Ed is more rational. Ed, for instance, realises something is off about Tucker long before Al, who only understands what Tucker’s done to Nina when it’s revealed. Al’s basically the naive, trusting brother while Ed is the one who has to be responsible. Err, Ed can be pretty reckless and emotional as well, it’s just that he’s more cynical and less prone to trusting killers and liars.

Summarising 03’s ending

Dante wants to create a new Philosopher’s stone to continue living forever by moving her soul to a new body whenever the old one begins to grow old.

In the past, 400 years ago, she and Hohenheim were a couple who first created a Philosopher’s stone. The experience nearly killed Hohenheim so Dante moved his soul into another body with the newly created stone and that’s how they first learned they could be immortal.

Now, that old stone has run out so Dante needs a new stone and initially she wanted Edward to make it and die in the attempt while she took the stone for herself- that’s what was going on in Lab 5. More generally, she is causing wars and plagues in order to create despair so that humans will search for the stone for her. This comes to fruition in Ishval where Scar’s brother uses the lives of the dying Ishvalans to create a stone within his own body. Scar later finishes this stone in Liore. It hasn’t gone perfectly to her plan as Al was turned into the stone (rather than everyone dying) so Dante now wants to get her hands on Alphonse.

Ed and Al are on the run because they know the military is being controlled by the Homunculi, who are working for Dante. They head to Risembool to get away, and partially to get some remains in order to defeat Sloth – their mother’s remains are her weakness.

In Risembool they meet Hohenheim and mention Dante and Lyra so Hohenheim realises the danger they are in and goes to confront Dante in the underground city.

The underground city was where they created a Philosopher’s stone long ago, taking all the lives from this civilisation before pulling the city underground so all trace of their crimes would be lost as a new city (Central City) gets built above the underground city.

Dante is ready for Hohenheim and uses a baby in order to summon the gate. It’s explained that each Alchemist has a gate inside them and when they use alchemy they open that gate to access the energy that allows them to perform Alchemy. This energy comes from the dead souls from another world – the Philosopher’s stone is essentially a battery where the energy comes from stored souls and it requires many lives to be created. And performing alchemy is essentially opening the gates between worlds for power.

As people grow up their gates become harder to access though alchemists of course learn to control those. A young infant still has a natural access to it so Dante can use the baby to summon the gate into their world temporarily. On the other side of this gate is the world in which souls are drawn to power alchemy. Dante summons the Gate and separates Hohenheim’s body, soul and mind inside the gate but Hohenheim is able to reform himself on the other side. He is fully trapped in the other world however.

One other thing we learn about Hohenheim and Dante is that they once had a son together and they tried to perform human transmutation to bring him back to life. The result was the Homunculus Envy, who holds a grudge against Hohenheim for abandoning him. (This grudge extends to Edward as well.)

Later, in Central, Envy has captured Alphonse for Dante and she plans to harvest the stone from him using Gluttony to consume him. Edward shows up then. He’s killed Sloth and Lust is dead and Wrath is beyond caring about the stone. Pride is facing a confrontation with Mustang and Gluttony has had his mind destroyed by Dante as his feelings were getting in the way of his job. That leaves only Envy and Dante herself. Rose is also there because Dante is using her baby and wants to take her body once they’ve created the new stone. (She wishes to seduce Edward in this new body hence why she tries to convince Rose that Ed is in love with her.)

Dante tells Edward about how equivalent exchange is a lie before sending his soul into the gate as well, using the baby again. Edward’s body gets trapped in the gate while his mind and soul cross over to Alter!Ed’s body. Hohenheim explains a few things to him at this point. He cannot cross over but Ed still can because his body remains inside the Gate. While in Alter!Ed’s body, Ed gets hit by a falling blimp (because it’s in the middle of World War 1 and there’s an air raid.) He uses his alter’s death to fuel an alchemic reaction to jump back into his original body within the gate.

Then Ed gets back into his world as Dante uses the gate again in an attempt to punish Wrath (who is terrified of the gate because he spent years trapped inside it.)

Envy is a bit unnerved but engages Edward in a fight, revealing his origins. He uses Ed’s shock to his advantage and stabs Ed in the chest.

As Ed is dying Alphonse performs a sacrifice of his own and uses the Stone to revive Ed. He gets used up because he was the Stone. Envy also gets caught in the reaction and meets Edward inside the gate. He chooses to go through the other side when he hears that Hohenheim is still alive on the other side of the Gate.

Dante is furious, having lost the stone. She’s also lost all her minions and tries to leave to go and get Pride. The mindless Gluttony meets her in the elevator and is implied to have eaten her.

Edward wakes up in a new body, fully restored, but his brother is gone. Even though he’s not sure it will work, he’s decided he has to try to save his brother again.

He performs another human transmutation again, and uses himself as sacrifice. His efforts bring Al back to life as a ten-year-old without his memories in the armour.

Ed instinctively jumped into his old body still inside the gate and to survive ends up trapped on the other side of the gate with Hohenheim. This time his body, mind and soul have crossed over.

Al goes to study Alchemy again, hoping to find his brother again while Ed researches science in the other world, also looking for a way back to his brother. They’re both hopeful that they will meet again some day.