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Episode 21 Advance of the Fool

Another pleasant episode though I’ll be honest the two halves of the episode feel very different from each. Neither were bad though.

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We’re in Central catching up with Mustang who is recovering from the battle with Lust. The group, which includes the Elric brothers, discuss the Homunculi. They’re starting to put some pieces together and start suspecting the Fuhrer has something to do with it. 

I’m not entirely understanding their evidence. Something about long tunnels underneath Lab 3 where they met Lust and a radius drawn which shows the Fuhrer presidential thingy is in range? Are you telling me they fought Lust way down some tunnels? Meaning that Mustang hobbled across a long distance with his recently cauterised wounds in order to defeat Lust which happened at the entrance. Anyway, their other evidence of him killing all of Greed’s chimeras rather than keeping them alive for interrogation is better evidence.

A brief look at the Homunculi show Envy is angry that they’re not avenging Lust and they should kill Mustang. But, they’re planning to use him for a Sacrifice, Wrath explains. (Why they’re so obsessed with him I’m not sure. Surely, he seems like a risk? Which he is.)

Anyway, Havoc tells the others that he’s lost the use of his legs and can’t walk. Throughout the episode there’s looks at him struggling with what his future will be as he has to back away from helping Mustang. He seems tired and defeated. But Mustang says something about waiting for him and Riza says how Mustang doesn’t give up on anyone. Mustang lectured her a bit for her breakdown, saying she should never give up on life. 

Ed and Al say a bit more about the transmutation. It where Ed gives his theory that their souls are linked and so he’s keeping him alive inside the gate. So Al is worried his body will reject his soul – it is pretty nice it’s so easily lasted five years already though. Ed apparently also sleeps a lot for Al. It sure would have been nice to have seen some proper evidence of him getting often really tired rather than Al just stating it. This soul-linking should be seriously hindering but the only actual consequence is that apparently Ed is undersized. (Not that it lasts. He’ll soon have his massive growth-spurt.) 

They also talk about Scar. Ed decides not to tell Winry that they believe he killed her parents. I love how he’s still not sure – has Ed not seen Scar’s arm yet? 

So, Ed plans to catch a homunculi and he’s going to do this by taking advantage of his Plot Armour. The fact that the homunculi need him and his brother alive as they told him. He decides to showboat in order to attract Scar’s attention, in the hopes that the Homunculi will come and rescue him. It’s a good plan and has one of the humorous scenes I actually liked with Ed going around fixing items for townspeople. 

Ling appears at his window to offer some help for the dangerous plan – telling him its because he’s interested that the Homunculi are immortal. It’s as self-interested as ever but I can’t deny that Ling is being helpful and they’ve established him stalking Edward enough that it makes sense he was listening in on the conversation.

I still don’t really like Ling but honestly his antics have lately all been generally silly and harmless and he’s not an unpleasant guy. I basically really wish his introduction had been a lot better or they demonstrated some actual positive traits. Or, like, he had faced some consequences for his actions rather than getting away scot-free every time. No I can’t count his arrest as it was so random and out of place and he got out the next episode anyway without any consequences. His personality isn’t bad or anything and he is supposed to be fairly young and whimsical. 

So Edward’s antics catch Roy’s attention first and then Scar appears in order to attack them. Alphonse convinces Roy and Riza to go along with their plan. (I’m so glad Ed’s actually come up with a plan.) 

I wish we were in Scar’s head a bit more here. Does he suspect this is a trap? He seems like the type to just go and spring the trap. Why is he so intent on killing Edward? He’s one of the least offensive state alchemists out there and his new friend Mei has told him that she wants to speak to Edward in order to help her tribe. I know he’s on a bit of an all-consuming revenge kick but still. 

Gluttony and Wrath are sent out to intervene and the Xingese characters reveal their (convenient) power of being able to detect Philosopher’s stones. Lan Fan, Fuu and Ling aren’t even Alkahestrists, why do they all know this? 

The episode ends basically mid-fight with Ed still fighting Scar and trying to survive long enough to give the Homunculi time to intervene and the Xingese characters are engaging the homunculi. Mustang, Riza and Al are nearby, essentially observing. 

So all in all, half this episode was basically the aftermath of the Lust fight, half was focussed on making this Scar fight happen. (They’ve made a big deal about the urgency of getting Al’s body back in the last few episodes but I can’t help but notice their current actions are not in any way working towards it but dealing with the plotting Homunculi. I don’t mind that they’re dealing with the Homunculi at all but they’ve been putting so much emphasis on their quest to return Al’s body.) 

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Episode 20 – Father before the Grave

Here we’ve got an actual Ed-centric episode. An introspective, reflective and emotional episode. Yeah, it’s actually really gripping.

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Now let me preface this by saying that I’m thinking this part was created partly in order to explain some of the key differences between the world-building in this story and the first anime. Just like last episode clarified some of the rules about Homunculi through Lust. (I’m pretty sure the manga got really popular thanks to the great anime adaptation so it’s pretty important to show that they are two different stories.)

Now, onto the episode proper. We get to meet Hohenheim and I immediately hate him, naturally. This first bit is almost hard to watch. Edward wants to know where he’s been and what he’s doing and Hohenheim ignores him to start lecturing him about Human transmutation which he already knows all about because Pinako just told him everything. 

Wow. He’s been gone for like 12 years and he immediately starts lecturing Edward about one of his most painful memories? He invades Ed’s personal space, stands over him and calls him a child hiding from his mistakes. He acts like he knows Edward incredibly well, never mind that this is practically the first time they’ve met! And, of course, he’s somehow completely correct about everything he says. 

Edward is very visibly pained by this entire conversation and never calls Hohenheim out on the fact that he’s been gone for years. To himself, he mutters about how Edward reminds him of his own running away from his mistakes and that he’s just like him. No, I’m not going to sympathise with Hohenheim in this scene! It’s too little too late. 

Now, it is good for someone to confront Edward about the human transmutation as it is something he has been avoiding for years. I just really wish it was anyone else. Or Hohenheim did not go straight to attacking him. Honestly, my favourite approach would be if Edward decided to tackle the human transmutation issue of his own accord rather being told by someone else.

Pinako is really non-judgemental towards Hohenheim, she seems aware of his agelessness and understands he’s something else. I do wish she had been just a little critical though. Someone ought to have been. Instead, Hohenheim shares one more thought about their Human transmutation – whether they really transmuted their mother or not – and leaves again. Yeah, he really doesn’t stick around long at all. 

There’s also no reason why he couldn’t have visited Risembool or stay in contact for the last 12 years. He’s spreading souls around but surely he could’ve made a few visits? It’s not like he doesn’t care. Yeah Pinako mentions to Ed that he cares – I hope she’s not implying that Ed should be ready to forgive him for everything when Hohenheim hasn’t even offered a hint of explanation. His actions aren’t really suggesting he cares all that much.

So, we get the absolutely brutal scene of Edward digging up the remains. He’s had nightmares the previous night, haunted by guilt and horror at what he’s created. He’s pretty sick actually, his automail bothering him more than ever, not helped with the rain. He digs it all up by hand though. (I’d presume that alchemy is what he’s wanting to avoid because it would surely make this task much easier.)

Anyway, they confirm it’s not anything like Trisha. Ed’s remaining conclusions in this episode baffle me though I have to admit. So, he failed at making a body and concludes that human transmutation was never possible. Maybe you just did it wrongly? I feel like he’s discounting that possibility. Oh well.

But he concludes that this gives him hope because it means he can get Alphonse’s body back? I don’t know how he came to that conclusion. Really, I don’t. If it’s impossible to bring back your mother’s body then why would it be possible to bring back your Brother’s? I’m not suggesting its not still feasible but I’d say such a failed attempt would be discouraging towards further human transmutation attempts. Not evidence that it’ll be possible.

Oh well, he travels back to Central and tells Al all about his conclusions. Oh, Ling is around and Alphonse told him all about how his body is rejecting his soul. Ling, unbelievably is still thinking it might be a workable solution to immortality if you swap bodies occasionally and Winry blows up at him. Yeah, he’s still just insistently hanging around even when Edward throws him out. 

Oh well, so Alphonse relates more on his struggles with being in the armour, such as the loneliness and how he hates people potentially dying for him. Edward is insistent that they’ll get his body back anyway. And they think back on some actual evidence supporting that it’s possible.

Oh, there’s this weird thing where but are happy to hear it was never their mother because they both had felt guilty for killing her a second time until now. This is cool but it really ought to have been mentioned before this episode that they’d be feeling these things. Otherwise it’s kind of strange to resolve this. Generally, I’m concerned by how positive their conclusions are in all. They never ponder on what they actually created might have been, or where it would have come from. They never feel angry that they lost so much for something that was never even slightly possible. I just feel they should be a little more conflicted about everything even if on the whole they are not too discouraged. This shouldn’t absolve them of all guilt, except is kind of has. 

Oh well. This is on the whole a really good episode. It’s serious and thoughtful and explores some interesting themes and shows Edward really confronting his past mistakes, which is great. My irritations were long to write out but I want to clarify that they do not destroy the episode by any means. 

Edward and Alphonse end with the commitment to move forward and that they’ll get his body back from Truth for sure now that they know its possible. Still no actual plan on what they’ll do next, you know? The issue they were facing is that they want to move forward but don’t know what to do now. I never got the impression they were anywhere near close to actually giving up. Still, it feels way more earned to say this now as opposed to in episode 18. 

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Episode 19 – Death of the Undying

I’ve seen plenty of people say that if you’re not into Brotherhood, give it until episode 19 to catch your interest. That’s giving a series way too long to get good in my opinion but here’s where stuff starts happening. 

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This episode obviously hates me because Ed doesn’t actually appear in this episode apart from a brief teaser at the end. It also kills one of my favourite characters. Admittedly, she just looks the same but isn’t actually anything like 03!Lust at all. 

We start with Riza about to be killed by Gluttony when her dog, Black Hayate, saves her by attacking the homunculus and this gives her a brief reprieve for her to shoot him a few more times. She’s still in trouble though when out of nowhere Mustang comes and saves her, incinerating the Homunculus. 

Right… should I just ignore the fact that last time showed Mustang on the phone in his office when he hears Hawkeye being attacked (from over the phone). How did he have enough time to get over to her to save her? Gluttony isn’t the type to take a long time about killing so I can’t believe more than a few minutes have passed. And people say Brotherhood has no plot holes…

I also won’t mention that this isn’t the only time in this episode where Mustang comes out of nowhere to save Hawkeye by incinerating a homunculus about to kill her. 

We cut to Ling just casually revealing Mustang’s secret plan to Winry and Al – mentioning that he isn’t supposed to tell anyone. Al decides to look into things in order to avenge Hughes. 

So Mustang, Hawkeye, Havoc and Barry the chopper follow Barry’s human form who is leading him towards the third laboratory. Why would the feral creature be leading them there? I thought it was attracted to Barry. Anyway, on the way they run into Al and he joins them. He fills them in a bit about Homunculi. Don’t worry, they don’t lose track of the human-barry-monster thingy. 

Once they get to the Third lab, Human Barry collapses on the ground apparently dead. Hawkeye, armoured Barry and Al wait outside while Havoc and Mustang go inside to investigate.

Inside, Lust waits alone. No Envy or even Gluttony are about for some reason. (And I generally assume Pride doesn’t exist until the story forces me to believe otherwise.) Lust has decided that these two are now too much hassle so she’s planning to kill them both.

Firstly though, she makes sure you don’t confuse her with 03!Lust. She shows off her Philosopher’s stone in her chest, says something about believing herself to be human and every word out of her mouth sounds suggestive.  Oh and she just casually lets herself get shot and decides to not properly kill them but let them both slowly bleed out. She seriously lets herself take quite a bit of damage to show off the fact that she’s immortal.

Anyway, she removes Mustang’s gloves and leaves them to die before walking away to deal with the people outside. Again, she lets Hawkeye shoot her about twenty times and just stands there. She does destroy Barry the Chopper though and I am very grateful for that. Beforehand she even asks why he’s helping the heroes. That’s what I was wondering too, Lust! He just says that he felt like it and he’d also enjoy slicing her up. 

Alphonse reveals he can do arrayless transmutation and I love how Lust just decides that she should kill him anyway. Same with Mustang, the ‘perfect candidate.’ She obviously doesn’t care a bit about Father’s plan. I bet she’s been secretly killing loads of other alchemists over the years because she secretly wants his plans to fail. 

Right, so Riza falls to her knees and begins crying. Alphonse is actually telling her not to give up. Alphonse says he’s sick of seeing people die. I hate this characterisation of Riza, her inability to live without Mustang. It’s not given too much focus here but it crops up again in later episodes. 

Mustang shows up and incinerates Lust repeatedly. It’s some of the best animation and it’s absolutely brutal. Her destruction might well be the best animation of a Homunculus dying in the show. 

Once Lust is dead, Mustang collapses and Hawkeye takes him to get medical treatment. Al is also battered and his arm falls off upon reuniting with Winry. I hadn’t realised Lust had done so much damage to his arm. 

Just in case, I could be content with Barry being gone and have no more questions. The piece with the array on his armour is still intact but then Human Barry wakes up just to scratch it out, killing them both.

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So that was the episode. That might’ve sounded quite critical but it’s a really a cool episode (provided you don’t view Lust’s defeat in a problematic light or anything). It’s actually a simple series of events of all the characters naturally making their way to Lab 3 and getting into a fight to the death. They learn a lot and their’s also some serious consequences too. My critiques aren’t anything that really harms enjoyment of the episode.

This episode and the next episode do this thing where they address some of the key differences between 03 and Brotherhood. Lust randomly mentioning that she considers herself human or whatever the exact line was, is to tell you that it’s different from 03 (where Lust feels like an inhuman monster who wishes to obtain humanity). She is defeated by repeatedly being killed in contrast to 03′s method. Alphonse additionally learns that a foreign soul in a body is something that cannot work because the body rejects it – this directly contrasts Hohenheim and Dante from 03 who were able to enjoy immortality by moving their soul into different bodies. 

That’s not a problem or anything, I just want to point out that I think that’s what’s being done. 

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Episode 18 – The Arrogant Palm of a Small Human

This episode is just plain bizarre! Like, there’s quite a few plot threads in this episode and they’re generally quite strange. That’s what it felt like anyway.

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Okay, the first part deals with Maria Ross. It reveals that she’s not dead and that Mustang successfully faked her death and now she’s going into hiding in Xing. Turns out Mustang managed to create a human-looking body to burn, which is kinda edging close to human transmutation. Certainly suggesting he is capable of such a thing. Maria gets smuggled out of Central by Havoc. Edward has been given the wrong impression and apparently no one thought it was safe enough to tell him and instead they get him shipped off to Risembool. 

They take Ed all the way to Xerxes before he has any idea what’s going on and honestly I’m still surprised he just goes along with it. In Central, Winry and Al are also wondering what’s happening (and why didn’t they just come along anyway? There’s no real reason for Edward to leave without them and its not like they couldn’t stand to see Maria Ross is alive either.)

Actually, they aren’t in the dark either as Ling appears and tells them the truth about what happened. So much for all the secrecy.

Mustang knew that Ross was innocent thanks to Barry’s testimony and is staging everything in an effort to catch the puppeteers (the Homunculi.) Gosh but seriously, Barry the Chopper’s continued importance is kind of annoying. He’s still just living with Falman. 

Oh, Fuu is with the group in Xerxes. Ling sent him to help. 

Ling wants to know the secret of immortality and is demanding the answer from Al. As if living as a hollow suit of armour is not a horrible fate. 

Okay, now to the downright weird. The Homunculi have sent Barry the Chopper’s human body out into the world and it instinctively goes for his armoured body. It’s absolute feral and decaying but it also seems weirdly powerful physically with it’s ability to jump about and dodge bullets though it’s also decayed such that it is basically a walking corpse. Barry recognises it and decides he wants to chop it up. Okay, this whole fight scene is just weird. Why is the soulless (or without its original soul) body so powerful such that Barry, Falman and Havoc are unable to deal with it without Hawkeye’s assistance?  What are the Homunculi even doing? 

Back at Xerxes, Ed is examining an array he recognises from Lab 5 when he randomly gets attacked. Ed easily restrains him as a couple dozen more Ishvalans appear. Ed is wary but the Ishvalans are nice, they say they don’t blame all Amestrians for the Ishvalan massacre and this wizened woman says they should not try to use him as leverage against the Amestrian Government or anything. They bring up the Rockbells who they’re all very grateful to and Edward demands to know who killed them and they tell him it was Scar. 

Another scene that is incredibly contrived so they could bring up another reveal. Ed’s out on his own without the rest of his group. The Ishvalans just appear out of nowhere, tell him about the war and disappear. At first, it looks like there will be anger and conflict between Ed, who is military, and the large group of Ishvalans but Ed doesn’t even do anything before they decide to be friendly (apart from the guy who attacked him so Ed can be a good person who lets him go). They bring up the Rockbells out of the blue so Ed can say he has a connection to them. Ed then asks how they died so they can tell him it was Scar. Ed is shocked and that’s all for the scene. No more mention of this group is made. (I think anyway, I might have forgotten something). 

Now, this scene probably works a bit better if you’re less familiar with FMA 03 (It really explores some moral ambiguities and is very challenging). I don’t think at this point in the series in Brotherhood we’ve actually seen much from the Ishvalan people whereas there’s been quite a bit of focus on Ishval in early parts of FMA03 – essentially this might be meant to be a reveal to show that not all Ishvalan people are villains when the only exposure we’ve had is Scar. I feel like 03 portrayed the Ishvalans as sympathetic really early and so this scene just seems silly. (early event-wise at least, this is only episode 18 after all). I know BH has addressed the war a little but it was a brief look. In 03, Scar is central to the lab 5 arc whereas in BH, he wasn’t even present. It’s kind of hard to try and view BH without slotting in some of the character exploration from early 03. That’s just how it is for me. 

I don’t mind this reveal by the way – I mostly wish there was a little more nuance to this scene by showing actual conflict between Ed and the group of Ishvalans or something. Also, I like it when reveals happen a touch more organically where this feels like it comes out of nowhere. (In 03, Marcoh tells Ed about the Rockbells as an example of some of the horrors from the war while he’s trying to get Ed to understand why he deserted and why his actions were unforgiveable in his mind. Winry finds out about her parents when talking to a pair of Ishvalan boys, trying to comfort them while they’re remembering trauma from the war. Both of these feel like they were revealed more naturally even if its still a little random.)

But I digress. 

So, Edward also has a chat with his group about what he’s going to do now as that wasn’t resolved. He decides that he’s going to keep moving forward, inspired by all the people who have been helping he and his brother but he’s going to do it without anymore people getting hurt. Still not an actual plan but I believe he’s getting inspired to look more into the Homunculi at this point. He mentions arrogance and stares at his hand contemplatively, obviously deep in thought about his and his brother’s losses which is where the episode title comes from.

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This is kind of episode you want to just get through quickly so you can get to the next episode. Not that it’s bad exactly, it’s just not got much in the way of really stellar scenes other than the reveals if it’s your first time watching. It’s not one you linger on. It ends with Hawkeye being attacked with Gluttony while trading coded messages with Mustang so it wants you to get hyped for the next episode. Which is episode 19 – Death of the Undying. The episode where people often say Brotherhood really begins to hit its stride.

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Hey, here’s another FMA Brotherhood rewatch. This one is called Footsteps of a Comrade-in-arms and it’s all about Maes Hughes. Honestly not too much really happens in this episode.

So, it begins with Ed and co. arriving in Central and Ling quickly disappears to the dismay of Lan Fan and Fuu. He muses that something feels off about the country. Lan Fan is especially worried that he’s in trouble. Next time we see him he’s collapsed again and gets picked up by some soldiers who decide to arrest him as some sort of illegal immigrant. Yeah. Ling, prince of Xing, gets himself arrested because he was being an idiot. Still waiting for his character to improve. 

Barry the chopper isn’t even being restrained anymore, just watched over by Falman. Why does he put up with this? It seems like he’s helping them now! It’s sort of ridiculous. 

Envy is spying on the military, specifically Mustang through use of his shapeshifting powers. Lust is using Havoc to get info on Mustang. They are worried about him though I’m not sure what they think he might do. 

But the main part of this episode is on Ed, Al and Winry finding out the Hughes is dead. I love how no one is able to tell them. Armstrong’s been quiet, Mustang actually lies to them about it and Ross ends up revealing it quite accidentally but then fills them in. Winry finds out from Gracia. 

So, we go through them feeling sad and, in Ed’s case, guilty. He blames himself for sharing about the Homunculi with him. Gracia reassures him that she doesn’t hold Ed responsible when he opens up to her. She and her daughter are still grieving as well though. Winry actually bursts into tears towards the end though Ed stays dry-eyed. 

This stuff is all okay, I guess. It’s a bit of downtime the three of them needed though its all how you’d expect. (I feel like 03 would have tried to crush its characters with feelings at this sort of scene. I imagine it would have had Ed only find out about Hughes when he hears about Maria Ross’s arrest and then his grief would be mixed with more anger and confusion as he tried to deal with his emotions while the plot forces him into action. If Ross had kept Hughes fate a secret from Ed too then maybe Ed would even begin doubting her. Meanwhile his anger at Mustang would be a little fiercer even before the events of the next episode.)

Sorry for the digression but eh, I might as well attempt to express why 03 works for me so well where I care less about Brotherhood. Truth is, I love its angst and abilities to push its character emotionally while the plot progresses unrelentingly. In Brotherhood, I find it gives its characters a lot more breathing room and can focus on its plot without character emotions taking precedence. It’s a personal preference, I hope you realise. I’ll try to keep any comparisons infrequent though!

So, after reminiscing about Hughes, we switch to the Homunculi who come up with their plan to distract Mustang from their plots. They get Maria Ross arrested on suspicion of his murder. The episode ends on this note.

My overall thoughts? I liked this episode more than the last. Humour is much more restrained and some seriously good plot points are being set up. Envy is one of my favourites and seeing him cause mischief is delightful. That said, it’s still essentially a breather, resolving some of the emotional baggage from Hughes death before leading into real action. 

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Here are my thoughts on Episode 15 – Envoys from the East.

No point in doing the earlier stuff, I’d end up comparing it with the 03 anime too much. I figured I’d posts my thoughts on each episode. (Yeah, I’ve seen it all before but only the once and it was a bit ago now.) Sorry, if I sound really critical, pointing out stuff I like is quick where I have to describe problems in detail to properly explain myself. Oh and there’s my biases.

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Envoys from the East. It’s the episode where Mei and Ling are introduced and gosh it’s really not the best. I guess it’s main strength is in the nicely animated fights. There’s a brief fight between Scar and a one-shot alchemist who he kills at the beginning and later a fight beween Ed and Al and Lan fan and Fuu.

Firstly, there’s quite a few plot contrivances. Mei just shows up being taken care of Yoki and notices Scar’s been hurt from a random fight and heals him with Alkahestry. Ling also just randomly stumbles on the Elric brothers – Al just finds him passed out in an alleyway and they decide to get a meal for him.

Isn’t Rush valley in the South, on the way to Dublith? Why would Ling be there when he came from the East and would want to head towards Central presumably. He mentions passing by the Xerxes ruins which is basically North-east. Finally, Barry the Chopper randomly stumbles into Riza and gets captured by her. (The capture takes place off-screen… It was implied that he let himself be captured – he really shouldn’t be afraid of bullets after all because he was attracted to her because she’s tough. The serial killer who killed his own wife…)

Whatever though! Aside from the randomness of their meeting, Mei’s really nice. She just attaches herself to Scar and Yoki, insisting on joining them as they head to Central. They’re such a strange trio.

Ling… manages to be the most unlikeable character ever. Why do people even like him? Ed and Al help him and he insists on eating massive amounts while making them pay for it. They tell him about Amestris and he tells them about Xing (which is nice as Xing sounds really interesting and worldbuilding is good.) Then he asks them if they know anything about the Philosopher’s stone which he says he wants for immortality. Great ambition there. When they’re not interesting in telling him anything he sics his ninja bodyguards on them! He doesn’t even know if they know anything! They’re literal strangers who have been nice to him at this point. While they’re getting into an intense fight with Lan Fan and Fuu, Ling nonchalantly continues eating, asking for some dessert. Lan Fan is an absurdly dutiful follower here and goes as far as using explosives to defeat Ed – though Ed defeats her (cleverly, exploiting her weaknesses and employing misdirection with his arm. Clearly foreshadows her own stunt later.)

Rush Valley’s a little wrecked from their fight and the townspeople are all furious and blame Ed (who’s looking rather beaten-up) and Al because Ling decides to disappear at this point, even though he started the whole fight.

When they finally get back to Winry’s place, Ling is there and for some reason Ed is just irritated by him but doesn’t view him as an enemy despite his terrible actions throughout the episode. Winry comes back and she’s furious that Ed’s broke his arm again and beats him up with a wrench – but it was all Ling and Lan Fan’s fault his arm’s broken! Ed did not initiate or escalate the fight at all and choosing not to tell some power-hungry foreigner about the stone was the right decision. Ed does not deserve any of the abuse he’s received throughout the episode. Ling gets away scot-free with everything. When Ed and Al and Winry decide to go to Central, Ling just invites himself along to join them and they apparently don’t get a say.

The last bit of the episode has Ling and Fuu talking and he’s questioning why Ling is putting up with Ed when he’s beneath him. WHAT? This has been Ling when he’s being respectable? Ling says that humbling himself is a small price to pay for the sake of his clansman. Appearances are unimportant. Gosh, then why did you want to appear super-obnoxious and useless? Ed and Al should hate him at this point and be entirely uninterested in helping him with his goals. I’m not going to feel sympathetic towards Ling just because he’s got a duty. 

….Okay I know most of this episode was supposed to be played for comedy but I cannot stand Brotherhood’s comedy, I forgot how bad and over the top it could be at its worst. (It’s a breather after Greed’s demise in the previous episode.) This is supposed to be Ling’s introduction, to establish his character and I can either conclude he’s a terrible person who I should hate or ignore pretty much everything because it wasn’t serious and he’s a funny guy. Because I don’t believe he had any likeable moments – the closest is when he delivers exposition about Xing. And Ed getting picked on when he’s trying to be nice and helpful is not funny!

Okay, it’s only episode 15 so I guess it can be lumped in with the beginning and Brotherhood’s beginning isn’t the best. I know the comedy gets way better later. And Ling… Ling couldn’t possibly get any worse. 

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Has this episode always been this bad? Whatever. Eh, feel free to disagree or point out anything I missed. I’ll be doing some more of these, I think. Can’t say if I’ll continue to the end of the series or not. 

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