Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 48 & 49

Episode Forty-Eight: The Oath in the Tunnel

"After investigating the twisted roots of the Bradley family tree, Mustang gathers his most loyal troops."

The image of Mustang sitting at a seedy bar talking to a woman whose name is "Madame Christmas" is simultaneously unsettling and hilarious. It's also pretty clear that the place he's at is more than just a bar and Madame Christmas does other things besides bar tend.

We get a couple of interesting pieces of information during the scene: Selim is far older than his body appears and there are plenty of pictures placing him at various points in the past--some even fifty years prior. Bradley's mansion in his home town is nothing but a facade and no one that lives there remembers anything about his family and supposed relatives. Basically, Roy's got physical evidence for the lie that Bradley and Selim have constructed with the help of Father. What he'll do with it is anyone's guess.

That woman, we also learn, is Roy's foster mother. This is curious for two reasons: One, Roy was raised by a woman in charge of a brothel and two, Roy needed a foster parent in the first place. It makes me wonder where he came from and what happened to his parents. I don't know if they'll go into detail about that, but I'd be okay with a flashback for the sake of appeasing my own curiosity.

Ahhhhh I'm so happy to see Mustang's team back together again! Well, except for Havoc. Maybe they'll have him do something that isn't action-centric, since that ending credits montage a few episodes back had him in a wheelchair. Regardless, it's great to see them all. Hawkeye's position as Bradley's mandatory sidekick came in handy, since she was able to get a hand on his plans for the next three days. Of course, Roy informs them that Bradley's train car has been destroyed and as of this moment, he's still missing. I know he isn't dead, but the fact that he hasn't bothered to reappear is unsettling. Mustang mentions that it could be a huge trap, and I think that's a realistic possibility. Whatever it is that his team is supposed to carry out, they're going into it with some sketchy conditions.

Mustang's order of "Don't die" also has me worried because that means it's about 95% likely that someone will either die or come close to it and I'm just not prepared to deal with that.

As for Pride...I mean damn. Talk about a great villain. It was a smart choice on the part of the original creator to make him a child, since there's something about seeing a child do twisted things that makes whatever it is they're doing all the worse and more disturbing. And Pride is most definitely disturbing. He freaking eats Gluttony to absorb his abilities. Without any remorse.

There's also apparently something in regards to carbon that affects him, though we aren't told what that is in detail. Carbon is an element that he can't penetrate or destroy, which may have something to do with the fact that the human body is made up of about 18% carbon and it is considered to be the basis of all known life. Since he's a Homunculus and I suppose not necessarily "living" in the same sense that we would say a human being is living, this is a cool weakness for his character to have.

This show has gotten into the habit of having after-credits scenes, and I'm not sure why. They're all kind of important to the plot in one way or another and could fit before the credits without much effort. The time doesn't appear to have been affected much, since the episodes are still finishing at around 23 minutes. In any case, the after-credits scene has Olivier offer the suggestion that Mustang and his men would be taking the Fuhrer's wife captive as a means of leverage--and that's exactly what they do. Since Olivier is still an ally, I'm assuming there's a reason she gave away that information. Kind of like with the snitch and the train incident, there's more to something than what it appears.

Episode Forty-Seven: Filial Affection

"With his father's help, Al takes incredible steps to contain the monstrous Pride."

Alright, way to go Al! Stepping up and taking the upper hand! I've gotta admit that his plan was clever--they were never going to be able to defeat Pride, so instead they used Al as bait to contain him in what amounts to a giant dirt hamster ball. That you can't see out of. So now Al and Pride are stuck in the same space for an entire day. I'm doubting that they'll stay there for the duration of the Promised Day, if for no other reason than because leaving Al completely out of the action would be...unexpected.

Although in terms of who would be able to hold his own with Pride, that award goes straight to Al. Edward would kill him before the day was halfway over, or dig his way out of the hamster ball himself. He'd find a way out. Al's content to just chill out and deal with Pride and his obnoxious arrogance. What's cool about Al as well is that, despite the fact that they're enemies, Pride is comfortable enough speaking on a more personal level with him than I think he'd ever venture with Edward. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Al is great at listening and is far more curious than his brother, in a good way. He's willing to hear Pride's perspective--even if it's because he goaded him into elaborating by poking at his ego and saying that their plan was sloppy since it didn't take into account the possibility of Ed and Al running away from their sacrifice status. Pride's explanation behind why they were picked gives us a whole new facet to his character as well as the entire Bradley family.

Wrath's wife came into the picture after she threw herself in front of a car in order to protect Pride. Genuinely shocked by her selflessness, Pride was taken aback. He had never experienced that type of concern for his safety, and he says that there are a handful of people in the world that possess the kind of selflessness that she displayed. As for how she came to marry Wrath, that's not explained, but it's either irrelevant or they'll have something to add to the story later on. Pride admits that he was doing nothing more than playing house with Wrath's wife, but the fact that he said he quite enjoyed it (and means it in a non-twisted and genuine way) speaks to another side of the Homunculus as a whole. I'm thinking that if Pride, the primary and most powerful Homunculus, can find joy in being around a human, than the other Homunculus should be the same way. I don't think they're all 100% evil. They seem to operate on the assumption (which would have been hammered into them by their Father) that almost all humans are horrible or weak or pathetic, with the small exception granted to those that show true selflessness or spirit. When Pride spends time around his fake mother, though, he begins to gain an understanding of what it's like to have a real mother and I'd argue that he would choose to stay with her if given the chance.

We've seen similar kinds of things happening with Wrath, Greed, and Gluttony. Just about the only ones who don't have anything particularly redeemable are Envy and Lust. Lust had the misfortune of being obliterated by Mustang early within the series and Sloth kind of...hovers in the background without much agency. Or dialogue. I will even be willing to say there's a nuance to Envy. When he, Ling, and Ed were stuck inside Gluttony's stomach, he chilled out for a little while and was willing to work with them. I'm not saying he's redeemable, but there's something else below the surface.

In regards to Ed and Al, Pride says that they were selected because of "the infinite strength of their spirits." He claims that they would never have fled because it wasn't in their nature to do so, and the Homunculus knew that. Therefore the idea that their plan was sloppy doesn't hold much weight. I wonder, too, if this is what they were referring to when they said that Mustang was a potential candidate for sacrifice. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the Door, but has everything to do with their spirit. Mustang certainly fits that bill. Then again, I don't know how much he's still being considered as one. Izumi is being chased by the military for her role and I can't figure out if Hohenheim is one of the chosen as well.

I have to give Hohenheim a bit of an applause here as well, because he stands up to Edward in this episode. It's not a major deal, but when Ed goes off on another screaming fit about how Hohenheim could close Al up with Pride, he interrupts him and says it was Al's idea in the first place. With the subtext, I think, of, "So shut the hell up and accept it."

Scar, Marcoh, and his group have also found out that Bradley's train exploded. They run into Edward and his team after Al has been holed up with Pride and form a plan. I am a teeny bit concerned about the statement that one of the chimeras who had worked with Kimblee previously says about Edward and the rest of our cast: "I know for a fact that these guys would never abandon us." I'm really hoping that my foreshadowing senses are tingling for no reason, though given what Pride said earlier...I can't say I'd be surprised if something happened and they did. It would suck and I'd be mad, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Oh, and while on the topic of sucking, someone please kill Kimblee. Please. He sucks. I hate him. A lot. He's annoying, disgusting, sick, and he killed a bunch of Ishvalans. Again. Just...gahhh someone eliminate him. I won't even feel sorry for wishing him dead if he does die. I'll sing, in fact. I will be joyful.

We've got another after-credits scene, although this one opens with a kid who I thought for half a second was Edward with the way his bangs are drawn. I don't know if he'll be turning up again, but he ran in the direction of Mustang's fire and they bothered to give him a name. Mustang and his team also get cornered by the military who are going to shoot them all anyway, including Bradley's wife, because screw decency in this show. We're left with an outside view of the building they're all in and the popping of two gunshots.

General Thoughts

I like a lot of the back story that we get in these episodes, in particular the stuff surrounding the Bradley family. It's interesting and fills in a few holes that were missing beforehand that also give some more life and complexity to the Homunculus.

Maybe it's because we're circling back to Central, but this season feels much more familiar than the previous one. Most of our original cast is back around and some of them have interactions with the new characters. That's always fun. There's a bit more of an emphasis on action, which makes sense since we're still building up to the climax and things are starting to get heated. I'm hoping that as everything plays out my simple little brain is able to process what everyone is doing and how things are going to go down because right now I'm still scratching my head at certain decisions and events.

Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 46 & 47

 Episode Forty-Six: Looming Shadows

"Those who have prepared to reclaim a nation find their plans exposed. The chaos multiplies after an assassin strikes down a mighty leader."

Before I make any kind of intelligent commentary, I would like to state that the entire scene with Winry returning home and all that follows it are some of the best three minutes of this whole series. I have to admit that I'm on Winry's side in this case, as my jaw dropped the second the camera panned to the left to reveal Edward sitting at the desk with the sandwich in his hand and sweat dropping from his face. Everything that follows that is absolutely hysterical: The soft and sweet music that switches in a second once Winry realizes she isn't alone in her room, everyone pulling a gun on each other, the dog biting one of the chimeras' rear, Greed/Ling's face as he's holding the dog in the air, and basically every:

Single

Facial expression

Edwards makes.

Everything is just hilarious and so awkward. Why he didn't bother to inform her that he was in her room in the first place, I don't know. Edward isn't always the sharpest crayon in the box.

The scene does rapidly shift back to drama, though (once everyone but Ed has been kicked out of the room) as Winry tells Ed that she was worried about him. Of course, the whole thing goes from her fixing his automail to telling him what Al, Hohenheim, and Miles' allies in the North have planned to Ed turning into a complete and utter asshole.

I'm not denying that Winry is being idealistic in this situation. I get why Edward would be irritated. He's trying to protect the country, keep her and Pinako safe, as well as get his and Al's bodies back and more or less restore everything in Amestris back to some semblance of normalcy. All of these things are ridiculously outlandish when looked at rationally and with any level of perspective, and Edward knows that. He's a rational, logical person. Having Winry and Pinako go somewhere safe is not an unfair thing to ask. But Winry isn't seeing things the way he is. She's seeing his demand as a way to minimize her capability and reflective of the fact that he's almost giving up. Her frustration is coming from a good place--she wants Al and Edward to get their bodies back and protect the country, and she doesn't want either of them to give up making that happen, no matter how ludicrous the odds may be. She really is their champion in every sense, but the problem is that Edward isn't nearly as optimistic as she is and therefore her encouragement comes across as foolish naivety. He says later on that her "kind of wanting is dangerous. It's not how reality works." And he's saying that from his own personal experience, since he's living with the consequences of his and Al's own selfish wanting every day.

So he does the completely wrong thing and tells her: "You just don't know when to shut up." And then walks out.

This wouldn't be anywhere as big of an issue for me if it wasn't for the fact that it is never addressed. They don't even bring it up again. It isn't resolved. Winry was clearly hurt by his words, and Greed even makes a joke about it when Ed runs into him on the stairs. What he said was rude and cruel, yet the next time he talks to her you'd think nothing happened. On both sides. Winry doesn't say anything about it, and Ed goes back to his friendly demeanor.

And just so we're clear: I'd be pissed if Winry did the same thing. It isn't a gender bias, although I think Edward should be held at least a little more accountable as the man in this situation. Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they're angry. It's just so annoying and illogical that he never offers an apology for what he said. Edward can be jerk, but he's pretty much always realized it and apologized for it, at least in Winry's case. Maybe his parting words of: "We're gonna stop them, Winry. And Al and I will be home before you know it" were meant to be an apology? I don't know. It's kind of a half-baked, flimsy one if it is.

Anyway.

One thing I'm finding a little frustrating as these episodes play out is that I'm having a hard time following where everyone is going. Last time we saw Miles, he was in Briggs, and yet he shows up with Al--who's been in Lior--in Risembool at the opening of this episode. I had to re-watch parts of this episode to follow what was going on, especially the last ten or so minutes with Bradley and the snitch who gave him the wrong information. When I did finally process it, though, oh man was it great. Our heroes are some clever SOB's, that's for sure.

Riza, Breda, and Fuery are now back together (after the latter two became official deserters of the military) and I'm assuming are going to meet up with Mustang for their part of the plan in Central.

On the topic of Mustang, he has a curious conversation with Olivier who, despite how I had grown to like her, continues to slip back down the slope of my affections with her obnoxious and exhaustive behavior. Honestly, I'm starting to get a headache every time she's on screen. She's turned into the bitchy, screaming pain in the neck I was afraid she would be, and Mustang of all people seems to really exacerbate that facet of her personality. He gets a kick out of her reactions, though, I suppose because he knows that it's more steam than anything legitimate and she's still technically an ally. She seems to hate him almost as much as her brother, but it doesn't appear to be because of his actions in Ishval: her anger explodes when he makes a joke about how the flowers he gave her represent "lady-like charm." This says to me she may have been burned in the past and that's why she's so damn offended by Mustang, who is an unabashed ladies man.

And what was that line about him hiding an entire battalion in her mansion? Is he seriously planning on doing that? Because that would be fabulous.

There's also another addition to our forces, a group of Ishvalans that are prepared to fight for Amestris. Judging by the fact that their intended purpose through the mouth of the general who was given false information wasn't real, I'm curious what they will actually be doing. Regardless, it's cool to see more people coming together to help.

A final note is that Alphonse is having more and more issues with his soul losing touch with his armor, with each episode lasting longer than the previous. He's also captured by Pride and Gluttony, who we haven't seen in a while, and I'm nervous to think what they'll do with him. They can't kill him, and his soul keeps "floating away" for lack of a better term, so who knows.

Episode Forty-Seven: Emissary of Darkness

"A sinister voice rings out from the shell of Al's armor, and Ed and Greed find themselves under attack."

You know, I love Edward and all, but sometimes he really gets on my nerves. I imagine this is a common sentiment.

I get why Edward would be so angry. I don't think his anger towards his father is unjustified. But even so, the way he treats him in this episode is horrible. Hohenheim has an incredible amount of patience and love for his son to let him punch him in the face with a metal arm, yell at him, and insist that the only reasons he's bothering to talk to him at all is because of the current situation. Not only that, but Hohenheim is still proud of Edward and is grateful for his help. He could not make it clearer that he truly does love his children (and their mother), yet Ed continues to be a stubborn ass towards him. Heck, one of the chimeras even says he's just stubbornly holding a grudge--which is true. That's exactly what Ed is doing. He's holding a grudge against his father despite knowing that there was probably a reason behind leaving him, Al, and Trisha. I think Ed knows it, too, because he gets offended at the suggestion; defensive. Plus, just a few minutes before, he had delivered the last words of his mother to Hohenheim and then proceeded to watch his father flat-out cry.

Edward knows. He knows his father isn't an evil or heartless person. And I wonder if his desire to hang onto his anger and hatred is because he doesn't want to admit those things to himself. He's spent so much time believing his father to be a monster, that accepting anything else would be hard, even if the truth is much better than what he had imagined.

I'm hoping at some point that his relationship gets better. It doesn't have to be perfect, but if Ed could tone down on the screaming and scathing criticism, that'd be nice.

In regards to the scene with Major Miles and General Grumman, I'm not totally sure how to interpret that. The voice actor for Grumman speaks his internal thoughts, but then Major Miles' voice actor says that he wouldn't be surprised if the plans that Grumman laid out were to be true. So does that mean Grumman actually said them, or is that what Miles' is imagining? I don't believe that Grumman is the kind of man that is looking for control of Amestris. He may be clever and wily and useful, but he also made a comment earlier about wanting to retire (which Mustang joked he'd never actually do). I'm assuming it was supposed to be Miles' skepticism at play, which makes a lot more sense. And to be honest, I'm not all that crazy about the notion of Grumman taking over and swaying plans in his favor. It's one more thing to add to an already quite complex plot.

The rest of this episode is pretty action-heavy. It's also a good thing that Greed is with Edward and Co., seeing as how he knows a heck of a lot of information regarding the other Homunculus. He's also now willing to switch around with Ling for advantageous reasons, and I have to admit that I think it's kind of charming how they're starting to interact in a more friendly fashion--even if Ling's body does belong to him and Greed's basically a parasite. I might be cool with the idea of them having dual ownership of the body. At least, for a little while.

It's kind of strange watching this part of the episode when I--as an audience member--can see everyone and they're not supposed to be able to see anything. Obviously, they can't animate everything in pitch blackness because then no one would have any idea what was going on. What's great about the dark tint of the animation, though, is that the red lightening that appears whenever they get a punch in on Gluttony really stands out. That's neat.

I'm hoping that Pride's...limitations and structure will be made a bit clearer over the course of the remaining episodes. It's still kind of confusing as to what he can and can't do, from the shadows that he now relies on to the "flask" that he's unable to leave. Selim's body is the container he uses to move freely, so how does that correlate to the flask? Does being in the body remove that limitation, or is the flask just really freaking big? I need some clarification. Hopefully there will be some.

Lan Fan is back! And she has an automail arm! She also kicks the crap out of Gluttony, which is nice, despite the fact that she doesn't completely kill him. You know, Philosopher's Stone regeneration and everything. Looking forward to what she'll be doing, for sure.

General Thoughts

Given that both of these episodes have a lot of Ed in them and not so much Alphonse, they're equal parts delightful and frustrating. Ed is a very hot and cold kind of character, and while I think he makes a wonderful protagonist, some of his behavior is...hard to deal with. It's a good thing he's surrounded by a cast of characters who balance him out when Al isn't around to tell him to shut up and quit acting like an idiot.

In general, the supporting cast is one of the strongest elements of not just these episodes, but the whole show. Without them, there wouldn't be nearly as much life and humor and fun. Ed and Al are wonderful central protagonists, but I think what makes them shine more than anything is the fact that they're surrounded by such strong secondary characters that build them up and add complexity to the story. One of the things I believe might be why I wasn't as hooked on the last season as I was the previous two might be because the secondary characters weren't nearly as fun as say, Mustang's team or Alex Armstrong or Maes Hughes. Major Miles was about the most likeable person in Briggs, and even he took some time to grow on me. As a result, the world that they inhabited for a good chunk of that season felt...lacking. That's just my personal opinion, though. This season we've got lots of great side characters playing up and against Edward, so that works in its favor for me.

Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 44 & 45

Episode Forty-Four: Revving at Full Throttle

"Hohenheim and Alphonse enjoy a chance to get reacquainted. Their bond is restored with ease, inspiring the father to share his secrets with his sons."

Oh, Alphonse, you are precious.

This show has been great at displaying the differences between Ed and Al as characters, but I think his interactions with his father here display them in a seriously stark way. When Ed saw his father again for the first time, he more or less had a tantrum. Not that his reaction wasn't warranted--Hohenheim left his family and wasn't part of his sons' lives. I would be mad, too. Alphonse's reaction is so much the opposite of Edward's. I don't doubt that Al feels a level of abandonment, but his response to seeing his father again is to desperately make up for lost time. He wants to be around him, to talk to him, to help him and the people of Lior rebuild their town alongside him. Al is far more willing to forgive his father than Ed, which makes sense when you look at the rest of his personality. Al is a natural peacekeeper. He recognizes the importance of relationships and kindness and is the first one between the two of them to show compassion. Ed's more hot-headed and impulsive, reacting based on emotion rather than logic or reasoning, so the vitriol he spat at Hohenheim twenty-something episodes back isn't unexpected, either. Al is always wanting to see the good in people, so his trust in his father shouldn't come as a surprise.

I don't know if anyone else felt this way when watching this episode, but something about Hohenheim felt...uncharacteristically pleasant. At least, in comparison to the way he talks to Ed in front of their mother's grave. There he was accusatory and kind of arrogant in his tone, which is probably another reason why Ed didn't want anything to do with him. I'm not saying Hohenheim is a bad guy, because we've certainly been shown that he isn't, but when you compare his tone with Edward to the way he is with Al, it's far more gentle. Maybe it's because Al was interested in talking to him? Or maybe the sting of knowing what his sons did has worn off and he's not nearly as disappointed anymore? I really have no idea. It isn't a major issue, but I did find it kind of strange in light of his infinitesimal amounts of interactions with his kids. There wasn't a whole lot of opportunities for his attitude to shift. It just kind of...happened.

In other news, Hohenheim is able to tell Al about his past and basically put everything out in the open. Having him as an ally is about the best thing that could happen, since he knows Father on a rather intimate level and potentially how to defeat him. We've also now got a date for when everything is supposed to go down, and it has something to do with the sun god Lito--whatever that means. I'm surprised that Lito turned out to be relevant in the end, since I definitely forgot about him. There's no specific time frame for this "Day of Reckoning," though I imagine it's got to be some time soon.

Winry's little scene with Rose was sweet. It would be great if they stay in touch and became good friends, because it looks like they'd get along fabulously...even though Rose speaks about Ed and Al as if they're gods. I found that to be a bit much.

And Edward is back! The antics with him and the chimeras (whose names I don't remember) were fantastic. There are so many funny moments when the soldiers show up at the hospital with Edward's animation in particular, and I LOVE IT. Although I have to be honest: I thought that, with the way they paint Edward's attack on the soldiers looking for him, when the camera finally showed him that he would be like, ten feet tall. I know that doesn't make any logical sense, but I was half-expecting to freak the hell out and get excited. Oh well.

Also, Edward really has no sense of style if he thinks this is a good-looking car:

Last thing to note: I TOTALLY called Ling taking back control of his body. He doesn't get it back entirely here, but it's coming. What's interesting about Greed is that he's the only Homunculus, aside from maybe Bradley, who makes bonds and connections with people/creatures that aren't Homunculus. Yeah, he views them as his property, but you could tell that the original Greed may have seen those people as more than just things. They were his friends and willing to die for him, and I think that meant something even if he wasn't willing to admit it. Ling points it out, too, and it pisses him off enough that he looses his mind over it. There's a scene after the credits where he attacks Bradley after memories of him killing the former incarnation of Greed surface.

It's going to be an interesting season, that's for sure.

Episode Forty-Five: The Promised Day

"Quiet warnings spread near and far: the Promised Day is at hand."

Oh Olivier.
You were doing so well.
And now this.

Okay, maybe in the scheme of things, this isn't that big of a deal, but I find myself getting really annoyed with Olivier and her arrogance. I'm not saying she isn't worthy of respect, because she is certainly a capable woman, but her mistreatment of Alex is obnoxious. Not to mention she destroys a large section of the mansion while fighting him, which I can't imagine would be that convenient if she wants to stay in it.

The one idea that I'm holding out on is the potential for her behavior to be the way it is for the sake of her family's protection. She may hate Alex, but even he was able to see that she sent everyone else away so that they would be protected. Her taking over the family and demanding that her father retire may be so that she's the only one who would ever be brought under fire, which is a real possibility considering where she stands right now with the corrupt generals and Bradley. As for what she expects from Alex...I don't know. I doubt he's going to stand aside and let her do everything.

Of course, as I expected, May isn't going to make it to Xing. Thanks to Envy, she's now heading back to Central for her "unfinished business" which, if I'm being honest, sounds more like, "Oh wait we need her to get back into the story so instead of keeping her on the path to Xing let's have Envy use some flimsy persuasion to get her to go back." I don't know why they bothered sending her in that direction in the first place, since she got hardly anywhere before turning around.

But that's nitpicking, I suppose.

Edward and his chimera buddies meet up with Greed/Ling in this episode. Ling manages to take back his body for a little bit, long enough to tell Ed that Father is going to open the portal on the Day of Reckoning as well as suggest that Ed and Al jump into it when he does. Why Father's opening the portal in the first place, we don't know. Of course, Greed takes back over and that's the end of receiving any more information. I get the feeling that this is going to be a repeating occurrence.

As a side note, I have to wonder what the point is in creating a Greed Homunculus if the type of behavior exhibited by it leads it to go against the other Homunculus and Father. It's happened twice now, and both times Bradley has had to deal with it. Granted, this time Greed came to him and it was more self defense than anything else, but I mean come on--at this point making Greed seems more like a masochistic act than something beneficial. By the end of the episode, he's declared himself independent from the other Homunculus and Edward and the chimeras have decided to join him, so now he's toting the enemy with him as well. How much more wrong could he go?

I'm curious as to what Ed is planning on doing as Greed's ally, since it's obvious that's just an act for a greater purpose.

The last few minutes of this episode are so fun. I get excited whenever a big group of heroes starts to gather together, and that's exactly what this is--a five-minute montage of all the major players getting set up for the larger battle. Also, holy crap the amount of distance the message that Alphonse delivers is amazing. There are like, seven different people that it passes through and it's all done without the enemy finding out.

I've got to admit, this show has done a great job balancing dozens of characters and making them all relevant. Our heroes camp is growing, too, thank god.

Oh, and the after credits scene with Mustang snapping and setting the paper message on fire is freaking awesome.

Speaking of the end credits, they do something a little different with them this time. It's the same music, but there's no animation; just a bunch of stills. But the stills I think are designed to remind everyone of how many heroes/allies we've collected over the course of the show:

Alphonse & Hohenheim
Winry
Chimeras whose names I still can't remember & Loki
Izumi & Sig
Falman, Major Miles, & Fort Briggs
Breda & Fuery
Hawkeye & Havoc
Olivier & Alex Armstrong
Marcoh & Scar
May Chang (w/ Shao May)
Edward
Darius & Heinkel
Greed/Ling

That's a lot of people. It makes Father and his crew look quite flimsy in comparison.

General Thoughts

Now that we've got less than twenty episodes remaining, the we're starting to see the groundwork for the climax being laid. People are coming together, plans are being formulated, and I am oh-so pumped for what's in store over the rest of this season. It's going to be great.

Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 42 & 43

Episode Forty-Two: Signs of a Counter Offensive

"May and Marcoh's efforts to decode the research of Scar's brother yield progress, but it might be too late to prevent catastrophe."

Alright, I'm going to suspend my disbelief at the notion that any human being could accurately and effectively encrypt notes in the fashion done by Scar's Brother for the sake of the story. It isn't important in the long run, as ridiculous and nonsensical as it is.

What I thought was great about this episode was that Alphonse was given the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Edward is who-knows-where at the moment, and even without his brother Alphonse is still able to hold his own as both an important and valuable individual within the show and as a character. And I've gotta say: I'm kind of digging this Alphonse & Co group going on in this episode in general. Everyone has gotten used to each other to some degree and they're all--as eclectic and weird as they are--quite an effective little team. It's also charming to watch them all try and re-assemble Al's armor.

Scar, in an odd way, is coming around. He is by no means friendly, but he does seem much less antagonistic and virulent towards others, even Alphonse, who got in the way of his plans on more than one occasion. He's more cooperative than he was before, I suppose, and also much less annoying than he has been for the last three seasons.

So now we have some further information about the Amestrian transmutation circle: There's apparently another type of transmutation circle activated through Xinghese alkahestry that is supposed to work as a counter to the one being made by Father and his Homunculus. How it works is still a mystery, but I'm assuming it has something to do with whatever Hohenheim is planning.

Hohenheim features quite prominently in this episode and it's the first time that we are given some bigger, connecting pieces to this plot's puzzle:

• The Homunculus are the seven deadly sins of humanity, separated and manifested into Homunculus by Father. Pride was the first one because it was the strongest and most prominent trait of Father and therefore the easiest to extract.
• Pride's real form is something almost identical to what Father looked like before he gained Hohenheim's body. Although that does beg the question: If Pride and Envy both have "original" forms, does that mean the other Homunculus do as well? And if they do, where do the human forms that they take come from? At least with Wrath and Greed, we know that actual, living people were used as vessels for the Homunculus, but what about everyone else? Where do their human forms come from? My assumption would be that they are, in fact, the bodies of people that were transmuted, but that hasn't been clarified. These are just some things I'm mulling over in my head.
• Pride is limited to his "flask," which kind of confused me. I'm sure it will be explained later on, but how on earth there's a flask for him to be confined to in real space and time, I don't know. Maybe it's like a force-field type concept? Where it covers a certain area and the person can only access what's within the force field? I'd also like to know where this "flask" is, if it's in Amestris or if it expands further.
• Hohenheim is getting ready to do something against Father, but as to what that is...we don't know. He certainly seems confident in his ability to take Father on, though.

There is one thing that Hohenheim said that I took note of, and it comes when he's talking to the true form of Pride: "And the mere fact that he took the time and energy to give you his original appearance...that act alone shows how egotistical he truly is." To most people I'm sure this line is relatively innocuous, but going off of an earlier comparison I made (waaaaay back in the beginning of season two) between Father and Jesus/God...his statement is interesting to me. It's obvious that many of the central concepts and some of the larger themes running through this show have strong religious affiliations: the Seven Deadly Sins is a Christian (more explicitly Catholic) ideology, for one, which is used to help humans identify their vices. If we're seeing Father as a the creator of these Homunculus (his "children"), then they would be, for argument's sake, humans. They have certain abilities that set them apart, but they're not as powerful as Father, and it's obvious that he places at least some value in them as his creations. Christians believe that we are made in the image of God, so for Hohenheim to point out that Pride's appearance being so identical to Father's is evidence of his arrogance, that would imply that God is arrogant to make something that reflects him.

A rather bold statement, that's for sure.

Although I'm not sure if the comparisons are meant to be more like "God gone wrong," since Hohenheim is more Jesus-like in his qualities than Father (he even "walks on water" in this episode, which was amusing). I can see it going either way.

We get a little bit more of Mustang's crew here, and for once it's probably a good thing that they're all in different locations: Their experiences give us a pretty solid picture of the state of Amestris and its neighboring countries, and that picture is a bleak one. At this point it's kind of a miracle that everyone is still alive and in one piece. Poor Fuery had to run through a bombing and watched one of his fellow soldiers die. He always struck me as a more technical guy (he WAS the one screwing around with all of the radio signals prior to his re-assignment), so picturing him fighting is a bit odd in the first place.

There's also a minute or so at the end that reveals what "making the blood seal" at Briggs involves--namely that Kimblee convinced Drachma that there was a weakness in Fort Briggs and they would be able to attack them and win without much effort. That, of course, wasn't the case, and those men are all slaughtered in...not much time at all.

Also of note: The Drachmans all look and speak quite...Russian. Significant? Probably. Another comment I made back in season two was how there were strong connections to WWI with this show, although I don't know the background on that war well enough to give any kind of analysis as to what the purpose in making Drachma Russian would be

Thank you, American education system, for teaching me history so ineffectively.

Episode Forty-Three: Bite of the Ant

"In the snowy north, the soldiers of Fort Briggs engage an invading army, and Marcoh leads an attack against monstrous Envy."

May and Al's banter at the opening of this episode is hilarious. Props to Scar and his character growth for being able to tolerate it for more than four seconds.

Actually, this does open up the door to the potential for Al and May to maybe end up together after all. It might be a wild accusation, since May is on the younger side, but I don't know. The opening credits have her and Shao May come stand behind him where Winry stands behind Ed (and we all know for a fact that those two are an item), so the implication of that would be that it could happen. And for those of you who don't think opening credits mean anything, you need to watch them more closely.

Ahhh and that conversation between Bradley and Hawkeye is awesome! I had noted before that I was surprised that the show didn't go into much detail about her time working for him. It isn't a long scene, but I think it reveals a lot about Bradley as a character. Last season they gave us his background and how it was that he came to be the "person" that he is now. He and Greed are the only ones with actual human bodies as hosts for the Homunculus, and it's been made pretty clear that there's hope for Ling to regain his body from Greed's control (again, he appears with Ed and Al & Co in the opening which is telling). I didn't think, back when all of that went down, that Bradley was capable of taking back control considering that there wasn't much of an identity for him before the Homunculus. He's also been a Homunculus for much longer than Ling. I'm not convinced he'll become good or anything, but the way he talks to Hawkeye here is much more...vulnerable than we're used to seeing from him. He might feel more comfortable speaking openly to her since she's female and I doubt he views her as an actual threat. Even so, I found it interesting that, though he's aware of how much his life has been constructed for him, he was still able to choose his wife. And the way he says it, too, says a lot. He clearly has affection for her, which could mean that he may not hate humans as much as he claims.

Hawkeye's reaction to it is also kind of funny, how she freaks out at the notion that there may be a heart underneath all of his darkness. She's the only character so far to get to see this side of the Fuhrer, and whether or not that will have an effect on the story, we'll see. As far as this scene shows us, he's also quite polite and respectful to Hawkeye despite her position as pretty much his footman.

This episode also gives us the "defeat" of Envy as a full-blown Homunculus. His actual form is freaking hilarious. I have no idea what the hell he's supposed to be other than some sort of tape worm-chameleon hybrid, but it's so funny.

Like I said in the last episode, I'm loving this awkward band of heroes. They are the strangest combination, but they are all so great when working together. Scar in particular has officially started to see what his past actions have done courtesy of Major Miles' words of wisdom, and I am so happy to see his character finally growing. Strangely enough, he seems to have built a friendship (on some level) with Marcoh and that's awesome. I love how he says, "We did it, Marcoh. We won" after they defeat Envy. His sudden change of heart doesn't necessarily mean he's free from consequences for his actions, but maybe something will change by the time the show wraps up.

May is officially going back to Xing with Envy, but I'm not sure she's going to get all the way there. She's been a solid presence in the show for a while and I doubt that this is the last we'll see of her.

Olivier and Armstrong come face to face, too, and I see that my assumptions about her disdain of him were correct: She's ashamed of his behavior at Ishaval, not because he did horrible things, but because he disobeyed orders and was weak. I can see how that would be offensive to her character, but even so, she's kind of...unnecessarily cruel to him. He tries to be nice and patient, but she steps on his foot, insults him, and more or less verbally abuses the poor guy. It's one thing to be pissed at someone; it's another to treat them like dirt because of it. I think Olivier needs to own up to her anger and move the hell on.  In a world that's running out of heroes, being a bitch to one of them isn't productive.

But that's just me.

The last chunk of this episode leaves off with an interesting cliffhanger--the law against creating humans wasn't put into place because of ethical reasons, but to prevent people from creating armies. Now that Olivier is part of the immortality-seeking generals, it makes sense that they'd show this all to her. My question is, however, what on earth are they using this "army" for? Because if it's how they've acquired a good portion of the people they use in the actual military, that's...interesting. It makes me wonder why they'd bother having actual people in the military as well, but then again--if that is what they're using the faux-people for--I guess it would be more for the sake of appearances. Unless they wanted to be found out fast, they'd need to let regular citizens in.

And, there's a bonus scene after the credits! Hohenheim is being a complete dork and wearing a rag on his head while helping Rose in Lior when Alphonse and everyone arrive. Al, Winry, and Hohenheim's reaction is pretty great.

General Thoughts

These two episodes were the first since like, the opening episode of season three, to not have Edward in them. I'm a little surprised that they still have his whereabouts a mystery. Given the preview for the next episode, though, I don't think that will last long. I won't say that his absence isn't felt, because I think it is, but it's important to note that even with the main protagonist gone, the story and characters are still strong enough to hold their own episodes. Even with Edward gone, everything that happens is engaging. You miss his presence, but it's not like things drag their heels with him gone.

At this stage in the game, the story is both being fleshed out and getting more complicated. We've got this new army that is being used for some unidentified (as of yet) purpose, Scar has made a turn for the good, Envy is now in a jar on the way to Xing, there's a potential goodness in Bradley, and Hohenheim is hanging around Lior for some reason. They've revealed a lot of things, yet I don't feel like I have much of an idea of what's really going on. Which I guess is good. Better I be curious and struggling to put pieces together than see where the story is headed without any trouble.

Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 40 & 41

Author's Note: I'm probably going to include the Netflix summary for each episode rather than write my own from now on because I'm lazy and crammed with enough work as it is. So that's why they're in quotations.

 Episode Forty: The Dwarf in the Flask

"Long ago, the blood of a simple slave was used in an experiment that created a strange, shapeless being."

Okay, I'm going to confess something here: I have changed my mind about Olivier. No, I won't go so far as to say I consider her a favorite character, but I will say that she's managed to convince me that she isn't as much of a pain in the neck as I had anticipated. She's incredibly clever and good at thinking on her feet, as evidenced by her conversation with Fuhrer Bradley. She managed to hide a great deal of information while getting on Bradley's "good side." Although the downside to this (or upside, depending on how you look at it) is that Fort Briggs is now occupied by Central and thus directly involved with what's going on. It's pretty clear that her men aren't going down without a fight, and I am oh-so curious as to what they plan on doing in future episodes.

Not to mention the dialogue between Mustang and Olivier is priceless. Given how many insults she hurls at him, I'm thinking that she was around when Ishval was attacked, and if she's that reticent towards him she must have a particular vendetta against his actions. It might also be why she freaked out about Armstrong, as his behavior was about as commendable as Mustang's, but for different reasons. Even so, she's still willing to help him out and I'm guessing it's because she can put aside her grudge for the sake of Amestris.

Or maybe deep down she likes Roy a whole lot and just doesn't want to let on that she does. Who knows.

While I'm on the topic of Mustang, he's finally found out via coded conversation with Hawkeye that Selim is a Homunculus. What he'll do with this information is yet to be seen.

The biggest element of this episode is the flashback we get with the very first Homunculus (not Selim): This "Father" character who doesn't have an actual name. Now we know where both Hohenheim and he came from and why they look so similar. It's basically an origin story, and a pretty sad one at that.

It's also a little clunky.

First and foremost, I know it isn't vital that I understand how the Homunculus was made through Hohenheim's blood, but man did it bother the heck out of me. I'm not sure what would possess someone to make this Homunculus and then just leave it sitting in a flask on a desk for any old schmuck to come by and...well, do exactly what Hohenheim does. And who was he serving that would just take his blood without him questioning what that person was going to do with it? We get next to nothing about his master, and I feel like that's kind of important. I'm also not so sure that a slave gaining an education would make him more successful or wealthy. He's still a slave, or at the very least he still says that he has a master.

I know this is going to sound awful, but I found Aaron Dismuke's voice to be horribly distracting. I don't know what it is--if it's the voice itself or the fact that I'm not convinced he's all that great at acting--but the scenes where he spoke as young Hohenheim felt...gahhhh, just clunky as heck.

Now, what I will say I liked was the comments that the little Homunculus in the flask made about family. It was quite critical of Hohenheim and his interest in having a family, viewing dependency on community as a weakness that humans shared. It's interesting for two reasons: One, Hohenheim does get the family he sought and yet is forced to abandon them for whatever reason and two, create a family is exactly what the Homunculus goes off and does. All the way back in season two, there's an entire scene with Greed and the rest of the Homunculus bickering with each other and Father chastises them for it. He makes it clear that he doesn't like conflict amongst his children, which has some obvious family implications to it. Whether he ends up embracing the notion of family or the whole thing is meant to be played for irony, I don't know.

I also liked how they fleshed out the actual destruction of Xerxes, which was the second half of the origin story. We now know how it fell, who was involved, and potentially what Hohenheim's biggest source of despair is--the fact that he has the souls of everyone in Xerxes within himself. He's a walking Philosopher's Stone. Which kind of begs the question: Couldn't he potentially restore Ed and Al's bodies? He helped Izumi out. Wouldn't there be something he could do for his own kids? He owes them a little bit, I think.

Episode Forty-One: The Abyss

"Bound by more than blood, the Elrics have long shared joy and pain. Now, the mystical connection of their souls could prove fatal." 

OH GEEZ, THE DRAMA. THE DRAMA.

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the dark turn that this episode was going to take, although I suppose in retrospect I probably should have with all of the talk about killing and whatnot. I'll get to the ending of this episode in a minute, but for the moment, let's back up.

There's a big emphasis in this episode on killing and whether or not it's right in certain circumstances. Major Miles and Ed get into a relatively heated discusion over it, as Miles makes it pretty clear that showing mercy to Kimblee isn't going to result in anything productive. At best, he'll be their captive who refuses to say anything and either escapes or--potentially--kills himself. Killing him and eliminating him as a threat is the best and most realistic option. Edward, on the other hand, holds an idealistic, some-what naive perspective, which is that killing is wrong regardless of who it is or what they've done. Even if he's a slimy piece of garbage, Kimblee is still a person and therefore worthy of mercy.

Setting aside both my own philosophy and my disdain for/disinterest in Kimblee as a character, I have to say that the whole thing was handled pretty well. Nine times out of ten with these types of shows, the main character doesn't want to kill. That's just an archetype that's existed for god-knows how long. Not to mention this show is aimed at a slightly younger audience than the 18+ crowd, and having a protagonist who is willing to off someone without good reason doesn't exactly make for a great role model. I don't have an issue with Edward not wanting to kill; my main concern was that they would end up painting everyone who disagrees with him as evil, heartless monsters.

But that's not what they do, and I'm thankful for that.

Miles is looking at the situation from a military, defensive point of view: Kill or be killed. Considering the conditions he's spent a good many years enduring in Briggs, it makes sense that he'd see things that way. Kimblee is a monster. He's twisted and destructive and doesn't hesitate to kill people. The best way, in Miles' mind, to handle him would be to take him out before he gets to anyone else. He tells Edward: "You show mercy in this place, and I guarantee it's gonna get you or your friends killed." Given his background and the conversation he has with his own men afterward, it's obvious that Miles is in the same boat as everyone else in the military: He's killed people, and it's something you have to get over and get used to, otherwise you'll get run over or it will consume you. Look at Mustang--he almost committed suicide over his guilt and pretty much every other member of the military that isn't a soulless monster is still reeling from the atrocities in Ishval.

And guess what? Ed's idealism IS what almost kills him. Kimblee knows that he's being shown mercy and, true to his character, he takes full advantage of it: He attempts to kill Edward and almost kills two of his men/chimeras in the process. Had Edward not freed those men (or even had them down there in the first place), he more than likely would have died. To the story's credit, though, they also show the positive side of Edward's natural altruism and desire to help people rather than make him look like a naive idiot. Even though those chimeras had gone after him a few minutes prior to Kimblee collapsing the building, he still transmutes the rubble off of them so that they can get away. Had he not done that, they wouldn't have been able to help him.

I will say, though, that their sudden switch to seeing Kimblee as an enemy felt...stilted. It could just be the English translation of the dialogue, but it sounded awkward and a little cheesy. In the scheme of things it still works, I suppose, since I'd be pretty pissed off too if someone I had sworn allegiance to almost killed me and didn't care.

As for the entire last ten or so minutes of the episode...yikes. When Edward first collapses after realizing that he's been, uh...skewered by the piece of debris and the scene cuts to Alphonse collapsing, I initially thought those two events were connected. They still technically could be, since Edward mentioned a long time ago that he thinks their souls might be intertwined, but they don't go into any explanation for it. Plus Al was having issues long before Edward got impaled, so I don't know. It could be a lot of things.

There are a couple of elements that I liked about this entire last chunk of the episode:

• As per usual, Edward's facial (or eye) expression when he realizes he's been impaled is phenomenal:

• I don't know what it is, but there's something I find...not necessarily endearing given the situation, but I guess visceral about the fact that they animate his breathing so that it's visible even underneath his heavy coat. That combined with Mignogna's voice acting makes him seem so...fragile.
• The dialogue between Ed and the chimera guys is great. Snarky Ed is still snarky, even when he's close to death.

My one beef with this ending is that the whole "use my life force" thing is kind of out of nowhere and I couldn't follow everything that he said. I honestly can't even say that I heard everything Ed said between the sound effects and his screaming. That whole moment where they pull the metal out of his stomach was just awfully intense, and in an almost uncomfortable kind of way.

...of course Ed would still try and go after Kimblee in his condition. At least the chimeras are going to get him to a doctor. Presumably.

General Thoughts

This episode left things in some pretty dire conditions. Ed's out of commission and Alphonse may or may not have had his soul pulled from the armor. I'm guessing he hasn't, since that would cause some problems that I don't think the narrative can handle at the moment, but still. That tension is there. Winry, Marcoh, Scar and the gang are all now headed for some remote village to avoid capture by Kimblee who, as of right now, is nowhere to be seen.

I'd say it's all looking quite bleak.

Blogging Brotherhood: Episodes 38 & 39

A Quick Recap

For those of you wondering where on earth episodes 35-37 went, they aren't here. I watched the episodes almost two weeks ago, right before my graduate classes started. Once those hit and I realized I have a heck of a lot more coursework than I was anticipating, blogging about these episodes took a backseat to...well, everything else. Even sleeping.

Point being, I opted not to go back and blog about those episodes because, at this point, in order to give a decent synopsis and my thoughts I would need to re-watch all three of them, and I frankly don't have the time or attention span to do that. So instead, I'm going to jump right back in and continue from where I left off which, conveniently, are the final two episodes of this "season."

Before I talk about 38 & 39, though, I'm aware of everything that's gone down in terms of major plot points: Ed, Al, and Olivier have discovered that Amestris' creation was done intentionally for the future production of a Philosopher's Stone. Kimblee is alive and well (unsurprisingly) with the help of a Philosopher's Stone and he visits the North along with Lieutenant General Raven. Marcoh and May Chang read over Scar's brother's notes about alkahestry.  Winry also arrives at the north via the request of Kimblee and isn't aware that she's being used as blackmail. There's a bunch of back story about Hohenheim's past that I wish I could talk about, but I can't. Basically, as I suspected, Hohenheim wasn't a bad guy. He's awkward as heck, and a little strange and freaked out by the fact that he has children, but not evil. Still nothing about who "Father" is. Selim is a Homunculus (omg!), and the original one at that. He's got a bone to pick with Hawkeye, who he threatens in one scene. Kimblee tells Edward that he has to find Scar and Marcoh as well as create a blood crest with Briggs Fortress, using a Philosopher's Stone to tempt him into accepting.

Now that those things are out of the way, onto the episodes for today's blogging!

Episode Thirty-Eight: Conflict at Baschool

This episode opens with a shot of Hawkeye in a slightly battered state, and had I not taken the time to review what happened in the last one I would have been confused.

We don't get much of her in this episode, but based on everything that's been revealed about her character, I'm guessing that she's going to end up playing a greater role in Brotherhood than she did in the original. There's another great moment with her and Roy on the phone--I love how he's well aware that something is up, even if she won't admit it. Not to mention the voice he uses when she answers is freaking hilarious.

Ah, poor May Chang. On the one hand I don't blame her for falling for Alphonse, but on the other...I can't imagine that her romantic attraction will end well. I'm also not sure why Shao May acts like her shadow and does every single thing that May Chang does. I guess it's for comedic effect, but I find it strange that a panda would act smitten with what amounts to a human soul in a suit of armor.

I can't decide whether or not I think the whole "it would be easier if she came to us" joke works in the long run or is just a cop-out for the sake of speedy storytelling, but either way I don't think it hurts the plot.

There is one area where I put my foot in my mouth yet again, but it was honestly the last thing I expected: They have Yoki explain why the hell he's with Scar and May Chang and how he even got there. The fact that they use the old silent film format for the animation is really funny and clever, but at the same time I think this should have been explained a heck of a long time ago. As it stands, that whole five-minute segment feels out of place and unnecessary, like they needed to pad the episode with more material so they stuck that in there. Ed even dismisses it when he's complaining that they're not listening to him. And after he has his monologue, I still don't think there's any real reason that he needs to be hanging around. He's kind of excess baggage at this point.

The real crux of this episode is definitely the capturing of Scar, although I'm beginning to feel like Ed and Al's encounters with him are becoming repetitive. This one in particular bears a lot of resemblance to their last fight, down to Winry's presence and her confrontation of him in regards to the murder of her parents. She's a lot more composed here, though you can tell in both her voice and her body language that she's holding back a lot of anger. Like anyone else would in this kind of situation, she wants to know why he did it.

To Scar's credit, he doesn't try to weasel out of anything. He's pretty upfront in saying that, "There's nothing I can say that won't sound like an excuse...and nothing can change the fact that I am responsible for their deaths." I'm under the impression that Scar really does feel remorse for what he did. I won't go so far as to say he's regretful, but part of that I believe is Scar doesn't want to let it haunt him. It's kind of like what he's been doing to the State Alchemsits: He knows that his actions are wrong, but he's gone too far to go back. He admits that he is the one responsible for Winry's parents' death and as much as he may know his actions were appalling, there's nothing he can do to change the past.

Scar is a weird character for me, so I'm not sure how I see him. I don't think he's a full-on villain, but some of the things he does make it really hard for me to sympathize with him.

Now someone who is definitely coming around for me is Olivier. She's one of those people who is never upfront about how she feels towards her men (or people in general), but the fact that she gave the crew in charge of waiting for the rescue team to come back the directions to close everything up after 24 hours with a faulty watch says a lot. Her conversation with...uhhh...the guy whose name I forget on the roof of the fort was interesting, too. You can tell she does truly care about her men, she just isn't too keen on making them aware of it.

The ending for this episode seems to want to make me believe that Scar got away, but somehow I'm not so sure that's the case. There's something fishy about the way it's presented. I don't think Ed would bother yelling at Kimblee about watching Winry; he'd just got straight for Scar's throat. Also, given how many people were around, Scar would have to have some mad skill to snatch her up like that.

Episode Thirty-Nine: Daydream

HA! I was right! That whole thing about Winry being captured was faked. I thought that whole set up was suspicious.

There were a lot of great moments in this episode, first and foremost being Winry's confrontation with Scar. The last episode led us to believe that it was brief and only consisted of his initial response, but there was a lot more to it. Winry's character has always been consistently great, and here she shows a huge leap in maturity that makes her even better than before. The fact that she was willing to bandage Scar's wounds and prevent him from dying speaks volumes of her character and how far she's come even since that last encounter with him. Winry might not be able to forgive him for murdering people, but she's a healer and an altruistic person before she is hateful. Scar could learn a lot from her.

 
Actually, Scar's character gets a lot of clarity here as well. Whereas before I didn't think he was all that regretful towards his actions, I'm starting to rethink that analysis. He seems genuinely shocked when Winry wraps up his wound and assumes that she could possibly be forgiving him. That flashback with the old guru guy saying that "wanton murder" is not something that could be forgiven and that you should accept it and move away from those actions gets kind of...not necessarily defied, but I think Winry's compassion proves that, if anything, forgiveness is always possible--even when it doesn't seem like it. Scar is so wrapped up in his anger and hatred and bitterness (some of which is possibly directed at himself) that he can't see that. Not to mention he ardently refuses to forgive Amestris for what they did to his people, so who knows. Maybe Winry's actions will soften him up.

The conversation he has with the Major Miles is interesting, too, as one of his own people is telling him the way that he's handling himself is misguided and wrong. Unlike Scar, he has hope that things can change and peace between the two peoples can be restored. He's willing to use his unique position to make slow, gradual changes. It's already worked in large part at Briggs, where Olivier clearly does not give a damn that he's Ishvalan and no one else appears to have an issue with it, either. We'll see how much it impacts Scar's character. Our little main cast is beginning to expand to a large, eclectic group of people, so opinions and ideas may shift.

I am going to be honest and say that Alphonse's speech to the chimeras about wanting to get their normal bodies back and not giving up was kind of forced. It had a corny vibe to it, and I didn't take it all that seriously. Which is a shame, because any time Alphonse gets to step up to the plate and be proactive it should be epic. This one just felt...flat.

NATURALLY, THIS SHOW WOULD END UP MAKING USE OF YOKI. I swear, it's like the stupid thing hears my complaints and then does something to fix it. I won't say that I think Yoki has become a valuable member of the team, but at least he DOES something in this episode that doesn't involve long diatribes or comedic relief.

May Chang also makes an interesting point while they're all in that tunnel--she's more or less found what she's looking for in the Philosopher's Stone, but she recognizes that it's creation is evil and that, even with that knowledge, her emperor would still do whatever it took to create one. She's now got quite the conundrum on her hands, and I don't know what she's going to do. Marcoh suggests that there may be a humane way to attain immortality within Scar's brother's notes, but I'm not convinced they're going to find what they're looking for just based on what we know from the previous parts of the show. FMA is pretty unrelenting in its "wake up and smell the roses" tone, so being optimistic is an achievement for any of these characters.

Brigg's Fort is also now "under attack," as Kimblee managed to inform the Fuhrer that some suspicious things were going on there. Not that there really are...at least, there aren't any physical plans to do anything against the Fuhrer. Ed and Al's presence and the events that occurred while they were there just kind of stirred things up. I don't know what they'll do with Olivier, since Major Miles mentioned that Bradley would be putting someone he hand-picked in charge.

That last scene with Al was a little strange. At this point his body is looking pretty damn gruesome, but I'm not following the whole "body pulling the soul" thing. I'm assuming it will be explained further on, but at the moment that was a weird way to end the season.

Also, Al breaths quite heavy for someone who doesn't have any lungs.

Father's little chess piece things look like something out of the Nightmare Before Christmas. Why does he even have those in the first place? They're kind of arbitrary. But that's nitpicking.

 
Oh, and there's a new opening and ending! I have to admit, they're a little uneven with how many episodes a particular OP/ED appears. I thought they were switching every 13 episodes, but I guess it's not quite that pinned down. This opening is good; action-heavy with lots of great animation and the song is solid, too. I think the ED is going to take some time to for me to warm up to. It's not that I dislike it, I just don't find myself engrossed.

And with that, Part III is complete!

General Thoughts on Part III

This might sound strange, given that I've genuinely liked all of these episodes, but I feel like this "season" is the lull season. A lot of shows have this, where they get away from the main setting for a while, introduce a bunch of new characters, and the general tone feels a little off from everything else. The latter half of the season is where this applies the most, but even the first batch of episodes were a bit different.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing; I did like these episodes a lot, but I'm less inclined to re-watch many of them as much as I would the earlier ones. Part of it might be that, aside from some snippets here and there, Mustang's team was lacking in this season and they add a lot of color to the show as a whole. Their absence was felt. I'm also kind of disappointed that there were almost no interactions shown between Bradley and Hawkeye. I feel like they had some potential there, but maybe I'm speaking out of affection for Hawkeye as a character.

At this point, things are starting to pile up: Mustang's team is dispersed.The one possible ally in Briggs has been taken over by Central. Something funky is going on with Al's body. May Chang might not be able to return to her homeland. Ling has been turned into a Homunculus and the Fuhrer's son is revealed to be the original Homunculus with a ton of power. Ed and Al have discovered that Amestris is more or less one giant sacrifice. Father is looking for one more person to complete that mysterious pentagon.

Basically, Scar's brother's notes had better have some solid information in them or everyone is kind of screwed.

I guess we'll see.