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.
No comments:
Post a Comment