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.