Episode Fifty-Nine: Lost Light
"As the light of the sun vanishes, Mustang learns the loss which comes from seeing the other side of the Gateway - and five sacrifices gather in the dark presence of the Father."You know, the first time I watched this, Mustang's decision not to do the human transmutation came as a shock. I was confused by it, thinking that choosing to leave his subordinate bleeding out on the floor of some sketchy underground tunnel went the exact opposite direction of his character in every way. It took a few more viewings to understand what was going on, though I think that's more my fault than anything the show did. Hawkeye was signaling Mustang that there was help--that he didn't need to use human transmutation because they had back up to get them out of the situation. I guess that means she could see everyone else hiding out in the ceiling of the tunnel, or did see them at some point.
I hate to beat this topic into the ground, but I feel like it's important to point out how completely focused Roy becomes when, thanks to the surprise attack from May and the chimeras, he's able to get free of the soldiers and run to Hawkeye. He throws flames in the face of the one guy who tries to stop him and then switches into tunnel-vision mode as he tries to keep Hawkeye conscious. In the process, he leaves his back completely vulnerable, despite the fact that there are a large collection of people fighting around the them. If it wasn't for that one chimera who kicked the solider coming to attack him out of the way, Roy's head would've been sliced off because he wasn't paying any attention to what was going on.
My point is that, when it comes to Hawkeye, Roy does really stupid things.
I tried to think of him acting in a similar fashion to his other subordinates, and the closest I could think of was in regards to Havoc. When he becomes paralyzed after their run-in with Lust, Mustang does go to a lot of lengths to try and help--he's even seen reading a book with information on the spinal chord. It's hard to compare the two situations, though, as Havoc's life isn't in jeopardy by being stuck in a wheelchair. Regardless, I don't think he reacts to any of his other subordinates in the same way he does here.
For heaven's sake, look at the way he holds her once May uses alkahestry to seal up her wound:
You see him holding Havoc or Breda like that? I don't think so.
I'm kind of surprised that it takes May a while to decide to abandon the Philosopher's Stone (or the red liquid form of it) she's chasing in order to help Hawkeye who is, you know, bleeding out pretty rapidly a few feet away from her. She's a got a bigger heart then that. She did stick with a mass-murderer for a large portion of the show. But there's also her loyalty to her clan, so I can see why she'd be torn.
This is also a super nitpick, but it annoyed me nonetheless: It's obvious that Hawkeye is bleeding all over herself and the floor, yet when she's healed and standing up a few shots later (and for the rest of the episode and climax), the only place there's blood is on her jacket where the sword wound was inflicted. She should be covered in blood, from the side of her jacket that was facing the ground to the hair that got stuck in it as well. Maybe the animators thought it would be too gross? I have no idea.
Bradley finds his way back into the action again, with a flashback showing how he got out of the water when he was shot from Greed/Ling's grip in the previous episode. There's something about his character here that comes across as far more threatening than even before when he killed Fu and Buccaneer. Part of it might be when they show him coming up out of the water into the underground tunnel and panting, that brief moment screams: "This guy is done." Where he made a few quips before, Bradley gets right to the point. He says a couple of things here of note: One, that he thought that if one of Mustang's underlings' lives was in danger he'd be willing to perform human transmutation and two, he hates it when he can't predict what humans will do.
The first statement brings me to question why on earth Mustang would choose to be so open about his dedication and loyalty to his team. I know there's a certain level of solemnity that can't exactly be avoided, but his devotion is obvious enough that Bradley makes sure to take advantage of it twice now: once when he split the team up (and made sure that Hawkeye was especially under watch by making her his manservant) and the other right before when Hawkeye's life was threatened. They are so clearly a crutch (or a "Living Emotional Crutch" as TV Tropes has dubbed it) that it's down-right shocking that there weren't any other causalities or issues over the span of the series.
As for the second statement, it's another one of the "This is Why I Hate Humans" speeches, but unlike the other Homunculus, Wrath is giving people much more credit here. He sees that there are some--even if it's a select few--that are capable of changing and growing and learning from their mistakes. Unlike the masses, they recognize when something isn't working and strive to change it. As a result, they become unpredictable. He miscalculated Mustang's ability to let go of his bond with his subordinate (although it's arguable how much he was really "letting go" as he knew that help was arriving) and wasn't able to manipulate him.
And then Mustang kind of shoots the whole scene in the foot with his statement about how he has people beside him that are willing to prevent him from going down the wrong path. There's nothing inherently wrong with the sentiment, but considering that his fight with Envy happened not too long ago, it feels ham-fisted. The audience gets it. You don't have to beat us over the head with the after-school-special-analysis.
For some reason, I found myself a bit uncomfortable during the forced human transmutation scene. Between stabbing Mustang's hands, using that doctor as the subject, and all of the screaming that Mustang does, it's...unpleasant. Roy has become something of a punching bag over the course of this show; they're certainly not afraid to put him through the ringer whether it's physical or psychological. Though I suppose the case could be made that Brotherhood is unmerciful towards all of its characters in a similar fashion; most of them just get less screen time.
There was apparently a lot of contention amongst fans about the fact that Roy loses his eyesight, although the outcry was more centered around the fact that his eyes aren't ripped from his face like Izumi's insides were from her stomach and Ed's limbs from his torso. The complaint was that they didn't want him to look "ugly" by tearing out his eyes. My thought is that, as I believe Arakawa explained, it's not like Roy willingly chose to perform human transmutation. If this "Truth" character knows everything, it would be aware of that. Not to mention that Roy looks absolutely freaking petrified to be where he is when it happens:
I also think that Mustang losing his eyes in a violent, graphic way would lead to more distractions than anything else. They'd have to find a way to stop the bleeding, calm him down, and that would leave him out of commission for the rest of the climax. And even if he did lose his actual eyes, would YOU want to look at someone who had two giant holes in their face? No. It would be unsettling. The way they did it still gets the point across, but not in a way that's distracting.
Besides, I'm of the opinion that Mustang would still be attractive even if he lost his eyes, as long as they gave him some sunglasses.
Ed makes a good point about the legitimacy of Mustang's sacrifice. If he didn't choose to perform human transmutation of his volition, what makes it okay for the Truth to take away his eye sight? It's like punishing someone for eating a gallon of ice cream after someone literally force-fed it to them. How is that justified? It could be a way of pointing out that, ultimately, the universe doesn't care how or why you do something; the only thing that matters is that you did it at all. Which...is one heck of a bleak perspective.
We also get the beginning of Scar's fight with Bradley. It's curious how Scar's the one to fight him, though it probably works the best thematically. After all, Bradley is the one responsible for the slaughtering of his people. At least this way Scar gets some kind of vengeance without looking like a monster. Taking down Bradley is a necessity; who better to do it than a victim of his greatest crime?
Although the back-and-forth close-up shots of their faces was cheesy, I will say that.
I loved that scene with Al and his body. It's so damn tragic that after all this time--all this hunting and searching and struggling--he finally comes face-to-face with his body and it's 100% useless because of its condition. The fact that Al recognizes this and chooses to return in his armored suit rather than fight with the dying body is representative of his character growth as well as his deeply rooted selfless personality. Al knows that the safety and security of those he loves is more important than his own gains.
Oh and a nice throwback to when Edward found Al's body almost thirty episodes ago and shouted that he would be coming back for him.
Episode Sixty: Eye of Heaven, Gateway of Earth
"The light is gone. Shadows swallow everything. As the planet quakes and the heavens tremble, the souls of heroes and villains alike vanish into darkness. The circle is complete."Okay, I have to be honest: I was most definitely not thinking that this story was going to become so epic in its scale. Upon my first watching I thought the entire second half of this episode was ridiculous. Up until this point, the primary goal of Father seemed to be attaining more power and freedom from his flask, and by "power" I mean insofar as what he could gain using the souls on earth to control...well, the earth. Everything he's done has been on an earthly scale--as large as that can be--from the destruction of Xerxes and Ishval to the creation of Amestris. He was using humans as tools and treating them as much for his own gain, but I didn't think that translated to "I want to swallow God."
However. After re-watching it, I don't think this is as big of a blunder as I initially assumed. A large part of that is there's still a basic level of logic that goes into this entire scenario, as outrageous as the last two or so minutes are. The show has built up to this point for the most part: The creation of Amestris supplies the transmutation circle needed for Father's plan. He sticks the location of Central command literally at the center of the earth, where he uses it as the entry point for his alchemy. Ed, Al, Izumi, Hohenheim, and Mustang all function as sacrifices in that their portals supply a large amount of power that fuels Father's alchemy. He then uses that upgraded alchemy to take the souls of everyone in Amestris, which supplies him with enough power to open the portal of earth and see the Eye of God.
So there's logic that I can follow. It isn't perfect (why would he stick all of his sacrifices in the same location rather than putting them at various points in the transmutation circle like the labs were?), but it's sufficient enough that I can put away my complaining in large part.
I also think there's some truly fabulous imagery here, all of which includes the characters that we've come to know and love. It grounds the massive, universe-spanning scale of what's happening and harkens back to earlier events like the destruction of Xerxes. It isn't coming right the hell out of nowhere. Using the people that have carried the show in one way or another helps us to give a damn about what it is Father is doing. Even in his epic plan, the effects are still close to home.
The music is great, too. I haven't mentioned it much in the past, but the soundtrack to this series is phenomenal--look it up on YouTube if you ever get the chance. Here, there's a haunting and spooky chorus track that plays in the background as the life force is being sucked out of everyone in Amestris and it really makes the scene pop. I mean, it's bad enough that everyone we've grown to love is dying; the music ramps it up to eleven by creating an even darker mood.
As for the rest of the episode, there are a couple of other things to note.
It's quite admirable that May is willing to throw herself at Father for the sake of taking his stone, as dumb as that idea is. Alphonse makes a comment about her not fighting him alone--that they'll help her--but May tells him that she can take Father and asks Ed and Al to keep Pride out of her way. And...we see how well that turned out. She gets beat up pretty good, and if it wasn't for Alphonse and his awesome armor, she would've been killed. I'm not so much criticizing her stupid actions as I am pointing out that one of the central themes of this series is community and friendship. No one in this show accomplishes much of anything by themselves. Not the villain (who has seven Homunculus), not the heroes (Mustang's Team, Ed and Al, and everyone else in between who assists them in one way or another). Whenever they try to, they end up like May. So here it's played out on a smaller scale, but still noticeable.
It took me a couple of viewings to understand what exactly it was that forcing Mustang to perform the transmutation compromised for the Homunculus, and even now I'm not one hundred-percent sure I know. It's either that Pride's human shell begins to collapse or Ed and Al are able to use alchemy. The fact that I can't figure it out is either indicative of the show's falling ability to adequately explain things or my own brain is turning on me after sixty episodes of this mini-analysis. Could be either.
I like Ed's dialogue with Pride while they fight. Pride's own arrogance and hatred of Edward makes him slip up. Ed may compensate for his height by fighting everyone he can, but all of that practice lets him know exactly how a person of his stature would try to win--so he beats Pride at his own game.
The inclusion of the Ishvalans was cool, too. I find them to be a fascinating people. It's a bit of a shame that they get so much less screen time in this series compared to the original, but at least here they're playing a huge role in the diffusion of Father's transmutation circle: they're constructing reverse ones all around Amestris. The scene with the two guys in that one house is pretty telling, too, even though it's short. You can see the fear that Amestrians have of Ishvalans and the prejudice they face because of it. They have to throw their hands up and assure the woman that they're not there to hurt her before they can do anything.
And all they want to know is if her house is the one that they're looking at on a map, where they are supposed to be creating one of the reverse transmutation circles.
Speaking of Ishvalans, Scar makes a big leap in character and decides to use his left arm to reconstruct the earth around him when fighting Bradley--or, in other words, he uses regular alchemy instead of alkahestry. I'm not sure I buy this transformation, as it kind of goes against everything his character stands for, but it shut Bradley up for a few seconds so that makes me happy.
Yes, Bradley delivers a pretty damn stupid monologue right before he fights Scar and his dialogue during the battle isn't any better. It's so dramatic and pointless, his droning about fighting for his own life and how everything else is meaningless. "I guess you could say I've finally arrived." What does that even mean, Bradley? Who cares. Just shut up and punch each other, please.
That being said, the animation for the fight is as awesome as usual with some fantastic facial expressions and really fluid, fast movements.
And now that I spent that entire entry discussing the episode backwards, onto the next one!
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