FMA Brotherhood Episodes 1-20

FMA Brotherhood: Episodes 1-20

Introductory Episode

(Keep in mind: I am describing the storyline of FMA Brotherhood (released in 2009), which follows the storyline of the manga. The first FMA series in 2003 eventually broke off from the manga storyline and created its own story and ending because the manga hadn't been finished yet)

(All the pictures in my posts are ones I've found from places like Google Images, and all my quotes are copied and pasted since it would be too time-consuming to type out - but I knew which quotes and conversations I wanted to use ahead of time and just searched them out)

Also, Spoiler Alert, Duh.

The story begins after Edward and Alphonse Elric have already joined the military and Ed has received the title of "Fullmetal Alchemist". The first episode jumps right into the action. In Central City, a former state alchemist known as the "Freezing Alchemist", Isaac McDougal, is running loose and drawing transmutation circles throughout the city. After witnessing the violence of the military during the Ishval Civil War, he quit the military and became an anti-government radical. He is able to freeze, boil, and shape the water around him. Military police are chasing after him and trying to stop him, but of course...it doesn't work out so well for them. Can't say it works out well for anyone when you combine skin with boiling water...

(Isacc McDougal didn't make an appearance in the manga - this episode was more about introducing the characters and alchemy in an intense and interesting way for people not familiar with FMA...and for making FMA fangirls and fanboys scream with excitement)

Fuhrer King Bradley places Colonel Roy Mustang, the "Flame Alchemist" with an ambition to become Fuhrer, in charge of hunting McDougal down, with the help of Ed and Al. While not much is revealed about Mustand at first with the front he puts up for everyone except those he's closest to, his character and continual development is one I really enjoyed having revealed to me over time. I like that his transmutation circles have been stitched into his gloves. I also find it hilarious that every time it rains or he gets soaked, he's rendered utterly useless until the rain stops or he gets a new dry pair of gloves.

Ed is able to track him down, fight him with his own powerful alchemy without the need of a transmutation circle (thanks to his exposure to the Gate's knowledge), and block McDougal's boiling water alchemy with his automail arm. However, McDougal is still able to escape.

Ed and Al have to return and are scolded by Roy Mustang for rushing in without thinking. We are briefly introduced to another important character, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes from the Investigations Office in Central City, a goofy and family-obsessed but surprisingly wise guy who is very good at his job. I wasn't sure what to make of him at first, but grew to love his antics and his close friendship with Roy Mustang.

Hughes: Oh, say!.. Looks like my timing was perfect! You two are the Elric brothers, right? Uh– Wow, it's an honor to finally meet the youngest State Alchemist ever. You're a real legend around here... I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. A pleasure.

Alphonse: Um, you want Edward. I'm actually his younger brother, Alphonse.

Hughes: What, you're the Fullmetal Alchemist?! Sorry, I had no idea you'd be so...

Edward: [thought] Go on, say 'little'. I dare you.

(Poor, short, little Edward...)

They set out again, with Alex Louis Armstrong, the "Strong Arm Alchemist" with a distinct strength that has been "PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!" joining in. I love this guy. I really do. He's hilariously ridiculous in every way but has a heart of gold that has been "PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!" Luckily his penchant for stripping his shirt and flexing isn't one of the family traits.

Anyway...

A question raised by McDougal once they locate him is if Ed really knows what Central Command has planned for their country (this becomes something important to look back on later).

It turns out that McDougal had been strategically placing transmutation circles around the city to create a massive ice transmutation circle with Central Command at the center as the target. Ed suspects he is being aided by a Philosopher's stone. He activates them all at once, and gigantic walls of ice are created and move towards Central Command, but Ed, Al, Armstrong, and Mustang work together to wipe out the transmutation circles before they reach Central.

McDougal, while trying to escape down an alley, is encountered by Fuhrer Bradley, who proceeds to mercilessly kill him (aka holy crap he sliced and diced him and now blood is everywhere) with incredible speed. A small red Philosopher's stone is revealed, but it turns to dust.

Two important enemies, a woman and chubby companion, are briefly shown learning about McDougal''s death, with the women disappointed since he would have made a good "human sacrifice" but moving on to get started on her own mission.

Okay, first introductory episode and introduction of some characters out of the way, I'm going to move a little faster and just point out important parts of episodes 2-20

Episodes 2-5

Episode 2 is basically a flashback showing what I explained in the first blog. Years earlier, when Ed and Al were talented kids, they tried to bring their dead mother back using Human Transmutation. They paid for it with Al's body and Ed's arm and leg. They were taken care of by their childhood friend and automail prodigy Winry Rockbell, and her grandmother Pinako, a friend of Trisha Elric and Van Hohenheim, Ed and Al's mother and estranged father who had left them some time ago for reasons Ed and Al don't know. This episode introduces Truth and the Gate, the illegality of Human Transmutation, and the reason why Ed and Al are so desperate to find a Philosopher's Stone.

It's also revealed that Roy Mustang and 2nd Lt. Riza Haweye, another close friend of Mustang's, are the ones who discovered the Elric brothers after their tragedy and invited them to join the military to search for a way to get their bodies back to normal.

Riza: Will they be coming?

Roy: They'll come.

Riza: That boy... I've never seen anyone look so defeated.

Roy: That's what you saw? No. There was fire in those eyes.

Episode 3 is the Elric brothers' arrival in Reole, where they suspect a Philosopher's Stone is. I found this episode interesting because of the conversations and controversies that happen.

They discover that the people of the town worship a man called prophet Cornello, who preaches the word of the god Leto and and performs fantastic miracles like bringing the dead back to life.

Ed doesn't buy it one bit.

Others such as Rose, are willing to believe in his miracles, and she is horrified at his apparent agnostic view, his claims about science being superior to faith, and his refusing to believe the possibility that prayers can do something even their modern science can't do. In his own cynical way, he warns her against what happens when people, of both faith and science, try to play god (like what he tried to do, and what Cornello seems to be doing).

Edward: Water: 35 Liters, carbon: 20 kilograms, ammonia: 4 Liters, lime: 1.5 kilograms, phosphorus: 800 grams, salt: 250 grams, saltpeter: 100 grams, and various other trace elements...

Rose: Huh?!

Edward: That list represents the complete chemical makeup of a human body for the average adult. It's been calculated to the last microgram, but still there has never been one reported case of successfully creating a human life. And you're telling me something modern science can't do, you can do with prayer?

Rose: Lift thy voice to God! And the prayers of the faithful shall be answered!

Edward: Did I mention all those ingredients I read off? Down at the market, a kid could buy every one of them for the spare change in his pocket. As it turns out, humans are pretty cheap.

Rose: No, that's blasphemy...! People are- We're all children of God... created in his image!

Edward: Heh. You have to understand, alchemists are scientists... We don't believe in unprovable concepts like creators or gods... We observe the physical laws that govern this world to try to learn the truth. It's ironic, really. That through the application of science, we have in many ways been given the power to play gods ourselves...

Rose: So you're putting yourself on the same level as God? That's just... sheer arrogance!

Edward: You know, there's an old myth– about a hero who flew on wings made of wax... He thought he could touch the sun, but when he got too close, his wings melted, and he came crashing back down to earth... Right Al?

Alphonse: Brother...

They confront Cornello, who is revealed to in fact be a greedy liar and is wearing a Philosopher's Stone. Long story short, a big battle ensues with Cornello and his chimeras (a creature alchemically created by combining two different beings) and Ed tricks Cornello into revealing his plan to the whole town. Afterwards, the mysterious woman from before, Lust, and her big companion, Gluttony, confront an escaped Cornello. They mock him for his failure to stir up trouble despite giving him a Philosopher's Stone, and then Lust stabs him with her sharp, claw-like fingernails and Gluttony proceeds to eat him whole. Lust mentions that their "Father" won't be happy.

Edward: People don't come back from the dead, Rose. Not ever. Not ever!

Rose: [collapses to the floor] But he promised me... he said if I prayed, it would happen... A miracle... That hope was all I had left! What am I supposed to believe in now?! Tell me what to do... please...

Edward: I can't tell you that... You have to figure it out. Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs. So get up and use them. You're strong enough to make your own path.

Episode 4 is an episode that really got to me. It was sad. It starts with a state alchemist being killed by a man with a mysterious power and an X-shaped scar on his face.

Ed and Al want to look further into chimeric alchemy with the hope that it could reveal a way to restore their bodies. Mustang introduces them to Shou Tucker, a state alchemist specializing in chimeric studies who had created a chimera capable of human speech. However, he has been unable to break any new ground, and his yearly alchemist assessment is coming up. If he doesn't pass, he will lose his state alchemist certification. His little daughter Nina constantly comforts him and is sure he'll come up with something. He explains that his wife left him right before he became a state alchemist because he was so poor, and he was desperate not to return to that life.

He lets Ed and Al research chimeras and play with his lonely and sweet daughter Nina and their dog.

One day, Ed and Al arrive and discover Shou Tucker successfully created a second and more sturdy chimera capable of human speech. They are happy for him, until the chimera suddenly calls Ed "big brother", something Nina had been calling him.

Hawkeye: If ever there was an example of the Devil's work in this world, this case would definitely be it.

Mustang: The Devil, huh? A State Alchemist must be willing to act, able to take another's life when ordered to without question. In some ways, Mr. Tucker's actions and our own may not be all that far apart, when it comes to interfering with other people's lives. We choose our own path, knowing full well what we're doing. That's the way it is. Right, Fullmetal? You will more than likely come across cases like this again in the future, and you may end up having to get your own hands dirty as well. Are you gonna shut down like this every time?

Edward: We may be called dogs of the military. We may even be cursed as devils. That doesn't matter. Al and I are still going to get our bodies back. We know the truth. We know we're not devils. I know we're not gods. We're human. WE'RE ONLY HUMAN! Who can't even do anything to save one innocent little girl... so what good are we then?

He used his own daughter and their dog to create a chimera! He even reveals that his wife didn't actually leave him long ago. He'd used her, too, to create the first speaking chimera. Shou Tucker accuses Ed of being just like him, for "playing" with his brother's life and using human transmutation.

The damage done to Nina and her dog is irreversible. Later, Mustang warns Ed that he is bound to see plenty more evil like this from now on. Ed is still determined to carry on with his goal. Later, the scarred man appears at the Tucker house as they sit under house arrest and kills Tucker as an alchemist who has "strayed from the path of God" and then kills Nina to give her peace. He briefly lifts his sunglasses to reveal he has red eyes, the distinct eye color of the Ishvalans (the religious race of people mostly wiped out cruelly by the military long ago).

It's also eventually discovered that he is simply using Destruction alchemy (one of the 3 types).

Episode 5 is about the scarred man going around killing state alchemists out of what Ed describes as vengeance disguised as righteousness. The civil war between the military and Ishval had started out of already existing tension when a military soldier shot and killed (accidentally or otherwise) an Ishvalan child in broad daylight, which from their quickly triggered an all-out war. Because after seven years of neither side giving way, the state alchemists were sent in by Fuhrer Bradley during the civil war to use their alchemical abilities to utterly wipe out the Ishvalan race, adults, children, and all.

The scarred Ishvalan man is later known to be going around by the (kinda obvious but still cool) name of Scar. Everyone is trying to figure out how to stop him.

Lust also reveals that they want Ed alive for now because he is a promising "human sacrifice".

Ed and Al encounter and fight Scar, and he almost kills Ed but is stopped by Mustang, his forces, and Armstrong. Scar has to escape into the sewers.

Edward: I've been thinking about this for a long time. We put all our trust in alchemy but in the end... what is it? "Alchemy is the science of understanding the flow of matter and its laws... The process of comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction. The world flows too. It must also follow laws. Everything circulates... Even death is a part of that circulation. You must accept the flow." Hmm, Teacher sure drummed that into our heads, didn't she? I thought I understood it... but I don't understand anything... Mom proves that. Now here I am again, trying desperately to figure out a way to do the impossible... I'm such a hopeless idiot... All this time and I haven't grown up one bit. I thought maybe the rain would wash away some of this gloom that's been following me... but right now every drop that hits my face is even more depressing.

Alphonse: I don't even get that much... without a body, I can't feel the rain hitting my face. That's something I miss...all the time. I wanna get my body back soon, Brother. I just wanna be human again. Even if it means going against the flow of the world, and trying to do the impossible.

Episodes 6-10

Episode 6 is basically about Ed, Al, and Armstrong's travel on the train and sudden discovery and conversation with runaway state alchemist Dr. Marcoh, who had been in hiding as a helpful doctor in town so he could live the rest of his life saving people. His guilt comes from letting his research be used to massacre innocent people during the Ishvalan war. His research is revealed to be the creation of a Philosopher's Stone that is not complete and can run out of power at any time but still has the magical properties of a real one. He refuses to share his knowledge and warns Ed not to try to make a Philosopher's Stone for reasons unknown but later gives Ed a note that reads "National Central Library, First Branch". Lust is waiting for Marcoh when he returns home.

Marcoh: Amazing… The ability to transmute a specific person's soul like this… Maybe one as talented as you would be able to produce a complete Philosopher's Stone.

Edward: So…!

Marcoh: But I can't show you my research.

Edward: Why not?

Marcoh: You must not seek after the Stone!

Edward: Not even if it's to get our bodies back?

Marcoh: Never! This is the devil's research! If you chase the Stone, you will go through Hell!

Edward: I'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH HELL!

They visit Resembool and Winry's grandmother Pinako tells Armstrong that Winry's parents were emergency surgeons killed during the Ishvalan war, and Ed and Al burned their house so they wouldn't be able to quit and run home.

In Episode 7, Ed and Al discover that the library was burned down (Lust had burned it down after discovering that Ed knew about Marcoh's notes). Scar runs into Lust and Gluttony (who see him as a threat to their plan because of his abilities and potential to kill Ed) and fights them off, but it causes an explosion that Mustang and the others check out. Meanwhile, Ed and Al discover and recruit a woman named Sheska who is able to remember every word of every book from the library's first branch, so she can rewrite Marcoh's notes.

Unfortunately, they decipher the code only to discover, horrified, that the Philosopher Stone's main ingredient is a live human being, and they refuse to kill anyone to obtain a stone. Ed then suspects there is more to the notes, a more hidden truth. He suspects the abandoned Fifth laboratory was used to make a Philosopher's Stone because of its closeness to a prison full of death row inmates (convenient human ingredients). They sneak in but encounter two armored guards.

Episode 8 is Ed and Al fighting the two armed guards. Ed fights 48, who is later revealed to be two murderous brothers tied to a suit of armor by a blood rune (like Al was). Al fights 66, who later calls himself Barry the Chopper. Ed defeats the brothers, but Lust and another enemy, Envy (who has the ability to shapeshift), appear and wipe out the blood rune, annihilating them before they can reveal anything. Barry the Chopper escapes, and the Fifth laboratory is destroyed.

Number 66: I am the infamous serial killer, Barry the Chopper!

Alphonse: Sorry, I've never heard of you. I'm from a little town in the east, so--

Barry: Fine, but even if you don't know who I am, shouldn't you at least be a little scared...?! Shouldn't you be going, "AHHH!" or "What happened to your body?!" Or something!?

[Alphonse removes his helmet, revealing that he doesn't have a body]

Barry: AHHH! What happened to YOUR body, freak?!

Alphonse: Hey... now that's impolite.

Episode 9 does not have too much going on. Ed's arm fell apart during his fight with 48, so Winry arrives in Central to fix it. Maes Hughes arrives to check on them and to invite Winry to stay with them. She celebrates Hughes's little daughter Elicia's third birthday with them.

Scar is recovering in a hideout amongst a small group of Ishvalans, and they marvel at the intricate tattoo covering his entire arm. Scar just tells them it was a gift from his family.

Episode 10 is another really sad one for me. Mustang remembers the part he had in killing innocent lives during the Ishvalan war, and his resulting decision to become Fuhrer so unnecessary violence like this wouldn't happen again. Hughes was the first to show him support.

Roy Mustang: The power of one man doesn't amount to much, But however little strength I'm capable of... I'll do everything humanly possible to protect the people I love, And in turn they'll protect the ones they love. It seems like the least we tiny humans can do for each other.

Hughes: Sounds like a pyramid scheme, There's just one thing. If you hope to eventually protect everyone... then you'll have to figure out a way to stand at the top of the pyramid.

Roy Mustang: I can only imagine how good it must feel up there, Hughes... Although... I'll never be able to find out without all the support I can get.

Hughes: There's no doubt about that. You're not very subtle, y'know. You've got my support... But you could've just asked me... It ought to be fun to watch though... And maybe your naive idealism might actually do some good.

Despite Fuhrer Bradley's warning about the dangerous enemies they were facing and his order to stop digging into the investigation, Hughes and Armstrong promise to help Ed and Al find out more, and Ed and Al head out to Dublith to talk with their teacher Izumi Curtis. Winry tags along to visit Rush Valley, the great city of automail.

Later, while Hughes is searching, he wonders about the reason behind all the riots and battles going on around the country, comes to some realization, searches around in the record room, and has his fears confirmed. Before he can rush to inform anyone of his discovery, though, Lust attacks him. He fights back and escapes, running to an outside phone booth that won't use the military's line since for some reason he doesn't want them listening in. As he's calling Roy, Envy appears and, after pretending to be 2nd Lt. Maria Ross doesn't work, shifts into Hughes's wife right as he turns around to stab Envy. In that brief moment of shock and hesitation at being unable to shoot his "wife", Envy attacks and kills him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7QnAwJeJeg

A funeral is held for him, and his family and friends are devastated. (WHYYYYYY?! I LIKED HIM!) Mustang is stricken with grief and determined to figure out who killed Hughes.

Mustang: Alchemists as a whole, we really are horrible creatures, aren't we? There's a side of me that's desperately trying to crack the theories of Human Transmutation right now. I think I understand what drove those boys when they tried to... bring back their mother.

Hawkeye: [pauses, trying to gauge him] Are you alright, colonel?

Mustang: [putting his cap on] Yeah, I'm fine... except... it's a terrible day for rain.

Hawkeye: [confused, looking at sky] But... what do you mean? It's not raining. [Then she looks at him again]

Mustang: [lifts chin, and a tear spills] Yes it is.

Hawkeye: I hate to say it, but it sounds like there might be some kind of conspiracy going on here. But how does it all tie together?

Mustang: That's the big question. But Hughes... I'd say he deserves an answer. Once I'm transferred to Central... I'm gonna start shaking things up until I find one.

Hawkeye: Doesn't sound like you to mix your public and personal concerns.

Mustang: There's no difference between the two. I will become the Fuhrer of this country AND I will take vengeance for Hughes. I'll do these things because I have to do them. I'm going after the senior staff. Are you with me, Lieutenant?

Hawkeye: Do you even have to ask?

Episodes 11-15

Episode 11 didn't have anything too important happen. Ed, Al, and Winry arrive in Rush Valley, where they meet a very talented automail mechanic and later help his wife give birth while he goes to fetch a doctor. Ed is happy to see the birth of a baby, the natural creation of human life, something he knows science has never been able to replicate. We also learn that Ed has inscribed the date he and Al burned down their house onto the inside of his state alchemist pocketwatch, to remind them of their goal. His determination spurs Winry to work as hard as she can towards her goal, so she stays in Rush Valley to learn more about automail.

In Episode 12, Ed and Al arrive in Dublith to talk with their teacher Izumi Curtis, who is also able to use alchemy without transmutation circles because he made the mistake of performing human transmutation before. She had attempted to bring back her stillborn child, and the Gate had showed her knowledge and taken some of her internal organs, forever causing problematic internal bleeding and the inability to ever have another child again. She had to kill the disfigured "creature" that she still worries was her child that she had failed to completely bring back. It was a creature similar to the horrible creature that Ed had seen as their "mom" that had quickly died after the transmutation. Ed and Izumi both feel incredible guilt for putting their loved ones through a second death. She suggests Ed and Al ask a man she once met about the Philosopher's Stone, who turns out to be their father Hohenheim, since he apparently is close to achieving some dream of his that relates to the stone.

Ed and Al also reminisce about the first time they learned about what equivalent exchange meant and what the phrase "One is all, all is one" meant after Izumi forced them to figure it out by leaving them to survive alone on an island for a month (she's a tough teacher).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1PShCL4cjQ

Episode 13 introduces us to the word, Homunculus. Ed, Al, and Izumi come to the realization that Al must have gone through the Gate and gained knowledge, too, probably even more than Ed since Al was forced to trade in his whole body, but doesn't remember because the traumatic shock was too much for him. They decide they might want to try regaining his memories since it might help them in their goal.

Meanwhile, Roy Mustang has been reassigned to Central City with Riza Hawkeye, Jean Havoc, and several others that he trusts and considers his friends.

Scar has recovered and is determined to continue his path of revenge despite being told by his old mentor that his older brother (who had died in the Ishvalan war) would've been sad to learn of the path he had chosen.

Later, Al is kidnapped by successfully created chimeras, people from a gang who had their genes spliced with different animals so they have those distinct animal characteristics. The leader is a man who introduces himself as Greed. He tells Al that he isn't human and is a Homunculus - an artificially created person made with the power of a Philosopher's Stone, incredibly physically resilient and nearly immortal, each with regenerative powers and a distinct ability (Greed's ability is that he can coat his whole body in some weird impenetrable kind of armor). He shows them the mark of a Homunculus on his hand that every Homunculus has somewhere on their body. It's called the Ouroboros tattoo.

Ed finds his brother and breaks in. Some of the chimeras run off with Al, and Ed fights Greed, who admits to Ed that although he is like Lust, Envy, and the others he has broken off from them and doesn't talk to them much anymore. He just wanted information on Al's seeming "immortality" in his soul-bound suit of armor. Izumi later joins in and helps fight.

Episode 14 starts with Ed and Izumi successfully fighting Greed off, and him running off into the sewers. Ed and Izumi are too injured to chase after him, but Fuhrer Bradley and his men arrive. Bradley continues on into the sewer alone. After Greed catches up to them and tells them they need to flee, Bradley shows up and tells them they can't. When the others run and fight against Armstrong and other soldiers, Greed attempts to fight Bradley while they're alone but has his hand cut off. Bradley ends their battle by revealing to Greed that his eye under his eyepatch has the Ouroboros tattoo, the mark of a Homunculus. Greed attempts to prevent him from going after his men, since they are his men and therefore his possessions that he refuses to abandon, but Bradley greatly injures him. He then finishes off the rest of Greed's gang in front of Al, despite Al's attempt to hide one of them, Martel, in his suit of armor.

The blood from her death splashes onto Al's blood rune and triggers some of his memories.

Later, Ed, Al, and Izumi are recovering and find it suspicious that Bradley and his men killed them all without first trying to arrest them for information.

In a secret underground chamber beneath Central Command, Bradley is revealed to be Wrath and has brought back Greed and the announcement that Al and Izumi could also make good human sacrifices. We get out first glimpse of their "Father", who created them and who appears to greatly resemble Van Hohenheim. Greed refuses to help them anymore since working with them deprived him of his desires, so Father destroys him completely and absorbs the fluid from Greed's stone back into himself.

Lust: It's been a century since I've seen that face. Rise and shine, Greed. You can't sleep all day.

Greed: Well, well. The gang's all here.

Lust: Looks like your Ultimate Shield let you down after all.

Greed: Maybe, but you never do, Lust the Lascivious... Feel free to pierce me with your Ultimate Spear anytime you want. Hello, Gluttony the Voracious. Still haven't found the right diet for you yet, huh? And little Envy the Jealous. Please! For the last time, get a new outfit.

Episode 15 is where we get introduced to Ling Yao and May Chang, two other important characters from the land of Xing who are seeking the Philosopher's Stone. Scar meets the young girl May Chang and her pet baby panda Xiao-Mei, who was found by the man traveling with Scar named Yoki. Scar tells her to leave, but she heals his injuries using Alkahestry, a different form of alchemy from her homeland Xing. She also recognizes the marks on Scar's tattoo, and he tells her his brother was researching both Alchemy and Alkahestry which were used for the tattoo.

Meanwhile, Riza Hawkeye runs into and captures Barry the Chopper. Her and Mustang learn from him Lust and Envy's involvement as well as the researcher's doings with creating the Philosopher's stone

Ed and Al run into a collapsed Ling Yao in Rush Valley, who turns out to be a one of the children of the Xing Emperor and is seeking the Philosopher's Stone to discover the secret of immortality. The Emperor has a lot of children and is nearing death, and now every family with children of the Emperor are vying for their child to become Emperor. In order for his family to gain favor with the Emperor so he can be chosen to be the next Emperor, he desperately wants to find the secret. This is the same reason May Chang is searching for the stone, though she's from a rival family.

Edward: So you shake down strangers for food, and yet you can somehow afford two personal attendants?

Ling: Well, I am the emperor's son, after all.

Edward: Huh? Emperor's son?

Alphonse: That makes you...

Elrics: A prince! (Laughs at him)

Ling: Not the reaction I anticipated.

Alphonse: Sorry! We just didn't see that coming!

Edward: Yeah, the guy who collapsed on the side road and then mooched food off us is the son of an Emperor!

Episodes 16-20

Episode 16 is when Ed and Al return to Central to discover Hughes has been killed. Mustang is still determinedly seeking out what Hughes wanted to tell him before he died and Hughes killer, and one his men, Falman is holed up with Barry the Chopper in a safehouse to keep an eye on him.

Even after they arrive and talk to Mustang, they still aren't told of Hughes's death, since nobody knows how to break the news to them and they don't want to add to Ed and Al's guilt since they were the ones who requested Hughes's help in gathering information.

Hawkeye: Now you've decided to treat them like children?

Mustang: There's no need for them to know just yet... The fewer obstacles that stand in their way right now... the better.

Hawkeye: Colonel... They are gonna find out someday.

Mustang: It's funny... I've accused Armstrong of being soft... But right now I'm no better than he is.

Hawkeye: I fail to see anything "soft" about it. It's cruel, Colonel.

Winry finds out when she stops by to visit and talks to Hughes's wife and daughter. Ed and Al find out when they bump into 2nd Lt. Maria Ross, a woman under Armstrong's command and a friend of theirs who had helped keep them safe when Scar was still around and helped them get medical help after the explosion in Lab 5. She tells them, and they immediately go to the Hughes's house. They all talk to Gracia, Hughes's wife, and she tells them not to give up so her husband's efforts won't be in vain.

In Episode 17, Lt. Ross is accused of Hughes's death, a scheme devised by Envy to throw Mustang and others off their trail. Her interrogators claim it was her gun that shot Hughes. The shot she had fired was to protect Ed and Al during the Lab 5 explosion, but she has no way to prove that since the testimonies of her friends aren't being considered as good alibis. She is arrested, and at the safehouse, Falman is contacted. Barry the Chopper sees the paper and recognizes Ross from Lab 5.

Later, Barry the Chopper is shown breaking into the prison and releasing Ross, and Ling after Ling manages to persuade him. (Ling had been arrested earlier for being caught as an illegal alien). Everyone is being told off Ross's escape, including Mustang. They encounter the Elric brothers, who are surprised. Barry has Ross run ahead as he fights them off.

Ross has nearly escaped but runs into Mustang. Ed and Al eventually manage to catch up, only to discovered her charred corpse on the ground in front of Mustang. (At the time I was seriously like, WHAT THE HELL?!) Ed is furious, but Mustang just claims he followed order to kill the fugitive, and there's nothing they can do as reinforcements arrive on the scene.

Lust discovers from Envy that Barry is the man who stormed the prison and is probably involved with Mustang and the others, and so she sends out Barry's old human body (given the mind of an animal) to track him down.

Episode 18 reveals the truth. Ed and Armstrong are led out into the desert that separates their country Amestris and Xing. They arrive at the ruins of Xerxes in the middle of the desert, surprised to find Fu, one of Ling's bodyguards. Fu explains the story of Xerxes and origins of Alchemy in Amestris and Alkahestry in Xing, that after the destruction of Xerxes long, long ago there were two travelers. One traveled to Amestris and the other traveled to Xing, which led to the distinct practices of their homelands. They don't know the reason behind Xerxes destruction, though.

They then reveal that Maria Ross is actually there and alive, and that Mustang was the one who sent Barry to release her so he could help her escape the country while making everyone believe he killed her by charring what was actually a manufactured human corpse. Fu leaves with some others to escort Ross to Xing, where she'll be able to live safely.

Ed and the others are attacked by some Ishvalans, but an older Ishvalan stops them claiming that not all Amestrians are bad, since she knew a couple who were very kind and served as doctors in the war. It turns out that she's talking about Winry's parents, and that her parents had willingly helped anybody they could during the war, both Amestrians and Ishvalans, but they were killed by an angry Ishvalan. When she describes him, Ed recognizes the description as Scar's. (OH, CRAP)

Back in Central, Barry's human body attacks, and Barry recognizes it but ends up deciding to kill it anyway. Hawkeye, who had been hiding out in a tower communicating with Mustang, who had been pretending to talk to a female lover, is attacked by Gluttony.

Episode 19 was rather intense, and gave me a good reason to never go up against a Flame Alchemist unprepared. Riza is having trouble fighting Gluttony, but she's saved by her dog, Fuery, and Mustang, who blasts gluttony out of the tower with fire. Riza and Mustang join with Jean Havoc chase after Barry and his human body, running into Al, who helps them chase. Al tells them Gluttony must have been a Homunculus and explains their regenerative powers and other abilities, and that Gluttony is definitely not dead.

Roy: Hold on a damn second! What are you saying, Al...? That's just not possible.

Alphonse: Yeah, that's what I thought, until I got kidnapped by a Homunculus... He called himself Greed... One thing he told me is that nothing is impossible. I know for a fact that they have amazing healing powers. I watched Greed get the top half of his head knocked off... but he was perfectly fine a minute later. They're real alright... but I understand if you don't believe me.

Riza: After what I just saw... I have to believe you.

Roy: Hold on... I rendered fat boy down to a bubbling puddle back there... Are you telling me he's still alive?

Alphonse: Probably.

Roy: Wonderful... It's just a never ending parade of freaks lately, huh?

They chase Barry's human body's trail to Lab 3, which Mustang says is even more of a hint towards the military's ongoing conspiracy that he'd been suspecting because of their continuous suspicious actions. Barry charges the lab, so Mustang and the others race after him under the guise that they are trying to capture Barry and protect the lab. They follow him to an underground section and separate into groups (Mustang and Havoc go one way, Al and Riza go the other). Mustang and Havoc are confronted by Lust, who proceeds to use her abilities to her advantage and greatly injures both of them. She stabs Havoc through the abdomen and then shreds Roy's Flame Alchemy glove so he can't use alchemy and stabs him in the stomach, leaving them both to die.

Riza and Al catch up to Barry, who is lamenting over how his body has decayed and suggests that his soul will eventually reject the incompatible body it's in now. This worries Al, who wonders if his own soul is going to reject the suit of armor at some point and return to the Gate. Lust appears, rips Barry's armor form to shreds, and tells Riza that she's killed Mustang, which makes her cry for the first and only time in the entire story. Lust attacks, but suddenly Roy appears. It's revealed that he carved his Flame Alchemy transmutation circle into his hand and then used his alchemy to burn his and Havoc's wounds shut, and then came to find then out of anger and worry for Al and Riza. He basically then proceeds to totally incinerate her before she can harm anyone else.

After everyone leaves, Barry's human body uses its last breath to wipe out the blood rune and end both of their lives.

Meanwhile, Ed arrives at Resembool only to come face to face with his father, Hohenheim, in front of his mother's grave.

Episode 20 is where Ed talks to his father for the first time in years. Ed is bitter towards him, especially when his father tells Ed he knows the real reason Ed burned down the house was to hide the traces of his failure and and be able to run away from those memories. Later, when he goes to see Ed at night while he's sleeping, he's unable to bring himself to just reach out and touch him (Ed is actually awake). Pinako greets him and asks what he had been doing all these years. Knowing Ed had left the room and was eavesdropping, he suggest to Pinako that the thing Ed and Al had sacrificed their bodies to bring back wasn't actually their mother, and Ed is shocked.

Hohenheim: Hello, Edward.. You appear to have grown some. I spoke with Pinako. You tried human transmutation.

Edward: What makes you think you can show up like this? There's nothing left for you here anymore!

Hohenheim: I noticed. Tell me, Edward. What possessed you to burn down my home?

Edward: After what happened, we vowed to never turn back... We did it as a symbol of our resolve.

Hohenheim: No you didn't. You were hiding the memory. You didn't want to be reminded of what you've done... And thought you could erase the memory by destroying the evidence.

Edward: You're wrong!

Hohenheim: It's just like a child who hides the sheets after he wets the bed. You ran away... And you know it.

Edward: I... You don't know a damn thing! You make me sick to my stomach.

Hohenheim: He's exactly like I was when I was his age.

In Central, Al tells the others of the possibility that his soul will eventually reject this armored body to return to his real, dead body, and that it could happen at any time.
Back in Resembool, Hohenheim leaves with the warning for Pinako that something really bad is about to happen to this country soon, and Pinako lets him take their family picture with him.
Ed and Pinako then go to the ruins of Ed and Al's house and dig up the corpse of the creature. Once they do, they discover that the structure and height of the body are indeed not Trisha's. Ed is completely relieved by this confirmation that resurrecting the dead was, from the start, completely impossible, since this means that Al can be returned to his original body instead of them requiring a new human body like they'd feared. They hadn't actually forced their mother to die a second time.

He calls Izumi and tells her this news, and she later confirms that the thing she brought back wasn't her child. She's so relieved that she hadn't forced her child to go through death a second time and thanks Ed.
Pinako also tells Ed to give his father a message, if they happen to run into each other, from his mother that she's sorry for breaking her promise and dying before Hohenheim.
Ed returns and tells Al what he learned, and they share in the relief. After going over childhood memories and information, Ed suspects that Al hasn't actually died and that his body is still alive somewhere. Al brings up the memories of the Gate that he had regained in Dublith in episode 14, that the voice he'd heard calling to his soul from the Gate must have been his own body, so they just need to somehow find a way to retrieve his body from inside the Gate.

Alphonse: Brother... I've met other people who weren't exactly human... but they still managed to live their lives with a purpose. And even in this body... It hasn't stopped other people from treating me like I'm still human. This body could reject me anytime... But it's the same with being human. You never know when you might get sick or die in an accident. So I can still get by like this... I can live a somewhat normal life... And that's how I've managed to keep going... But now... I can't take it anymore. Because... I can't... I can't take all the nights by myself! It's too lonely... And that's why I have to get back to normal.