In the fortieth episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, this is gone too far. I am but a simple man, and you are ruining me. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch FMA:B.
THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CONTINUATION OF THE OTHER PLOT AND I WAS SITTING HERE READY FOR MORE OLIVIER AND MORE OF THE TUNNEL AND MORE OF THE ELRICS AND THIS IS WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO ME.
- Let’s talk about all the… well, the “other” stuff. The stuff that isn’t my brain melting into a puddle, never to reform again.
- I’m really happy that the writers have chosen to focus an entire plot on Olivier attempting to navigate the nightmare that is Central Command. It’s fascinating to see her separated from Fort Briggs as much as it is distressing. In one sense, she’s defined as a character because of the leadership role that she holds, so it’s weird to see her without the people she’s leading. And yet, what’s so satisfying about her role in “Homunculus” is that she clearly has the talent and creativity for dealing with such a bizarre and risky situation. I was just as shocked as I imagine Bradley was when Armstrong straight-up admitted to murdering Raven. It’s brilliant, really, because Olivier plays into how others perceive her as a ruthless, ambitious asshole. Because of this, Bradley accepts that she’s willing to do whatever is asked of her just so she can stay in power. This will be your downfall, Bradley.
- Plus, as Buccaneer states, the Fort Briggs personnel have been underestimated, as has Olivier. OH, I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THEY BRING ON THE BRIGGS WAY.
- Hawkeye.
- Mustang.
- SECRET MESSAGES PASSED BETWEEN THE TWO
- How hilarious would it have been if Hawkeye’s message read, “YOU HAVE A GR8 FACE” or something? I feel like someone in the fandom already made this a meme. It’s too good of an idea to pass up.
- Though, I should state this plainly: Congrats to Riza for finding a way to share the development about Selim. That’s incredible, y’all.
- Hey, it’s Father!
- What’s he doing?
- (I just imagined Buster Bluth walking in and saying, “Heyyyyy, Father.”
- All right, back to more serious things.
- Like the show cutting straight to what looks like a younger version of Father.
- Which… rude. RUDE, FMA:B. YOU ARE SO RUDE FOR THIS.
- This whole episode is rude because I thought we were doing one thing and then you drop a thing that WASN’T EVEN ON MY FUCKING RADAR into my lap and now I have to deal with an explosion of sympathetic and sad feelings about Van Hohenheim.
- I was not ready to do this when I woke up this morning.
- Right, that’s not Father, it’s Hohenheim. WHO IS A SLAVE. IN XERXES. WHICH EXISTED HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO.
- He’s slave Number Twenty-Three. He doesn’t have a name, he gets no education, and his blood was used for an experiment WHICH CREATED THE FIRST HOMUNCULUS.
- Can we talk about how terrifyingly manipulating The Dwarf in the Flask is? Because that thing exploits and uses Hohenheim from the very beginning, only to curse him with immortality in the end.
- I read that scene where Homonculus criticized the human need for relationships as yet another hint that this is about “evolving” the human species so that there is no need for emotions, morality, or ethics. And it’s relentlessly creepy because we’ve seen what the few humans who have “evolved” have done with that sort of power.
- I’m reminded of a phrase from Battlestar Galactica when thinking of this show: All of this has happened before and will happen again. We get to witness the very first citywide transmutation circle. Xerxes. The King of Xerxes murdered everyone in five towns around the city after tricking them into digging the very fucking transmutation circle that would end their lives.
- It’s the goddamn transmutation circle that Edward found in Xerxes. I AM SO DONE WITH YOU, SHOW. YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME.
- So, was I to understand that the King took years to complete the circle? He looked so much older than when he started. Which.. gah.
- I think it was actually very, very clever of the writers to stick this flashback in the middle of the season for one HUGE reason: We now know exactly what a nationwide transmutation circle looks like and what it does. It is hard to forget the image of Hohenheim discovering all of his dead friends and then looking out upon the city and seeing it littered with dead bodies. It’s how Xerxes was wiped off the map in a single day. This is what is at stake.
- What I still don’t get, though, is why Father is doing this. It happened the first time so that Father could take human form. (Technically, Pride is not the first Homunculus, is he? Isn’t Father?) So why do it again? What will that Philosopher’s Stone yield? Damn it, there’s still more left to be destroyed by.
- This really does explain so much of Hohenheim’s characterization: why he’s distant, why he believes he is a monster, why he can’t age, why he was reluctant to be a part of his family… my god. This episode is so immense, y’all.
- AND THEN IZUMI??? OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD! izumi and sig THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER.
- WAIT WHAT THE FUCK IS HOHENHEIM DOING TO IZUMI
- ARE YOU KILLING HER
- NO
- STOP IT YOU AR –
- Oh, you just rearranged her entrails so she wouldn’t bleed like she did! What a nice thing to do!
- (Please tell me the FMA fandom made a Valentine of Hohenheim saying, “I love you so much, I will reorganize your intestines to prevent death from internal bleeding after you committed an unforgivable sin.” Please tell me that happened.)
- Edward says he hopes he never sees a Philosopher’s Stone that’s bigger than a pebble and I laugh to keep from crying because HOHENHEIM IS A LITERAL STONE IN THE FORM OF A HUMAN BEING.
- So, this is a theory I have that I’m sticking in rot13 in case I’m right. I don’t want to spoil y’all who are following along for the first time: Gurer vf bayl bar guvat gur sbhe yvfgrq fnpevsvprf (Ny, Rq, Vmhzv, naq Uburaurvz) unir va pbzzba: Nyy sbhe unir tbar guebhtu gur Tngr. Fb V cerqvpg gur svsgu naq svany fnpevsvpr jvyy unir gb or fbzrbar jub unf frra gur Gehgu, gbb. Rkprcg… gung’f nf sne nf zl cerqvpgvba tbrf orpnhfr V pna’g erpnyy nalbar ryfr jub unf tbar guebhtu gur Tngr naq yvirq. Bu, jryy.
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