In the sixtieth episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, I am not going to ever heal from this. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch FMA:B.
I don’t even know what to say.
- I mean, I know all of you have been waiting for me to get here? So part of me is like SAY SOMETHING REALLY COOL AND MEANINGFUL ABOUT THIS EPISODE, but then another part of me wants to go hide under my bed for the rest of time because ABSOLUTELY NO PART OF THIS EPISODE IS OKAY.
- I’m in shock. I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared to watch Xerxes all over again, except this time, LITERALLY EVERY CHARACTER I HAVE EVER CARED ABOUT JUST DIED
- ALL AT ONCE
- IN THE SAME FUCKING EPISODE
- EVERY CHARACTER
- NOT ONE
- NOT TWO
- ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME
- THERE IS NOT A MORE BRUTAL AND UPSETTING ENDING TO ANY EPISODE I HAVE EVER WATCHED FOR THIS SITE.
- Do you like Lt. Falman? DEAD
- Do you like Winry Rockbell? DEAD
- Pinako? DEAD. Maria Ross? DEAD. Elecia and Gracia Hughes? DEAD.
- DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD.
- I am so upset. And you know, I don’t even think this is necessarily the end for all these characters, but it doesn’t take away from how disturbing this is on an elemental level. The electrons within my body are crying right now.
- They were in Father’s stomach. Maybe not a literal stomach, BUT STILL.
- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN HOW TERRIBLE THIS WOULD GET.
- Actually, there is a palpable sense of dread in this episode. (Exhibit A: Me constantly saying NO NO NO NO SOMEONE STOP THIS throughout.) Despite how awful this feels, I find it incredibly empowering that not one of these protagonists give up. Scar still fights Bradley, even though he takes heavy damage to his own body. Edward, Al, Izumi, and May all fight Father and Pride, even if the odds are against them. (Well, there is the advantage they have over Pride, who is slowly disintegrating.) It’s a recurring theme of this show: Humanity refuses to give up.
- Oh god, May. I admire her determination so much, and it’s precisely that which gets her into trouble here. She hears Hohenheim’s warning far too late, and she’s horribly injured by Father’s transmutation. Goddamn it, she’s probably dead, too. I can’t believe this episode.
- No, I can’t! I have never seen anything that just kills everyone ever like this.
- I have some hope. I think it goes back to what I said just a few points earlier, that this can’t be the end for all these people. I haven’t quite connected the dots yet, but there has to be a reason all the Ishvalan refugees find specific points in the city to put down those alkahestry circles, the ones that Scar’s brother discovered. But… what are they? What do those circles do? Is it a counteroffensive of some sort? What did Scar’s brother discover???
- OH MY GOD CAN WE TALK ABOUT WRATH. It’s so strange to me that some of the best animation surrounding Wrath happens in a scene where he’s at his most disturbing. But this is Wrath distilled down to his pure form. This fight with Scar comes free from any restrictions, and that’s what makes it so terrifying. He’s not trying to protect Father, his own life, or act as the head of Amestris. He is fighting purely for the chance to stay alive, and because of this, it really feels like the first time that Wrath fights as Wrath. It’s so pure and focused and… well, wrathful.
- EXCEPT THEN SCAR SURPRISES EVERYONE. He uses Western alchemy. he uses alchemy HE USES ALCHEMY. Oh my god, SO MUCH CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN A FEW SECONDS. OH MY GOD HE HAS A NEW TATTOO ON HIS LEFT ARM. RECONSTRUCTIVE ALCHEMY. THE DRAGON’S PULSE
- PLEASE LET THIS BE A WAY FOR THE HUMANS TO FIGHT BACK BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE.
- Y’all, Scar realized he had to put aside his hatred for alchemy (which was entirely justified, given the genocide of his people) in order to protect humanity’s existence.
- Scar, I can’t believe you. Just… he’s come so far since the beginning of the series!
- I know there are lots of very important plot twists and horrible things here, but can we celebrate the fact that there is an entire sequence in “Eye of Heaven, Gateway of Earth†that is based on the fact that Edward being short is actually good for him? HE KNEW EXACTLY HOW PRIDE WOULD FIGHT HIM.
- Edward being short = <3<3<3<3<3<3
- (Wow, he grew so much over the course of this show. I haven’t commented on that yet. He’s kind of tall now!)
- And then, in just a matter of seconds, everything is awful. Seriously, I thought that maybe these sacrifices could resist Father’s grasp, but then that General who is tied up in Central starts panicking because he’s not in the center of the circle? And then I’m worried. I’m really worried. Why must they be in the center???
- THE ECLIPSE IS HAPPENING
- WHY IS FATHER TALKING ABOUT THE PLANET EARTH
- THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR A GEOLOGY LESSON
- OH.
- IT’S NOT.
- OH
- THE TITLE
- THE TITLE OF THIS EPISODE
- IS REFERRING TO FATHER OPENING A GATEWAY
- ON. THE. ENTIRE. FUCKING. PLANET.
- THE DRAGON’S PULSE
- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT
- THE PLANET CAN BE CONSIDERED A LIVING BEING
- NO, HOLY SHIT, THIS IS SO AWFUL
- Hell yeah IT’S GREED. Get ‘em, dude!
- Oh, wow, that confrontation was diffused in like five seconds.
- I think it was right then, when Greed was completely ignored, that I realized that there was no stopping this. Father was going to activate the nationwide transmutation circle. Oh my god, of course his lair was always the center of this circle. Which… that means May must be alive. Same with Scar! The general said they had to be in the center, so that’s good, right? However, I have no idea if the puddle of Father that expands to DROWN EVERYONE actually kills them.
- Y’all, Father literally expands. This is not just about him consuming the power of the Earth. No, he physically grows as he uses the transmutation circle to steal the Earth’s power.
- I guess at this point, all I can say is that nothing in this show – not Nina Tucker or Trish’s malformed soul or Hughes’s death or any number of horrifying, unsettling images that FMA:B has given me – will ever top the last ten minutes or so of “Eye of Heaven, Gateway of Earth.†Gateways open in the sacrifices’ bodies. Father uses them to gain power, which makes me wonder how the sacrifices can ever survive such a thing. Father’s body drowns the people closest to Central just prior to the nationwide transmutation circle activating.
- As I said, it’s Xerxes all over again, except it’s the entire nation of Amestris. Everyone – LITERALLY EVERYONE – dies. It’s one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever seen. We watch the Rockbells die, we see the Briggs men die, we see Falman and Maria Ross and Denny Brosh die, we see Grumman die. Their souls are ripped from their bodies, assumed into Father’s form.
- WHO BECOMES A GIANT, COLOSSAL BEING WHO PULLS HIMSELF OUT OF THE MASSIVE GATEWAY OPENED ON PLANET EARTH
- AND FINALLY, THE REASON FOR THE ECLIPSE MAKES SENSE: THE SUN IS A CIRCLE IN THE SHADOW OF THE ECLIPSE, AND IT’S ANOTHER GATEWAY.
- THE EYE OF HEAVEN.
- THE GATEWAY OF EARTH
- FATHER IS GOING TO CONSUME THE “GOD†OF HEAVEN
- NO WHAT IS THAT BURST OF LIGHT
- NO NO NO NO THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANTED
- how is this show real, y’all. HOW IS THIS SHOW REAL.
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