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Synopsis

Ed and Al revisit childhood memories, recalling the constant and unconditional love of their mother -- and the horrors that began when she died.

Full Synopsis

Ed and Al are in a library trying to find more leads, now that they discovered Cornello's stone was a fake. Al then chances upon an ‘Introduction to Alchemy’. As Ed reads it, a flashback occurs to when Ed and Al were just respectively 6 and 5 years old. The boys make a present for their friend and neighbor Winry Rockbell, using alchemy. The process scares her and she cries.

Their mother Trisha, along with Winry’s parents and grandmother, try to calm her down. On the way home, Trisha asks her sons about alchemy and gets surprised by how easily they understand it. She credits it to their father, hinting at him being a great alchemist and then says she is proud of their alchemy. Since then, the brothers compete with each other for her attention. Despite their father leaving a long time ago, their mother is assured that he will come back eventually.

A year later, Ed admits to Al that he is angry at their father for leaving them, though he barely remembers him, and that their mother always gets sad every time she thinks about or mentions him. At Winry's house, Ed and Al learn both her parents have been left to become surgeons for the Ishval Civil War, but they were soon killed due to a surprise attack. Ed then brings up the subject of a homunculus that he read from a book. He conveys that a homunculus is an artificial living being without a mind of its own and that some scholars believe it to be a result of alchemy. However, Pinako stops Ed from speaking any further, condemning him for believing alchemy is the answer to everything as it is forbidden to resurrect the dead and that's why automail engineers exist. Ed back talks her and she kicks the boys out.

About four years later, the brothers one day arrive home to find their mother unconscious and gravely ill. While she is resting in bed, her doctor informs Pinako outside that Trisha may have been dealing with this illness for years not telling anyone. Believing that their father's presence will make her feel better, Ed and Al write letters to all acquaintances hoping for a response, but are unsuccessful. Their mother soon dies and her last words make them realize that alchemy made her smile only because it reminded her of their father. Unable to think of living without her, Ed and Al decide to bring her back to life using human transmutation even though it is forbidden. They find themselves a teacher and learn alchemy seriously from page one.

Months pass, then the brothers are shown attempting to bring their mother back to life. The process goes horribly wrong, the thing they brought back to life was not human; Ed loses his left leg and Al disappears. In a tearful panic, Ed sacrifices his right arm to bind his brother’s soul to a nearby suit of armor. Al then takes his injured brother to the Rockbell's house.

Over there, Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, the mysterious man who had been observing the situation from the outside looking in the whole time, arrives in response to one of their letters and expresses a keen interest in Edward owing to the fact that he can perform human alchemy and survive. Pinako is furious with Mustang's presence due to her disgust of the military and its nature as a result of the war and the deaths of the many people within, demanding that he leave at once. As Mustang calmly leaves, he suggests that they should pay him a visit at Central sometime.

The following morning, Ed, having heard the conversation despite being seemingly unconscious at the time, decides to become a state alchemist due to the amount of resources available, even though he would become a ‘dog of the military’ forced to do what the state commands. He understands it is against Pinako's wishes not to as the military has taken many lives away, including her own son and daughter. But Ed considers it his responsibility to fix his brother and asks Winry and Pinako to fix him with automail.

A year passes with the surgery and rehabilitation. While sparring, the brothers decide to leave to meet Mustang and for Edward to try being a state alchemist. Ed states to Al that he does not want to risk losing his brother, while Al conveys that all they have left is each other and nothing could ever pull them apart. The brothers burn down the family home on the night they leave, deciding to leave no traces and this act forces them to move forward, unable to turn back.

Trivia

  • This episode is adapted from content in Chapter 20: The Terror of the Teacher, Chapter 21: The Brothers' Secret, Chapter 23: Knocking on Heaven's Door and Chapter 24: Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • This episode also marks the beginning of the flashback story revolving around Ed's early days on how he became a state alchemist, until concluding in Episode 9. After which, Episode 10 is when the story returns to its present timeline.
  • When the Elric brothers are sparring at the end of the episode, Al falls in water and gets back out without any damage to his Blood Seal. This is inconsistent as through most of the part of the series he doesn't go in water due to the fear of his Seal being damaged. However, since this was his very first time sparring in that body, it could be that at that point, he was simply unaware of the peril water actually now posed to him.
  • The text which appears in the book at the start of the episode is actually taken from a review of a Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook Alchemy & Herbalists, published by Bastion Press. The review was originally written by Jeff Ibach for a website called DM's Haven.
  • The name signed to Roy Mustang's letter is James Herbert, the name of an English horror writer.

Transcript

  • View the transcript for the English dub of this episode here.

See Also

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