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Synopsis

The Elric brothers hop aboard a train to Central City and quickly find themselves defending the passengers -- including General Hakuro -- from terrorists.

Full Synopsis

At the train station, Edward calls Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang to inform him about their expected arrival at Central. On hearing of there being an earlier train, he decides to test their luck and orders Edward to ‘get on it or go home’, forcing the Elric brothers to run towards the train.

It is revealed several military officers are on board the train - General Hakuro, who is taking a family vacation; Major Maes Hughes, who is tying up the military line, bragging about his pregnant wife and their unborn baby to Mustang; and Warrant Officer Vato Falman who, like Mustang, is annoyed at Hughes' goofiness. Mustang has gotten the message that they are not being tapped, but Hughes notices they are a lot more people boarding the train than usual. Falman then panics at the appearance of Al in a suit of armor. However, through Hughes, who conveys the message to Mustang, Falman learns that it’s ‘okay’ and that another kid (Ed) is with the aforementioned armor. Upon going to check on the Elric brothers, Falman gets attacked by two bandits, who knock him to the ground and tie him up. In other places, the bandits take charge of the train, holding the general and the train passengers hostage. Hughes notices the commotion and hangs up on Mustang without further response.

The bandits are revealed to be working for the ‘People's Eastern Revolution Front’, headed by a man called ‘Bald’ who has a mechanical arm. They call Mustang through the general and Bald personally demands the lieutenant colonel that their captured leader be traded for the general and the train passengers. Mustang sarcastically agrees under the condition that there are no fatalities. Hanging up on Mustang, Bald threatens the general that one false move and he and his minions will kill every single passenger on the train.

Back at the rear car of the train, two of the bandits approach Al due to his appearance. The Elric brothers overpower them and decide to handle the situation. They untie Falman, who informs the brothers that the terrorists are primarily after the general. While Al deals with the extremists below, Ed heads up to the top of the train to deal with the ones there. As Al approaches the door to the next car, a pair of bandits are horrified by his appearance and start blasting with their firearms, only to end up injuring themselves in the process. Bald is then informed that the men at the rear car have stopped responding and he wonders how. Hearing this, the general demands that the terrorists surrender as their plan won’t work. Bald responds by shooting a hole in the general's ear, declaring that he is in charge and gives the orders. Bald demands his minions to check the entire train at all areas from top to bottom.

Ed struggles to remain afloat of the moving train as he moves forward and is hit by a tree. He is saved at the last second by Hughes, who is holding onto the hand rails of the coach and carefully holds Ed by his left arm. Hughes introduces himself as Mustang's old friend and that Mustang has already informed him about the Elric brothers. Hughes and Edward team up, and the two head towards the extreme front of the train. There, they overpower the bandits and save the engineers, allowing them to regain control of the train. Ed draws a transmutation circle on the tender locomotive, creating a cannon ball that fires at a nearby bandit from one of the coaches, knocking him out. One of the engineers in the front warn Edward not to mess with the tender as it is the vibe of the train. Edward then gets another idea.

Bald is informed by one of his minions that they have lost contact with the other bandits in every car. Ed suddenly transmutes a broadcast microphone machine on the car where Bald is. Ed demands that Bald and all of his thugs surrender and let all the passengers free, but Bald flatly refuses and threatens to kill everyone on the train. Ed then summons a pipe with a rush of heavy water going through, washing away all the terrorists to the outside where they meet Al, who proceeds to beat them up. Bald is the only one left.

Hughes re-enters the inside of one of the coaches and opens the door to the car where Bald is. Bald fires at Hughes, injuring his shoulder. Before Bald can kill Hughes, Ed appears from the roof and holds Bald at bay. Realizing that they both have automail and surprised that the military is allowing a kid like Ed into their territory, Bald explains that, he used to work for the military until they discharged him after the procedure of the automail arm that he has now; since then, he has been seeking to thrash not only the military but the entire nation as well. Bald believes that since Ed also has an automail arm, he suspects Ed will be discharged for the same reason. As a bruised but stabled Hughes watches on, Ed demands that Bald not compare their reasons for having an automail arm. Ed destroys Bald's arm and Al from behind punches him in the face, knocking him out. With all the terrorists defeated at last, everyone on the train is free from hostage and the train safely arrives at Central.

At Central station, Bald and his minions are tied up. As Mustang approaches him, sarcastically thanking him for not killing anyone, Bald frees himself and tries to attack Mustang. Revealing that his right glove is emblazoned with a unique transmutation circle, the lieutenant colonel snaps his fingers and subdues the terrorist with a fiery explosion. Mustang then reveals himself to be the Flame Alchemist. Only slightly amazed by Mustang's flame alchemy but furious at the train situation, Ed rightly guesses the reasons for being forced to take the earlier train as Mustang knew what would happen. To his surprise, Ed learns that due to him helping and handling the situation, an exception has been made and he can now take the alchemy exam to be a state alchemist. Ed, unaware that under normal circumstances he wouldn’t be allowed to take the exam due to his age, realizes he has been ‘played’ but has gained something out of it. The Elric brothers are then cheered up when they are thanked by a little girl and her mother who they saved on the train.


Episode Notes

  • In the subtitles of this episode, it is incorrectly stated that Riza Hawkeye's Rank as Major, when she is actually a Second Lieutenant.
  • The episode is adapted from content in Chapter 4: Battle on the Train.
  • The only noteworthy changes from the manga chapter this episode was adapted from is that Maes Hughes, along with Vato Falman, are also aboard the train, while both were absent in the original manga. Also, Bald's capture in the anime was used to make Edward eligible for the State Alchemy exam, while in the manga, he was already a State Alchemist.
  • This episode only exists in the 2003 anime, and it was not adapted into the 2009 anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

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