Episode 42: His Name Is Unknown (2003 series)

His Name Is Unknown
Series	Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)
Episode number	42
Japan airdate	July 24th, 2004
U.S.A. airdate	January 14th, 2006
Language	English/Japanese
Subtitles	English
Navigation
Preceded by	Holy Mother
Followed by	The Stray Dog

Synopsis

Scar is set to create the Philosopher's Stone using Archer's soldiers as the final ingredients. Underground, Ed desperately fights to reach the surface in time to stop the massacre.

Full Synopsis

Al's armor slowly begins to turn black as the result of Kimblee's alchemy. Scar confronts the dying Kimblee, who remarks that bomb-making is his specialty and cannot undo the process himself. Just as he passes away, Kimblee confirms that the transmutation will occur slowly to give Al time to think about death and how meaningless his efforts have been. As Scar contemplates what to do, Lust appears and reveals that he cannot undo Kimblee's work with his destructive alchemy due to its inability to reconstruct matter, and that only Ed can reverse it. Lust wants Scar to complete the Philosopher's Stone, and she tells him to forget about Al, that he is a lost cause and Scar should think about himself now. However, Scar can see now that Lust is not like his brother's fiancée, as she would have never acted this cold and heartless.

In the sewers, Ed stops Wrath from trying to kill Rosé and her baby. He re-transmutes his spear to restrain Wrath's arms, preventing him from using alchemy. Ed then faces Sloth, as he admits that he had noticed the resemblance between her, as Juliet Douglas, and his own mother, but had been denying himself the truth that he and his brother have in fact created her on that day. Sloth tries to attack Ed with her water powers, but he counters by transmuting the water into ice and charging at her with his automail sword. Sloth breaks free and transforms into her true form, revealing that she is a homunculus due to the ouroboros tattoo on her chest. Additionally, Wrath breaks free and both he and Sloth charge at Edward, forcing him to transmute giant spikes to separate himself and Rosé from the two homunculi. Although Lyra coolly yet blatantly states to Edward that it will take more than that to kill a homunculus, he nonetheless congratulates Rosé for getting her voice back and saving his life as well as her baby's cry.

At the military outpost, Colonel Archer is furious for not hearing anything from Kimblee or Tucker's chimeras. Just then, Colonel Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye, and Major Armstrong show up at Archer's secret room, confronting him and Tucker. Armstrong remarks that he never truly supported Archer and only pretended to do so to root out the corruption plauging the military. Archer has Tucker send out his remaining chimeras to attack the three, revealing that he plans to use the Reole incident to become a war hero, similar to Mustang's popularity in the Ishval Civil War. Meanwhile, Führer King Bradley (Pride) and Gluttony watch from inside as Archer dispatches his troops outside. Pride comments about his worries of Lust being a human wannabee and letting her emotions get to her that may interfere with the situation, wishing that she can at least make sure that Scar himself becomes part of the ingredient in forging the stone, so that the homunculi can take it once everyone that goes into Reole has been sacrificed.

Back in Reole, Scar admits to Lust that the only similarity she had to his brother's fiancée was her appearance, and he feels that if she did become human, it would not be the same since the dead cannot be brought back to life. With Al's armor almost completely black from Kimblee's alchemy, Scar uses the locket to keep Lust at bay so she can't stop him. He then painfully transmutes the incomplete Philosopher's Stone into Al's armor, losing his remaining arm, but successfully nullifying Kimblee's alchemy, which also causes the same marking to appear on the armor. He reveals that he plans to create the Philosopher's Stone in Al's body, which is similar to what his brother tried to do with his own body. He also states that Lust can't stop him since he attached the locket to Al's armor and that her dream of becoming human will fail if she tries to stop his attempt. Meanwhile, Ed succeeds in helping Rosé get back to the rest of her people and decides to leave to stop Scar from committing his atrocity and turn him in to the military. Upon learning the townsfolk will break up into smaller groups, Ed bids Rosé and Lyra farewell and departs.

Scar on the other hand provides Archer the excuse to mobilize the troops, using Kimblee's corpse as bait with Lust's help, and the troops begin to swarm the city. Despite her being invulnerable, Scar shields Lust from the gunshots fired by some soldiers out of impulse before she kills them. He admits he didn't do it for her, but instead for the woman she was modeled after. Scar and Lust then move to a safe place, where he admits he hated his brother for becoming an exile and turning his back on Ishvala despite having sacrificed himself to save his life in the war. However, Scar makes it clear that seeing the Elric brothers living only for each other and their love for each other has made him realize that he truly did love his brother. Urging Lust to leave, Scar answers her question about his real name that he simply no longer deserves one before he heads out and Lust bids Scar farewell.

Ed confronts Archer, who ignores his words about Reole's surrender due to Kimblee's death, which Ed blames was due to his obsession with glory. Once word is received of Scar being sighted, Archer personally heads in while his men restrain Ed. Scar declares to himself that he no longer has to worry about living anymore as he activates the giant transmutation array with the last of his strength, sacrificing himself and the soldiers within. Back at the military outpost, Mustang, Hawkeye, and Armstrong finish off the chimeras, and the rest of the Mustang Unit arrives to explain what is happening. Back at the location of the transmutation, Ed urges the remaining soldiers to take care of the wounded and retreat as he heads to the desert remains of Reole, where all he can find is Al. Surprised to find his brother there - alive and well, Ed backs up a few feet as Al suddenly worries about blowing up, but nothing happens, thankfully. Once the two discuss the recent events, Ed realizes what Scar's plan was and confirms it when Al opens up the belly of his armor to see the Philosopher's Stone that Scar created. Lust appears and confirms this, stating the two need to run since every force will now be after them. Once Al realizes he has the locket Scar gave him, which is why Lust can't attack, she leaves, and the Elrics are now worried about what's to come.

Trivia

• This is the first episode of the fourth and final season.
• This episode marks the death of Scar in this version of Fullmetal Alchemist, as well as the many soldiers transmuted in creating the Philosopher's Stone.
• It is also worth noting that Scar not only saved Alphonse's life from Kimblee's bomb alchemy as well as the lives of the Reole townsfolk from the military's oppression, finally achieving vengeance against the corrupted military for the downfall of his countrymen, but also gave the Elric brothers what they have been searching for all along - the Philosopher's Stone. Technically, Scar died before he could see his country be rebuild, in contrast to the manga and the Brotherhood anime, where he puts aside his hatred to change the country of Amestris for the better. In addition, he actually survives to the very end of the story where he is offered by the Fort Briggs military to help rebuild his country.
• During the attack where the army is searching for Scar, a sign is seen on one of the buildings; it says "Mother Land" with "So Feel Good" above it. This could possibly be a reference to the 3rd ending theme of the anime with the same name. The previous episode used this ending theme and was the last to do so before replacing that theme with the 4th and final theme "I Will". This could also be a reference to Rose being the "Holy Mother" of the land and she could be considered as a leader of the land in this sense, though this is rather a stretch.