I don't think Riza would approve of a dinner-date with Major General Armstrong.
Summary:
Olivier Armstrong has been summoned to Central to meet with King Bradley. Bradley asks Olivier about what happened to Raven, and Olivier reveals that she disposed of him and knows about the immortal army and Bradley's true identity. Olivier wants Raven's seat among the top generals, and Bradley gives the seat to her. Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Mustang sits down with Riza to have a little chat, but Riza is secretly passing a message to Mustang. Later in the washroom, Mustang decodes the message and is shocked to learn that Selim is a homunculus.
Couldn't people tell that he was evil just by the appearance?
Deep underground, Father is asleep on his throne and he dreams about a long time ago in the Kingdom of Xerxes. In a laboratory, a young slave called number 23 is talking to an intelligent black mass inside a flask. The black mass, calling himself Homunculus, came to life thanks to the slave boy's blood, so as a show of appreciation Homunculus names the slave Van Hohenheim and teaches him alchemy. Under Homunculus' teaching, Hohenheim becomes an accomplished alchemist and earns the favor of his master. Hohenheim thanks Homunculus for the teaching and states that he might actually achieve happiness by marrying and having kids. Hohenheim asks Homunculus about what would make him happy, and Homunculus answers that he'd be happy if he can live outside the flask and move on his own.
Hohenheim was actually quite the handsome man when he was young... He doesn't look nearly as good now.
Let's get this party started.
One day, Hohenheim's master brings Homunculus in front of the king. The king wants to become immortal, and Homunculus agrees to give out the plan. Following Homunculus' plan, the king orders a huge transmutation circle to be dug around the kingdom under the guise of digging irrigation channels, and on five points of the circle the workers are slaughtered by the king's forces posing as bandits. A few years later, the work is finally complete, and the king assembles his trusted followers, including Hohenheim and his master and also Homunculus, inside the palace for the transmutation. The king invokes the transmutation, but soon he and many of his followers fall to the ground and die. Hohenheim wonders what has gone wrong, and Homunculus reveals that actually it is not the king but himself and Hohenheim who are standing in the true center of the array. A gigantic eyes open from the floor and swallows both Hohenheim and Homunculus, and Hohenheim's body is broken down. The transmutation spreads through the entire kingdom and shadowy arms emerge out of the ground and fly back into the giant eye in the center of the array.
Looks like the party has gone out of control.
The next morning, Hohenheim wakes up and discovers that everyone around him is dead. Hohenheim makes his way to the outside balcony and sees dead people lying everywhere on the streets. Hohenheim wonders if anyone is still alive, and suddenly a voice explains that all the people are dead because their souls have been extracted. Hohenheim turns around and sees a doppelganger of himself, but soon realizes that the look-alike is actually Homunculus. Homunculus explains that he has taken half of the souls from the kingdom and made an immortal body for Hohenheim, and used the other half to make his own body based on Hohenheim's blood. Homunculus thanks Hohenheim for his cooperation, and Hohenheim screams out in horror.
Not trapped in the flask anymore.
Back in the present on a train, Hohenheim is woken up by the dream. Hohenheim is then approached by Izumi and Sig because Izumi recognizes Hohenheim as Ed and Al's father. The three travel into town together and suddenly Izumi has her usual coughing fit. Hohenheim states that he knows a bit of medicine and asks Sig to go secure a vehicle. After Sig runs off, Hohenheim asks Izumi about what she've lost to see the Truth, and Izumi reveals that she lost some of her organs while trying to revive her dead baby. Hohenheim pauses for a moment, and then he stabs his left hand into Izumi's abdomen. Sig returns and punches Hohenheim away, but both he and Izumi are surprised that there's no wound on Izumi's stomach and that Izumi is actually feeling better. Hohenheim explains that while he cannot replace Izumi's lost organs, he rearranged what's left so Izumi has better blood flow. Izumi wonders who Hohenheim really is, and Hohenheim answers that he is a living and breathing Philosopher's Stone. Meanwhile up in the north, Ed states to Miles that he has never seen a Philosopher's Stone bigger than a small piece of rock, and if there are larger ones than it must have been made by sacrificing many people.
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Excellent episode. Bones did a great job putting Hohenheim and Father's story into anime form. This was a really important episode since it basically explains how everything started in FMA. We find out the answers to several big questions, including what happened to Xerxes, why Hohenheim and Father look alike, and the secrets to Father and Hohenheim's bodies. People who don't read the manga also now know who the blond guy in the first OP sequence was (a young Hohenheim). From his rather humble beginnings inside a flask, Homunculus manages to become one of the major powers of the world thanks mostly to people's (the king of Xerxes) fear of death. One important question that wasn't answered though was how Hohenheim's master managed to create Homunculus/Father. Judging by his original appearance and knowledge of alchemy, Homunculus may have come from the other side of the gate, but we don't know how he was created/brought to this world. Maybe the series will explain this and also what Hohenheim did for last couple hundred years later in the story.
The scenes outside of the main flashback sequence were pretty interesting too. Olivier manages to get a foothold in Central, while Mustang learns about Selim's true identity. The colonel and major general also had a run-in with each other, and despite Olivier's distaste for Mustang, the two of them will probably work together against the Central forces. Moving on, Hohenheim has a chance run-in with Izumi and Sig. We still don't know what Hohenheim is up to these days. Not too long ago he released a few souls into the ground, but nothing came out of that yet. Anyways, it's good that he and the Curtises ran into each other, since the people who are against Central/Father really do need to unite to have a chance at winning.
Next week the story moves back to the north, where Winry's group is still walking towards a trap, Al has trouble walking in the snow, and Ed vs. Donkey Kong and Lion King. Should be fun.
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