Summary:
At the end of the Ishval War, Riza kneels over the grave of an Ishvalan child while Mustang stands nearby. Even though the war is officially over, Riza states that the war is not over in her heart, and she never imagined that her father's alchemy, tattooed on to her back and entrusted to Mustang, would lead to so much carnage and tragedy. Riza asks Mustang to burn her back so the secrets of her father's alchemy cannot be passed on, and Mustang reluctantly agrees.
Although guns aren't the most effective weapons against a homunculus, we still have to give Riza a chance to show off her dual-wielding skills.
Back to the present, down in the tunnels Riza pulls out a pistol and points it at Mustang's head. Mustang wonders what Riza is doing and Riza states that the real Mustang would always call her "Riza" instead of "lieutenant" when they were alone. "Mustang" thinks that he had given himself away, but Riza was actually just lying to check if the Mustang in front of her is real, and luckily Envy fell for the lie. Riza pulls out her dual pistols and unloads her clips into Envy. Envy attacks and graces Riza's shoulder, and Riza pulls out her rifle and sends Envy staggering with more bullets. Envy is finally able to grab Riza by extending his arm through the floor tiles, but the homunculus is then engulfed by Mustang's flames. Mustang burns Envy until the homunculus reverts back to his larva form. Mustang steps on the tiny Envy is about to finish the homunculus off for good, but Riza points her pistol at Mustang and suggests that Mustang let her finish things up. Mustang is unwilling to let go of his rage and demands Riza lower her weapon, but suddenly Ed and Scar appear and Ed retrieves Envy using his alchemy. The enraged Mustang demands Ed hand Envy over to him, but Ed isn't sure if that's a good idea.
Mustang: That's for trying to get a feel on Riza, you perv.
Envy: *Sniffles* I am going to sue all of you for animal abuse.
Ed, Scar and Riza stand off against the enraged Mustang, who is bent on making Envy suffer. Mustang wants Ed to hand Envy over, but Ed, Scar, and Riza argue that Mustang only wants to satiate his own hatred. After some convincing words from Scar and Riza, Mustang calms down. Envy tries to goad his enemies into going after each other, but nobody takes the bait. Instead, Ed starts psychoanalyzing Envy and concludes that Envy is actually envious of humans, and Envy responds by going nuts. After freeing himself by biting Ed's real hand, Envy expresses his disgust for humans and states that the fact Ed figured out how he felt was the ultimate insult. The homunculus then commits suicide by ripping out his own Philosopher's Stone and thus brings the battle to a conclusion.
Bye bye Envy.
In Central HQ, Olivier Armstrong rallies the Central soldiers against the horde of one-eyed zombies. Meanwhile, Sloth finally frees himself from Alex's spike trap and sets his eyes on Olivier. Alex tries to stop the homunculus but he is unable to fight effectively with only one arm. The soldiers become worried as Sloth pounds on Alex, but Olivier states that her brother can handle it. Lo and behold, Alex uses a blow from Sloth to pop his left shoulder back in and begins a ferocious counterattack against the homunculus.
Is there any doubt that Alex Armstrong is awesome?
More spike treats for Sloth.
At the front gate of Central HQ, the commander in charge frantically phones to Brigadier General Clemin after his post is shelled by a Briggs tank. Clemin orders the soldiers to return fire despite the fact that civilian living near the gate haven't been evacuated yet. Before the order can be relayed to the front gate, a group of Briggs soldiers led by Falman and Buccaneer charges in and takes over the room. One of the Briggs soldiers explain that Falman knows Central HQ inside out, so all they had to do was dig a tunnel into HQ, and that tunnel is dug by none other than Ed and Al's master Izumi Curtis.
Deep underground, Hohenheim arrives in Father's throne room and states that he's going to punish Father. Father responds by saying that his body came from Hohenheims, but this time Hohenheim will become part of his body.
Hohenheim to Father: Geez, you look so old. That's what happens when you sit here and don't go anywhere.
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Another homunculus bites the dust. Most of this episode was focused on Mustang and Envy, both on their battle against each other and even more on their own internal conflicts. Mustang was going a bit out of control with his rage, but the thought of losing Riza was enough to convince him to stop. I don't remember seeing the flashback at the beginning of the episode in the manga (or the chapters associated with the current storyline), but it was a good scene to add to give Mustang's scene a little bit more perspective.
As for Envy, he may have been an evil bastard for most of the series, but at his core he really is a pitiful creature. FMA:B captured Envy's last moments very well. I didn't really feel much for Envy when he died in the manga, but I felt a little sorry for him after watching this episode. He still deserved the curb stomping by Mustang though.
Moving on, Alex Armstrong continues to kick ass and creates another awesome moment despite his relatively short screen time. The boxing match between Alex and Sloth was like a Rocky fight with no defense by either side, but Alex managed to pop his shoulder back in and gain the upper hand for now. Sloth will probably go back to using his super speed soon though. Also in Central HQ, the Briggs crew and Izumi has arrived. Izumi was likely the person with the glowing red eyes in episode 50. With Izumi onboard, getting past the walls of Central HQ became a piece of cake for the Briggs crew. Things aren't looking too bad for the good guys, but let's not forget that a couple of homunculi are still on the prowl.
Lastly, Hohenehim has finally reappeared and is up against Father in a clash of the titans. Should be an interesting contest given that both of them can use alchemy without moving.
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