The previous episode showed the Drachma army, guided by Kimblee, about to attack Briggs. Here I thought that it would be a huge battle… only for them to get slaughtered in seconds. Seriously, these guys don’t even survived past the opening credits. The big question is of course: why? Why did Kimblee go through the trouble of taking off for ten days, where he was supposed to be chasing after something much more important and dangerous. Perhaps it was part of creating that big tragedy for Briggs: instead of simply destroying the structure, one could of course kill off a bunch of people near the site. Perhaps that would work too. In any case, this episode… talk about juicy plot twists! The guts and unpredictability of this series is only surpassed by the Armed Librarians. While it of course also would have been interesting if that chimera really was a traitor, it didn’t really make sense of his character: never once was it hinted that he was inclined to do this. As a method of luring in Envy however, it worked out much better than expected. That fight scene against him was nothing short of awesome. And noooo! May Chang was put on a bus! What a shame that she had so leave, though I can understand why. Also, Hohenheim’s visit to Lior in the previous episode was more important than I imagined. To think that the creators were actually planning to meet him up with Al and Winry at that point; that promises all sorts of potential for the next episode. ‘ There have been a few characters who have been surprisingly absent during the past months. I mean, what happened to Greed, aka Ling? Also, I’m waiting for Roy to go back in the spotlight again. I know that it’s pretty hard for him to move around with Bradley and all, but still. I really expected him to be one of the main characters of this series. I also find it interesting: Ed has been completely gone for like two episodes now. That’s a first! Also… the end of the episode. That put a whole new dimension to the core concepts of this show: Father had created an entire army of transmuted humans. This really begs the question: why did Ed manage to see “the truth”? Why did their research fail? And if seeing the truth is common with human transmutation, then why are Ed, Al and Izumi so special? Was it because their attempts failed or something? But then their reason for being necessary for Father’s plans would have to be really far-fetched… Rating: ** (Excellent)
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Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 43
