#my dad said an offhand remark about how he thought we was gonna be taller and that set me off

[shoveitevil]

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 20

Last time Roy was a badass, Lust bit the dust, and Ed ran into a familiar face. Onwards!

Hey, they show Ed and Papa Elric in a graveyard during the intro! I’d just written that off as a symbolic thing or something. So does that mean we’re gonna have Ed going through the Gate again and the Xing contingent fighting Wrath? I will also take little May Chang zapping some werewolves, please and thank you. We open with Papa Elric and Ed staring at eachother (and a gravestone for a Michael Cusbert, random name or someone connected to the show?). [Papa Elric]: “Hello, Edward… You appear to have grown some.” 1-Will the short jokes never cease? 2-Really, dude? You haven’t seen your son since you ran off who knows how many years ago, and your first words are essentially “Huh, turns out kids grow up over time.” Ah, and he’s spoken with Granny Rockbell, knows that Ed tried Human Transmutation. Ed responds by asking why the heck he’s come back when there’s nothing left for him there. PE just asks why Ed burned down “his” home. So, am I supposed to have any sympathy for this guy? Like, at all? Disregarding my belief that Papa Elric and Father are the same person (seriously, beard), just in terms of being a dad I am finding him sorely lacking. Ed states that they burned it down as a symbol of their reso- [PE]: “No you didn’t. You were hiding the memory. You didn’t want to be reminded of what you’ve done… And thought you could erase the memory by destroying the evidence.” Step off, buddy. [PE]: “You ran away… And you know it.” WOW. Ok, you can just fuck right off, dude. You’re gonna stand on your dead wife’s grave and say that kind of shit to your son? I agree with Ed, you make me sick. [PE]: “He’s exactly like I was when I was his age.” Hahaha NO. You don’t get to compare yourself to the Protagonist, dude. Just… just go. Episode 20 - “Father Before the Grave” That night, Ed’s sleeping at the Rockbell’s when the door opens. So we’ll get Granny’s response to- YOU. Nope nope nope stop looking in on Ed just go away and Flashback to Kid!Ed clutching at PE’s leg with a smile and Baby!Al gazing up. Oh, so NOW you feel remorse for running out on your family. Whoop de friggin doo. PE reaches out to touch the son he ABANDONED before chickening out and leaving. And whadya know, Ed who has been through numerous deathly struggles over the past years was awake the entire time. Downstairs, good dog! The Rockbell’s automailed hound is sitting in a corner and growling at PE as he gives a wry grin, before turning back to Granny and numerous wine bottles. Seems she’s going over photo albums, remarking on how PE looks like he hasn’t aged a day (hmmmmm) and asking why he was gone for so long. PE… asks about the results of the HT the boys attempted. Dude. You know that Ed’s listening in, and you’re gonna make him think that the event that destroyed their lives was even more of a failure? The worst part is that we know he’s right, since Al’s flashback to the Gate ended with him looking at Ed from inside the TC. Still, dude. Dick move. Ok, let’s go away from this awfulness for a bit. Back in Central, Al’s holding up his end of the bargain and telling Ling about his Soul Armor status, who is very impressed. No need to eat or sleep or breathe, as long as his sigil’s kept intact he’s functionally immortal! Except for what Barry mentioned last time, about how a body can’t maintain a foreign soul, and Al thinks that he’s a ticking time bomb. Well ok, hold up. That’s based on an offhand comment by a homicidal maniac, regarding a corpse that had an animal’s soul stuffed in it. I don’t think that’s really comparable to you, Al. At the very least, why don’t we get a more scientific look into the subject than a murderer? And Ling does bring up a good point, if the body can only hold a soul for so long, why not transfer it to a new body periodically? Problem solved, right? Still, as much as I like the transhuman immortality robot idea, I don’t think the guy we’ve seen bumming for free food is really comprehending the isolation of the form, which Winry calls him out on before storming away. Winry’s moping on her bed when Al comes in, and tries lightening the mood by complaining that Ed and Winry are always the ones to lose their tempers, he never gets a chance. Then we get a flashback to Al's first night in his Soul Armor, realising that he can’t (not doesn’t have to, can’t) fall asleep and mentioning that to a younger Winry. Current!Winry cries into a pillow and demands a promise that Al will get his body back. On his own end, looks like Ed’s dreaming, running towards a distant light and demanding that they give Al his body back. Suddenly Truth! [Truth]: “Take it? Do you even know what you’re saying? You’re the one who tossed his body aside and put him in that armor… Aren’t you, alchemist?” And then That Bastard Tucker shows up saying that he and Ed are the saNOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. And then it gets WORSE when a hand reaches out and Ok good Ed’s awake now. Suddenly I’m seeing advantages to Al not having to dream. Meanwhile, Granny’s yelling that Ed needs to wake up, his father’s about to head out. Wait, head out? Where’s PE off to now? Oh hey, it’s the photo wall with PE’s face blocked off. Which PE asks for and takes as it’s the only picture of the entire family. Then he’s already heading to the door (not surprised he’s not even waiting for Ed), but pauses to tell Granny something. [PE]: “Something terrible is going to happen in this country soon… You should escape while you can.” [Granny]: “*shrug* This country’s lousy with terrible things. And I can’t leave. I’ve got other people who need me here in case they want to come home.” [Heartless!PE Who Completely Ignores The Wall Of Cute Kid Pictures]: “I’ve given you my warning.” And like that, Hohenheim is gone, with a comment that he won’t be able to enjoy her cooking anymore… ok, that is either implying that Granny is going to die (NOPE) or Hohenheim is (?). Ed just looks out the window as his father leaves yet again. Now weather’s rolling in as Ed and Granny are walking up a hill, Ed has a shovel… oh no. No no no please tell me you aren’t going to dig it up. This knowledge will not help you, Ed. The rain starts falling and Ed is vomiting from exertion and stress, refuses to go home (as opposed to this pile of burnt rubble) as he won’t be able to move forward until he knows for sure. And because he refuses to let Hohenheim be right about his running away. Please. Please, just stop Ed. You’re constantly heaving, and as tough as Granny is it can’t be good for her either to be out in this rain. Let it go, please. But they keep digging through the rain, and as it finally slows Ed stops digging. Grabs a tuft of hair. Rushes to the bucket to wash it off. And turns to Granny with a stricken face, saying that Mama Elric had chestnut hair. But this hair is blond- wait, black? ...wait, what? It’s not blonde? I mean, maybe it’s burnt black. But I thought it was… They dig up the rest of the remains, Granny declares a femur too long and the pelvis for a male… ok, hold up. You’re basing this off of bone lengths and hair color? Ed, did you not see how deformed and broken that Thing was? That was not an example of a functioning human body, so why would you base this off of damaged parts? Aaargh, but as Granny declares that all the parts from the HT aren’t his mother, Ed laughs brokenly before declaring that it really is impossible to bring the dead back to life. But as Granny tells him to get ahold of himself, Ed says that it’s alright? That this has been a symbol of despair for so long… ok, how is this a symbol of hope, then? [Ed]: “Al can be returned to normal.” …? Um, I am not seeing the logic connection here. The HT remains are reburied, and Ed gives a call to Teacher. Oh dear. That subject. I’m sorry Ed, but that is really something you should not talk about over the phone. Back to the graveyard, Ed and Granny are looking over the Rockbell gravestones as she thanks Ed for telling her about how they helped people. Then they head out, Ed asking if Hohenheim said where he was going and Granny saying she didn’t even bother asking. But then she says she forgot something? A message for Hohenheim from Mama Elric? [Mama Elric]: “I’ll be gone when he returns… Can you tell him something? I need him to know… I couldn’t keep my promise. I died before he did, and I’m so sorry.” A promise to not die before him? Whatever the details, Granny doesn’t know, and asks Ed to pass it on if he runs into Hohenheim again. Ed grumps at being a messenger boy, but agrees. Now, back to Central! Where Ed’s sure that Al is just waiting, annoyed at being cut out of the loop… [Ed]: *eyetwitch* “What the hell?!” Al, rather worse for wear, apologizes to Ed for being so damaged, who then starts freaking out over Xing and the Lady Ninja mooching off room service before he kicks them out. Now, story time! After Ed’s brought up to speed on the Goths and Barry and the speculation that Al’s armor is gonna reject his soul (again, solely based on something Barry said), Al’s patched up. Winry is of course worried and asks if Al can get his old body back, Ed insists he can. Now, Ed’s turn to tell a story. Al is of course shocked at Ed saying he dug up the Resembool body, and more so at the claim that it wasn’t their mother. But this convinces Ed that they can return Al to normal? Explanation, please! But Ed insists before that he needs to know… if Winry remembers them fighting as kids about who’d marry her. Pfft! Winry confirms that she turned them both down ([Ed]: “W-whatever.”), so Ed asks for the reasoning. [Al/Winry]: “I just don’t like men who are shorter than me.” Aw, chin up Ed! It’s the only way you can try to be taller than her! Oh! OH! Confirmation that it really is Al, not just a copy from Ed’s memories! Al remembered something that Ed didn’t know! Thank Leto, this show may be playing fast and loose with dental records and hair remains, but this is sound reasoning! And if we have proof positive that Ed could pull Al’s soul out, then Ed believes that Al’s body is still in the Gate and he can pull it out. Like Barry’s body, separate from… ok, now you’re losing me again. As I understand Armor!Barry was made when his body was killed for murder, not lost in the Gate of Truth. That body did exist separate from the soul, but it wasn’t lost in another dimension or whatever, just stuck in the ground here. Ed asks Al to think back to the Gate, what he saw, and Al says that he grabbed his own hand (that creepy grinning version of Al from the flashback). So Ed’s determined to confront Truth again, and pull Ed’s body out!... but then there’s that last part of the memory. Al looking at Ed from inside the Thing. But while that Thing was Al, his soul didn’t bind. Huh. So good news is that they didn’t harm anyone else’s soul that time. Bad news is that this supports the “foreign body rejects soul” idea. Ergh. Oh, Teacher’s calling back. She and Sig did some research, and confirmed that the Thing that they summoned didn’t share any traits with them. So that’s it, then. Death is permanent. But at least they have closure. And the Elric Brothers have closure too, knowing that their attempt wasn’t a second death for Mama Elric, both of them blaming themselves. But with that closure behind them, they still have their mission: Get Al his body back. We get Al demanding that he share the burden with Ed, saying that he’s gotten by through being treated like a normal person from his friends… and crying that he can’t take the lonely nights anymore. But that’s going to change. The Elric Brothers have a target, and they’re gonna tear right through the Gate and punch Truth until they get that body back! And the Brothers are back at it, that eagerness that they had when first searching for the Philosopher’s Stone. Even Winry is taken back at how broad Ed’s shoulders are in his confidence. Brace yourself, Truth. The Elric Brothers are gunning for you.