Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 10) – Separate Destinations

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Title

It’s a terrible day for rain!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 10) – Separate Destinations

What happened?

Edward, Alphonse, Alex Louis Armstrong and Maes Hughes were discussing the latest discoveries at the fifth laboratory. Thye didn’t have much to go on, but it certainly painted some pretty sinister pictures. There was the transmutation circle that used human sacrifice to create a philosopher’s stone, the souls bonded with the suits of armour, and the people that attacked Edward and then carried him to safety. Something didn’t add up!

Of course, that was when Fuhrer King Bradley entered Edward’s hospital room and put everyone on edge. He had a melon for Edward, but then asked him what he knew about philosopher’s stones, hoping that it wasn’t much for his sake. Bradley let out a laugh and told them he was joking, but then told them that he was aware of the investigation they were conducting and asked them to keep quiet about it. There would come a time when he would want their help, but it wasn’t now!

Edward and Alphonse were heading off on their next trip. This time they were heading to Dublith to visit their old teacher and were mildly terrified. When Winry found out where they were going she demanded they take her to the town before Dublith as it is the auto-mail holy land!

Back at Central, Maes Hughes was reading the paper and noticing the recent uprisings in Leore. That combined with the Ishval civil war and several other potential conflicts caused him some concern. He went to the archives and noticed a terrifying pattern. That was when Lust entered the room, shutting the door behind her. She attacked, injuring Maes, but he escaped. He hurried to a phone to contact Roy Mustang, but Envy found him before he could complete the call…

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 10 Envy kills Maes Hughes

What did you think?

Unfortunately, a Google search on Maes Hughes spoiled this episode for me, but that didn’t make it any less impactful. Knowing that he was going to die, I saw the red flag as soon as he was saying goodbye to his family and Winry. I knew it was coming but didn’t know when and the way it went down was even more heartbreaking with Envy taking on the form of Maes’ wife. I did appreciate that it’s been showing us Maes’ throwing dagger on the back of his belt for several episodes before he finally got to use it.

The thing that really got me was how the Elric brothers were talking about how they were going to thank Maes as his body was being laid to rest. That entire scene was brutal with his daughter asking how he was going to get all his work done now. Armstrong and Mustang were noticeably shaken, as was Bradley, although I doubt his sincerity. Then, we had the scene where Roy Mustang was at Maes’ grave and he mentioned to Riza that it was a terrible day for rain as a single tear rolled down his cheek…

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 10 Roy Mustang Terrible Day for Rain

What have you learnt?

I’ve mentioned a couple of times now how I think that the military is responsible for the uprisings. We’ve seen Lust, Envy, and Gluttony instigating them first hand and we’ve seen that they were at the fifth laboratory. They seem to have easy access to the military sites and are always in the know. They are quite clearly working for someone at the top and for me, that’s Fuhrer Bradley. The way he showed up at Edward’s room and told them to stop investigating it was a pretty clear sign of his involvement. He could be trying to protect them, but I don’t buy it.

So, what did Maes discover? Well, my guess based on the map is that they are creating a massive Transmutational Circle that covers the entire country with the various uprisings occurring at certain points on the circle. The Ishval extermination was obviously about getting enough sacrifices to satisfy that part of the process of creating a true philosopher’s stone. Of course, I’m just guessing and could be completely wrong, but that’s what I’m seeing so far.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 10 Fuhrer Bradley asking Edward about Philosopher's stones

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2 Comments

    • Yeah. It was an impactful moment for sure. Seeing everyone reacting to his death and then Edward and Alphonse making plans to visit when they had no idea what happened. It hit pretty hard.

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