Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 12) - One is All, All is One

Edward and Alphonse arrive in Dublith to visit with their old teacher and attempt to find out more about the philosopher’s stone. They turn up one lead, however, and that’s their estranged father. It’s also time to come clean with Izumi!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 12) – One is All, All is One

What happened?

Their old teacher, Izumi welcomes them with her usual enthusiasm, kicking Edward across the garden and then flipping Alphonse with ease. Ironically, she’s actually pretty happy to see them, however, she’s not gotten any better than the last time they saw her. In fact, the entire time they’ve known her she has suffered from a mystery ailment that causes her to cough up blood.

Being back makes Edward think about how they met her and begged her to train them. She refused at first, but when she found out they were orphans she agreed. Their first task was to survive on an island without using alchemy for one month. All they had was a knife. They also had to work out what she meant by one is all, all is one.

It took a while, but eventually, the Elric brothers began to understand that everything is connected and that deconstruction and construction are fundamentally natural to life and the universe. When a rabbit eats the crass, it deconstructs it and makes it a part of its body. The same occurs when the boys eat the rabbit. The laws of equivalent exchange are ever-present.

Back in the now, Edward asks Izumi if she knows anything about the philosopher’s stone. She does not, but she did know of an alchemist that was researching it – Van Hohenheim. Edward and Alphonse are all too familiar with that name as he is their father. Later Izumi confronts the boys about their bodies and reveals that she too made a similar mistake…

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 12 Izumi and Sig

What did you think?

Of all the things that have happened so far in this series, this episode hit me the hardest. All the clues were carefully laid out and even once you see where it’s going you can’t help but hope that you’re wrong. In one of the earlier episodes, Alphonse mentioned that Edward was able to do alchemy without a transmutational circle just like their teacher. Of course, Edward learnt how to do that after he visited with the being when they tried to resurrect their mother.

At the dinner table, Edward and Alphonse told Izumi about the baby they helped deliver. The look on her face said it all. Then there was the mystery illness. It all slotted together perfectly into a tragic tale. Izumi and Sig had been trying for a child for a long time. Eventually, they conceived, but the baby was stillborn. In her understandable grief, Izumi tried to resurrect her unborn child, breaking the taboo. The moment where she told Edward and Alphonse that it was all right to be upset was heartbreaking.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 12 Izumi hugs Edward and Alphonse

What have you learnt?

We now know that Edward and Alphonse’s father left to pursue his interest in the philosopher’s stone. The question now is whether he’s working in tandem with Fuhrer Bradley or as a separate entity. I think the idea is that this will force us to take our gaze off Bradley and look to connect Lust, Envy, and Gluttony to Hohenheim, however, I think this is a red-herring.

There are too many connections to the military for Bradley to not be aware of what’s going on, and I still think the plan is to create a massive transmutational circle that covers the lands with Central at the middle. The philosopher’s stone, or at least a complete one, will give the wielder the power of a god, able to create something from nothing. We know that human sacrifice is needed, but we don’t know how much. My assumption is that Bradley intends on killing everyone to become a god.