Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 47) - Emissary of Darkness

Edward catches up with Hohenheim and demands to be told everything. It’s quite the shock even to Greed, but they will fight together. Father must be stopped. Then, Alphonse shows up, and he’s not alone!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 47) – Emissary of Darkness

What happened?

Grumman and Miles continue to search for the remains of Fuhrer Bradley’s body, however, there’s no sign of it. Miles is concerned that they need to push on as the Promised Day is tomorrow. Concerned that he will not be able to sleep until he finds the remains, Grumman decides to stay and personally oversee the search. Miles is concerned that Grumman is planning on letting Mustang and Armstrong take the fall so that he can swoop in at the end, but agrees to go on.

Edward arrived in a small makeshift town outside of Central and found Hohenheim. After punching him, Edward demands to know what he knows. Hohenheim agrees to tell them everything. Edward is shocked. He’s not taking it as well as Alphonse did. Regardless, they will work together to stop Father. Before leaving, Edward passes on a message – his mother’s final words.

Darius and Heinkel give Edward a hard time for treating his old man in such a manner. Even Greed has something to say about it. Edward said that Hohenheim wasn’t what he was expecting and that was all. Anyhow, they set off to Central but don’t get very far before running into Alphonse. However, it’s not Alphonse and Ling is the first to notice, taking control of his body to warn Edward.

Pride reveals himself and chastises Greed for turning his back on them. Edward was about to attack, but then Pride revealed that it was Alphonse’s real body. How can he fight him without destroying Alphonse? After a lot of running and dodging, Edward uses alchemy to short the electricity and plunge them into darkness. Without light, Pride cannot create his shadows. If only Pride was all they had to worry about!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 47 Pride controlling Alphonse

What did you think?

I’m just going to say it and move on, Edward is still incredibly annoying. I thought that he would mature and tone things down, but he hasn’t. He’s a bit of a jerk too. Anyhow, this episode was incredible. Pride using Alphonse’s body was insane and amazingly creepy. I knew that as soon as it was dark, the chimaera would have an advantage, but then Gluttony showed up. That gave Ling a chance to show Greed that he was powerful on his own as he could sense the homunculi.

However, as amazing as all that was, it was just before the ending that we got to see something incredible. Admittedly, we didn’t see it at first, but it was impressive all the same. Then, when Lan Fan stopped and revealed herself it was like she was a badass Predator and her new automail arm was just as cool. I don’t even care that this fight is spilling into the next episode. Give me more!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 47 Gluttony coming for Ling Greed

What have you learnt?

This is why you allow characters to be knocked back or leave the group. They can come back stronger and better than ever. It’s even more spectacular if they do it in a similar manner to Lan Fan where it’s not instantly obvious who they are. Everyone will be wondering who this cool new character is and then it’s revealed to be someone they know and may have forgotten about. Doing it this way is far better than just randomly introducing a new character.

One thing that a good editor will look for when going over a manuscript is whether all of the characters are necessary. Oftentimes, they are not. Sure, they could have been saved by someone new, but it makes a bigger impact than if we see a character return from their darkest moment to save another character from certain peril. Obviously, you’re going to want some variety in the story so don’t merge the roles too much. As with anything, it’s about finding a balance.