Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 58) - Sacrifices

Greed and Fu try to bring down King Bradley, while Olivier and Izumi interrogate a general to determine their plan. Meanwhile, Edward and the others find an alchemist protected by the failed members of the Fuhrer project.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Episode 58) – Sacrifices

What happened?

Bradley may be injured but he’s not going down without a fight. He charges Greed and almost takes him off the ramparts with him. Lan Fan catches his hand at the last second and one of the Briggs soldiers shoots Bradley, sending him tumbling into the moat below. Ling takes control of his body to mourn Fu and Buccaneer. He’s frustrated that he can’t save them even with a philosopher’s stone. Buccaneer asks him to hold the gate for them. Greed agrees since he has time to kill before his next plan.

Izumi and Edward find themselves taken through the Truth and delivered to Father’s location. He has Hohenheim merged within his body. Hohenheim tries to offer some advice, but he is drawn inside completely before he can do so. Alphonse is there too, but he seems unresponsive. What has happened to him?

The Gold-toothed Doctor manages to subdue Mustang and the others with his Fuhrer program rejects. He reveals that they desperately need a fifth sacrifice and that’s going to be Mustang. Of course, Mustang refuses. There is nothing to be gained from it, but what if there’s something to be lost.

One of his men slices Hawkeye’s throat and throws her onto the transmutation circle. The Gold-toothed Doctor tells Mustang that he will attempt human transmutation or Hawkeye will die. He has a philosopher’s stone and can save her, but only if he does it. Hawkeye tells him to forget her, but he can’t.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 58 Riza Hawkeye

What did you think?

Are we supposed to believe that King Bradley died falling off the ramparts? After he survived the train bridge explosion, I have my doubts, especially as he landed in water. I did like that it gave Ling the chance to fully utilise Greed’s power and it was awesome. I loved the way he came down the elevator and then just swooped down on the soldiers like a demon.

The fact that Mustang needs to have committed the taboo to be a suitable sacrifice raises another question. If Hohenheim is also a sacrifice, who did he try to revive and when? I get the feeling we’ll get to see that at some point and I don’t think it will be a fun segment. The other thing I noticed was that Alphonse’s consciousness didn’t seem to be in the armour. Could his soul have reunited with his body in the Truth and what does that do to Father’s plans? Interesting!

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 58 Olivier Armstrong

What have you learnt?

I often worry about spoilers, especially as they can come from anywhere. Sometimes, the episode title can be responsible for this transgression. However, this was a great example of how to use episode titles, and the same applies to chapter titles in books. We knew that Edward, Alphonse, and Izumi had been flagged as sacrifices so a title of that nature didn’t spoil anything, especially as they had just been transported to Father.

Then, we saw Buccaneer die from the sacrifice he made. Great double use of the title. Then, we had Hawkeye effectively being sacrificed. Also, would anyone believe that the Gold-toothed Doctor would actually save Hawkeye? Once Mustang has committed the taboo, there’s no need to save her. I loved that they made the most use of the title and did it in such a way as to make each instance of a sacrifice more sincere. I feel like there’s more to come.