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Episode 51: (Untitled)
Note: When broadcast in Japan, this episode had no title given to it. After the broadcast, some sources began to call it 'Munich 1921' due to a title shown partway through the episode. But that title was in no way meant to be a title for the episode, but rather was a transition. The American Distributor Funimation has given the episode the title Laws and Promises. Following the pattern of other Japanese shows, it might be possible to consider "Fullmetal Alchemist" to be the title of the final episode, but that would not be official either.
The episode opens with Edward being impaled by Envy while Rose and Alphonse look on. The scene then changes to just outside the Fuhrer's estate where Riza is being taken to Central Headquarters to be interrogated about what's going on with Mustang. The car Riza is in crashes with an oncoming car driven by Archer. He exits the vehicle and sees Riza there in the car and opens fire on her. She is hit in the shoulder and she fires back. Meanwhile Mustang and Pride are fighting in the blazing wine cellar were Pride just stabbed Mustang's left shoulder with his sword to the wall. Selim barges in. Pride is happy to see him and puts his hands on his shoulders but begins to sweat. Selim reveals from his bag the "treasure" and Pride chokes him in anger and throws him across the room. Mustang frees himself and find the skull of Pride to be the "treasure", grasps it with his left hand and draws a flame circle on the hand holding the skull. Pride is held in place by the skull and repeatedly burned by Mustang. Mustang says that no matter how many times he has to kill him, King Bradley will eventually die. Back in the city, Gluttony is feeding on Al. The scene changes while Envy is about to strike down Al but the transmutation carrys both of them away. Then back at the estate, Mustang has reduced Pride to a pool of liquid. He burns the liquid and then drops the skull. The skull dissolves signifying Pride's death. Mustang takes Selim and leaves the building. When he arrives outside, Mustang sees Archer in the driveway holding a pistol and shoots Mustang. Riza is meanwhile running up to the estate and begins to see Archer. She pulls out her pistol and fires at him and kills him. She then keeps running up the driveway and sees Mustang lying on the porch. She arrives there and calls out his name several times before she begins to cry and scream. At the gate, Ed's soul briefly sees Alphonse's armored body appear and then disappear as the Philsopher's Stone is exhausted. Then Envy appears. Envy and Ed's soul meet at the gate where Ed reveals where the gate goes and Envy goes into the gate to go to Earth and to kill Hohenheim. The creatures inside the gate attack Envy and start to dissolve him, but he somehow absorbes them into himself seemingly growing more powerful in the process. In his anger, he switches between Ed's form, his own form, and then finally a giant serpent which can be taken as either a Leviathan or a literal Oroborous. The gate closes and Edward's soul departs the area of the gate. Ed's soul is then reattached to his completely healed and restored body. He also has all of his limbs. Dante flees to the surface in the elevator to Pride's office. She expects to find him there and then set about manipulating new groups to create the Philosopher's Stone. But a mindless Gluttony breaks into the elevator. Dante tries to reason with him, but fails. She attempts a transmutation to defend herself. When the elevator reaches Pride's office, it opens with no one inside.
Ed sends Rose away and then prepares the soul attachment alchemy with the aim of pulling Alphonse body and soul from the gate. The episode then moves forward several months and a narration describes what has happened since. King Bradley is officially said to have disappeared. With him gone, Colonel Armstrong and the General who commanded the Eastern Headquarters organize a ceasefire. They jointly organize the handover of political power to a newly formed Parliament. Roy Mustang is seen to have lost his left Eye and is slowly recovering from his injuries. The Ishbalans are allowed to return to their city and rebuild it. Alphonse is shown to now be alive. He has returned as a ten year old boy with no memories beyond the day he and Edward transmuted their mother. Izumi, Pinako, Winry, Sheska, Rose and others meet at Pinako's house where Alphonse is staying. Izumi attempts to explain how Alphonse could come back in terms of equilvelent exchange. It is revealed that Winry has constructed an automail for Wrath to replace his limbs, but that Wrath has run away. Later, during dinner, Alphonse asks that Izumi train him in Alchemy so that he can find Ed. Alphonse leaves by train with Izumi saying goodbye to everyone.
The scene then shifts to the other Earth. It is now 1921 in Munich. Hohenheim is working with an occult organization known as the Thule society in an effort to find a place they call Shambala. In reality, Hohenheim is working with the group an an effort to find a way to return Edward to his world. Edward has reconciled with his father and has been living with him. Edward is missing an arm. While the series does not offer an explaination, two theories exist for what has happened. The first is that Edward's body was taken into the gate (again) and his soul attached itself to the Edward of the other world who had lost the arm in London when he appeared to have died. The second theory is that Edward's body came through the gate to the other Earth and that he lost his arm as the price of getting Alphonse out of the gate. Edward is studying rocketry in an attempt to get home. He is about to leave for Rumania (Transylvania) to get involved with a group working on rockets. Edward's arm is not automail. He and Hohenheim discuss Equivelent Exchange and how it releates to his attempt to restore Alphonse. Hohenheim offers the idea that their Equivelent Exchange was their journey and the four years of hard work they put into restoring themselves.
The scene then shifts to Edward and Alphonse in different worlds on different trains. Alphonse explains that while they used to think that Equivalent Exchange was a fixed law that could explain anything in the world, they no longer think that to be the case. The world is too complex and imperfect for "one" law to ever explain everything. But in spite of that, they still believe in Equivalent Exchange in a different sense. That nobody can gain anything without giving something of themselves. The series concludes with Edward and Alphonse saying they will find each other again as they reach out towards the sky at each other.
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What do you think? Did you watch it too, I sure did and I cried!!!
Feel free to post below and tell me what you thought about it, and if you have any questions about this post or series please P.M me or post it on this page.
ENJOY!!!
I'm just really glad they put an ending on it. I hate it when I get majorly into an anime and then it stops in the middle of everything. I swear FullMetal Alchemist is my second favorite anime now, Gundam Wing being the first, which they need to rerun. lol I can't wait to see the movie. My sister has a friend who's getting it in english but, she's having to pay big bucks for the thing. lol
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