<\/td><\/tr><\/table>I’ve spent a lot of time watching this series. In fact, this is the largest series I’ve ever watched, yet here at the end of episode 51 I’m only writing about it for the third time. I’ve had trouble writing about it because almost anything I say about the show is a spoiler. The goals of the characters change so often and new things are revealed at such a clip that there is no way to talk about the thing without getting into some serious spoilers.<\/p>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/table>Al gets captured by Envy, and he becomes way<\/em> too docile. He never puts up a convincing fight. We didn’t need to see a battle, but just showing that he made some effort to escape or at least struggle would have been nice. The audience must assume he was a limp sack while Envy lugged him how far? To another town?<\/p>\nThe final alchemy that Edward performed made no sense. The writers already had a built-in Deus Ex Machina. They had a “get out of impossible situation, free” card. From the writer’s standpoint, the Philosipher’s Stone can do “anything”. So, they did the miracle, and then Ed somehow undid<\/em> the miracle, even to the point of losing his arm again. What the heck? That is some powerful alchemy. Ed’s miracle was arguably more miraculous than the one Al performed, and Ed wasn’t even using a Philosopher’s Stone! The writers had a free pass to write any ending they wanted, and they still<\/em> had to resort to cheating?<\/p>\n What happened to Gluttony? Yes, it hints that Gluttony ate Dante, but we didn’t get to see<\/em> her fate for sure, and unless we assume Gluttony ate himself<\/em> then we know he<\/em> went free. I was looking forward to seeing both<\/em> of them get their comeuppance, so this was very unsatisfying. After all this time we learn that Dante was the main villain! Is it too much to ask that we see what happens to her? Emperor Palpatine wasn’t killed off-screen. After all of the gruesome deaths that befall sympathetic characters, all we see of Dante’s end is that surprised look on her face and then we cut away. Boo.<\/p>\n The memory reset on Al – as a side-effect of the cheating they did with Ed’s alchemy – was lame. A memory reset? Are you kidding me? That kid grew and learned so much. At the end I wanted to see Al gain his dream of becoming human again. Instead of completing his quest, it was like he never went on the quest in the first place. He became a much less interesting character to me. <\/p>\n These are some pretty serious flaws, but on balance I still liked the series. There was a lot about the ending that was right<\/em>. There was a lot of good packed into those last few episodes:<\/p>\n I loved the explanation for where the energy for alchemy came from. Early in the series they explained that you could make something into another thing of the same mass and composition – like changing the fragments of a broken teacup into a teacup. This made sense in terms of not creating or destroying matter, but was obviously a major violation of other rules: You can’t create order from chaos without using energy.<\/em> I just assumed this was one of those holes in the science we had to accept. Then to discover that energy really was<\/em> being used, and that it came from somewhere<\/em> – that was very satisfying. <\/p>\n I liked the alternate history explanation. Our world and theirs were identical until the middle ages, when the subtle differences and links that bound the two worlds together became manifest. On our side, Alchemy did not deliver on its goal of transmuting common metals into gold, or of formulating a panacea, but the experiments of those times did lead to the birth of modern science. In the other world, Alchemy was real, powerful, and able to deliver on many of its early promises. Our world moved towards science, their world towards the perfection of Alchemy, and as time went on the two become increasingly estranged. At the start of the series we know nothing of this. The world is like a Final Fantasy world, unrelated to our culture or history. Then the links are revealed, and we learn that in the two worlds it is 1921. (Although the other world uses a different calendar by now.) <\/p>\n I liked the resolution of the story between the brothers and their father. We always knew we would see him again, and after so much build-up and speculation on my part I was afraid that it would be a letdown. It wasn’t. He was neither a saint, nor the dark figure who’d been pulling the strings. He was a villain who’d found redemption before this story arc even began, and was now facing the consequences for his past crimes. Interesting guy.<\/p>\n I found the ways in which the various homunculi died (or whatever you call it when you destroy a homunculus) were done well. It was nice when they finally started biting the dust for good. <\/p>\n On the balance, I’m not sure what to make of the writing in this series. Sometimes it was brilliant and subtle – like when Ed and Mustang parted ways. Other times it was childish and clumsy – like with Rose’s baby. The good parts made the sloppy parts stand out more, and I never understood how the writing could be so uneven. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve spent a lot of time watching this series. In fact, this is the largest series I’ve ever watched, yet here at the end of episode 51 I’m only writing about it for the third time. I’ve had trouble writing about it because almost anything I say about the show is a spoiler. 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<\/td><\/tr><\/table>I never thought of Rose’s baby as a real baby. It was just a cheap plot device that cried and needed to be rescued. Rose carried the thing all over, and weeks or months went by yet it was still an infant. (Hint: Babies aren’t that small for very long!) We never see her feed it, change it, or even put it down for a nap. She just carries it day and night. Was it a boy or a girl? What was its name? We are expected to care about this baby even though its clear the writers never did. <\/p>\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/table>It made no sense in the world that Bradley kept that skull in his safe. Ok, if Superman were to keep kryptonite around, I’m sure he would do the same thing: Keep it in a lead safe and make sure nobody knew the combination. The problem with this is that there is no explanation as to why he would keep the thing in the first place! Bradley could have had the skull crushed into powder and the resulting dust dispersed so that it would never again be a threat to him. Why would he keep this thing in his study? None of the other homunculi kept a stash of their only weakness handy.<\/p>\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/table>I liked how Mustang confronted Bradley. We were never really sure who Roy was in the show, or how far his ambition would push him. Sometimes he would seem ruthless, and other times humane, and it was always hard trying to figure out what made him tick. At the end when he revealed that his hunger for power was driven by his desire to atone for his crimes, and from a desire to prevent that from happening again, he fell into place as a character. His final gambit was interesting and that last fight was thrilling. <\/p>\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/table>I liked the final conversation between Ed and Mustang. They never really liked each other, but they always respected one another. They were using each other, they both knew it, and their parting words worked. (Although, am I the only person who noticed that Mustang tried to salute and then shake hands with the wrong hand? Odd.) <\/p>\n
<\/td><\/tr><\/table>Armstrong is still a great character, and his motivational speech during the diversion battle was hilarious. Any other commander would have to convince his men that while he was disobeying orders, it was really their duty to do so for the good of their country. This is tricky business, and Armstrong’s entire argument centered around “feel how big and loyal my muscles are.” Even more hilarious was that it actually worked<\/em>.<\/p>\n