FMA: Brotherhood ep 63 + manga notes

Summary: The episode opens up with a flashback of Homunculus while he was still within the flask talking to Hohenheim about rights and freedom before it goes back to the present with Ed’s continued assault on Homunculus barehanded. Homunculus is now having to forcibly hold god within himself and makes a lunge to impale Greed to absorb his stone for energy. Ling refuses to let Greed be absorbed since he needs him to become emperor of Xing, but the force pulling Greed to Father is stronger than Ling’s. Greed tells Ling that emperor of Xing isn’t as good as ruler of the world, but decides to go with that anyway, however, once Ling hears this and lowers his guard, Greed forces him to let go saying that would be his first and last lie he ever told. Greed tells Ling that Lan Fan has a philosopher’s stone and that he can use that to become emperor instead before being absorbed by Homunculus.

Before being completely absorbed, Greed calls for Lan Fan to sever Homunculus’ arm thus freeing Ling from also being absorbed. Greed, now within Father/Homunculus, uses his carbonizing powers to turn Homunculus’ body into charcoal. Homunculus pulls Greed out of him and severs his existence from his own. While Greed is dying, with Ed and Ling looking on helplessly, he remembers what Ling told him about friends being connected by the soul and Ed asking him to join him. Greed relents and says that was enough for him and that he’s finally satisfied before bidding the friends of his soul goodbye.

Ed manages to punch a hole through Homunculus’ chest releasing all the souls trapped within him. The hands from the gate emerge from the hole and Ed tells Homunculus to go back where he came from as Homunculus implodes in on himself saying he just wanted to live freely without being bound by anyone.

Homunculus is now before his own gate in his original form asking why God would not become his. His own Truth tells him that he was just using the power of others the whole time while never growing by himself. Homunculus asks him what’s wrong with wanting to know everything there is to know about the world; now incised, Homunculus demands to know how the Truth really is. The Truth only tells him that he is what people refer to as “the world” or “the universe” or “god” as well as the “Truth” the “All” the “One” and also Homunculus himself.

The Truth tells him that he gives out the most fitting form of despair to those who would become conceited (in the same way Homunculus himself told his human sacrifices) before opening the gate to give Homunculus his despair. The hands drag him into his gate with Homunculus yelling he doesn’t want to go back and asking what else he should have done the whole time.

Back in the physical world, Al is still gone and May is crying and apologizing to Ed as he assures her that it was Al’s decision and she’s not at fault. Ling offers the philosopher’s stone Lan Fan had as the toll, but Ed refuses as he promised Al they would never them to restore their bodies. As Ed is trying to think of another way, Hohenheim offers to use his life as the toll saying he’s only got one left. Ed gets mad while telling Hohenheim that he can’t use other people’s lives to bring Al back and then asks him why he should give up his life in the first place. Hohenheim tells Ed that it’s because he’s their father and wants both of them to live on happily as well as it is partly his fault for leaving them alone why they lost their bodies in the first place before apologizing for that. Hohenheim also asks him to at least let him do something father-like for them in the end.

Ed get’s pissed off, calls him a good for nothing dad and that if he ever says something like that again he’ll punch him. Ed remembers all the people who had helped him while on his journey; having reached an answer, Ed asks May to step back as he draws a transmutation circle saying he’ll be right back after committing his final act of alchemy. Now Ed is before his own gate confronting his own Truth again who asks him if he plans on sacrificing his entire body to drag Al out. Ed tells him he’s already got something big he can sacrifice indicating towards his own gate.

Truth is stunned at this revelation and asks if Ed is alright with becoming an ordinary human who can’t use alchemy. Ed says that because of the gate he became reliant on alchemy and contradicts Truth by he’s always been an ordinary human from the beginning, an ordinary human that couldn’t even save a single girl who was turned into a chimera. Truth asks one last time if he’s okay with getting rid of his gate, Ed says that ever without his alchemy, he still has his friends. The Truth admits defeat and tells Ed to take all he wants.

As Ed transmutes his own gate, his Truth tells him that he can take the back door to leave pointing to Al sitting before his own gate. Ed tells Al that he was reckless and Al tells Ed the same as they leave through Al’s gate. Al wakes up back in the physical world with his body and soul surrounded by his friends. After greeting his dad and getting a hug from May attention shifts to Radio Capital reporting on the day’s events and how General Armstrong and Colonel Mustang seized power from corrupt officials planning on sacrificing many of the citizens of Amestris in an alchemy experiment (Ed returns Pride to Mrs. Bradley) and how King Bradley and his son lost their lives in the confusion; the report continues on with sating that Mustang intends to carry out of the will of the late Führer in keeping the nation safe. Hohenheim remembers his first meeting with Homunculus and the conversation they had about what would make them happy (while seemingly blaming himself for all that has transpired) before Major Armstrong informs him that both of his children have been safely hospitalized, he also thanks Hohenheim since it was because of his sons that everyone is still alive.

Hohenheim returns to Resembool where Trisha’s grave is, he starts telling her that Ed finally called him ‘dad’ even though there was a good for nothing in front of it. He continues by saying how tiring it’s always been to outlive everyone and how it wasn’t until he met her and their sons that he truly appreciated being alive; he says his life was more than satisfying. He thanks Trisha as his body continues to deteriorate before adding that he still wanted to keep on living now and how he really is a good for nothing. Later on, Pinako finds him in front of the grave and remarks how she’s never seen a dead person look so happy.

The credits consist of a montage of Hohenheim related scenes.

Manga notes: (there’s not much left that can be spoiled) Ok, first off that flashback thing with Homunculus at the beginning and near the mid-end was added into the anime, so adapting from chapter 108 pages 1 – 56 with differences including Homunculus being on his back when ‘God” is making him look fat instead of on all fours, random person who Greed grabs to keep him from being blown away is new, Greed punched Ling in the face where as he originally just bitch slapped him with some souls in the manga, Homunculus reaching into his mouth to drag Greed out is also new since Greed was already in his mouth enough to get bitten to death in the manga, Homunculus got carbonized more in the anime version, the souls escaping was embellished a bit (needed it since it was hardly noticeable in the manga), Homunculus got more lines as he was imploding making him seem almost like a sympathetic villain, Roy’s conversation with Riza and Alex about the kind of toll needed to get Al back and how they knew he would sacrifice himself to do it so Al wouldn’t have to suffer being alone is skipped, Van didn’t tell it to Ed that he finally called him dad, some of Ed’s thought on how everyone helped them are skipped (such as Ling and Lan Fan being too kind offering him the stone when they needed it), and something minor and trivial with Ed appearing with his back already to the gate whereas in the manga he walks over to it, Al mentioning how it feels to feel stuff again is skipped, page 57 of Seig giving Al a bear hug was skipped.

Bottom panel of page 59 – top part of 61 & page 73 – 75 with more changes including the conversation between Van and Alex being original to the anime and Van saying all the stuff he wanted to say to Trisha before being found dead by Pinako.

All the rest of chapter 108 should be covered in the final ep.

Also, for the benefit of the readers:

They translators shouldn’t get mad as long as their precious credits are on it…

Though, since Father was like a clone, from a biological stand point, they’d all be half-siblings.