Hagane no Renkinjutsushi – Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 13
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 13
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood – 13

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Izumi kicks both Ed and Al out of the house and they are escorted to the train station by Sig. Sig invites them to stay at their house next time they are in town which surprises Ed and Al. Sig chastises them because they haven’t realized that Izumi no longer sees them as students but as equals. Ed remembers why they came to Dublith at all, so he and Al race back to Sig and Izumi’s home to beg Izumi for knowledge on how to restore their bodies. She refuses but they are instant.

Since Ed and Izumi remember seeing “that” (the door) and paid a price with their bodies, it is likely that Al saw even more of this “truth” since he had to give up his entire body. Al is willing to do what it takes, so Izumi says she’ll consult some friends on restoring Al’s lost memories.

At the Eastern Division HQ, Colonel Mustang has a going away game of chess with his commanding general. After winning the game, which the general calls a present, Mustang makes one last request. As a result, Mustang’s staff (Secretary Cain Fury, Warrant Officer Vato Falman; Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda, Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc; First Lieutenant Riza Hawkey) are also transferred to Central with him. Jean doesn’t want to transfer since he’s just found a girlfriend, but Mustang doesn’t care — they are coming no matter what.

In the slums of Central City, Scar is visited by an Ishval religious leader. He knows that Scar is killing State Alchemist for revenge and advises against this since revenge begets revenge. Their conversation is interrupted when a couple of large thugs arrive at the tent Scar is living in. They promise to split the reward with a third person named Yoki, who is no where to be found. He’s hiding nearby and the Ishval people are not happy with him since they had taken him in. When the thugs try to take him, he removes one thug’s arm and kills the second. Yoki vows to follow Scar in exchange for his life. Scar leaves the camp and Yoki follows.

Back in Dublith, Al is sent an invitation about his secret to come to a place called Devil’s Nest. One guy named Dorochet tells Al he should come with them but Al decides to punch him instead. Three others with Dorochet attack and the girl, Martel, enters Al’s armored body after the helmet is knocked off, thereby allowing Al to be captured. She remains in his body as Greed arrives.

Returning Al’s helmet, Greed reveals that his four companions are chimera — Dorochet has been combined with a dog, Roa with a bull, Bido with a lizard and the lone female Martel with a snake. Greed reveals that he is a homunculus and shows his Ouroboros tattoo. Al doesn’t want to believe this since he recalled what happened with Nina and homunculus are not supposed to exist. So Greed has his head knocked off to prove he is a homunculus.

Greed wants the secret of how Al’s soul was affixed to a suit of armor and in exchange he offers to teach Al about how to create a homunculus. Al reveals that he doesn’t know how his soul was affixed, so Greed has Bido get Ed. Ed comes with a defeated Bido and Al lets Ed know that Greed is a homunculus. Ed goes off on the offer of exchange of information and ends up in a battle with Greed. Since Greed is able to regenerate his damage, Ed is at a disadvantage. To further show Ed the futility of his ways, Greed covers his entire body in metal.

Ed takes a beating but when Greed grabs him and brings him close, Ed transmutes some of Greed’s armor. Thus Ed is able to get in attacks and reasons that Greed can’t regenerate and fix his armored form at the same time. Meanwhile, Sig and Izumi discover Ed and Al are missing. Receiving a tip, Izumi storms to the Devil’s Nest, where she’s heard the secret to defeating Greed. Greed isn’t interesting in fighting a woman, but Izumi transmutes his facial armor and then causes Greed damage. When Greed asks who she is, she angrily announces that she’s a passing housewife.

Thoughts/Review:

It is starting to look like the story of Yoki’s initial encounter with Ed and Al may never get told, at least not as an episode. I say this because while he’d been name-dropped before and a wanted poster of him has been seen, we’ve not seen anything about him until this episode when he shows up in the refugee camp and we are shown that he wants revenge on Ed and Al but we don’t know why. I say “we” but those who saw the first anime or read the manga do know why and I’m guessing the anime production team are counting on that to proceed. I could be wrong though.

I gather that this episode encompassed about a volume’s worth of manga material. That is a shame if true because so much will have been cut to compress things down so much. Generally speaking, 2-3 chapters of manga comprise an anime episode. Depending on the number of chapters per volume, generally 2-4 episodes are created from a manga volume. We’ll see how this plays out.

The introduction of Greed and his gang is something I remembered very well from the first anime. I had forgotten little details like the fact that Greed could become like Colossus from X-Men — he can transform his body (or at least his skin) into metal. I don’t remember how they get through this, but likely I’ll remember when I watch the next episode.

When I saw Ed’s partially-broken automail arm, I had a thought that I’ve never had before — why does Ed need Winry to repair his automail? Shouldn’t Ed be able to repair it perfectly? After all, he can transmute his arm into a blade and then back into an arm, so when his arm gets broken, why can’t he just instantly repair it? Is this explained anywhere?

Come to think of it, why not transmute pieces of Greed away as Scar did to his attackers?

I’m interested in learning from you guys any parts from the manga that were excluded from this episode. Until then, I look forward to watching the next episode.