Scar brings Ed to the mass graves of the people in Rioru and explains that they died because of the millitary's oppression on the locals after Ed exposed their chief priest to be a mere fake. Scar describes the people of Rioru to be similar to Isbal since both tribes suffered at the hands of the millitary just because they are different from the people living in Central. Ed tries to defend himself and stop Scar from proceeding to create Kenja no Ishi but upon hearing the cries of Rose's baby, he is unable to justify the rationale for doing so and slumps to the ground helplessly...Meanwhile, the soldiers are investigating the case of Martel's murder while she was hiding inside Al's armour. Mustang's subordinates are questioning Armstrong over what happened in the 5th laboratory since Martel was a much better creation as compared to the kimeras created by Tucker. Al stops them from quarrelling and says that it's still not time to explain everything to them. As such, Mustang realises Armstrong is just following Hughes' wishes of seeing him climb to the top and decides against forcing him to reveal the truth. Al recalls Martel telling him that Rioru may end up like Isbal because King Bradley is a Homculus before she was killed...
In Rioru, Scar is rallying the locals with the presence of Rose as the Holy Mother to lure the troops into the city by not retalliating against their attacks. This is with the aim of saving themselves from the oppression of the millitary whereby the people believe Scar and Rose wholeheartedly.
Ed is held captive and Lyra is keeping a watch over him. Ed disses them for using Rose as a spiritual leader to manipulate the people which is similar to what the previous chief priest had done. Suddenly, he asks Lyra if she is using perfume which makes her stunned for a brief moment. She explains that she has no time to bathe thus the need for the perfume which Ed comments that he dislikes the scent. Ed insists that he cannot allow Scar to create the Kenja no Ishi and Lyra also expresses her reservations about this plan since there would be casualties among the locals too despite using the troops as the materials. Ed asks Lyra for a favour and she gets a little boy to pass a letter to Mustang and Al who's currently at the millitary base in East City.
In the letter, Ed reveals Scar's plans and warns them not to send troops into Rioru to prevent the creation of Kenja no Ishi. Al then explains Scar's rationale for luring the troops into Rioru which makes Mustang and his men shocked about the use of living humans for this purpose. Mustang tells Al to return to Rioru with the little boy so that he can meet Ed while Hawkeye returns the metal pocket watch to Al which Armstrong had obtained from Ed previously.
Unknown to them, Kimbly, Tucker and his kimeras are already wreaking havoc in Rioru under King Bradley's orders. Scar is informed of this and gets excited at the prospect of taking revenge on Kimbly who is partly responsible for his plight. He reminds the locals not to retalliate against Kimbly and his men as well as instructs Rose to lead the people to leave by the underground tunnels. Having said that, Scar prepares to deal with Kimbly and gang before the troops enter the city.
Scar releases Ed and tells the latter to escort Rose and the people out of Rioru safely. Unexpectedly, Ed doesn't object to this task as he's confident that the troops will not enter Rioru if Mustang and Al have received the letter. Ed tells Rose that she is free to hate him because there is no way he can betray the millitary and the least he can do is to help the Rioru people escape from the troops.
At East City, Archer has assembled 7000 soldiers and asks King Bradley for permission to attack Rioru. However, King Bradley tells Archer to wait for the time being since Ed is still alive there and he doesn't want the troops to be used as sacrificial objects by Scar. This makes Archer extremely angry over Mustang and Armstrong's intervention.
Later, Lust questions King Bradley why he stopped the troops from entering Rioru but the latter reminds her that she's being rude to that person who is responsible for their existence by questioning his actions. Lust expresses openly that she will help Scar if he can make Kenja no Ishi which leads King Bradley to question if she has any unnecessary feelings for Scar. She decides to head for Rioru alone since Gluttony is too scared of that person to accompany her.
On the streets of Rioru, Kimbly wonders why the people are not fighting back and suddenly sees Scar approaching him. He remembers Scar immediately as he recognises the wound he made on the latter's forehead during the Isbal war. Just when he is feeling puzzled over why Scar has his right arm intact, Scar goes on the offensive but his movements are impeded due to the reaction of the red water crystal on Kimbly's ring with his right arm's drawings. However, he recovers quickly and continues the battle with Kimbly.
Ed, Rose and Lyra are escorting the people out of the city through the underground tunnels when Lyra asks Rose what she intends to do if Scar does not appear in time before Kenja no Ishi is made. Ed promises that he will negotiate with the troops about the Rioru people but Lyra is sceptical about the feasibility of his suggestion. Just then, a strong gush of water floods the tunnel and the people run back to Rioru for safety. Ed tells Rose and Lyra to turn back while he handles the situation.
Wrath appears before Ed and tries to kill him when Rose's baby cries and this seems to affect Wrath. Ed tells Rose to back off while Wrath screams at her to keep the baby quiet as the cries remind him of how he became a Homculus because of Izumi. Before Wrath can hurt Rose and her baby, Ed stops him and tells Rose to run away now.
Ed tells Wrath that he knows the weakness of the Homculus thanks to Greed who gave him the information before his death. As the Homculus are the replica of dead people due to failed human alchemy rituals, they will be affected if the remains of the person they were created from are shown before them. Wrath is not bothered by this since he was made from the body of Izumi's dead baby i.e. his own body so he has no reason to fear Ed. Even if he should have a weakness, that would be Ed's body since he got his arm from Ed...
Al reaches Rioru and bumps into Kimbly and Scar locked in a battle. Kimbly mocks Scar for putting up a worthless battle just because of revenge and says that he thinks of humans as nothing but empty cases to produce bombs. Just then, Al speaks of himself as an empty armour which makes Kimbly realise that he has stepped into the ritual sign drawn by Al. While his movements are restricted, Kimbly reminds Al that he is a national alchemist like Ed and Al should not help Scar. However, Al's intention is to stop them from killing each other and has no wish to help either side.
Just then, Kimbly manages to break free and takes advantage of the situation to plant a bomb in Scar's left arm. Scar has no intention of being under the mercy of Kimbly and chooses to amputate his left arm instead of waiting for it to explode. While he is bleeding profusely, Scar uses the chance to kill Kimbly with his right arm. However, it turns out that Kimbly is still alive and he flings Ed's pocket watch in Al's armour at Scar which immobilizes him due to the reaction with his arm. With his last ounce of energy, Kimbly grabs Al's legs and insists that he will make good of his promise to turn Al into a bomb. As Scar watches helplessly, Al's screams fill the night as Kimbly induces the process of turning Al into a bomb...
Meanwhile, Ed meets Sloth during his battle with Wrath and is taken aback by her similarity to his mother Trisha. Rose hears Ed's screams and decides to turn back to help him. At the same time, Ed is too shocked to move when he realises that Sloth is the Homculus he created from Trisha as Wrath sneaks up behind him. Before Wrath can do anything, he hears the cries of Rose's baby and tells her to stop the baby from creating a din. Rose finally manages to speak which makes Ed snap out of his trance and try to save Rose as Wrath is going to kill her...
Lots of exciting fight scenes and unexpected twists to the story in this episode.
It's not surprising why nobody has found out about King Bradley's real identity since the Homculus sign is hidden within his eye which is covered by a shield. And this makes the task of eliminating the Homculus more difficult since the highest authority turns out to be the villian. Mustang will have an uphill fight to change the situation in the country unless he eliminates King Bradley. It also seems like the mastermind who controls the Homculus is someone who inspires so much fear that Gluttony is afraid to follow Lust to Rioru.
As for the battle between Kimbly and Scar, it's a pity that Al is embroiled into this mess because of his intervention to stop them from killing each other. I never expected Scar to amputate his left arm because of Kimbly planting a bomb but I guess that's the best way to keep himself alive instead of waiting for the bomb to kill him. He cannot die until he has created Kenja no Ishi. And I thought Kimbly would have died after that blow from Scar but he's still able to use his remaining strength and deliver a final blow to Al and Scar. With the impending death of Kimbly, that means no more Ueda Yuji?! Oh, that's a shame and I feel so reluctant to see this just as the time when Greed died and I could no longer hear Suwabe Junichi's voice in this anime.
On Ed's side, it seems like his biggest weakness when dealing with the Homculus will be Sloth since she is made from Trisha. It will be hard to destroy someone who looks like your loved one. Whether he can overcome this barrier will probably determine whether he can succeed in the end.
Last but not least, I doubt Archer would take Mustang's intervention lying down and will try his best to lead the troops into Rioru. He's probably going to pay the price for his folly soon and I can't wait to see that. What a detestable jerk!
No comments:
Post a Comment