Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 63

The conclusion to the final battle.

Ling: Greed! You can't go yet! You haven't paid the rent for using my body!

Summary:
Ed socks Father some more with his bare fists, knocking Father to the ground. Father has trouble holding in God and lets out a shockwave. Using the shockwave as a distraction, Father stabs Ling/Greed with his hand and tries to absorb Greed's Philosopher's Stone. Ling tries to hold on to Greed but his own soul is being pulled towards Father as well. In order to save Ling, Greed lies for the first time that he'll fight together with Ling, but instead he breaks his connection with Ling and is pulled into Father. Greed's last act in Ling's body is to call for Lan Fan who severs Father's arm with her automail blade. With the link between Ling's body and Father severed, Ling regains control of his body and notices his Ouroboros tattoo disappearing. Meanwhile, Greed struggles against Father despite being absorbed and he turns one of Father's legs to graphite. Father snuffs out Greed for good, but the struggle allows Ed to come in and punch Father through the chest. After Ed's blow, black hands emerge from Father's chest wound and pulls Father into the portal inside the chest wound. Father (in his original black sphere form) is transported to in front of the Gate of Truth, and he is greeted by Truth who is in a similar small spherical form. Truth laughs at Father's effort to steal God/Truth's power and as punishment, Father is sent back into the Gate to suffer despair for all eternity.

Didn't know Father was into crazy body contortions.

I almost felt sorry for Father at this point. Almost.

Back in the real world, Ed and company are in no mood to celebrate Father's defeat as Al did not return to the world. Ling offers up his bottle of Philosopher's Stone to Ed for bringing Al back, but Ed declines, stating that he had made a promise with Al not to use Philosopher's Stones to regain their bodies. Ed tries to think of another solution but can't come up with anything. At this time, Hohenheim offers his own life to Ed to bring back Al, but Ed refuses this offer as well and calls Hohenheim "father" for the first time. After having a look at his comrades, Ed gets an idea and draws a human transmutation circle around himself. Ed declares that this is his last act of alchemy as the Fullmetal Alchemist and transports himself to the Gate of Truth. At the Gate, Truth asks what will Ed be paying to save Al, and Ed states that he will pay with the Gate. Truth states that if Ed pays with the Gate then he can no longer use alchemy, but Ed is fine with that, stating that he still has his friends. Truth smiles and tells Ed he has answered correctly before disappearing with the Gate, and Ed spots Al sitting in front of the back gate. Reunited once again, the two brothers travel through the gate and back to the real world.

Why use my own body when I can pay with this giant credit card?

Back to the real world we go.

Back at Central HQ, Al wakes up in his own body and is greeted by May, Hohenheim and the others. Later at Central HQ, Ed hands Selim to Mrs. Bradley. Radio Capital then broadcasts the message about the battle which pins the blame on the Central top brass, and that the Fuhrer and Selim were killed in the chaos. Back at Central, Hohenheim thinks about his time growing up with Homunculus. Alex Armstrong arrives to report that Ed and Al have been sent to hospital and he thanks Hohenheim for Ed and Al's efforts in saving the country. Hohenheim is brought to tears and he then leaves Central on his own, returning to Resembool Cemetery to Trisha's grave to say his last words. Later at the cemetery, Grandma Rockbell discovers that Hohenheim has passed away in front of Trisha's grave with a smile on his face.

Not many people die with a smile on their faces. All in all, Hohenheim was a fortunate man.

Ending sequence is the OP song coupled with a montage of Hohenheim's exploits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's all for the epic final battle to Fullmetal Alchemist. The episode mostly followed the manga, but all the scenes are (or at least feel) more drawn out. The outcome of the battle against Father was apparent from the last episode when Ed started punching his lights out, but Greed received a surprising bit of spotlight near the climax to bid farewell. Greed's departure was a little sudden, but it was an appropriate ending for him. Besides, he would have gotten in the way between Ling and Lan Fan lol. So in the end, Father got what he deserved (eternity inside the dark closet in his original, pathetic state), and Ed saves Al by trading his Gate of Truth. I thought Ed got off a little easy when it came to getting Al back. Not being able to use alchemy is very inconvenient, but it seems like a small price to pay to get back a loved one. Then again, "alchemy is small price to pay" is the answer that Ed has figured out after all of his escapades throughout the series, and I'm glad that the series has an unambiguously happy ending (unlike the old series).

I still think that the final moment would have been more emotional if Hohenheim sacrificed himself for Al, but then again I'm not writing the story. Hohenheim ended up dying anyways though, but he got his wish at the end to rejoin Trisha. The final scenes, including the anime-original scene of Alex thanking Hohenheim and the ED sequence, were a nice tribute to a character who played an integral part of the story and also who happened to be the last casualty of the final battle.

Now that the climax of the series has passed, it certainly looks like the next episode will be dedicated to the epilogue. Can't say I'm surprised since the battle wasn't long enough to be dragged on to the next episode. However, there really isn't that much manga material left for the next episode either. I'm sure Bones will find some way to make it decent though. Since the series isn't over yet, I'll save my conclusions for the next FMA:B post.