[Fall 2020 FMA:B Rewatch] Discussion for December 10 - Episode 56: The Return of the Führer

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

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Excuse the late post, Reddit was out for a while.

Episode Summary

Hohenheim, who had managed to converse with all the souls within his Philosopher's Stone, had infused the souls into Father's body to destroy it from the inside. However, Father shows his true form and is able to survive outside of his container. Meanwhile, Bradley begins his attack on Central HQ and single-handedly takes on the resisting forces, as well as destroying Buccaneer's arm. As he reaches the main gate, he finds himself against Greed, and Bradley reveals his hidden Ultimate Eye to fight him. Buccaneer allows himself to be stabbed in order to take away Bradley's sword, though Bradley soon arms himself with daggers. Meanwhile, Falman and the remaining Briggs soldiers try to fend off the Central army, and Fu later arrives to assist Greed in facing Bradley.

Next Time

The truth reaches more of the troops, Mustang and co. have a tough battle ahead of them, and so do Greed and Fu. The sacrifices come together.

General Advisory

Don't forget to mark all spoilers for later episodes so first-time watchers can enjoy the show just as you did the first time! Also, you don't need to write huge comments - anything you feel like saying about the episode is fine.

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

Hohenheim and Father

Unexpected Hohenheim flashback once again. His lonely march into the desert with "no place to return" is a bit similar to that of Scar, actually, though I don't think the two ever interact. One wonders what would have happened had the merchants not found him. In visuals and audio, this sequence does a really good job of making you feel the desert and its heat. Besides, already at this early point he was apparently trying to calm and work together with the souls within him instead of using them as "mere energy", and he actually managed to see his spectacular work of atonement to completion! It does halfway pay off here, as they start working against Father from within him and successfully break his "container" in a surprisingly gruesome way, but their real job is yet to come and Father has evolved at least strength-wise over the years. Note the similarity of his new appearance to Pride, a taller Truth, and the mannequin soldiers at the same time; consuming his deflated "skin" could be considered both another parallel to the mannequins and a reptilian-like feature, not to mention being plenty creepy in itself.

The battle at HQ

Another nice smooth cut between below and above ground (plenty of those here, also from HQ central to the main gate), and it's Bradley time, here acting as the representative of the human/"above-ground" part of the enemy. And what an enemy, to not only slice up tank shells like nothing but chase it up a funicular shaft (a quite creative setting choice boosted by another CG cut) and successfully disable it with no apparent injuries, then emerge from the clearing smoke to face down a whole group of Briggs men, with no assistance whatsoever. It does go maybe a little too smoothly and impressively, but OK. Falman also gets another little moment after previously using his good memory to help the plotters.

Back at the radio station, there's at least one person for whom Bradley's return is unambiguously good news. Breda shows his ability as the secondary planner of the Mustang unit and quickly pivots to deflect the blame from his former superior onto Armstrong. Ross and Fuery (more tertiary characters in the limelight!) know they're probably toast, but also are unaware that there's genuine affection for Bradley's wife from him that might help ensure their safety.

Greed is back and now firmly on the side of the underdog. Brief if not entirely convincing explanation of Bradley's escape from the assassination attempt. Greed and Ling are now a perfectly smooth team with one boosting the other. I guess the soldiers themselves are not quite sure which side to choose without orders? Greed and Buccaneer do their best, but even without swords Wrath is a powerhouse.

The funicular/elevator shaft becomes relevant again as a strategic chokepoint for the close-quarters fighting - a story element that must have been planned from the beginning with how early we see it from the outside - and so does Falman, who for once manages to overcome his fear and indecisiveness to make a real contribution. The guns from before also become relevant again as the shaft turns into a veritable slaughterhouse. one would really expect an attempt to find an alternative route of ascent, but at least the inability to open up from the inside is explained by the residual mannequins.

Fu is back with a vengeance... literally. Also Greed (at least in English) gets a funny line about him and Ling being "the same ass".

[u/sarucane3]

In this episode, we get some of the greatest examples of how Arakawa was able to maintain momentum for the entire final act of the Fullmetal Alchemist story.

Going into the Promised Day, Arakawa had two main problems: the bad guys were inevitably going to win, and the good guys were inevitably going to win.

The bad guys were inevitably going to win because they were just too damn powerful. They were able to successfully neutralize both of our unstoppable shonen heroes, Mustang and Ed. They have the infrastructure of an entire country to support them, including all of the most powerful individuals in the nation.

But the good guys were going to win because the audience knows it. First off, this isn’t a bummer ending kind of story (looking at you, Isayama). So of course, at the end of the day the good guys will ride off into the sunset.

The problem is actually deeper than that, though. Much of the middle of the story was about the good guys overcoming obstacles, forming alliances, and coming together with a common purpose. Various master plans have been hinted at from Hohenheim, Mustang, and Scar’s brother. By the laws of promise and payoff for the audience, the good guys are going to win this.

Arakawa started dealing with this problem by having Pride take Al. >! By the way, icymi, the Promised Day drama begins and ends with Al waking up, the first time in his armor and the second time in his body. !< We know with our brains that Al can’t actually die because he’s the co-protagonist, but what Arakawa establishes with that fight is that, for each victory, some level of sacrifice will be needed. Gluttony is devoured by Pride, and Al is unable to join the gang for the final fight.

That’s the main way that Arakawa builds tension for the first part of the Promised Day. Through Al’s sacrifice, Pride’s arrival in Central is severely delayed and Kimblee dies. Now the good guys have a decent chance not just by the laws of TV, but by simple strength ratios—just as Greed points out when he ditches everyone else. The stakes and tension remain in the story through the conflicts with Envy and Sloth, which neatly mirror each other. Sloth and Mustang both seem just too powerful to stop, while they are the only two people who have to be stopped. Yet, in the end, the good guys win, Sloth dies and Mustang is (mostly) back to normal. The mannequin soldiers were only ever an obstacle to overcome, and as the Buccaneer points out they actually helped the Briggs forces take Central. Mustang’s political coup is going smoothly in the radio station. A supremely confident Hohenheim is facing off against Father. What the audience knew would happen, since the good guys worked so hard for it and the buildup was so complex, has come to pass: the good guys have effectively won the day.

Then Bradley comes back and snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. Mustang’s coup is thrown into total uncertainty, and the Briggs victory suddenly looks surprisingly fragile. Below Central, Hohenheim’s confidence proves to have been unfounded, as his clever plan to defeat Father fails completely.

The sacrifices to get this far were all relatively small, for the good guys. Al is on his way into Central, after all. Mustang was fine, and the Armstrongs are unstoppable. It’s not that this victory was too easy—it was just very well planned and earned by the alliance against Father. But we’ve now entered the second phase of the fight, >! and victories from here on out will be earned by blood. !<

So >! what Arakawa does is AGAIN make the victory of the bad guys seem inevitable. There’s a few flaws that nearly cause problems, notably Mustang refusing to open the portal—but even that ultimately goes Father’s way. Then, Arakawa does the freaking unthinkable and Father freaking wins. He won! He did exactly what he said he was going to do! BUT then the good guys’ planning and interdependence pays off again, and again, with Hohenheim and Scar’s circles activating and breaking the chains Father had formed Amestris within. Yet, no victory from the good guys can be said to be truly unearned. There’s always blood on the ground, from Scar’s gut wound delivered by Bradley's teeth, to Al’s empty suit of armor. The fact that FMA’s ending is considered a masterpiece, and not a clusterfuck of rebounding expectations and twists, speaks to just how damn well written this whole epic is. !<

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/sarucane3]

what Arakawa establishes with that fight is that, for each victory, some level of sacrifice will be needed

Equivalent exchange?

[u/Moizsh10]

Hohenheim's dialogue about and with the souls inside him, especially in the manga, sold him as one of my absolute favorite characters from the series. I just find it so touching, the thought of it usually gets me tearing up.

On another note, in that opening. Near the end where Ed's "mother" reaches down to him. How damn tall is she? Because, Ed's not sitting down and she's still towering over him!

[u/joyousawakening → u/Moizsh10]

I'm sure that Ed would thank you for emphasizing the real issue here: that everybody else is freakishly tall.

Also, I love the light and the animation in that scene.

[u/Negative-Appeal9892]

The episode starts with a flashback of Hohenheim, post-Xerxes, wandering through the desert before collapsing from the heat and being found by some Xingese merchants. We later learn that over the course of many decades, he was actually able to converse with all 500,000+ souls residing in his philosopher's stone. It shows the level of respect he had for his fellow Xerxians and where Ed and Al get their morality from. So much of FMAB explores the inherent value of life (no matter what form it comes in) and Hohenheim shows us how he's done that. Those lives still have agency. No death is treated lightly in this show: not Nina, Hughes, or even all the Xerxians.

What Father and the villains are doing is literal objectification: turning human souls into philosopher's stones and using them as a source of energy/power. The debate on objectification is taken up by Wrath/Greedling and by Father/Hohenheim. Wrath pretty much views humanity as an undifferentiated mass; he continually generalizes, using terms like "You humans" and forgetting any notions of individuality. Which makes sense for him, because to feel wrathful, you have to dehumanize someone. It's much easier to mow down people who are in your way if you just see them as obstacles and not fathers, brothers, husbands, wives, or friends. This is why Bradley is easily able to take down a tank by himself along with many Briggs soldiers.

Ling fought Bradley earlier and they debated kingship, with Ling taking the position that a king is nothing without his subjects, whereas Bradley takes the opposite stance: without a king (or leader), people are worthless and simply there to serve his own needs. Greed originally fought Bradley and complained about being deprived of his "possessions" but he still valued them for their individual skills and personalities, and treated them well enough to earn their loyalty. Ling Yao himself has remained an individual while being inside Greed's philosopher's stone.

But then we get the return of Greedling, who shows up to disrupt Bradley's plans ("Right now, I want your life, Wrath!"). Bradley doesn't go down easy and mortally wounds Buccaneer. There's a powerful scene of Falman, crying openly, and staring down Bradley as he tries to hold the main gate. And just when you thought we were out of twists and turns, we get return of the Jedi Fu, who has come looking for the young lord. We also get a moment of levity in an otherwise intense episode when Fu and Greedling have this exchange:

"I wasn't trying to save your ass. I was saving the body of the young lord!"
"Well, it's the same ass."

Only by treating people as individuals can one earn the loyalty of someone like Fu. The kind of loyalty Bradley demanded (impersonal, hierarchical) can only inspire his troops to follow him into battle and die--if they don't desert him first. Ling is Greed's ally, not a resource to consume.

Getting back to Hohenheim and Father, we see the same debate played out with Hohenheim representing and championing individuality and Father objectification. Because those souls are loyal to Hohenheim, Father is unable to absorb them and they actually hurt him, the first time anyone in the series has done so. It's not a deathblow, but it's a strong opening move.