GUYS MAY CHANG IS FLAWLESS AND I LOVE HER AND ONCE A GIRL IN MY SCHOOL SAID SHE DIDN’T LIKE HER AND IT TOOK A LOT OF SELF CONTROL NOT TO PUNCH ANYTHING.
On the topic of deaths in FMA (so, major spoiler tag right now for the FMA:B anime/manga) there’s one that’s just so well-constructed, so well-executed, and I’ve never seen anyone bring this up:
The Death of Wrath, Fuhrer King Bradley
It was Bradley who ordered and signed the extermination campaign in Ishval. And he did so unflinchingly. Partway through the war, the High Priest of Ishval offers himself up to Bradley in an attempt to end the war–one leader turning himself over to the other.
And Bradley, Bradley scoffs. He laughs at the notion that any one human life can be worth more than any other. He states that this priest’s life does not equal the tens of thousands of Ishvalans.
They curse him out. They tell him God will punish him. And Bradley invites it
He dares God to strike him down! He dares God’s Wrath to find him, and end him. But of course, nothing happens. The war continues. The Ishvalans die.
Then, we have Scar, who’s seeking vengeance for his murdered people. He does it in God’s name. He targets State Alchemists, because they are blasphemers. They distort things from the form God gave
them. They create, when creation is
the domain of God alone.
Al attempts to call Scar out on this hypocrisy later when
they battle in Central. Scar claims he’s working a loophole though. His arm
only destroys. He’s not encroaching
on God’s domain. He does not create.
Fast forward many many chapters. Scar is the final person to battle Bradley. And he finds
himself losing at first, even with Bradley as injured as he is. Then Scar pulls
out his trump card, gains the upperhand on Bradley, gains the advantage.
He’s tattooed his brother’s other design on his left arm. He’s
embraced the creation arm. Against
his beliefs, against his morals, against his creed, Scar has become one of the
blasphemers. He’s encroached on God’s
domain, because the magnitude of failure outweighed the sin of creating.
Bradley mocks him for this. He claims Scar must have finally
realized God is fake. That He’s a construction of humans, and the war has
finally broken Scar of his faith. If Bradley were right, Arakawa would probably
have him win this fight. He doesn’t, though. Scar beats him.
Scar, finally,
kills him. And he does it by embracing creation.
After countless attempts, after the train explosion, after Buccaneer’s death, after Fu’s death, Bradley remained alive. It was Scar, in the end, who got to kill him, and he succeeds in the face of Bradley claiming he’s surrendered his faith. So no, it’s not that Scar’s given up his faith.
Far from it.
By embracing creation, Scar has, symbolically, BECOME the
God of Ishval.
He creates. He destroys. He is nameless, yet acts in the name of Ishvala. He is Wrath. And it’s not just that “Wrath was killed by a wrathful man.”
Scar is the Wrath of Ishvala.
Bradley is killed by
the God of Ishval.
Bradley invoked the Wrath
of Ishvala, and he dies by it.
God did find Bradley, in the end. He was late on the invite, but He answered. Oh god, did He answer.
In chapter 8, Alex Armstrong says he has never met an automail engineer. It can be assumed that Central City does not have any automail shops since it’s relatively far from war-torn areas.
This is really really cute, Ed correcting Armstrong about all the things Winry does. “SHE IS NOT JUST A MECHANIC SHE DOES ALL THIS STUFF TOO. SHE’S A SURGEON AT 15 THAT’S RIGHT”. He is such a nerd and so in love with Winry, SHE MUST GET ALL THE CREDIT SHE DESERVES.
Also this confirms that despite how much Winry goes on about “I’ll charge you extra! I am going to milk you for so much money! ” etc etc, she doesn’t actually charge Ed that much even though he can afford it. Awww.
aklsfjfjhsk ed is SO in love with winry god ACKNOWLEDGE HER GREATNESS AS THE GREATEST LADY I KNOW
winry meets rose and rose talks about how great edward is?? winry agrees and accepts any help rose can give her and listens to her story. zero jealousy, they both think the other is v strong and independent.
sig and alex meet?? they embrace each other’s strength and rely on each other to defeat a common enemy. AND they flex on each other and accept that they’re both v strong men.
izumi saves olivier’s life and protects her?? olivier, for once, is not upset at being helped, and they both respect that they each have different beliefs, and don’t judge the other for their differences.
i fucking love this series, these characters are so fucking good
bullshit central 