FMAB Ep. 40 (Patreon) | Full Length Reaction

Actually, General Armstrong is not an alchemist. She fights with pure intellect and skill (although if required she can also use brute force). She's an Amestrian army general, but not a state alchemist. I don't know for sure, but i think many state alchemists are just like...contractors that work for the Amestrian government, without being part of the army hierarchy itself. Basically, if they're in blue uniforms, they're definitely army, but probably not alchemists. There are a couple that are both army AND alchemists, for instance Mustang and Major Armstrong, but mostly not. The only thing that officially marks a state alchemist is the pocket watch, not the army uniform. I'm so glad you're finally getting the context for Hoenheim; my mind was totally blown the first time i saw this episode! He didn't *create* the dwarf in the flask though. Hoenheim's owner was an alchemist, and needed blood for the alchemical experiment that created the Dwarf, and Hoenheim was a slave, so they just took his blood. They weren't exactly gonna use their own blood when they had slaves around! (Actually, in the manga it explains that the creation of the Dwarf was a total accident, and the master had no idea how he did it, which is why the Dwarf dgaf - he knew they couldn't destroy him, because they wouldn't be able to make another one). Then later, Hoenheim became an alchemist with the help of the dwarf, and was (presumably) freed from slavery, which is why we got those scenes of Hoenheim talking to the master about "everything is within the one" or whatever, that was his alchemy training. Then finally the Dwarf destroyed Xerxes and the rest is history.

First Mark and now Izumi! Everyone is getting fisted 😆 But seriously, this is one of the best episode of the series!

Uuuuuffff, Tremendísimoooo!!! This is one of my favorite episodes because it reveals details that previously had no context. For example, in the first opening, there’s a young blond man who appears briefly—we now know that he is Hohenheim, the one who started this whole story. The name “Van Hohenheim” directly references the Swiss physician, alchemist, and philosopher Paracelsus, whose full name was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (born in 1493). The homunculus in the flask (Father) was created by alchemists using Hohenheim’s blood, with the goal of gaining absolute knowledge and surpassing human limits—in other words, a copy of the Truth. There is also a visual distinction: the homunculi created by Father have red, cat-like eyes, while Truth has round, gray eyes. This contrast emphasizes that Father and his creations are imperfect imitations, whereas Truth represents the original and complete source of knowledge. There’s also an important reference in episode 11 (minute 16:47), when Edward Elric gets excited about the birth of a baby. He explains that alchemists spent hundreds of years unsuccessfully trying to create artificial life. Later, we realize that it was actually possible, but never documented due to the fall of the Kingdom of Xerxes—it was only known as a theoretical possibility. Another reference is the name of the kingdom itself, Xerxes, which in real life was the name of a Persian king. His wife was called Amestris, just like the country that Father created in order to form a massive Philosopher’s Stone. Because of all these details and references, I love this anime, and I wanted to share these observations to give a bit more context. Thanks for reading <3

Fatther was the first homunculus created by van hoenheims master using vans blood van didnt create father van was just a slave, when pride says hes the first homunculus he means the first one father ever made