I've seen a lot of culture critics describes FMA:B as "flawless," "perfect," and "the best anime ever made." While I strongly disagree with the first two of those assessments, I might just be sold on the third.

I'll go into this in the analysis post(s), where I'll explain what I got out of the story, regardless of whether or not it was the author's intent.

The nameless child dies as it lived; struggling to escape the object of its desire.

I could have sworn we already had an episode called that? Back during the Briggs arc, I think? Something very similar at least. Well, regardless!

Fullmetal Alchemist generally does a good job of managing to be both a cerebral philosophical journey AND a dumb punchy-man shounen series at the same time. Sometimes it leans more heavily in one direction, sometimes in the other. Occasionally, the two things that it's trying to be come into conflict, to the story's detriment.

Pretty sure he already did swallow God, unless the visuals at the end of the previous episode were misleading.

For all that it hates humanity for creating it, how much more must it loathe its original self? For every second of every minute of every day, for nearly five hundred years, it's known that someone else has what it's lost.

…that's a thing you can do?