Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood S2E5: “The 520 Cens Promise”

I'm assuming it's one hundred cens to the Amestrian dollar or crown or whatever? This promise could be very expensive or very not, depending on inflation.

Envy realizes that Scar must have done this on his way out, and infers that the bloody "Vengeance" means that Dr. Marcoh told him most if not all of what he knows. Not a good day for Sin Inc. The intro rolls, and then Edward leaves Hawkeye's apartment. Before leaving, he asks how worried he should be for her, since she's essentially a hostage. She tells him to think of it this way; as Wrath's personal assistant, she'll have plenty of opportunities to kill him in his sleep.

Uh huh. Right.

Well, it's pretty obviously just her putting on a brave face. Which is impressive, given the situation. Edward chuckles grimly along with her. Then, he tells her to inform Mustang that Scar is still out and about as far as he knows, thanks her for telling him about Ishval and Mustang's resulting suicide pact, and leaves the building. After the title card, Edward and Alphonse meet up on the street, and Edward relays what he's learned. Having not questioned any of this until now, Edward says, makes him feel like a pretty phony alchemist, given that they're supposed to be seekers of truth. Both about the real role of Amestris in the world, and about what Mustang and Co have really been up to this whole time.

The topic of Mustang and Co's plans to face trial and likely execution after they achieve their goal makes Edward ask Alphonse what he plans to do if they ever achieve theirs. Alphonse talks about all the food he wants to eat, the two laugh, and then he asks Edward what he plans to do. Ed says that he'd like to travel around and thank everyone who helped them along the way in person. As he says this, he looks around the surrounding downtown Central, and the camera pans around it as his voice slows down.

The implication is obvious. If Father gets to perform his ritual, there's not going to be an Amestris to travel across, and the people he'd like to thank will be either dead or wishing they were.

Still, they have a possible lead on how to prevent that. They exchange notes on Father's disjunction, and reinforce each other's conclusions that alkahestry seems to be a major weakness of the enemy's. They need to find out what makes it so different, and how to use it against Father. Given how obscure alkahestry seems to be here in Amestris, the best way to do so in a remotely timely manner will probably be talking to May Chang. Getting Scar as a longterm ally would also be nice.

Unfortunately, May has already vanished. Too bad Alphonse didn't think to ask her about this when she was leaving Dr. Knoc's place. They'll have to track her down again, and Edward says he has a plan of how to do it. It involves Pandarat somehow. Pretty sure May took her this time, so I'm not sure what Ed has in mind.

Cut to Lt. Havoc in the hospital. Right, I forgot how little time has actually passed, he would still be in the ward. He's asking the visiting Breda for porno mags, which is in character I suppose. Breda brushes him off, and the two say goodbye. Breda hopes that the food in West province will be as good as everyone says. Meanwhile, outside, Falman is saying goodbye to the guy with the dog; they're being sent north and south, respectively. Falman just needs to return Mustang's chessboard, the one he entertained Barry with. Then, Hawkeye at Mustang's office, taking back some books she lent him. She passes on Edward's warning about Scar, and Mustang assures her he'll keep his eyes open.

She jokes that she might have backed the wrong person. His reply is decidedly not joking.

They bid their goodbyes, and she gives him a parting instruction to not let his work slide. Not sure if she has a more specific meaning here than the obvious. Then he looks out over his empty department, and opens up the chessboard Falman just brought back to him. His pieces have almost all been taken, and his queen is in check. But he's not in checkmate himself, and he might have a few extra pieces to work with after all. Also, he finds a note hidden in one of the chess pieces. Presumably from Falman or an associate thereof.

Cut to...oh god damnit Edward, this was your brilliant plan to track May using her pet?

Edward is the kind of dickhead who thinks that nothing is "realistic" unless it's got spikes and blood all over it, isn't he? I can just imagine him rageposting at people for not taking Warhammer 40K seriously enough. Also, he still fails zoology forever.

Fortunately, he has Alphonse to maybe potentially salvage this brilliant scheme of his.

Fastforward late into the afternoon, when they've asked around Central to no avail for hours and OH SHIT LOOK OUT ELRICS! ENEMY SPOTTED!

Look at her just opening that malevolent burning eye and glowering at them, unseen, from the background. You kids better watch your asses!

As Pride fixes them in her baleful gaze, a car pulls up in front of them with Mustang at the wheel. He tells them to get in, and during the ride to...wherever he's taking them...they fill him in on Father's apparent weakness. He thanks them for the information, and tells them he'll use his remaining resources to dig up as much as he can about alkahestry and how it works differently from alchemy. Edward makes a crack about not wanting to be in Mustang's debt, but appreciating the assistance nonetheless.

On the subject of debts though, Mustang wants that payphone money back. All 520 cens of it.

No mention of dolars, crows, or punds, despite that sum of cens. Guess it's more like the yen. The yn.

The argument also leads to Mustang swerving on the road and nearly killing them all in the most anticlimactic possible way. He's...been under a lot of stress recently.

Edward produces the change, but then tells Mustang he's not going to pay him back yet. He'll do that once he's taken the office of Banana King from Wrath, and the spirit of the position from Father. Mustang demands to know who told him about his ambitions, and Edward tells him that Hawkeye explained the entire conspiracy. Edward then says that once he's in the big chair, he'll borrow more money and only pay it back when Amestris is fully democratized.

As he says this, Mustang lets them out at Dr. Knoc's house.

Before leaving, Edward adds one more thing. That after the parliament is restored to power, he'll borrow more money, and make Mustang promise something else. It isn't said what, but Mustang suddenly looks vulnerable and weary, and Edward says "I'll have to live a long time, won't I?" and slams the car door.

I'm not sure if he's telling Mustang not to let himself be executed, or if he's trying to say that his whole plan is a fool's errand in the first place. The latter I'd agree with. The former...fuck, I don't even know who's side I should be on if that's what he meant.

The brothers enter the house, and find themselves faced with an impatient elderly Ninja.

I have some problems with this.

Wasn't it just a couple weeks ago or so that he set off across the desert with Ross? Isn't the desert supposed to be gigantic? The reason I'm making an issue of this is because, if the desert isn't that big and you can cross it twice in less than a month without using a railroad or the like, then how come alkahestry is so unknown in Amestris?

Well, maybe there'll be an explanation.

Cut back to Mustang, who visits a brothel. Not to use their services, though. The madam is an acquaintance of his, and he hands her the piece of paper he recovered from inside of the chess piece. Dramatic music starts playing. Is this authorization to activate the secret army of heavily armed and alchemically trained hookers that Mustang and Falman have been building in Central? Until I hear otherwise, I'm calling that a yes. Later that night, in East Province, that elderly general who Mustang used to work under gets a phone call from the madam, on a line that civilians are not supposed to have access to. He seems intrigued by this development, but we return to the Elrics before we can find out why.

Ninja is chewing Ninjette out for failing to defend their master, and even slaps her across the face until Dr. Knoc stops him. Also, it turns out that Ninjette is Ninaja's granddaughter. Was that mentioned before? It might have been, but if so it was a while ago. Also...back when the Xingese were first introduced, I could have *sworn* that Ling was the name of their clan, and that Yao was the prince's personal name. But since then, it's been the opposite, and more explicitly than ever here. Did I somehow mix things up to begin with? Maybe. Well, going forward I'll refer to him as Ling and his people as the Yao. Well, anyway, Grandpa Ninja Yao softens up when he realizes that Ninjette lost her arm in the line of duty. Cool. I still want to know how you made it to Xing and back on camelback this fast if it's supposed to be so distant. The Elrics offer to get Ninjette hooked up with Winry for a new arm, but Grandpa Ninja points out that she's a wanted criminal by the Amestrian authorities at this point, and sending her to Winry might just get her in trouble too. Edward and Alphonse reluctantly see the wisdom in this. They thank Dr. Knocs, and he kicks them out.

I...allllmost got invested in Ninjette? Like, if she got to show just a tiny bit more personality than she did, it would have took. But it didn't, so I'm not really feeling engaged by this subplot. Also, how did her grandfather get back here so fast?

Outside, the Yao ninjas start to discuss the prospect of recovering Ling. They've got no idea how one goes about even attempting this, but they're going to try.

Of course, if Greed and Ling actually are conspiring against Father, it could turn out to be surprisingly easy. Across the city, we see Lingreed looking out from his new favorite perch on the command center's rooftop. Who knows what he (they) is looking for.

Later that night, Dr. Knocs is dreaming about his autopsies on Ishvalan corpses. Then, about his recent Xingese patients thanking him. He wakes up, grumbling at the absurdity of himself being treated as a proper, respectable medical doctor. Then, there's a knock at the door.

Huh. Well. Looks more like a couple of Knocs at the door. Ahahahahahahaha I'm hilarious.

They claim to have just been in the neighborhood for the first time in a couple of years. I'm skeptical of the coincidence; wonder what's really going on here? Maybe this was arranged as a covert "thank you" from Mustang? Anyway, after they ask what he's been up to and he mentions his rare living patients who just left, his son (who is younger than he looks; last time they saw each other was before his teenaged growth spurt) tells him he wants to be a doctor like his father. But like, the kind who heals people. He says that his dad's determination to practice medicine even after how the state forced him to misuse it was part of his own inspiration.

Hmm. Sounds like Knocs has had other living patients since Ishval. Just not that many, and he probably downplays them in retrospect.

He awkwardly invites them in for some instant coffee (it's all he has), and they comment on what a mess this place has turned into. As he mixes the coffee, he sheds a single tear and begs god for permission to have just a tiny bit of joy; just one little meeting with his family again.

Trust me doc, your setting’s God really doesn’t care.

So, Knocs has been living a sort of pseudo-ascetic lifestyle to punish himself for being accessory to genocide? I wonder. Did his wife and son leave him in disgust like he told Mustang before, or did he push them away figuring that he no longer deserved them and/or they were better off without him? It's starting to look much more like the latter.

I...really do wish I lived in this fantasy world where people who do war crimes actually regret it afterward in a serious, life-altering way. Even if the characters we're following are the ONLY ones who feel this way and the rest of the guilty parties are apathetic at best to what they've done, the story's focus really paints a more sympathetic picture than I'm strictly comfortable with.

Well, speak of the mostly-figurative devil, we then cut to Kimblee in jail. Ooooh, are we finally getting to the payoff for all that buildup? I think we are. Our first major surprise of the episode is that he's actually had his protostone stashed in his mouth for however many years it's been since his arrest.

I'm surprised he hasn't used it to escape, in all this time. Then again, just because he has a protostone hidden in his ass doesn't neccessarily mean he can spontaneous cast. If he still needs glyphs, and they've done a good job of keeping him from being able to draw any, I can see how it might not have been much help.

Although...wait a minute. Father Cornello seemed like he could spontaneous-cast using his protostone. And Mustang at least seemed to *think* that he could using Lust's core, before she regenerated and ganked him.

Well, I guess the Cornello arc had enough early installment clumsiness that this could just be a minor inconsistency, and Mustang may not have known what he was doing nearly as well as he thought. It's either that, or Kimblee has been content to just sit around in jail for years when he could easily escape, and I'm not sure why he'd do that. "Flee Amestris and make a happy living as a ruthless mercenary somewhere else" sounds like a pretty appealing alternative for someone like Kimblee.

Flashback to the end of the Ishval campaign, during a relatively mild monochrome-storm. Some officers are debriefing Kimblee about how that protostone worked out for him, and he gushes over how amazing it was. They tell him to return the stone to them now that the operation is over, and submit one last written report when he has the time. Kimblee responds to this by putting the stone in his mouth, inferring that the people in this room are likely the only ones who know he has the stone, and then doing one of his explosions or pressure blasts or whatever his main attack spell is.

The flashback ends with him being surrounded by soldiers, who he tells that he killed his superiors because he didn't like the way they looked at him.

So that's what really happened.

Either Kimblee had some sort of insurance against being executed, or he was just confident in his ability to escape if it came to that. In the latter case, I'm not sure why he didn't escape his life in prison sentence either, though.

Back in the present, Kimblee is informed by a guard that he's about to be released. Well, hmm. Did he know that this would happen sooner or later? That could explain his compliance, though he'd have to be pretty patient to just sit in jail and wait several years for it. The guards are indignant that Kimblee is getting a pardon, and are still outraged that he wasn't executed after what he did, but their orders are coming from above.

Kimblee is just quietly smug in response to their questions and insults. He seemed a bit surprised when they first came to his cell, but now it seems like he was expecting this sooner or later. Hmm, yeah, I'm thinking he had good reason to expect a reprieve if he just held on a few years. Even so, that must have strained his self control.

He's led outside, and told that while it's a travesty and obviously the result of political fuckery that he's going free, the guards are also just sort of glad to be rid of him. I get the impression that Kimblee only narrowly avoided dying of "suicide" or "being shot during an escape attempt." And if he didn't have celebrity prisoner status due to being a prolific state alchemist, he probably wouldn't have. As they release him, Kimblee asks for the warden to shake his hand as a thank you for putting up with him all this time. The warden is reluctant, but figures that if this is what it takes to get rid of him faster then so be it. And, Kimblee uses the option to transmute the warden's wristwatch into an explosive device with a ticking timer.

I guess he's angling for another arrest right off the bat.

Though on that note, I think this is the most intricate mechanical creation via alchemy we've seen so far, with or without the use of a philosophers stone. Even without his protostone, Kimblee seems to be a very advanced alchemist, and much smarter than he usually comes across.

The guards run over and struggle to get the bomb off of him, as Kimblee watches smugly. The timer runs out before they can manage, and it turns out that the bomb is actually just a cuckoo clock.

He then informs the warden that it's a great children's toy, worth much more than a cheap wristwatch, and he should give it to his kids.

You know Kimblee, if they shot you right now I think they'd be able to convincingly plead self-defense.

They don't, for whatever reason, and he leaves the prison gates. No sooner does he step out onto the street than a car pulls over and the driver waves to him. Kimblee doesn't seem all that surprised. He gets in, and Envy - who he seems to know, and even addresses her kin as "you guys" - drives him away.

Sin Inc is low on manpower, with Lust dead, Gluttony still being recreated, and Greed getting the hang of his new self, and presumably the recent disturbances have cost them some of their human collaborators' time and attention. So, they're calling in their not-executing-him-years-ago favor.

I suspect that leaving Kimblee alive in jail and telling him they'd have use for him someday was either Wrath or Lust's idea. Probably Wrath, given his knack for getting humans to listen to him even when it's not in their best interest. Envy wouldn't have had the patience to not just kill him after what he did, and I doubt Father would deign to pay this much personal attention to one human alchemist.

Anyway, Envy wants Kimblee to track down Dr. Marcoh. She suspects that that wasn't really his body left in the cell; one of the two chimaera-hounds they had guarding him was missing - not dead, just totally missing, its collar and chain dangling empty across the floor - and Dr. Marcoh is a bio-alchemy specialist. She suspects that Scar actually rescued him, and that they killed and transmuted one of the hounds into a decoy to hide this.

Huh. She's probably right, honestly. I can't think of another reason that one of the mutant hounds would be missing rather than simply dead, given that Scar typically leaves some remains. And, while Mustang needed to thoroughly incinerate his fake corpse to have it pass as human under even a cursory inspection, a specialist biomancer like Marcoh could conceivably do a much better job.

Also, the corpse that Envy found had its head completely destroyed. Scar's victims typically just have internal damage. Maybe Doctor Marcoh wasn't confident he could get his own face exactly right? Or he was afraid they'd check his dental records, and he didn't have access to those the way that Mustang did?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Envy is spot on here. I'm not sure why Marcoh thought this would actually work, but I guess it might have just seemed better than nothing.

Envy also tells him about Scar, and implies implications about Kimblee having apparently not done as thorough a job as they thought with the extermination of Ishvalan resistance. Kimblee at least acts like he's taking this to heart.

So, his mission. Recover Dr. Marcoh, if indeed he is alive. Kill Scar, which hopefully a protostone-armed combat alchemy specialist like Kimblee should be able to pull off. Also, kindly blow up that village that they've been holding hostage so that Marcoh will know they were serious; I guuuueess Envy has some other collateral in mind to ensure his loyalty going forward, if she's ordering that. Also, she warns him that his protostone might be low on juice after the Ishval campaign, so she hands him a spare.

He asks if they used any remaining POW's to make this one. She tells him that no, this was made from Dr Marcoh's coworkers after they were no longer useful. Kimblee laughs, complementing Envy on her family's underhandedness and seeming totally oblivious to the fact that they have no more reason to keep him alive after this than they did those scientists. Maybe he's just confident he can outfight anything they send after him? Well, in that case they're probably just going to escort him to Father for a "final mission" or whatever, because that's someone who he CAN'T outfight, and he'd probably fall for it.

Cut to Scar and Marcoh, who is indeed alive, as they meet up with Yoki in their slum alley hangout again. Scar is telling Marcoh that while he'd love to kill him, he has more use for him alive. For one thing, he wants to know more about the guy who killed his family and who apparently used Dr. Marcoh's invention to do it. For another, as a theoretical alchemy researcher, Marcoh might be able to help him make sense of his brother's notes that he still has hidden away.

The third reason, I suspect, is that his encounter with Edward and Winry - combined with the warning his old abbot gave him back in the shantytown - might be starting to make him reconsider his murderous MO. He doesn't say so aloud, but there must be a reason he's keeping Marcoh alive to look at his brother's notes when he didn't give, eg, Tucker the same option.

As he finishes explaining, May and Pandarat show up again. May starts squeeing when she hears that their new party member knows how to make philosopher's stone, but Scar shuts that down quickly. Also, since May with her healing ability is back now, he disintegrates Dr. Marcoh's face.

Scar doesn't want him to be recognizable, and May fixing his face wrong is a good way to achieve that. Also, even if he's not going to kill him, he can't exactly let someone who condemned dozens of innocent Ishvalans to a fate worse than death for science get off scot free, can he?

Scar announces that they're heading north. Scar stashed his brother's notes away in the northern province, for some reason. Considering the implications that the final step of Father's plan will involve pushing out against the Amestris/Drachma border in that same direction, this seems like an overly convenient coincidence. End episode.


This felt like an early episode, from when they were still rushing through stuff to get the FMA '03 material out of the way. A whole bunch of unrelated or barely-related shit going on with little attention given to pacing or thematic continuity, and quite a few things that really needed more explanation than they were given. A lot of stuff happened, but the disjointedness of it all leaves me with little feeling for any of it.

All in all, a weak episode by mid-FMA:B standards. It feels like the studio just wanted to wrap things up in central and send everyone north for the next phase of the plot ASAP. This may or may not have also been in issue in the manga, but even if it was I suspect that BONES made it worse. Also, Kimblee is just not measuring up to this series' high standards when it comes to villains, and at least so far feels like a step down from the haemonculi. And....he still feels uncomfortably like a sin-eater to absolve the legions of "normal" people of their actions during the war.

So, yeah, not a particularly good episode. Mostly due to the clumsy pacing and lack of focus, rather than any issues with the plot itself.