Some interesting background information is finally shared between Dante and Hohemheim, as viewers find out that they were the original researchers and creators of the first Philosopher’s stone 400 years ago. So how did they manage to survive for so long? Well, using the Philosopher’s stone’s power, Dante and Hohemheim have transmuted their souls into other live bodies for that extended period of time. However, according to Hohemheim, each transmutation of the soul isn’t perfect, which causes “decay” of the soul, sort of like if you take 1 and multiply it by .99^x, eventually, the product will go to zero. However, Dante refuses to believe Hohemheim, and she sends out Wrath, Sloth, and Lust to hunt down the Elric brothers.
Meanwhile, Ed and Al leave Rizenbul once again, as Ed has intentions of taking on the Homunculi. Apparently, he had dug into the grave of his mother in the previous episode and retrieves what seems to be the remains of his mother. Also, Ed asks for Izumi’s help in retrieving the remains of her lost baby. Al, seemingly left behind by his brother because 1) Ed doesn’t want Al to fall into the wrong hands 2) Ed doesn’t know what will happen if Al attempts alchemy. However, earlier in the episode, Winry gets a mysterious call from a “Shou-chan” asking for the Elric brothers. For all you fans out there, it’s pretty obvious who is calling, and Al eventually goes out and seeks help from “Shou-chan” to learn to use the Philosopher’s Stone.
Looks like we’re built up for a big battle in the upcoming episodes! 
This post was written by...
Kungfucius – who has written 275 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
One of the original founders, and a fan of long-running shounen series.
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Whoa, all caught up to the current episode
I can’t believe this series is ending in 7 episodes – Ed’s collected artifacts to fight Sloth (burial remains of Ed’s mother), Lust (the pendant), and Wrath (remains from Izumi), but he still has to be able to fight Dante and the remaining four members of the “seven deadly sins”. I do hope they don’t end on a cliff-hanger O_o
Yep I’ve finally caught up after dragging my feet for a while! Where did you find out that FMA will be ending in 7 episodes?
AnimeNFO says that this series only has 52 episodes
http://animenfo.com/animetitle,1265,mybywf,fullmetal_alche.html
However, I bet that the real *ending* of this series will only be shown in the upcoming movie (released in summer 05)
Oh, and I love your comparison of FMA to an infinite series ;D
Ah…so that’s where you found that info.
Yeah, I’ve been studying for my Ph.D. qualifying exam for a while, so as you can see I have numbers abound in my head
That episode just came out on Adult Swim.There is actually only 51 episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist.Then the movie picks up where the series ends.Also, just to complete what happens later, Ed gets sent to the other side of the gate(which is our world in 1921),then he comes back into his world and gets killed by Envy who shows her true form.After Ed dies,Al uses himself to bring back Ed in his original body(no auto-mail) and then Ed uses him self to bring Al back to his body.Al is found in the body of a 10 year old and can’t remember andything the day after they tried to transmute their dead mother.Ed is back in our world and he goes to study rocket science.Al goes to Izumi and studies alchemy all over again.Then they hold their hands to the sky and promise to find a way back to each other.