PANDAR RETURNS
Summary:
As Sloth ravages Fort Briggs, Olivier has an idea to show just exactly how they ‘do things in Briggs’. Knowing that Ed and Al are hesitant to help, Buccaneer picks up Ed and ‘threatens’ him to help with bringing the tank fuel upstairs. Meanwhile, Olivier and her troops use their three tanks to drive Sloth back into the elevator and send the elevator upstairs.
It's tank fuel... I swear!!! This is a family show! (So THIS is how they 'do things in Briggs'...)
The elevator goes to the top floor where Sloth is led into a corridor which leads to the cold outside. There Buccaneer gives Sloth a ridiculously awesome judo back flip, and Ed, Al and Buccaneer pour all of the fuel onto Sloth. As Al wonders what is about to happen next, Olivier suddenly appears in her tank and shoots a round into Sloth which forces him to lose his balance, but it isn’t enough to make him fall into the outside. The Elric brothers quickly follow though with dropkicks which send Sloth tumbling down below.
Too bad his head didn't explode Wesley Snipes style...
Buccaneer explains to the brothers that the fuel is a special formulation which is so volatile that it even evaporates in the dead of winter. With the POWER OF SUBLIMATION and the cold outside, Sloth is frozen solid and falls to the ground (but unfortunately does not explode). With Sloth taken care of, Olivier takes Ed and Al into custody. The next day the brothers are greeted and thanked by the various troops of the base who they saved or whose friends they saved.
Meanwhile Kimblee arrives at Briggs and is greeted by Miles who reveals his Ishbal origins and threatens Kimblee to behave. Unbeknownst to Miles, General Raven arrives soon after with the crooked alchemist doctor who instantly heals Kimblee using the power of the Philosopher’s Stones.
Why's he trying to eat PANDAR? I don't understand... It's like how in Rilakkuma Cafe, Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma eat Rilakkuma-shaped cakes.
Meanwhile as Dr. Marcoh goes through Scar’s brother’s research, May Chang attempts to explain Eastern alchemy to the doctor. While Eastern alchemy uses power innate in the Earth and is able to channel it at a distance, Amestris’ version of alchemy uses the power of the tectonic plates. May is skeptical though, as she wonders if that is a lie, and that the real power lies within Father’s vast machine and the souls of the people of Xerxes.
Ed ponders whether the tunnels is actually the Large Hadron Collider, or the Superstring Gravity Reactor leading to the second world...
Meanwhile Olivier’s troops explore Sloth’s tunnel and realize that the tunnel seemingly has no end. Interested in what the Elric brothers think, Olivier brings the two down into the tunnels. After a bit of travel, Olivier finally decides to ask the brothers again what they are doing in Briggs, and what they think of the tunnels. The brothers finally reveal their intentions, explain all about Father and the Homunculus and ask for Olivier’s help. As Ed ponders the reason for the tunnels, he has an epiphany. Perhaps the tunnel is one giant circle surrounding the entire country of Amestris and part of a giant transmutation circle. As he ponders what could power this alchemy reaction, Falman tells Ed about all of the major historical massacres in the history of Amestris, and it is then that they realize that the massacres form the points of the circle’s inner pentagons.
Well I guess we all predicted this would happen a really long time ago...
Suddenly Ed realizes what others have been trying to tell him and what others had previously realized, including that ‘bad guy’ from the first episode and the late Hughes. It is now clear to Ed that the plan has been to use the country of Amestris to create a philosopher’s stone all along. Simultaneously May Chang and Dr. Marcoh discuss the same thing. The only point left in the entire circle is Briggs. As Olivier worries about what this means, a messenger arrives to let her know of General Raven’s arrival and that he has requested an audience with her.
Say do you want to join my harem? You don't own golf clubs right?
Ed quickly hatches a plan and asks Olivier for her help in lying to Raven. During their meeting, Olivier turns up the charm and finally gets Raven to ask the question:
“Are you interested in a perfect, immortal army?”
Reaction:
Much like the introduction of Father 10 episodes back, this episode ties up a lot of loose ends as it starts to set a potential ‘end game’ for the series. While I have personally suspected this for a very long time now, the show has now acknowledged that Father’s plan was to use Amestris as a vehicle to create a giant Philosopher’s Stone and that the tunnels were part of the transmutation circle. The important thing to note is that when Dr. Marcoh asked Evny if this is what they were trying to achieve, Envy told him ‘sort of’. So what is the actual plan? They are likely going to create something, but I wonder what the full purpose is. Is father running out of energy and needs his 500-yearly boost or is there something more to it?
It seems like the sides are now firmly in place as well. On one side we have the forces of Central, the Homunculus, Kimblee and the Philosopher’s Stones, and on the other side we have Grumman, Mustang, the Elric Brothers, Scar and of course Olivier and the Briggs army. Since Briggs is the only place left to complete the transmutation circle, we can expect some pretty epic battles coming up.
As for the continuation of the Sloth fight, I was pretty impressed. Seeing as how Olivier was trying to shoot Sloth with everything she had, I had just assumed that she would use the tank fuel to light Sloth on fire, but by exploiting the principle of sublimation to use the refrigeration effect to freeze Sloth it was much more elegant. So Bravo Olivier, you’ve jumped up a notch in my book!
Of special note of course is:
Buccaneer being BY FAR the most awesome character yet!
Finally, just one observation. Why are there train tracks in Sloth’s tunnel? I was under the impression he was just digging by himself. Is he laying tracks too? And if he’s using the tracks to haul out the dirt, how completely inefficient is it all, if he has to go all the way back to some unspecified hole to dump the dirt every time? Just wondering…
P.S. Just took a look out the window… with the first snowstorm of the year, it looks like Briggs outside! Ski season here I come!
This post was written by...
Epi – who has written 190 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
As a huge fan of all things mecha, high school and tsundere, I've been writing for SSAB! since the summer of 2009, although my love of anime spreads through all genres. I'm not as witty as some, but I aim to bring comprehensive and well-written anime reviews out there for you all out there to enjoy!
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Olivier was pretty cute a split second there when she talked about children before I realized it was a farce.
So the question is, were you excited about Olivier being cute, or were you excited at the prospect of children (aka loli Oliviers)?
Loliviers?
That is awesome.
Nice homage to “Tiger” Woods with his “wild” life ; )
heh pride sould make his apperence next episode and fun fact that alchemist doctor is the same one from Bradley flash back that turned him into a homounculus
@clinton
Whoa, spoilers dude! this isnt random curiosity, epi wants to go into this series blind. People that know the manga dont care and those that havent dont want to know. be careful in future.
really liked this ep, especially its little references to other characters. so much for izumi fighting a bear, she was holed up in a briggs storeroom most of the time, ha ha. watching this series has also reminded me that most of my favourite characters arent in the first series. both the xing and briggs crew totally rule, although alex louis armstrong is still this shows greatest asset.
@clinton
I noticed that the doctor was one and the same, but i wrote that post at 3am and was too lazy to make sure sure
But yes no spoilers please, I never read the manga!
@fathomlessblue
Good call on fighting the bear. It would be funny if Ed and Al managed to find Izumi’s hideout and that served some sort of plot point in the future. Buccaneer is the most manly man, but Alex Louis Armstrong is overall a better developed character I agree!
I’m sure Al could have thrown Sloth if he tried lol, although I don’t think Ed is capable of it.
Al may be capable perhaps, but he doesn’t have the balls to.
fathomlessblue: Actually what Izumi said was true, and she wasn’t holed up in a storeroom but actually RAIDING the depots of Briggs soldiers. It makes a latter scene in the manga much more hilarious in context.
@myssa rei
ha ha, i know she actually wasnt hiding in a storeroom but when i saw that scene i just had an bizzare image of izumi muching biscuits out of the cold. Considering she had ed/al kill their own food whilst being attacked by a masked mason, coupled with telling sig how much harder she had it up north, i cant help but laugh that her secret of survival was sneaking rations every time she got peckish. im not sure i believe the story of having close encounters with a bear now, although i suppose it could expain why she married sig, ha ha
It sort of still counts as a spoiler.
definately a spoiler. also it hasn’t been explicitly proven that
the belief comes from a line in the manga thats highly contested among the fans. personally i’d like it if it was true, but beyond that line theres no hint that they are.
Don’t worry guys, I put the comment into a spoiler. No hard feelings Clinton, just doin’ mah job :love:
Edit: I also spoiler-ed part of fathomlessblue’s comment. I know it wasn’t intentional, but just a response to the first spoiler. =3
Thanks Jesus159, I am trying to avoid reading spoilers, so even putting spoiler tags over them leaves me vulnerable!
What the hell are you still doing up this late?!?! At least I have an excuse (hw…)
I work late, so I wake up late, so I sleep late… it’s all messed up.
yes you are up late of course were i am its only 10 any way i forgive you people and Epi out of intrest what do you think of Kimblee
also here is a fun fact i did you know that your girl Lan fan was the first person to kick Envy’s ass in the manga
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