Summary:

Flashback to the end of the Ishbal war where Riza self-diagnoses PTSD and asks Roy to burn her father’s alchemy tattoo on her back so that no more flame alchemists will be created. In the present, Riza sees through Envy’s disguise and shoots him repeatedly but Envy quickly auditions her for a bit part in a tentacle raep anime. Roy will have none of it though and, with the power of BBQ and Attacking While Your Opponent Is Still Talking,  roasts Envy back to Green Slug state. Roy’s hate has made him powerful but, just before he can deliver the coup de grace, he brought back from the Dark Side by Edward’s (reflection of his youthful) idealism, Scarcasm D-X) and Riza guilt-trippin’ / booty call.

The final blow is actually dealt by Edward whose realization that Envy was jealous of humans is too much of a humiliation for the Homunculus; the already dying creature slips from Fullmetal grasp, plucks out its own Philosopher’s Stone, lays me down to take my rest, it’s just dust in the wind.

Back in Central, Sloth comes back online and more Suppository Soldiers arrive. But Olivier commandeers the troops trying to execute her death warrant by teaching them PvE survival tactics while Alex tanks Sloth. Just when the Men in Blue think that Sloth has bashed the Major into submission, he tricks Sloth into resetting his shoulder and quickly turns the tables with an upper cut, a barrage of hooks and another mouthful (right through to the back of his head) of  Armstrong Artistic Alchemy.

Briggs’ single (non-WOW) tank distracts TACCOM long enough for Buccaneer’s team to breach the command centre with the help of Falman GPS and Izumi Tunnelling. Deep underground, Hohenheim reaches Father’s lair where the latter detaches his umbilical cables and proclaims that he will make the former’s body (part of) his.

Reaction:

I was actually pretty much with Envy (will miss him, such an arsehole!) re: how long will these pretty words last? Had initially thought that how everyone’s nagging would resonate with what Hughes had said and, thus reminded of his initial motivations, Roy would stop making his forehead prematurely wrinkled. But I was pleased as punch that, in the end, it was Riza who got him back and how he, more or less, confessed his love for her. Watch out, Black Hayate!

Alex’s Celebrity Deathmatch with Sloth was simply wonderful especially how he brilliantly aggro-ed Sloth into casting heal on him. I was also LOL with how Team Briggs had rigged up a tank in the Armstrong garage and managed to cause such chaos with just one. Which Clemins stupidly decided to counter with heavy artillery regardless of collateral damage – what’s wrong with these people? Don’t they have LAWs in this country?

What I’m not so chuffed about this episode is how bad some of the animation became (cf. Mustang Moeblob and > < Olivier examples above – click on them to enlarge). Even Sloth was embarrassed by his moeblob respawn (btw I love K-ON and Lucky Star but just not in my shounen please). Most of it was still decent to very good but, as the producers have maintained quality over this absolutely kickass arc, the bad parts simply stood out as egregious eyesores – to add insult to injury – of the two of this series’ coolest characters to boot! Hopefully we’ll see less, rather than more, of this as we enter the final approach. Or maybe it’s an incentive to get the DVD(rip).

P.S. In keeping with Epi’s SOP, no manga spoilers please.

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