So you ended up becoming a soldier after all.
Sure enough, you're not ready for "flame alchemy" yet.
Still, sir?
Up to now,
you have only taught me the fundamentals of alchemy.
Of course.
It's a waste to even teach the fundamentals to someone
who lowers himself to becoming a dog of the military.
Is not alchemy for the people?
Master, now that the country is threatened from all sides,
there is a pressing need to strengthen the military.
- Alchemy in defense of the people is-- - I'm tired of hearing that excuse!
I find it difficult to abide this.
Master, how can someone as great as you suffocate in such poverty?
Please, get your state certification.
Once you do, you could further your research, and--
I completed my research long, long ago.
What?
The greatest, most powerful alchemy,
depending on how it is used,
it could bring about disaster.
I have perfected it, and now, I am convinced.
As long as an alchemist lives,
he is a creature that must pursue the truth.
Once an alchemist stops thinking, he dies.
I died a long time ago--
Master!
Master! Master Hawkeye!
Look after... my daughter...
My daughter...
has all of... my research...
Thank you for everything that you've done for him.
Don't worry about it. As his pupil, it was a matter of course.
If anything comes up, feel free to call on me in the military.
Are you going to scorn me for becoming a soldier too?
Sure, someday, I might die like trash by the side of the road.
Even so, if I can be one of this country's building blocks,
and defend the people with these hands, I believe I'll be happy.
Man, I've revealed such a naive dream of mine.
Not at all. I think it's a wonderful dream.
Is it okay for me to believe in a future where we will live happily?
Should I let you carry out my father's dreams?
Hayate, bad!
Sorry about that.
Nah, it happens a lot.
I heard you'd been assigned to the Führer.
Yes.
Looks like you had a pretty hard time of it.
I didn't shoot anyone.
I didn't have to shoot them.
Or rather, I couldn't shoot them.
I'm hopeless, huh?
I've got no resolve, so I'm always putting everyone else out.
Did something happen?
It turns out Scar is the one who killed Winry's parents.
At that moment,
deep down in my heart, I felt it was wrong.
Suddenly, the gun looked like something scary.
Before I knew it...
I think she hated Scar enough to want to kill him.
Afterward, she bawled like I've never seen her bawl before.
I really am hopeless.
I didn't understand her one bit.
It's because you came back alive that you're worried about this.
But then, you have to go on living.
For the sake of those important to you as well.
Protect her.
You love Winry, don't you?
No, she's just a childhood friend!
She's like family!
I... It's only natural that I'd protect her--
I apologize.
This turned out to be a heavy burden for you.
Lieutenant, have you ever thought of it as a heavy burden?
I don't have the right
to call it light or heavy anymore.
I've taken the lives of many people in the past.
Also...
I'm the one who chose to go down this path.
Ishval?
Is it okay if I ask you about Ishval?
Tell me what you people did in Ishval.
Ishval is a harsh land, full of rocks and sand.
The land being what it is,
it's no surprise that such a strong people and a religion with such strict tenets
would be born there.
However,
a number of people were discontented over their annexation by Amestris.
As a result...
With that one bullet fired,
their discontent became anger and spread throughout all of Ishval.
In time, the uprising became a civil war and it went on for seven long years.
And then, a one-page document determined everything.
Führer's Order #3066.
The piece of paper that declared the start of the Ishvalan War of Extermination.
Just that one sheet of paper.
It was hell.
The air was filled with the smells of decay and gunpowder,
and the sand was heavily soaked with the blood that had been shed.
Ordinary soldiers would fire rounds indiscriminately,
and one of them might happen to take the life of someone.
But for snipers, it was different.
When we pulled the trigger, someone was sure to die.
The only ones for whom the link between cause and effect was so evident
were snipers...
and State Alchemists.
My name is Iron Blood Alchemist, Basque Grand!
Iron and blood!
In other words, weapon and soldier!
If I do not take the lead in battle, who else will?
Why, those Ishvalan punks!
How dare they? Damn them!
Roy! Roy Mustang!
You're here too, are you?
Long time no see.
But then, you've got a different look about you.
I could say the same for you.
You've got the eyes of a killer.
Yeah.
Back at the military academy,
we all talked about the future of this country, huh?
Yeah. And what a beautiful future it was.
Captain, you have a letter.
Oh, thanks!
What?
It's my beautiful future!
Her name is Gracia.
She's waiting in Central for me to come home.
All by herself, all this time...
What if another man puts the moves on her?
Nah, Gracia wouldn't disregard a fine man like me
to have an affair with someone else.
No, but then again...
Hughes, a little word of warning.
This often happens in movies and novels...
A guy on the battlefield who brings up stories of his woman
immediately dies.
Look, you...
Now I can live until tomorrow.
This letter is enough to let me dream about tomorrow.
Here on this battlefield, where we don't know when things will end...
It's true, I see no way out of this war.
No matter how much military force the country throws this way,
the desert just sucks it up like water.
After trying so hard to gain control, what's left?
All in all, it's just the sand, right?
Yeah.
This is more than comprehensive for bringing an uprising under control.
Long time no see, Major Mustang.
Do you remember me?
How can this be?
She has developed the eyes of a killer.
Please tell me something, Major.
Why are soldiers killing citizens, when they should be protecting them?
Why is alchemy meant to bring about good fortune,
being used to kill people?
Because that is the job of a State Alchemist.
Why are soldiers killing citizens when they should be protecting them?
Because that is the duty placed upon soldiers.
Am I wrong?
Are you saying we should accept this devastation as part of the job?
Well, now, let's say...
Miss, you seem reluctant to be here.
That's the face you're making.
Can you tell me for certain that when you defeat an enemy,
there isn't the slightest moment where you say, "I got him! Great!"
take pride in your own skills, and feel a sense of accomplishment?
Miss Sniper?
Don't say another word!
For my part,
I can't understand you people.
The battlefield is, after all, a place where you kill the enemy.
Did you put on your uniforms without being ready for that?
Don't avert your eyes from death. Look forward.
Look directly at the people you are killing.
And then don't forget them.
The enemy isn't going to forget you, either.
Whoops, it's time.
I have to get to work.
I have to go too.
See you, Roy.
Hughes.
Why do you fight?
It's simple. I don't want to die. That's all there is to it.
The reasons are always something simple.
Well, then what is the reason for this war?
Reason?
There is one. A terrible reason.
Are you saying you used our blood to make a Philosopher's Stone?
What became of the Stone?
Major Solf J. Kimblee,
the Crimson Alchemist, had it.
The man with long, black hair tied back and cold eyes?
Brother...
And then?
The tide of the battle turned over that single Stone.
Oh, I love that sound.
It resonates deep within my body. I truly love that sound.
It makes my spinal cord dance with sorrow,
and my eardrums quiver with glee.
It is a joy I can feel
here as always, side-by-side with death.
What fulfilling work this is!
I love this sound!
How wonderful the Philosopher's Stone is!
It was only a matter of time before they were exterminated.
It was then that the High Priest of Ishvala, Logue Lowe,
stood before the Führer on behalf of his brethren.
Ho... you want me to accept your life,
to spare the remaining tens of thousands of Ishvalans?
- Indeed, I am-- - Don't flatter yourself.
Are you saying that your life
and the lives of the remaining tens of thousands are of equal value?
Let's not get carried away, human.
A single person's life is only worth that one person,
nothing more and nothing less.
I will not accept this exchange, nor will I stop the extermination.
Why, you...! You're inhuman!
You will suffer the hammer of God!
God?
This is intriguing.
Even under these circumstances,
the hammer of God has not befallen me yet, has it?
How many more...
how many thousands more Ishvalans must I kill before it falls?
Why, you!
God is, after all, nothing more than something created by people,
by human hands.
If you wish to lower the hammer on me,
then don't rely on God,
do it yourself, human!
In time, the war was over,
and we ended up returning to our homes.
Ultimately, we foot soldiers were as good as garbage, huh?
Yeah.
The power of one person does not amount to much.
As such, I will do all I can,
however little that may be,
to protect those who are dear to me,
those below me will protect those below them.
We tiny humans should be able to do that much, at least.
After all you went through in Ishval,
you still ended up choosing this path.
Yes, sir.
If the ways of this world are based on equivalent exchange, as alchemy says,
then in order to allow for a new generation to enjoy good fortune,
then the price that we must pay
is to carry the bodies of the dead across a river of blood.
I'm going to appoint you to be my assistant.
I would like to have you watch my back.
You understand, don't you?
That by leaving my back to you,
you can shoot me from behind at any time.
If I ever step off the path, shoot me.
You are entitled to do so.
Will you follow me?
As you wish, sir.
Into hell, if you so desire.
But even if the colonel becomes top soldier,
it won't change the fact that this country is a military state, will it?
Yeah, well, you have to take the Assembly,
which is now more or less a puppet of the military,
and move it back to a democratic system,
like it should be.
Until you wring out the corruption from the military-state era,
the country can't be renewed.
Corruption?
For example, the war criminals of the Ishvalan War of Extermination
could be brought to trial.
Yes.
The hero of the civil war
would just be a mass murderer in a peaceful world.
And the colonel is aiming for the top, knowing all this?
That's a path to suicide, isn't it?
The Homunculi were the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes
during the civil war.
Even if the Homunculi were the cause of it,
we're the ones who carried it out.
You must not turn away from death.
You must not forget the people you've killed.
The reason being... they certainly won't forget us for killing them.
But...
Before you start worrying about us,
you have something else to do, right?
You and Alphonse have to get back to your original bodies.
There must be many people who are waiting for that day to come.
Al and I will get our bodies back together for sure.
Dr. Knocs, sorry to have intruded.
Mr. Armor?
Thank you for all the help you've been.
My name isn't Armor. It's Alphonse Elric.
Elric?
You remember Edward Elric, right?
The little alchemist,
I'm his younger brother.
It's a long story, but my body was taken away from me.
HIM
If you're his brother, then I'll bet you're just like him.
That's pretty rude!
Obviously, I'm far taller than Brother is!
My face isn't harsh like his, and I'm a better fighter than him.
But I'm not short-tempered. I'm a gentleman.
Oh, Alphonse!
I sure do hope you get your body back soon.
Right.
Dr. Marcoh, time to eat.
Huh? It sure is quiet.
Are you thinking about Ishval again, and crying to yourself?