Be Thou for the People

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Be Thou for the People
Lyra, Yoki and his soldiers.
Episode Length:	24 minutes
Episode Code:	09
Episode Airdate:	2003-11-29

Be Thou for the People (Japanese: 「軍の狗＜いぬ＞の銀時計」 - Gun no Inu no Gin Tokei, The Dog of the Military's Silver Watch ) is episode 9 of the Fullmetal Alchemist TV series originally aired 2003-11-29.

Edward and Al are seen following an excited Winry as she hops from shop to shop of mechanics, buying all of the fancy gadgets that she can. Ed is still depressed so Winry gives him some advice and an oil can (thing). This cheers him up.

Edward receives his second assignment: inspecting the coal mines at the town of Youswell. When the two arrive at the mining town, it is more of a ghost town, Ed is whacked in the back of the head by a horizontal ladder that a boy is carrying. The boy, Kyle, apologizes and upon learning that the two are tourists invites them to his father's inn; only to find out that for the two to stay the night is 200 K; since Youswell is so poor, they have to milk tourists for all they have. Normally, Ed and Al would be fine except they spoiled Winry which means they are short on cash. So they move to plan B: using Alchemy to fix things in return for a night at the inn. Everyone is impressed by Ed's skills but when he mentions that he is a state alchemist their cheers and smiles fade, the people then kick Ed out (literally) from the inn. Al later sneaks some food out for Ed from within himself.

As Al does this, Lieutenant Yoki, a weasel like man, his two muscle bound cronies, and Lira, Yoki's obediant little special pet, appear; apparently, the inn has not been paying their taxes. The inn owner argues that it is unfair that Yoki reduces the people's wages and then raises their taxes. Lira snidely comments at this, this riles the people in the inn. One of them tries to stand up to Yoki, only for Lira to suddenly blast him with a blast from the pendant of her necklace; Yoki congratulates Lira for this and she smiles. Kyle throws a rag at Yoki, one of his cronies punches the boy and then raises a weapon to finish Kyle off when- Ed blocks it with his own blade. Ed flashes his pocketwatch, this cows Yoki who quickly kisses Ed's butt with compliments and invites Ed to stay at his mansion.

Ed is now in a fancy dining room at a dining table covered in fancy gourmet foods across from Yoki. Ed notes how well the lieutenant lives compared to the townspeople. Yoki considers himself higher than them and then adds a comment on Lira who is now in a maid's outfit and serving food; Yoki suggests that Lira show her alchemic skills of to Ed. Ed brushes this aside as he already saw her abilities when she attacked on of the inn residents and deduces how her attack worked. She condensed the water molecules in the air and reduced their volume creating a shock wave which formed at the spinning disc in the center of her necklace's pendant and then shot forward. Yoki is impressed and then hints that the townspeople shall learn their lesson very shortly. Yoki also has Lira place a bag of money before Ed, and says that its not a bribe, but "a gift from me to you".

Al is in his room at the inn when he hears the door open to the first floor. He takes a peak into the dining area and sees a bright light and hears Kyle come downstairs. The inn then blows up. Everyone else gets out alright but the inn owner desperately tries to find his son who was still inside. Al then pushes up through the debris and reveales the tearing up Kyle beneath him, unscathed but dirty and in shock.

Ed visits the ruined inn in the morning where the townspeople are. Kyle pleads with Ed to make gold so that he can help fix the inn and even save the town. Ed says he can't since he would be arrested and stripped of his State Alchemist certification. Kyle is upset by this, believing that Ed is being selfish. Ed brushes this off, pointing out the gold would simply be taken away in taxes. Ed asks why the townspeople remain in Youswell if they are that miserable and treated so poorly. Kyle's father answers that it is because "this town is our home, and our coffin". Ed smiles at this and then walks off with Al in tow. Ed contemplates equivalent exchange and how it may be deeper than he thought. Ed then takes the money that Yoki gave him and drops the gold coins onto a pile of rocks, claps his hands together, and begins to transmute.

Yoki is shocked to hear that Ed wants to buy not only the mine but the entire town as it is rich with minerals that would be very useful in his alchemic research. Yoki kindly declines the offer but seems to change his mind when Al reveals behind a door a large pile of gold bricks. The offer is tempting but Yoki is hesitant, for if he sold the mine and town for his own personal gain, he would come out looking quite bad. Ed thinks and decides that Yoki could write an official document stating that he is giving the mine and town's rights to Ed free of charge and that Yoki can keep the gold without anyone knowing.

Kyle is upset with his father (now in a barn or warehouse) that he will not let him fight in what can be assumed to be a rally against Yoki. Ed suddenly appears and the people are not surprisingly kind to him. Ed then reveals that he is their landlord, boss, and all around overseer, but he doesn't wish to be bothered with carrying the heavy document back home and decides to sell it back to the people of Youswell for... 200 K. Everyone is shocked, Ed then realizes that the price is the same as the charge for a room and decides that if the inn owner lets him and Al stay the night then the trade will be even. The owner agrees but Kyle sadly argues that the inn was destroyed. Ed begs to differ and everyone exits the barn (or warehouse) and sees that inn standing as good as new. Ed hands the deed to Youswell to the inn owner with a smile.

Yoki then appears and demands to know why the gold bricks turned to stone. Ed plays dumb and denies knowing what Yoki is talking about, besides, Yoki stated so himself on the deed that he handed the rights to Youswell to Ed free of charge. Yoki does not agree and orders Lira to retrieve the document. Lira fires at Ed and he dodges. She tries again and he parts it with his right arm and reveales that it is automail. He quickly draws his blade and attacks, Ed cuts the pendant from the chain before Lira can fire. She falls backwards and glares at Ed but is unable to do anything. Yoki tries to get his cronies to retrieve the document but they are surrounded by the townspeople. The miners then surround the defenseless lieutenant, planning on repaying Yoki physically to what he had been doing to them financially for years, they then beat the snot out of him.

The inn owner ponders about Ed as a party is being held in the inn. The people are cheering and laughing along with Ed and Al.

Hawkeye reports on Ed's success and how he is becoming to be known as a hero to the people. Mustang ponders about the attractiveness of the Eastern women but smiles upon hearing this.

Some years later, Ed and Al are in a taxicab travelling through the desert (heading to Lior). Ed asks the driver if he ever heard of Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. The driver says he has heard of him and that he is a hero to the people; Ed grins and Al sweatdrops. Ed's cheery demeanor fails when the driver mentions that the Fullmetal Alchemist is a dwarf. True to his nature, Ed chases the driver from the cab into the desert in a rage, an exasperated Al following.

[edit] Miscellanea

• The flashback ends with this episode and the plot comes full-circle to the Elric brothers journeying to the town of Lior to investigate a tip from Mustang regarding rumors of a Philosopher's Stone's existence there.
• One of the townspeople (the man who demands what Ed is talking about in the barn or warehouse before he reveals the deed) is dressed in clothes identical to a younger Ed.

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