Talk:List of Fullmetal Alchemist episodes/Archive 1

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Contents

Episode 16: That Which is Lost

destroy vs. check I think that Lust said she wanted to make sure that the Notes did not reveil a certain secret about the stone, not destroy them.

Minor title problem

There is a minor title problem in epsode 22 but in 21 it sez the tittle is heart of steal but when it opens it sez full matal heart

  1. Heart of Steel/ full metal heart it sez the title diffrent when the show begains

Bad english above. First sentence is from first paragraph. Second is from episode listing. I wanted to fix it, but first off I need someone to verify the points highlighted here. 202.156.6.54

  • The Funimation DVD uses two different titles. The box art, the DVD menu and translation of the Japanese DVD title use "fullmetal heart". The title when the DVD is played is "heart of steel". I would tend to think that "fullmetal heart" is the better one to use because the other title only appears once. - anon

Episode Descriptions

I have no opinion on adding lengthy descriptions of episodes to the page, but if people want them, please put them in a seperate section at the end of the page. The page works better if there is the list of episode titles in the top section followed by a potentially very long section of episode descriptions. I have rearranged the page in that manner today - anon January 16, 2006

Um, there are four seasons.

Okay, FUNimation did a very good job with the presentation of their DVD's. The Bonus material is very satisfying, the subbing is very well written, I don't watch dubs but most people seem to like this one, and those Mr. Stain episodes were very welcome. I'm even considering buying the whole collection of Mr. Stain on Junk Alley. In fact, I urge everyone else to consider it also.

But, let's not start Americanizing all the information on these pages, people. I think it would be easier if we list the episode order as it appears in two places—Japanese television, and on DVD—instead of one place: Cartoon Network. Just list the original order:

•Season 1: Episodes 1-13 •Season 2: Episodes 14-25 •Season 3: Episodes 26-41 •Season 4: Episodes 42-51

… then mention that FUN splits it in two between episodes 26 and 27. I'ma go ahead and do it myself. Let me know if this ruffles your feathers. (Momus 22:41, 22 January 2006 (UTC))

please stop making this stuff up. There are not and never have been "four seasons". Not in Japan and not anywhere else. A season break at episode 25 is consistant. Calling the last 10 episodes a season makes absolutely no sense at all. Music changes in anime do not mean the same as seasons. But a break around the halfway point in the series can be considered a season.
Momus isn't making this stuff up. As little sense as it makes, the last ten episodes are the fourth season. The episodes wiki even says that those are the "unofficial" American first and second seasons. Anywhere else on the internet Fullmetal Alchemist has four seasons and it's not as uncommon as you'd think for the last season of an anime to be short. Here are some examples: Shinzo (Last season had 12 episodes), Trigun (Last season (And first season) both had 13 episodes), Initial D (Last season had 14 episodes). So you see, there are more animes than just Fullmetal Alchemist with a short last season. So now I must ask you to please refrain from accusing anyone of something before doing at least a little research into it.
I hate to break it to you, but a bunch of fansite can't create facts just because they want something false to be true. FMA was not broadcast in Japan in four seasons. It did not happen that way no matter how many fan sites on the internet wish it were true and put up false information.

Page name

I've gone ahead and moved this page back to Episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist, since it's not really a list anymore. — Ambush Commander(Talk) 20:33, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Length of synopses

A few days ago, I noticed that while Cartoon Network was broadcasting episode 41 or so, the number of episodes synopsized was only 3, so I began adding synopses. I've added synopses for episodes 4-24 and 26-31. I also edited another person's entry for episode 25.

I cerainly don't mind others pitching in, but I'd like to make a plea for the synopses to be brief. I don't think it is necessary to record every detail of an episode, just the main plot points. One paragraph, a handful of sentences, I think, is enough. The purpose, in my opinion, of a synopsis is to serve as a memory aid, to help folks remember what happened prior to the episode they are watching now. Or perhaps to help folks find which episode has a particular plot developement they want to go back and watch. So please don't be surprised or offended if you see me copy-edit a synopsis you wrote. Thanks.sprocketeer 04:50, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

I have to admit, it is more difficult than I initially thought to keep an episode synopsis to a single short-to-medium-length paragraph. Some of the episodes are dense enough that a paragraph is needed for each major thread of the episode. I've had to resort to 3 and even 4 short paragraphs to keep the narrative clear; especially in episodes 1-3, which carry a great deal of exposition to set up the story's premise; episodes with major plot developments (25, 32-34); and the most recent episodes, which are building to the series climax.sprocketeer 20:29, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Merge back in branch

I think the merge can be performed immediately, as there is absolutely no new content in the new article Official Fullmetal Alchemist Episode Guide (see talk page). See the talk page for full diff. — Ambush Commander(Talk) 02:19, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

How did the duplicate article get created?
I don't think it should be called an "official" list of episodes. That's probably a term for the show's production company to use in some venue.sprocketeer 04:54, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
I don't know. User:Mushrambo hasn't responded to my inquiries. Oh well... — Ambush Commander(Talk) 03:16, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

"Official" Seasons

I just want to know who think this article should be organized by the official four seasons versus the unofficial two seasons. I, personally would prefer it to be the official four seasons. The only things that go by the unofficial seasons are the video games. The DVDs, TV, the internet and just about everywhere else goes by the official four seasons. The official seasons can be viewed here: Fullmetal Alchemist Seasons —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mushrambo (talk • contribs) .

THERE ARE NOT AND NEVER HAVE BEEN FOUR SEASONS OF THE SHOW. Japanese TV did not feature four seasons. No DVD features four seasons. As far as fans on the internet and the fan-product certain people inserted at tv.com, ITS WRONG. You and the others are confusing changes in opening credits with seasons. A second season can be somewhat justified by Funimation's releases in america but there is no basis whatsoever for four seasons. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.12.116.8 (talk • contribs) .
Please don't shout, but I'm also fairly certain that FMA was not split into four seasons. Regarding the assertion that the only reason TV.com marks it as four seasons is the change in the opening credits, we can verify this based on its treatment of other anime series. — Ambush Commander(Talk) 22:32, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
The show ran over the course of one year. There were no gaps in the broadcast schedule indicating seasons when it ran in Japan. TV.com indicates that the so-called "fourth season" started with an episode that was premire broadcast the same day back-to-back as the premiere broadast of the so-called final episode of the "third season" in Japan. There are no facts to support a third or a fourth season ever existing. TV.com and other american websites are not trustworthy sources of information on this topic. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.12.116.8 (talk • contribs) .

Please don't reveal the title of the final episode

Someone changed the title of the final episode from "No Title" to...something else. It's a major spoiler I'm sure many folks wish to avoid. Please don't reveal it. --sprocketeer 06:20, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

But isn't the whole list guarded by spoiler tags? So spoiler issues are irrelevant, I would think. --maru (talk) contribs 07:05, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
Episode titles are duplicated as links at the top of the page. Someone wanting to refresh his memory about, say, episode 20 might inadvertantly see the title of episode 51 near the top of the page. It's a humongous spoiler.sprocketeer 07:30, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
And the links themsleves are still below the spoiler. We don't do "degrees of spoiler"- either it is spoiler or not. --maru (talk) contribs 18:44, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
Who are you speaking for with "we"? Some of us here are already holding off writing up entries for episodes until they are broadcast in the US. Its only a few weeks left and its not like the page is never going to be updated again. Besides which the so-called spoiler title isn't going on the page anyway because by the rules, it would be Funimation's official release English title that would go on the page. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.12.116.8 (talk • contribs) .
Wikipedia. It is long standing practice that there aren't "nested" spoilers or "degrees" of spoilage. It is either a spoiler or not. --maru (talk) contribs 13:50, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
The last episode has no official title. There was no title broadcast with the episode. One of the made-up titles (the most dubious one) is a major spoiler and should not be used at least for the next few weeks. If anyone is in panic to see it, its in the page with the explaination. Funimation (and by extension Adult Swim) have made up a title for the episode that isn't a spoiler, but its completely their invention. I wish people could just accept that an episode can not have a title and leave it alone. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.12.116.8 (talk • contribs) .
Are you listening? I'm arguing that your spoiler argument is invalid. I don't know head from toes as to whether the last episode has an official title. --maru (talk) contribs 13:50, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
Spoilers are not the issue. The issue is that the title with the spoiler isn't official and thus should not appear on the page. 168.127.0.51 18:42, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
I will verify. The final Japanese broadcast does not have the "Standard" episode title screen. — Ambush Commander(Talk) 22:13, 6 February 2006 (UTC)

"Death pt.2?" Well, at least it's not a spoiler. But I've seen a fansub of episode 51, and it did not have a title card after the opening credits.sprocketeer 20:32, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

I guess it's a reasonable compromise. If it really is that important, we can add a disclaimer or something to the article. — Ambush Commander(Talk) 21:34, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
If there has to be title, it should be "Laws and Promises" which though it is utterly wrong is the official title as per Funimation which is used for every other title on the page. It also isn't really a spoiler. 69.144.103.34 10:13, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
The official site states that the final episode has no title. It is esentually the series title: FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST. -- Jason Palpatine 16:44, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
I agree that we should leave it listed as "untitled," since there is no "official" title for the episode. But I still think we should at least add a note under it saying that Adult Swim lists the episode as "Laws and Promises." It's more official than fansub titles, at least...

What's the big hurry?

Could someone please explain why they're posting episode synopses a week or more in advance of the Cartoon Network broadcast, presumably spoiling the episodes for folks who have not yet seen them?sprocketeer 14:14, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Most people are choosing deliberately not to. But there are always a few people who want to do something else. Some people add junk synopses that are little more than whatever they got from them seeing the preview or using a tiny bit of information from another source to write two sentences of spoilers. There is an informal system in place to fix the problem and most people are doing the right thing. Any kind of discussion about an official policy is going to turn into a Wikipedia political correctness debate. That said, I would stay away from the page for the next couple weeks unless you want to get hit by big spoilers. 205.188.117.8 16:31, 26 February 2006 (UTC)


There is a spoiler warning at the start of the article. This is not a fan site -- it is an information archive. The article should be as complete as possible. If you don't wnat to be spoiled -- you should heed the warning and not read further. -- Jason Palpatine 16:39, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

Right. The schedule of episodes is irrelevant to us except insofar as it might aid writing the articles. --maru (talk) contribs 19:17, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

Sowing Life Alchemist?

Someone recently changed the spelling of Shou Tucker's title from "Sewing" to "Sowing," but if you pause episode 6 near the beginning as Mustang hands Edward a clipboard, you can clearly see that it is spelled "Sewing."sprocketeer 19:02, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Not only that, but the word "sewing" is more appropriate than "sowing" in this context. We really don't need proof anyway; it's common sense. If someone else wants it spelled as "sowing" they can argue about it here. --Wikivader 21:12, 5 March 2006 (UTC)
Precisely. "Sewing" not only evokes the mental image of different life forms being "stitched" together, it is remniscent of the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. As DNA and genetic engineering were unknown in Wells' time, his explanation for Dr. Moreau's creations was vivisection.sprocketeer 23:31, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Humor vs. Accuracy when making edits

In episode 3, Mother, I found and described a bit of humor in a grim scene:

"After apprenticing themselves to a master alchemist, the brothers use her training, a precise collection of the chemicals that make up a human body, and their own blood in an attempt to resurrect Tricia Elric. The results are catastrophic; Edward loses his left leg, Alphonse loses his entire body. Ed gives his right arm, literally, to attach Al’s soul to a nearby suit of armor." [emphasis mine]

One can argue whether the humor was inappropriate (e.g., "I'd give my right arm for that!"), but the edit someone made was both inaccurate and redundant:

"The results are catastrophic; Edward loses his left leg, Alphonse loses his entire body. Ed gives an arm and a leg, literally, to attach Al’s soul to a nearby suit of armor." [emphasis mine]

As the previous sentence stated, "Edward loses his left leg." He doesn't lose another leg; the edit was redundant. Moreover, the word "literally" should then have been removed as it was part of the excised humor. A better edit, sans humor, would have been "Ed then gives up his right arm to attach Al's soul to a nearby suit of armor." I have restored the original edit.sprocketeer 19:21, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Ed's Dead, Baby...Ed's Dead.

When I wrote my synopsis for episode 50, "Death," I concluded: "Ed is so shocked, Envy has time to transform his arm into a spike and he viciously impales Ed through the heart. The Fullmetal Alchemist is dead."

Another person changed this to: "Ed is so shocked, Envy has time to transform his arm into a spike and he viciously impales Ed through the heart. The episode ends with Edward Elric bleeding from his massive wound on the floor.

I changed it back, another person changed it again, with the following comment in the history list: "removed wrong information. Ed is not dead at the end of episode 50...etc"

I beg that person's pardon, but getting impaled through the heart with something the size of a human arm tends to make one...dead. I'm tempted to do a riff on that Monty Python sketch about the dead parrot at this point. It would not matter if the victim were impaled in the lobby of the finest trauma center, the doctors would not be able to put him on a heart-lung machine fast enough to prevent brain asphyxia. Ed is dead.

Alphonse's remarks notwithstanding in episode 51 (insert title of the week here), Al is not being rational when he says Ed isn't really dead. Al is preparing to lay down his own life for his brother. "He's not really dead" is something that would be said by the person who's hoping against hope that this particular attempt at human transmutation will actually work (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary when the attempt with their mother failed disastrously); it isn't a clinical diagnosis. Put a finger against Ed's carotid artery, and you would not find a pulse. He's dead.

Until, of course, Al resurrects him. A far more impressive feat, since...he's dead.sprocketeer 02:47, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

You are wrong. Ed did not die. Alphonse did not perform a successful human transmutation. Episode 51 is clear on the subject. Ed was not dead. His soul was at the gate and his body was fatally wounded. Alphonse healed his body and reattached Edward's soul to it before it entered the gate. Without the use of the philosopher's stone he certainly would have died, but death in FMA is when the soul goes into the gate. It has nothing to do with rushing people to hospitals or if they could be revived through medical treatment or the level of injuries in this case. Tucker showed with Nina that even with the power of the stone, the best that could be done is to create a human body but there is no way to bring back a soul after death in FMA.
The title of the episode is "Death." Not "Comatose," not "Done For," not "Bleeding Profusely," not "Hang an I.V. of Lactated Ringer's Stat!" It's "Death." Come to think of hit, having a hydrogen- and bomb-filled dirigible fall upon oneself tends to make one equally dead: immolation or impalation, Amestris-Ed and Earth-Ed are dead as proverbial doornails.sprocketeer 04:04, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
So far you have offered an episode title and your own interpretations with contradict the story itself. Everything in the story disagrees with you. Please either discuss this in a serious manner or don't bother at all.
One version of Ed is impaled by an entire forearm. He dies. His brother Al resurrects him via human transmutation in the next episode. He's alive. It's right there on the screen in front of me, no interpretation necessary. Another version of Ed, whose body was temporarily occupied by the first version of Ed, is immolated and crushed twice by a crashing dirigible. As the Ed we see in the very last part of the next episode doesn't resemble, say, The English Patient (paralyzed with burn scars head-to-toe), it is safe to say it isn't the same body that was under the crashing dirigible. Presuming that the Ed who was crushed by the dirigible is dead is perfectly reasonable. Having hundreds of pounds of aluminum, burning dirigible skin and burning aviation fuel land atop oneself has a tendancy to make one very dead.sprocketeer 01:51, 17 March 2006 (UTC)
In the final episode, Alphonse clearly says that Edward is not dead. Alphonse talks about doing a soul attachment. The multi-circle alchemy he does is consistant with a soul attachment. Ressurection through alchemy in FMA is not possible in the story. At no point in the final episode does anything suggest otherwise. We do not see Edward's soul come out of the gate. Edward's soul is standing AT the gate when Alphonse performs the soul attachment. You offer no explaination as to why what is clearly stated in the episodes is wrong and you are right. The only other explaination you have offered is the title of the episode which does not change what the characters themselves say in the final episode. As to the rest, please keep on one topic at a time. You are changing the subject. The topic is your claim that Edward is dead at the end of episode 50. If you want to discuss something else, create a seperate topic for it.
I am not changing the subject. I maintain Ed was killed when Envy impaled him. Alphonse then performed a successful human transmutation. In the fansub of episode 51, Alphonse says “Ni-san (brother) isn’t dead yet. Look, he’s still warm…his soul is still inside the Gate. I just have to get it back.” I imagine the dialog will be somewhat different in the dubbed episode this week, but I see absolutely nothing there that is contradicted when I write that Ed dies at the end of episode 50. Dead bodies don't cool off immediately, of course he would still be warm. Ed's soul being in the Gate does not contradict the fact that he's dead. There is a body on the floor with a ruined heart, no circulation, complete exsanguination, and even his pupils are beginning to dilate at the end of episode 50, indicating that his brain is asphyxiating. That's death. His brother brings him back to life. Why are you trying to reduce the enormity of the feat Al pulls off?sprocketeer 03:53, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
"Ni-san (brother) isn’t dead yet. Look, he’s still warm". You present that which definitively proves you wrong. The reason that this is important is that the series from beginning to end is about how it is NOT possible to raise people from the death by alchemy because the soul of someone who is really dead can't be brought back. One or more lives for a life is not an equivlent exchange. There is no equivlent exchange for a soul. Fixing brain asphixiation or any other sort of physical condition isn't exactly a problem in a fictional world where there are souls seperate from bodies and whole arms, legs and a destroyed heart can be reconstructed by alchemy.
Funny, I don't recall any mention in the story of dead bodies turning instantly cold in this fictional world. So that which I present does not prove me wrong. I guess I'll just have to revert it, again.

sprocketeer 22:37, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Ok, one more time with emphisis and fewer words "Ni-san (brother) isn’t dead yet." What part of "isn't dead yet" don't you understand?
Just throwing a thought out there you might want to consider, but Al's a piece of armor, and it's stated throughout the series that doesn't have any senses other than hearing and vision. Why would he suddenly be able to know if Ed was warm or not? He's being delusionally hopeful.
"FMA: Reflections" states Ed was dead (spoken by the character himself) and brought back by Alphonse's sacrifice. It may mean the difference between fansubbers or between the two media. I do know that people don't need to start acting like condescending jerks to muddle matters further. Al being able to "feel" Edward's temperature is confusing as it is. Voice of Treason 13:37, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

To 64.12.116.198, 152.163.100.5, 168.127.0.52 et al

I hadn't realized until I took a closer look that I appear to be arguing with 3 or more people. If you're going to spend this much time re-re-re-editing a Wikipedia article, you really ought to register.

Apart from that which we have been explicitly arguing about, whether a man who has been impaled through the heart is really dead, let me point out another flaw I perceive in the version of episode 50's synopsis you keep reverting it to: it's longer than mine. Mine is 466 words, yours is 528.

Why is this important? When I began watching this show, I was aghast to find that the Fullmetal Alchemist episode synopses here at Wikipedia only covered the first 3 episodes, and were very amateurish. That is, each synopsis was a single paragraph about 1-2 pages long, riddled with spelling errors and tortured grammar. They were unreadable. Unreadability is one thing when one is creating one's own fan site, free to indulge in every "put-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" whim, where the enthusiasm somehow flags before the typist makes it to "spellcheck" and "grammarcheck." I tried wading through a synopsis and gave up. Unreadable. Clearly, Wikipedia, because it is an encyclopedia, deserves better than that.

So I took it upon myself to correct this. Dig through this page's history, and you'll find that I have written most of the synopses here, and edited the few remaining. Where possible, the synposis is short and sweet, but even I have had to write longer synopses for the episodes that are densely-packed with plot. Where people have edited me prior to your arrival at episode 50, I have, instead of rejecting changes to my text out-of-hand, either 1) left the edit alone where someone corrected a spelling or grammar error on my part; 2) left the edit alone where someone improved upon my writing without drastically padding the length, or adding errors; 3) left the edit alone where someone included a bit of detail that was more important (than I originally thought) to understanding the plot without adding errors; or 4) re-edited to include the new material but remove the newly-introduced mistakes. Sometimes, if the edit was without merit or just full of mistakes, I would revert it. I'm on a crusade to make these synopses as tightly-written as possible, so the reader can get the information he needs and get back to watching the show.

Which brings us back to your reversion vs. mine. Mine has fewer words and is more tightly-written, avoids redudancies where possible, reports what we see rather than what yours assumes, and captures the drama better, re: "The Fullmetal Alchemist is dead." Synopses are supposed to be short, because life is too short and why write a synopsis that will cause the reader to throw up his hands in despair and choose to scan through the episode instead, because it's more fun? Synopses are supposed to leave out details not absolutely essential to providing the reader with a précis of what happened in an episode, either to refresh the reader's memory or to find the episode he wants to re-watch. Synopses are supposed to be easily readable instead of a chore. In which case, my synopsis is superior to yours. Should someone rewrite my synopsis and make it even shorter, still retaining only the essential information, I'll be happy to leave it alone. Quite simply, yours does not. Time to revert again.sprocketeer 07:10, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

I've been following this mini-edit war, and the main bone of contention appears to be whether Ed's dead or not.
Why can't we simply leave it at he appears dead, and that we have no way of knowing whether he was or not, and probably never will, as he doesn't face this same situation in the manga, where we could get an answer. Heck, the writers may never have even thought about it one way or the other; they just wanted as decent a close to the series as they could get without Haruki's help. --maru (talk) contribs 07:24, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
On tonight's broadcast of episode 51, Alphonse says "Brother hasn't been dead for long," which acknowledges that Ed is dead. As this is an english-language synopsis for an english-language dub, I vote for "dead."sprocketeer 09:14, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
Dubwork shouldn't count as FACT, but fan-sub translations are not wholly reliable either. Someone who's comfortable with their grasp of speaking Japanese needs to weigh in on this. And if it helps any (probably not) the Reflections recap - maybe by the same group - says Edward was killed. Again, going off fansubs. Voice of Treason 13:39, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
I completely agree with sprocketeer. At the very beginning of Episode 51 (just after the mini-flashback to the previous episode), Al says that Ed has not been dead for long. This should settle the issue once and for all. Mistamagic28 23:12, 22 March 2006 (UTC)


((sorry dont know how to start a new line - I'm new to this)) Can someone explain to me why Edward was writing funny at the end - with his left arm alone and letting his right just sit there. Was it not working in this new world. And also was it me or did it look like it wasn't made of metal? and also when i tuned in the middle of an episode there was a girl with the same automail as ed and she and ed were practicing fighting. Im not sure if this was the movie or what. But if its a new-er episode then wouldnt that make there be a 3rd or possibly a fourth season, because Episode 51 was a corny way to end it.

You start a new line by using a semi-colon. You can start a new topic too; it's at the top of the page.

There is an FMA movie coming out in a few months. If you don't want to be spoiled, then wait for it.

it's good

it's a great story line but it's very bloddy and bad language.

you mean by 4th season? there was only 2? it have all the full alchemist episode and there are only 2 seasons.

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