Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 40 The Dwarf in a Flask - Group Reaction

I apologize for the ridiculous and dumb amount of Lost references in this episode! It's getting annoying for me too...I'm working on it honestly! Wow.. What a lore drop! This is The Dwarf in a Flask! The Normies react to and review Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode 40! Let us know your thoughts about the annihilation of Xerxes. the inception of Father and backstory of Von Hohenheim!
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[@mikealitytv3524]

if you guys haven't noticed yet Ed and Al are actually Xerxian Not Amestrian that why they have gold hair and Gold Eyes not blue. so their blood line comes from the people that were wiped out!

[@MrSHADOWfox99]

*half Xerxian half Amestrian

[@cokeMONSTERps3]

Oh wow, never put that together. That's neat.

[@IndianTelephone]

Shit! Never thought that! And I have watched this series like a million times! Wow! Arakawa sensei's details are just phenomenal!

[@karga23]

That is actually sad. They are only two remaining members of a civilization that was wiped out entirely.

[@maosama3695]

but hohenheim isn't xerxian... he's a slave remember?

[@Wiiware2568]

Quick Correction, Hoenhiem didn’t become immortal because they were related. The Drawf purposely lied to the king about where the center of the circle was. He chose to make Hoeninhiem immortal against his will because he had so much gratitude for his blood.

[@SolidSnake240]

I dont see how they didn't get that lol

[@jayhardy977]

Afro Shinobi Right, smh

[@Chemicalkinetics]

Agree. I read it two ways. First, Dwarf felt much gratitude for Von Hoenhiem that he wanted to share the immortality. Alternatively, the souls have to be shared between Von Hoenhiem and Dwarf in order for Dwarf to have his body. One thing for sure is that Dwarf did view Von Hoehniem as a friend back then.

[@HOSER922]

@@SolidSnake240 they didn't get that because they wouldn't stop talking and missed half the scene.

[@asirnewazkhan4172]

Dwarf must have felt pretty bad when Hohenheim left

[@RasakBlood]

The fact that young Hohenhiem is the first thing you ever see in the first into is still one of my favorit things about FMA:B

[@gummybearchewy5444]

RasakBlood young hohenhiem is also playing by the same actor that played Alphonse in the original show. He could not play alphonse again because his voice changed.

[@CommanderM117]

yea puberty hit hard

[@pokenerb9935]

It’s even cooler, because everything starts with young Hohenheim. His blood is the reason why Father exists, the 7 homunculus, Ed and Al.

[@P99s-s]

the first 10sec or so until the title is shown basically tell the whole story from hohenheims persepctive

[@kioschy1]

mind blowing ....thought it was older al

[@attabooii]

I think people always give Hohenheim crap for leaving his family but they forget that the only reason he left was because he realized what Father was up to before anyone else. He NEEDED to leave, because in his eyes, he was the only one who could stop Father.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Ashley Bui I don’t think anyone who has watched the whole series gives crap to Hohenheim.

[@attabooii]

Well true, I don't know anyone who outright hates him, but there are some people who are like "he's alright, but he shouldn't have left his family" or they think he left because of his insecurities about his immortality

[@Shinobi_912]

Spoilers! I cried many times with Hohenheim in the end 😭😭 he is in my top 3 of FMAB

[@KiwiNinjaBlast]

Ashley Bui I think the people who blame it on his insecurities about his immortality are just not able to separate Brotherhood from the 2003 version, because that WAS the reason why he left in 03.

[@dtmt502]

Doesn't excuse the lame ending to the series

[@mordirit8727]

Hoennheim didn't offer to make the homunculus, all his master needed was some blood to complete the formula and he just went "oh, a slave, cut his finger there and give me some blood". And also, it wasn't the blood relation that saved him from the Circle. The dwarf purposefully lied about the place where the souls would go, so that him and Hoennheim could get all the souls; he did this in part for himself, since he was given a miserable existence in a tiny glass flask and used some of the power to fashion himself a body... And for Hoennheim, for whom he had a wicked sense of gratitude for technically being his relative. Dwarf got a body, they both got immortal, Xerxes got fucked.

[@jorgehernandez4098]

I've always been interested in their relationship. I've always felt that Father thought they would stick together after Xerxes, like brothers and felt kinda hurt that in his mind Hoennheim abandoned him. Thats what led him to distance himself from his human experience and let him to creating the homunculus, to separate himself from his human nature, but also to fill to void Hoennheim left in his life. Father saw Hoennheim as his companion, his brother. Brotherhood.

[@sharpen193]

tbh i kinda jumped to that conclusion and just now learning about this OOPS

[@karga23]

I think Hohenheim's blood was crucial because I always got the idea that masters had tried and failed before with other subjects (probably first the king, then themselves and nobles etc.) until they used Hohenheim's blood. I don't think they would start with a random slave to create a being connected to the truth.

[@jdsporty1456]

HIs name is Homunculus!

[@wolferwilder1206]

@@jorgehernandez4098 nah he was planned this at beginning

[@cartoonking1895]

“ The true center the transmutation circle is right here where you’re standing. Blood brother of mine, you and I are the center of everything!” Those words are not just true for that fateful night but for the entire story as well.

[@CWojcieszak]

I just love how the Elric brothers are the only people in the country with golden eyes and no one ever brings it up.

[@khazms]

I don't think people make a big deal out of it when there's people with literally red eyes and white hair.

[@mattmaillet1186]

@@khazms That's like saying we would ignore someone with purple skin because there are black people. Ishvallens are a known race and Xerxians aren't (or at least their characteristics aren't).

[@khazms]

@@mattmaillet1186 Uh, no. That's not like saying that at all.

[@mattmaillet1186]

@@khazms yeah it is. Why would someone with red eyes and white hair be strange if they are a known race? Switch out black people with fingers and blue eyes and the analogy still works.

[@niconiconick]

@@khazms but there is a whole race of people with red eyes while there is only 3 with golden being Edward, Alphonse, and Hohenheim

[@darkflame728]

There are around half a million people in Hohenhiem, the other half being in Father. Xerxes was a thriving civilization. Also, Hohenhiem's emotions didn't have anything to do with the creation of the dwarf in the flask. He just happened to be a slave nearby when his master wanted to preform the experiment.

[@fifthtouch]

@thegreeenbeast No need for many people if they have alchemy

[@Haiganon]

@thegreeenbeast They were living in the middle of a desert, maybe that's why.

Hohenheim in his past is voiced by Aaron Dismuke, who was the original voice for Alphonse Elric from the 2003 adaptation.

[@LyricBent]

Whaaat! That's so cool!

[@thedarkangelthe2]

Holy shit I didn't know that!

[@codymavick9068]

Wow I didn't know that. That's awesome!!

[@nkechi4635]

Yupp. I remember he was like 12/13 yrs old irl when he voiced Alphonse in FMA

[@HellsMirror]

Really? Wow I haven't watched FMAB in a long time.... I watch RWBY a lot atm, so I listen to Aaron Dismuke's voice a lot, but I didn't make the connection with young Hohenheim yet

[@TimoKanal]

Navi looks different. Didn't remember she had a beard.

[@YOU_SHALL_NOW_PASS]

She also looks a bit whiter that usual, oh well, people change I suppose.

[@aspeckt1]

Ugh why does his comment say 1 month ago?

[@YOU_SHALL_NOW_PASS]

+Tiger Style Patreon get early acces.

[@Anomaliateam]

they break relationship ?

[@666melodeath666]

Timo The mission is to get her original body back

[@-Miasimon]

Reminder that early on in the series, the brothers found out that a philosopher's stone can take *any* form. You've seen the classic stone. You've seen it in liquid form. Now you've seen it in human form. Hohenheim is such an amazing character from this moment on, and I wish we could have gotten a show about him and his 2000+ year journey.

[@jjkpolskeem]

2000 year? are you tripping

[@Senjuina77]

For the record, the manga this is based on started in 2001, whereas LOST didn't start until 2004. If anything, LOST would be inspired by FMA, but even then, they have very different philosophies and themes.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Senjuina Müller they aren’t close to being similar it’s just Suraj thinks about lost with everything because he loves it so much

[@Senjuina77]

Yeah I know. It's just that Suraj asked which came first, thinking that FMA copied LOST when he's in fact completely off on both the timeline and the themes/concepts.

[@dam419]

He fucking compares everything to Lost like it invented complex backstory or some shit. He's gonna be soooo butt hurt when Lost gets trash in like season 4/5

[@thadwill1506]

Yes, FMA manga came before Lost. But let Suraj look for the references that aren’t there. Makes his reaction to the reveal better. The fact that he relates FMA:B to Lost means he really likes it.

[@Jeremy-jm3fe]

Dami Ikwe Suraj finished Lost a long time ago when it first aired, and rewatched it multiple times. It's safe to say that he ignores all of the flaws the show had in the later seasons and places it on an impossible pedestal. That's just my theory anyway, with how many references he makes in almost every reaction video.

[@kylew79]

The dwarf lied where the center was. So if you weren't at the center you are practically dead.... The dwarf homunculus is just a homunculus in a flask no dark and light stuff lol

[@The_Blazelighter]

"Practically"

[@lalalalisa41]

After this episode, I felt so bad for Hohenheim and even understood him more as a character. He never wanted any of this, but he was put in the most fucked up situation there was. All he wanted was a family and a better life, but Father basically twisted that and cursed him with immortality by giving him half the population of Xerxes. Just wow! The sad irony is that when Hohenheim did finally have a family, he had a difficult time getting close because of what he is. Also, now we can see what the first few seconds of Opening 1 was showing. It was literally there all this time xD Wish Navi was here to watch this episode with you guys. Hopefully, we hear her thoughts on it later.

[@LuisHenrique-xl9el]

Hohenheim is probably my favorite character in The show

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Lalisa T yeah Navi I think would understand it better than they did

[@rebelpoxy]

What's tragic is, Hohenheim wouldn't meet the love of her life and father her sons if he wasn't able to live long enough due to his own immortalitylol

[@SGC51]

The populations of Xerxes was around 1 million people.

[@Senjuina77]

Good grief, the Dwarf is not a dark version of Hohenheim! Hohenheim got blood taken from him, and his master used that blood to create the Dwarf as some kind of connection to the Truth and its infinite knowledge, especially the secret of immortality. During the transmutation, the Dwarf made a copy of Hohenheim's body for himself so that he could move freely, but nothing of this has anything to with Hohenheim's wishes and actions. He didn't want this to happen, how hard are you reaching here?

[@breakwoodhopper6739]

Yeah there kinda pot heads man they try to look deeper then it needs to be 😂😂

[@Eyeray_]

What the fuck is this?

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Liesmith lemme guess it was suraj? Because he has bad habit of doing that.

[@swagattttt]

@@Dell-ol6hb Yeah remove Suraj and add Navi to make the reactions better.

[@dam419]

Sometimes Surji just talks to much and doesn't digest to shows and information that everyone misses shit

[@CaesiusX]

The way I interpret it, the _Dwarf in the Flask_ was a separate entity in and of itself. And then as *Chris* surmised, _Number 23_ just happened to be right there. The _Dwarf in the Flask_ had kind of taken a liking to him. And the Dwarf taught him over the years - learning a bit of humans too. And when it came time to do the Transportation Circle, _Dwarf in the Flask_ rewarded _Number 23._

[@t.c.thompson2359]

He gave his blood, he is a un-humanoid clone of 23.

[@houseofaction]

not entirely(spoilers) his existence in the world is because of the blood but he has existed forever as a part of the Truth

[@CaesiusX]

Nothing that I said _excludes_ the blood's part in this. I was discussing more of the *why* the _Dwarf_ did what he did. Not *how.* Attempting to point out that the _Dwarf's_ affinity for _Number 23_ was more than that. At least as I interpreted the events, it didn't seem like the _Dwarf_ *had* to do any of the things he did for _Number 23_ *based on the blood.* He did it because he had an affinity for _Number 23_ which _started_ as simple gratitude for his blood. None of that excludes the link between them caused by the blood.

[@sharathsh9987]

I love the fact that they can catch on to some things so quickly, at the same time be oblivious and/or overthink about the more obvious things lol

[@redartt]

This series definitely needs a re-watch. There are a lot of details that go over your head the first time you see them, but when you rewatch them it adds a ton to the story. For example, in episode 18 (part 2, ep 5 on Netflix): Ed: Yeah, the Eastern Sage. It's a story about the origin of Alchemy in Amestris. It claims the entire kingdom of Xerxes was destroy in a single night and that the only survivor wandered into Amestris shortly afterwards. He was the one who went on to spread the science of Alchemy. Fu: How interesting. We have a similar legend in Xing about a drifter from the West. It says that his teachings were combined with our ancient techniques to form the Alkahestry we practice today. [...] We know him as the Western Sage. So based in what you just found out about Hohenheim and Father in episode 40, can you guess who is the Eastern Sage and who is the Western Sage?

[@joshuagross3151]

@onewithmyselfFather's journey to Amestris is never shown. Hohenheim's is shown at the start of episode 56.

[@Shiraori999]

Yeah, rewatching adds a lot of context to things you might've missed. For example in episode 2 they learned that Xerxes got destroyed in a single night but I don't think I have seen anyone noticing that on their first watch.

[@joshuagross3151]

@onewithmyself ...UNLESS it benefits him, in which case he would most certainly teach them the means to make them worth his time.

[@joshuagross3151]

@onewithmyself Except for two things: western alchemy is primarily used militaristically; even bio-alchemy, often used in medicinal practice, is also very prevalent in Amestris' R and D department. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing Hohenheim would teach. On the other hand, Xingese Alchehestry is primarily used medicinally, with very limited military applications. *That* seems much more hos style. Also, Hohenheim went to Xing first; yet the Xingese traders thought he had come from Amestris. This implies that Hohenheim had been wandering the desert for quite some time: enough time for people to discount Xerxes as a civilization. However, the "Sage of the West" legend speaks of a survivor from Xerxes, implying that the tragedy had only just occurred when he arrived in Amestris. You could argue that Hohenheim in fact traveled to the West first, teaching that form of Alchemy first. Of course that falls back to the point of Western Alchemy being primarily militaristic. Then there are the visual cues... SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER In ep 55 (can't remember manga chapter), during their fight, both immortals used alchemically produced dragons to assail each other -- Hohenheim's dragon was an Eastern Lion; Father's Dragon was a Western Wyrm.

[@joshuagross3151]

@julie martinez Switch the names: Xing, homeland of Alchehestry, is Eastern. Amestris is home to the *Western* Alchemy.

[@endless013]

14:02 best part of the episode, Suraj finally has nothing to say... Entire episode is "let me spell this all out for you, I'll talk slow" and Suraj is like "let me take this entire episode to go off on crazy theories and symbolism's that literally mean nothing"

[@stardmg]

The fall of Xerxes only happened about 400 years before the start of the series, and Hohenheim was about 50 when it happened. So Hohenheim is about 450 odd years old

[@Latinofire202]

I swear it's like they don't listen to anything. The anime explains as much as you should know with every episode.

[@Codeninja676]

100% honest here i wanted to punch Suraj trough my screen here just because he kept relating everything to Lost and pulling theories out of his ass without paying attention when the show explains them.

[@galeno07]

You guys need a LOST jar for Suraj: every time he makes a LOST related comment in a reaction that's not LOST, he puts in a dollar. Then at the end of the year you open the jar and everyone but Suraj goes to Hawaii on vacation.

[@blackfox4138]

Expectation: “Oh shit this finally makes sense!!” Reality: “Oh shit this just like Lost! And that’s the dark side of Hoenheim!”

[@reader111089]

Oh man, when Navi watches it, record her reaction!

[@nb6806]

I second this! Normies FMAB reaction - Navi edition!

[@lastshanty]

Thirded!!

[@cordels.1179]

Hohenheim will always be one of my favorite characters just because he never wanted any of this, he wanted a simple life with a family, instead he lived for hundreds of years with hundreds of thousands of souls trapped inside his body yelling at him, that’s f*cked and the fact that he’s still a good person despite all of that is a testament to this man! Love Hohenheim, named my dog Hoheneim and he thanked me

[@ctcentralinfo]

Father, "the dwarf in the flask" is made from Hohenheim's blood and a piece of the Eye from the other side of the gate of truth. Hohenheim's blood had nothing to do with him surviving.

[@OnionTaylorJoy]

The dwarf is its own being, no dark side/light side bullshit.

[@jdsporty1456]

Homunculus... HIs name is Homunculus

[@nb6806]

I miss Navi so much. I would have loved to see her reaction to Hohenheim’s back story. Hopefully she gives her thoughts on the previous episodes when she comes back, especially on Pride and Hohenheim.

[@SchwickFAFO]

Naughty Bottom You mean father right?

[@nb6806]

Since Navi's seen the '03 version, I wanted her take on Hohenheim.

[@CDexie]

@@nb6806 Hmmm how was this Hohenheim different from the 2003 version?

[@13Warheart]

Episode is literally explaining what happened and who he is. Talks over it to throw his crazy lost related theory out. Classic

[@icankickflipok]

Yeah, i was enjoying their reaction but in this one episode where it’s more important than ever to shut up and and listen, and the guy just would not shut up.

[@kazkilla1]

What’s all this dark side shit? They explained everything very simply in the episode, alchemy is just science there’s no magic or Ying yang just equivalent exchange

[@YungandRekless545]

Because he's TERRIBLE at predicting things in TV shows

[@xblade149]

I know I was like wtf

[@Dell-ol6hb]

Yungandrekless yeah because he always jumps the gun in predicting shit and then obviously gets it wrong because he doesn’t have near enough details yet to reasonably predict anything

[@john-1174]

It was explained plainly and perfectly in the actual episode IF Suraj could shut the fuck up when they were explaining it.

[@FaroTV_]

Hes an obsessed Lost fan. The show did him bad :D

[@justinprather4760]

It's not the darkness in Hohenhiem, it's just another being with free will.

[@tbcalex]

One of my favorite episodes!

[@YungandRekless545]

Fun fact, the person that voices young Hohenheim was the little boy that voiced Alphonse in the 2003 version.

[@alexc5243]

Yungandrekless ohhh that’s cool

[@jamesfoster9613]

I loooooove this episode. I have been waiting for it for forever. Sad Navi missed it. Love Hoheheim so much. Notice that all the people of Xerxes have golden hair and eyes. Just like Hohenheim. Just like Al and Ed. The two main characters are the last genetic Xerxes in the world.

[@MARYWTHER]

Actually originally Hoenheim was doing research (Ed and Al's memories of him in his office) to get his mortality back. And then he found out about Father's plans for Amestris, and that's why he left (and I think he never said anything to Trisha about that).

[@JOK120]

Don’t Forget 3.Oct.11

[@somethingawful100]

Screw all the people who complained and got the guy who had actually watched the series kicked off these videos, the misinterpreting is infuriating

[@Wonton-the-Sea-Snail]

what Hawkeye is doing is double tapping to convey that "i am about to speak in code" and then goes on to talk about random people. every time someone name is mentioned, the first letter of their name is the code. mustang needs to memorize whos name were said in what order and translate it where its private

[@lazyshoggy]

Well the dwarf in the flask is simply amoral. He (it ?) is so different than humans that he just cannot understand them. Concepts like family or friends are unknown to him. That's what he said to Ed and Al about the fact that he didn't despise humans, but he considered them just like humans consider insects : nothing interesting, just usefull tools when he need or a nuisance when they thwart his projects. He is grateful to Hohenheim for his blood and maybe he sincerely thought he would be happy to be immortal when he transmuted Xerxes ... As someone already pointed out in another video, the true evil in this story is more in the humans who serve Father than in Father and the homonculi themselves. They are very dangerous enemies but at the same time they are only what humans (for Father) and Father (for the others homonculi) have created. Can we reproach Father for being amoral or the homonculi for the sins they carry ? But all the humans of the general staff had the choice, and they chose to sacrify all the people of their country for lust of power and immortality. That makes a huge difference.

[@Jjop017]

Hohenhiem I think leaving was a two fold thing, become mortal again and stop Father. Episode 36 we saw Hohenhiem researching to become mortal again so he can grow old with his family until he noticed the country was a giant transmutation circle. After that he told Trisha he had to leave and she supported him. Unfortunately Trisha got sick while he was gone and died. It was just bad circumstances. Episode 36 and 40 definitely show he cares and is a good man at heart in stark contrast to what we are led to believe earlier in the show. Him letting Trisha die or being neutral doesn’t fit.

[@sofiacaramelo4890]

I love Aj's face in the thumbnail haha,its the same face i make everytime they talked and made theorys about Father XD

[@FaroTV_]

Yo Normies. Play a game of slapping him everytime he says smomething is like Lost :D. Bread! They ate bread in lost!

[@iffatbushrasuhi2860]

Did you guys know that young Hohenheim is the voice actor of Alphonse in the original Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) ??? It was great to see Aaron Dismuke back...

[@josephcline3652]

"I'm a philosopher's stone in the form of a man..." He was researching how to kill himself, I'm pretty sure...

[@goldenthyme13]

I've been waiting for you guys to get here forever! Your reactions gave me so much joy!

[@sel4205]

I never noticed that it was ed's dad in the 1st op.

[@666melodeath666]

Navi better be traveling Amnestris trying to save the world other than that hope she gets her own separate reactions recorded

[@griff5940]

she got a real job so she busy lol

[@Iam74YL0R]

The Dwarf in the Flask was born from number 23 masters' attempt at finding the answer to immortality. Number 23's master didn't successfully find the answer but pulled a piece of the being in the portal of truth out from the portal and mixed it with the blood to give it life. The Dwarf himself is pissed off with his captivity to beings that he feels are beneath him, he knows he has superior knowledge (being part of the Truth) and wants to prove his superiority. He starts with being able to leave his flask and to gain power. Father as he calls himself now though was not satisfied with being merely more powerful than humans, he has knowledge of the Portal of Truth and the being that exists there and is obsessed with become more powerful than that being. ( He has a major inferiority complex). In his attempt to become god, he removes the human emotions that he feels were inferior and gave these "flawed" personality traits to his children, the homunculi, Pride, Wrath, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Lust, and Gluttony. In doing so he felt it put him further to his goal and now he needs a more powerful transmutation circle and those who have opened the portal to complete his goal. He is essentially a metaphor for the consequences and mishaps that scientists/people (alchemists) face when trying to become more powerful than intended and to act as a god.

[@thedanceoftuila6999]

When is Navi coming back, patreon people?

[@griff5940]

soon

[@fal3533]

Conspiracy Suraj strikes again! Lol. Had to rewatch to see AJ’s face in some parts looking at them with “looks” and smiling. Haha

[@ajshannon259]

Celine Conti i couldn’t say anything ! Lol so looks is all I could do to express my excitement

[@telephonebitguy9296]

this is my favorite episode. ive been waiting so hard for dis

[@TheBigE9999]

He['s notbreally hhenheim's evil, he's just a thing from beyond the gate, that was summoned to the human world using his blood

[@ark804]

I gotta say I love the after talk for this show from you guys.

[@jairotoston9277]

Sick episode. Sick reaction. Now let's hurry to the final 10 episodes!

[@BlacIyc]

Suraj ur reaching too much

[@lezard2102]

You don't get it. He watched LOST once thus he is more woke and understands things at a deeper level.

[@BadAssMacmillan]

I hope Navi will talk about this episode when she comes back.

[@gggiiillllllyyy]

The implications of Hoenhime is the last Xerxian means Ed and Al are half Xerxian.

[@6SJW6]

The first Fullmetal alchemist is more about Ed’s character and all his beliefs being picked apart. Lots more character focus on the homonculus with them having much more of a purpose. Brotherhood is more of an epic with branching plot lines and a more hopeful tone. I think each one works better for different people but they’re very different shows.

[@t.c.thompson2359]

Wow, a lot of confidence is some very wrong conclusions. Clone not brother, and Lost had no inspiration on this, Lost sucks.

[@cassiohenrique6815]

Holy shit! I finally found someone I can relate to. Thanks AJ.

[@Blueissuperior]

Wooooow that ending gave me chills hahahaha. These reactions are so good.

[@jermaineedwards2121]

Hohenheim has over 500,000 souls in him and thats only half of the population

[@BlackCap784]

well now that the cat is mostly out of the bag, i wonder if they'll ever read the lyric to the first opening, & come to the realization that song is all about Hohenheim trying to redeem the mistake & regret he kept to himself for 2000 years? or would it better to wait till they finished the whole series?

[@BrowenWhitefire]

That look on his face...

[@sladeclegane9709]

The dwarf in THE flask, not A flask.

[@moneilwisby61]

I always thought the Dwarf in the Flask looked similar to the little hands coming out of the Gate of Truth, as well as having only one eye. Since every person has his own Gate of Truth, by using Hohenheim's blood, maybe the master captured one of those 'little hands' from Hohenheim's Gate. Being a small part of the Truth would explain why the Dwarf in the Flask has considerable knowledge of alchemy (circle for immortality).

[@kwamerogers739]

Love the Post-Post Discussion

[@TimoKanal]

Yeah, it actually was really damn interesting and entertaining :)

[@brookehendrick1946]

I find it extremely difficult to believe anyone who says they would never get tired of living forever, would actually NEVER get tired of living forever. Not in this corrupt world. Certainly not that. And I haven't heard of anyone actually agreeing with Thanos. It would be interesting to have a one-on-one conversation with you, AJ. In my mind (which is always right..../sarcasm), the Dwarf in the Flask was born maliciously ambitious. We have no reason to believe he was born neutral or kind. Literally all we have seen of him has been in a negative, villiany light. He did show a shimmer of vulnerability by sharing he just wants to leave his flask, which is innocent enough on the surface, but when you look at what he did in order to leave his flask, you realize that innocent ambitions are corrupted when the means to achieve them are evil (of course, if you don't believe that sacrificing a whole civilization is evil, then that's another discussion). And it was Hohenheim's master that gave the Dwarf life, not Hohenheim himself (though he used his slaves' blood to do so). According to the information that the show gives us at this point, the Dwarf in the Flask/Father is manipulative and arrogant. Of course, I'm not saying the Dwarf's/Father's malicious nature COULDN'T have been a product of his environment, but the show gives no evidence of it (unless I missed something, which I'm sure the internet would be more than happy to point out to me in the kindest way possible :) ). Now, I would love to think of more points in the discussion to ramble on about, but....I need to get back to work.... :)

[@brookehendrick1946]

Yes. Yes, it was the King's greed that gave the Flask the chance. He was equally as greedy as the Flask for power and immortality, but the Flask used the King's greed to his own advantage and achieved immortality for himself. Did I suggest that the King was innocent? Because he's not. He's just as awful. EDIT: Oh, are you implying that some of the blame is taken off of the Flask because he was USED by the King to sacrifice the city? If so, I'd say the Flask always wanted to achieve immortality for himself and, like I said, used the King's greed to do it. If he had the capabilities, the Flask would have sacrificed everyone for immortality himself without blinking an eye (haha...pun). All the blame is still on him as well.

[@Jjop017]

It is hard to say if Father was even being truthful to Hohenheim in that moment there. Chris and AJ point out all he wanted to do is leave and his creators treated him like a slave and never let him out, but that depends on if he was being truthful to Hohenheim on only wanting to leave. He obviously knows Hohenheim and people in general would dislike or be against him killing others for his own benefit, hence why Father never told him what he had the king do to achieve immortality (slaughtering people). It calls into question if Father was being truthful or if he omitted some stuff so Hohenheim wouldn’t turn against him and warn people what was going on. Second thing is that Father cannot survive outside of the flask at that point. Normies haven’t learned that yet, but AJ has seen it before and should know about this. The humans keeping Father in a flask is for practical reasons as well. They do seem okay with letting Hohenheim take the flask out with him and showing him around, letting Father at least experience the world outside. While I agree they did likely use Father and possibly treated him as a tool they also didn’t necessarily treat him badly either. Father being turned evil by abuse seems unlikely to me. I think for him it is survival of the fittest and he used the king’s greed against him and manipulated people for his own benefit and would have always done so even if they treated him like a god. Father caring for Hohenheim and giving him immortality I believe was sincere attempt out of good will, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t been evil and still care about someone.

[@brookehendrick1946]

Yeah, I would agree. Personally, I usually enjoy a villain who's evil for the hell of it, but when not done right, they come off as a caricature and fall flat. It's usually safer to give the villain some relatable characteristics, make them actually have a reason. We can't relate to human villains who are simply evil because humans by nature are reasoning creatures and usually have motivation for their actions. For the Flask...He doesn't have much of a reason for being how he is. The thing is, though...he's not human. You could say he was born from humanities (the King's) innate greed and pride, so he doesn't need a reason to be evil because that's what makes up his core being. He can't help but be evil/greedy and prideful. Which, now that I think of it, could be seen as more compelling as a villain than the usual evil-for-evil's-sake human villain.

[@jonathanpalma9657]

I agree with you that the Dwarf was malicious from the beginning as to me it seems that he teaches Hohenheim just to be able to gain something from it and take advantage of the situation eventually. In regards of the comment form Valentino; I don't think Hohenheim's master has any blame for creating the Dwarf in the flask, If he participated in the slaughters, and creating the circle then that's another topic but just for been the one that created it no. Every discovery can be used for good or bad, human kind discover fire which can be used to light or warm at night or it can be used to burn people and torch somebody's house. Explosives can be used to kill people or to clear/create roads, mining... Now there's a clear distinction in killing for fun, sport, get extended life (because eventually the philosopher stone will decay), all selfish reasons than killing as a good solution to a problem like Thanos, yes I do agree with his solution. Actually AJ in the only other person that I have heard of that believes it's a good solution. If for the problem of over population suddenly half of the life disappears, the ones left might be more cautions with resources and try to be more efficient with energy, food, waste handling... knowing what it cost to solve the problem once, however, if suddenly the universe resources just double it really cost nothing to the people so they will not take care of it and shortly the problem will emerge once more. The way I see it, he's not killing people, the soul stone already have the ability to trap someone in the stone, he's just amplifying it with the rest stones. Do we know if the gems can be used to create something out of nowhere forever? (I have not read the comics, just fyi) Because when he used the reality stone in Drax and Mantis they return to their normal bodies as soon as he left. So not sure if there's any other solution but Thanos has one in the table, ready to be executed

[@Jjop017]

Samuel Pulkkinen It depends on situation for me. I have definitely seen the relatable villain be overused and done badly as I’ve seen it done right. Father I think works because he fits with the setting and the characters well. He represents the worst of humanity and refuses to grow beyond that and has horrible consequences for the world around him.

[@TaoOfTheFist]

I've been waiting for you guys to watch this episode. This one, a few episodes in the mid 50s, and the last two. I'm waiting for your reactions to those ones....

[@kthxbi]

this whole conversation about the morality of immortality makes me think you guys should really do an Altered Carbon watch

[@nexusgaming7478]

pretty much the dwarf in the flash (father) bamboozle the king of xerxes and everyone convince him to make his people to make an human transmutation circle and use the souls for immortally, hohenheim got the hard stick of it.

[@IndianTelephone]

Very appropriate reaction from Suraj at the end. I remembered mine when I first saw this episode.

[@Snes_Controller]

"This reminds me of Lost." Well what on God's Green Earth doesn't?

[@ShankMugen]

I had just caught up to 39 a couple days back, and had to wait for this one as it was a really big thing, now I will wait for a few months so the series is finished and I can binge watch it, that is if I can wait that long lol

[@senbujohns4489]

OMG One of my favouriute episosde of the show. Giving lots of answers

[@juanguizar4074]

October 3 never forget!!!

[@josephpatrizio5965]

This episode reminds me how good the soundtrack for this show is

[@astolfohohenheim2499]

any1 know what shirt aj has on? like if its from an anime series or something cause it pretty badass? thanks.

[@acesonfire]

I kinda agree with the truth thing. That whole quote about "Those who increase knowledge will increase sorrow" You sacrfice your happiness to obtain wisdom. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. Also, if zombie apocalypse happens someone trip AJ. XD

[@mike-ology444]

Finding humor in Chris identifying with the dwarf who genocided a whole country/race for a super selfish reason but not the previous video where he couldn't identify with the dude who watched everyone he knows get genocided and took it out on the people glorified for carrying it out (will concede that he was ready to take it out on edward who had no hand in ishval)

[@MasterPoppers]

12:00 Not really.... He just used Hohenheim as a template to generate a body. They look similar, but in truth, they are two completely separate entities. Not really a yin-yang situation.

[@ianmoone2488]

My second favorite episode. SO many answers are given here.

[@warrenpowers108]

When Hohenheim says "Im sorry" he's not apologizing to Izumi, hes apologizing to the Xerxian soul who's energy he used to help her.

[@sirperybLakeney]

The manga which this is a direct adaption of is older than Lost. Fullmetal Alchemist began in 2001, Lost began in 2004. The chapter The Dwarf in the Flask was first published in tankobon format in March 2008 and a few months earlier (probably late 2007, that's before season 4 of Lost began) in its original magazine serialization. The Man in Black first appeared in human form (along with Jacob) in May 2009.

[@jimmilligan5088]

The dwarf tried to give him the name theophrastus bombastus. That is part of the name of the actual father of chemistry/alchemy

[@LadyVenomWay]

Lmao Navi, what a nice beard you have XD JK! Nice one as always guys

[@flyflip87]

fun fact: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus (von Hohenheim) was a real alchemist

[@ShakaZ3D]

You cant call something that acts in it's own self interest Evil. It's just trying to Live. I actually love how the Homunculus is literally all the Homunculus we've seen in one form. It really does bring context to their conversation with each other

[@SolidSnake240]

Hoenheim ain't such a bum of a father now huh?

[@ericjohnson6120]

been waiting for this episode

[@BrowenWhitefire]

You are really reaching man. Too much Lost i guess lol. He is still not out of the flask wink, wink.

[@MARYWTHER]

The whole island is a flask.

[@crazy13alex]

@@MARYWTHER Continent, not Island. Xerxes, Xing and Amestris are all on an entire continent.

[@AKdagr8]

Spoilers

[@SKULLKR3W]

expect he is after his 'flask' is destroyed he stays intact

[@Pir-o]

Yeah he's reaching BUT there are a lot of similarities between FMA and LOST @Rogue Pylon Shes referencing LOST...

[@Coogman3]

Knowledge is power, you can never know too much

[@Demaad]

Now you know The Truth

[@Zeekay980]

Xerxes had a population of roughly 1,000,000 people. It was also 400 years not 2000.

[@wilfredhamlet]

There were a million+ people living in xerxes. Both father and hohenheim have about 500 thousand sacrificed people inside them

[@senbujohns4489]

Lmao faces at the end I cant. He's Lost ; no pun intended

[@ObaREX]

This is probably my favorite episode.

[@LukasJampen]

This is one of my favourite episode.