HOHENHEIM RETURNS! | Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood Reaction | Ep 20 "Father Before the Grave"

In a resolution to last episodes cliffhanger, Ed sees his father at his mothers grave, and we finally get to see them talk! This episode led to some stunning discoveries, and we can’t WAIT to see what happens next!
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Original intro/outro music by: Carter Sanders
Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Episode 20, "Father Before the Grave"
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[@LettsReact]

Episodes 20, 21, 22, 23, & 24 posted to Patreon now! HTTPS://Patreon.com/LettsReact

[@Wabbajack21]

your patreon's too pricey

[@kevinmoore4355]

Don't think you could tell me where you got that shirt do ya😭😅

[@kevinmoore4355]

Oh my gosh, hearing either one of you to say the f word gives me enlightenment, I never knew I needed

[@haydenberends3905]

It's kinda hilarious how Kenny can be spot-on with his predictions, and also WAY off the mark 🤣 😂

[@Zarola]

Exactly like they are driving on the nice paved path, then a janky sharp left turn towards an off road cliff, but then reverse drifts back from the edge to the pavement after going through all of the yard topiaries.

[@gabecajamarca]

Seriously it was hilarious

[@haydenberends3905]

@@Zarola I . . . can't actually think of a better analogy than that

[@Apex2191]

It's crazy how much times he's been kind of right.

[@msochist8491]

11:36 Kenny: He's going to get his mom's body. Me: Yep! Kenny: Wait, no, he's gardening. Me: HAH???

[@cosesu8929]

The body they made was just a "default" body, so to speak. The boys had the ingredients of an average adult human body, and that is exactly what they got.

[@daisuke910]

True, they know it makes human body. But they dont know the intricacies of human bodies (vein, limb connection, structures of the cells organisation). Hence why it looks grotesque. Resemble a human but not a human

[@houseofaction]

@@daisuke910 No that isn't the reason its just that they got what they had given.

[@Cappy-Bara]

The created body was basically the beginning of a homunculous

[@KorAsek453]

@@Cappy-Bara Not in Brotherhood, you're thinking of the original show.

[@badbeardbill9956]

It was basically just assorted parts. If they had more knowledge of their mother’s body they could have recreated it, sorta. But there wouldn’t be a soul

[@SirSpitsAlotable]

Izumi crying over realizing she didn’t make her child suffer twice will always make me cry.

[@MissConniePrincessOfGay]

The part at the end, of Ed's shoulders being so broad, isn't just Winry crushing on him (though I feel there is part of that there at least). It's more about how Ed is now walking with purpose & intent, no longer burdened and weighed down by the guilt and pain of what he thought he & Al had done. He's walking taller, more determined than ever to accomplish their goal. Winry, who knows him better than almost anyone, noticed the difference in the way he was walking. She noticed his resolve change.

[@OrdinaryCritic]

Not only that, as his automail mechanic, she should be keen to those changes because it would mean Ed needs his prosthetic arm readjusted. The double meanings in this show.

[@haydenberends3905]

@@OrdinaryCritic Y'all think a out this kinda stuff MUCH harder than I do

[@GamerGrovyle]

It's also a typical Japanese expression (or at least it's used mainly in manga) where large shoulders are seen as being reliable and trustworthy. Someone who'll walk in front fearlessly leading people by example.

[@OrdinaryCritic]

@@haydenberends3905, some people have different priorities. 😉

[@haydenberends3905]

@@OrdinaryCritic Wasn't a dig; I was just impressed

[@cobusvanderlinde6871]

27:58 If you watch closely you will notice that Hohenheim notices Den (the dog) standing up and walking out of the room (to go stand by Ed) (~ 4:55 in this video) and then asks Pinocco about the transmuted lifeform, he also surreptitiously glances at the doorway where Ed is standing to make sure that he is listening. He brought it up specifically to convey it to Ed. Maybe he worried that if he told Ed himself, Ed wouldn't believe him, so he let Ed learn it this roundabout way.

[@Kayta-Linda]

Came back, fixed all their problems and left. What a man :D

[@stardmg]

Ed was vomiting from the anxiety. This is the thing that's driven his life for a number of years now, and he's confronting it once again

[@blackfalconotaku4392]

Yup and from someone who has vomited from anxiety... The shear panic that just rips her your entire body is the most painful thing I've ever felt.

[@666MaRius9991]

@@blackfalconotaku4392 I had panic attacks but never vomited it just felt like my heart will burst,that has to be even worse.

[@blackfalconotaku4392]

@@666MaRius9991 I definitely have like chronic anxiety... Every time there was a unit test in math I would become physically ill including vomiting... I wish I didn't have such a severe reaction to anxiety but I do...

[@ma.2089]

Not just anxiety. I’ve heard that if you perform vigorous activity, especially as an amputee, you could fall sick in that way

[@doughmandm8118]

I've never dug a grave before, but I have dug some pretty big holes. It gets very exhausting really fast and I have been on the verge of vomitting before. So that could be another reason

[@Marta-uv4id]

I never expected this episode to be as heartbreaking as it is going into it. The scenes of Ed, Al and Izumi reacting to finding out they didn't kill the ones they loved and Al's speech about not wanting to live in a suit of armor anymore because he just can't take the lonely nights all brought me to tears.

[@titaniumtomato7247]

You've just watched all of the good shows already huh

[@Marta-uv4id]

@@titaniumtomato7247 Amazingly, the only show I started watching because of this channel is FMAB, everything else I've seen prior to them reacting.

[@hikari9433]

The thing is they didn't bring back anyone per say. the plot reveals that it was always impossible to bring someone back from the dead. Ed and Al just created a random "human" body out of the components they gathered, like an empty shell. When Alphonse lost his body, his soul moved towards the closest vacant living organism which at that point was the "thing" they created. But that body quickly died which is why Al only experienced it for a short moment.

[@AStrangeWindmill]

15:06 "how did they wait this long to go through the bones" I mean, pops explained that pretty clear. _too_ clearly if anything. They did, in fact, "run away". But also; Pinako was the only one who saw the thing, but she doesn't know enough about alchemy to understand that it matters.

[@fernumer1]

I think the reveal with Hoenheim is very well made. The anime shows he knows how Ed feels leyond what he shares with Hoenheim. After that, he lets him know something that will change his feeling of guilt by saying it near him (obviously Ed wouldn't listen to him). 5-head move

[@Marta-uv4id]

I'm really looking forward to watching you guys react to Hohenheim as the show goes on. He's one of the most interesting characters in a show *filled* with incredible characters.

[@shahrukhkhan-dx3fw]

Wait till the episode 40 (my favourite one)

[@abraxushellsing]

I know right. I happaned to watch the "Dwarf in the flask" episode stoned and it blew my mind XD

[@shahrukhkhan-dx3fw]

@@abraxushellsing OMG. just imagine how hard it would have been for hoienhime 🥲

[@abraxushellsing]

@@shahrukhkhan-dx3fw Id say he wouldt be affected cos of what he is. When people found him in the desert he was thirsty af (¡not a punXD) but didnt die from that, and wi nows how many days or weeks he was out there. Anyway I just cant wait to see when th

[@sanelsadikovic7488]

Van Hohenheim is like Goku😊

[@shayshanshoon]

"how does no one realise this" it's a very traumatic event that is also very illegal. I can understand that all they'll want to do is bury it and never look back and maybe even pretend it never happened

[@drago2drago]

One thing I was to add because there seems to be a little confusion, human transmutation deals more with the soul than the body. What Ed and Al did was essentially what Roy did by making an empty blank corpse but when the boys shoved a soul in it that's what made it a living moster and what makes the difference between creating a fake body and human transmutation. In my opinion, human transmutation deals more with souls than bodies

[@houseofaction]

ya no, human transformation requires the individual to open the gate of truth and than pay a toll. hense the reason they lose their bodies.

[@AStrangeWindmill]

Right. You can make bodies all day. Hell, someone from xing probably could've built Al some "flesh armor" to be bound to if they went over there. The soul is that bit that can't be manufactured. The only things in the world equivalent to that are other souls - that's what makes it taboo.

[@badbeardbill9956]

@@AStrangeWindmill Even other souls aren’t inherently equal. You can’t get a dead person’s soul back

[@ZaberFangAT]

Regarding nobody realising the bodies were different - they were doing human transmutation, so they couldn't have reported it officially for a proper autopsy. They were also in the middle of traumatic experiences, and the bodies were super messed up anyway. They definitely didn't look closely enough to work out any of the physical features that they identified in this episode, and buried them before they were in a mental state where they could bear to look at what they had done.

[@yakamen]

Crazy realization! They've been juxtaposing Al's loss of physical form and sleeplessness against Ed's physical trauma and nightmares. He literally wouldn't be able to sleep at night having seen what he's seen. Author is a genius in every level.

[@brandonkorolik701]

What we learned today: 1. Death is permanent. As the intro narrator stated, "It is not an all powerful art". 2. Edward did indeed retrieve Alphonse's soul, rather than simply fabricating one as Barry proposed with evidence to prove that it is Alphonse. 2. The body we thought was Trisha was just that, a body. Nothing more than a sack of flesh without a soul put together using alchemy, like Roy did with Ross's fake corpse. 3. Alphonse's soul was taken from his body and tethered to the fabricated body, more or less the same way as with the armour, the only difference being that the body rejected his soul nearly immediately as opposed to the armour being much more stable. 4. "Truth" as we'll call it currently holds possession of Alphonse's body in the portal. All we presumably need now is a proper toll to get in and out with Alphonse's body in tow. Feel free to correct me everyone, I'm definitely not an expert on this by any standard.

[@badbeardbill9956]

Sounds about right

[@hinahina7417]

Oh I know this might be overstated but please watch and pay attention to the 'recap' episode, it does wonders for Hohenheim character. Even if it's considered 'non-canon' (an anime original ep).

[@CrazeeAdam]

Anyone who skips that episode doesn't enjoy story telling I feel like. It's not just a "recap episode" it's a story telling episode for a pretty main character of the show, even if he's not in it a ton at first. Would always recommend reactors watch it

[@DaDunge]

I mean it's a dream isn't it.

[@P99s-s]

@@DaDunge dreams can be very important for understanding characters

[@AStrangeWindmill]

@@DaDunge technically, so is episode 40, but ain't nobody skipping that one.

[@DaDunge]

@@AStrangeWindmill Yes but that's a flashback, but nothing from the recap episode happens because i's alla dream, that said it is a fascinating insight into von Hohenheim.

[@brandonthompson8640]

"But i cant take all the nights by myself" fantastic delivery from Maxey on that line. also, knowing how this goes, it's hilarious seeing how you guys react to Hohenheim.

[@TriXJester]

When you have an injury that leaves permenant damage like Edward has with his arm and leg the pressure changes with weather can cause a lot of pain, pairing that with the physical exertion of digging up the body it causes to much stress on his body to handle and he throws up. I broke my leg years ago and ever since the same thing has happened to me, there are some days I cant even move my leg when the weather gets bad. You can also see this in the elderly when they complain of joint pain when the weather changes. Though I love how this episode is just set up for some absolutely 0-1000 development of Plot.

[@BirtBiggler]

My fellow injured person, can definitely say I relate to everything you said lol 🤝🏼

[@houseofaction]

this is objectively false, it has nothing to do with what you said high temperatures and HUMIDITY(like that in a storm) can cause our body to become particularly sweaty, sweat evaporates from our exposed skin but under a prosthetics the moisture doesn't evaporate, the moisture can cause prothetics to slip and slice out of place, which cause pain and bacterial infections add onto the fact that after a person loses a limb the part of the body where the limb use to connect to become extremily sensitive, especially to cold and wet weatherm add onto the fact his prosthetics are literal metal

[@musicalsaber6433]

@@houseofaction then the old people without prosthetics?

[@emilymoran9152]

10:50 - Oh, those are interesting reactions! I heard "you should leave the country", her refusing, and him muttering "it's too bad I won't be able to enjoy your cooking" translates to: I like you, so leave before the big alchemy thing - but she says no, and for whatever reason he can't emphasize "no, I mean because I don't want you to die!" I guess because then he'd have to explain what's up....

[@stephie-senpai2394]

pretty sure the bodies the brothers made and izumi made weren’t people they grabbed from the other side, they were just bodies without souls they made from the materials they collected for the transmutations

[@NestorFuentes001]

I think AOT has taught them to overthink things way too much xD I wanna keep screaming Occam's Razor at them lol they get on the right track only to jump of it so beautifully lmao

[@nico-v113]

It’s great to see a completely blind reaction. It’ll be super rewarding to see them find the answers they’re looking for

[@AStrangeWindmill]

Spoiler What's wild is that this is the first time I think I've seen a reaction from people who 100% believe hoenheim is father. I think most people have gotten at least some split personality vibes. And "he's making a dragon body". Didn't see that one coming!

[@nico-v113]

@@AStrangeWindmill Spoiler Alert: yeah that’s what makes it so interesting. That the thought of Hohenheim and Father being separate entities hasn’t even crossed their minds. However the guy guessed the whole master plan damn near perfectly, including the moon’s shadow which is absolutely insane.

[@pwnorbepwned]

Do you remember what Roy did in order to fake Maria’s death? He used common ingredients to make a humanoid flesh puppet. He didn’t perform human transmutation, he just cobbled together ingredients to make something approximating a human body. That’s what Ed, Al and Izumi did too. There was no “poor sucker” from the Truth that they made. Bringing the dead back to life is impossible, after all. The only one of these three puppets to have any motor function was the one Ed and Al made, because it had Al’s soul in it. Consider the law of equivalent exchange. They all gave a pile of materials and obtained a flesh puppet. They all gave a part of their physical selves and obtained knowledge of the Truth, giving them their clapping transmutation powers. Ed gave his arm and got Al’s soul. All exchanges are complete; there was no external soul or third party involved. The physical traits of the bodies Ed, Al and Izumi made were just randomized, no different than the thing Roy created.

[@emelychoi958]

Thank you! I love watching this, but they are missing a big part of it because they did't pay attension at key moments, so they don't really know how alchemy works.

[@EddieDexterStewart]

26:38 And that is why Ed's shoulder's seem so broad. The weight of guilt has been lifted and NOW he has a plan. Now it's not just trying to figure out another way to get their bodies back. Now they know IT'S ALL REAL and there's no stopping him. He has fire and determination. He has strong, "broad shoulders." That's what Winrey is noticing.

[@ryanakers1372]

So glad you guys caught the detail of Hohenheim realizing Ed was listening and intentionally switching the conversation to whether or not the boys actually brought back their mother. Most reactors seem to miss that. What exactly Ed and Al brought back isn't really explored in the show, so my theory is that while they thought they were bringing their mother back to life in reality what they did was a failed attempt to create a homunculus. Because they didn't fully understand what they were doing, the transmutation rebounded on them and took what was needed to balance the equation; a soul from Al for the horrific lifeless body they made and one of Ed's legs for the knowledge he gained. But that's just my theory.

[@user-cl8lf1wm8b]

I think what they did is literally a human transmutation. When Ed went from the gate to the Truth, he said something along the lines of "the formula was correct but I missing something". The human transmutation formula is correct, but I think the Truth forbids taking a soul from the deadland, "secret of birth" mentioned in the Paninia episode. My theory is that dead souls lay in the gate. That why the Truth said "You dare to knock on the door, now the door is open". So in the process of human transmutation when its time to create a soul, an alchemist is actually trying to pull the soul from the gate. The Truth dont like when humans "play God" and instead of the soul, shows the alchemist part of "God" - knowledge, and take the price for it

[@houseofaction]

they lost their bodies simply because they opened the gate not because what they created rebounded

[@JuanSolo9]

I kind of agree with your theory. I think one of the reasons why the Elrics and Izumi ended up with failed homunculi was because the souls they were trying to transmute no longer existed. Izumi ended up with an empty husk, whereas Al's soul was up for grabs after losing his body. Father somehow found a way to transmute portions of his own soul for each of the Sins.

[@erickl1482]

I think they just made a "doll" body like Mustang did with the fake body. Remember that they gathered stuff to make a body, and they did but they coundn't really bind their mother into it

[@sopheep]

the ending of this episode always feels like a turning point in the series to me; ed and al having a proper conversation about what happened and winry’s comment about ed’s shoulders (while also her admiring him lol) together feel like indications of their development!

[@monster-enthusiast]

"Where're we headed?" "Dinner." "After that."

[@Dannydarko27]

A father cant care for his child without ulterior motives? Thats a sad way to think, and the series sets it up so well. Not even using prefix before calling Hoenheim "father" shows how good this series is at making us believe what it wants us to believe, while hiding the "truth withith the truth"

[@GamerGrovyle]

Spoiler A Father who as far as they know is the big bad who's manipulating the State Military from behind the scenes trying to do something really bad to a lot of people. It'd be like a Lord Voldemort lookalike helping Harry Potter with his Potion Homework. Would you trust this noseless guy talking very softly?

[@abrahamkue3581]

I've seen this series when they first came out and still my number 1 anime. Watching these with you guys is just nostalgic. cant wait to see the rest of the series with you guy.

[@dogti2959]

I just can't wait to see your reactions to episode 26 and 27 ! That episode never miss to make me emotional. For a long time, I wish I could turn back time and see my mother again. Seeing Izumi's guilt about killing her child twice, both for not being strong enough to gave birth to him, then by hurting his soul trying to bring them back, is heartbreaking. Then, accepting she couldn't do anyhting because no matter the power you take, death is a permanent state of human nature, warm my heart. The hardest thing to do when you grieve is, by far for me, forgetting yourself for the death of your love one. If I've done this or that, it wouldn't have happen. These people deserve to be happy.

[@danielgarri30]

What I love about this show is the amount of great characters it has, normally you can have a too 3 and thats it, but here you can start at 10 and leave some behind

[@hi00118]

It's so hard to bite my tongue about the plot developments coming up but I'm so excited to see their reactions as the series progesses.

[@georgeasiago7143]

Yeah, the body Ed and Al made isn't anyone specific. They got the ingredients for an average adult human, and by the law of equivalent exchange, that's what they got. A random collection of parts that averaged out to an adult human. Some were male, some were female, but the sum total of them was, by the most technical of definitions, "an adult human".

[@houseofaction]

no every part of it was male

[@GamerGrovyle]

I don't think they were detailed enough make a specific body. They knew the details of constructing it but not how the body was supposed to look. As proof the body they made had it's ribs jutting out of it's open chest cavity. The entrails were dripping out of it. Even if they had made their Mother she'd be dead in minutes. There's also a video from The Film Theorists that explain the formula used was all wrong, basically she'd not have enough Potassium to start her heart or enough Iron to not collapse from anemia.

[@DaDunge]

29:00 Well the Father persona clearly does not care about his created children, he killed Greed without a hint of remorse.

[@houseofaction]

spoilers..................................... well to be fair he is planning on recreating a body for him so it doesn't matter if he killed him. its the same soul every time

[@DaDunge]

@@houseofaction True but he also doesn't show a hint of sorrow that lust is dead.

[@sourcesymbiosismetamorphis2228]

@@DaDunge it's explained why. He literally can't. His ripped out his emotional body through transmutation and put every significant human emotion into a homonculus body. God even laughs at him at the end telling him basically how funny it was that he thought he could ascend to Godhood by removing everything that made him "human" even though he is a homonculus he still beared every emotion within him that gave him empathy and a moral compass. He actually did the opposite of what it takes to achieve godhood. You get close to God by mastering your emotions not removing them. That's basic spirituality. You can not spiritually bypass everything and ignore your own internal trauma wounds and pretend you're above all of it because you have to integrate the shadow as much as the light to become a whole sovereign being. One does not reach enlightenment by imagining figures of light or imagining a man in the sky, it's by making the darkness conscious.

[@DaDunge]

@@sourcesymbiosismetamorphis2228 You do realize I was avoiding spoilers right?

[@sourcesymbiosismetamorphis2228]

@@DaDunge my bad I just assumed since you were watching a reaction to this anime.....😂

[@gabecajamarca]

Oh some many theories! I absolutely love this episode and the ending always gets me teary eyed. Idk when I heard Winry ask about Ed’s shoulders it made me think that a great weight had been lifted off him and she can see that. That’s how I interpreted it the first time

[@sylxeria]

If they had brought back the "Brothers" song from the first anime, it'd have fit in so perfectly at the end where Ed and Al were talking about what happened earlier on ;A;

[@ANCIENTxDEATH]

Realizing Al spends nights alone with almost nothing to do is what got me to fully cry.

[@ANCIENTxDEATH]

Im 36 and have seen my bio dad since around 12. I still seek his approval.

[@TheKeller101]

As a few people have pointed out: The boys had the ingredients for a human body when they made the transmutation. Al's body and Ed's arm weren't sacrificed to make the body, they were sacrificed for the knowledge. It went wrong because they didn't account for the 'cost' of a soul. The reason people don't talk about human transmutation is because it is forbidden to perform said alchemy.

[@Dannydarko27]

The body was the transmutation from all the ingredients they used to make up a body. It was a receptacle for a soul, but they dont have ingredients for a soul

[@Kaempfdog]

This is among my favorite episodes in the show. To say nothing of SO many details I was genuinely thrown off by your guesses. And not for the reasons you may think. Hohenheim has nothing to gain by putting Ed on the healing path. Whether that means he cares is up to interpretation. People are resources for the stone. Your mindset doesn’t matter in a transmutation. And leaving without telling where he’s going means that it doesn’t matter if Ed follows him or not as a potential resource. Emotional performance has no baring on alchemy. It is EXCLUSIVELY knowledge based. When human transmutation is performed, they used the elements that consist of a human body. But the exact measurements of Trisha Elric were unknown, and that’s why the body just fell apart. They had the materials to bring back a body, but what the body looked like was completely random. As for the soul, a dead soul is gone. Into the ether. Whether souls are elsewhere in the afterlife or not, it doesn’t matter. It is not accessible to someone alive. So the transmutation can only pull from what is there. Al’s soul was available as he was pulled into the truth. And as for Izumi’s child? Perhaps she was briefly in it. Or there was never a soul in that body in the 1st place. Heck maybe she didn’t put her blood in the transmutation like Ed and Al did which made things way more confusing. (I don’t think the baby moved at all, so I think that implies no soul was ever in it.) But you are correct. The feeling that they gave the one they wanted back so bad they committed the taboo over a TERRIBLE return to the life of the living for mere moments of complete and utter agony. Only to experience death AGAIN. THAT is the feeling of guilt they were all just relieved of. Trisha Elric and Izumi’s child were never disturbed from their eternal rest. They continue to Rest In Peace. Thank GOD. Some conversation freaked me out as an 03 fan. Nothing more.

[@houseofaction]

there is definitively an afterlife as there wouldn't be a reason to have rules about human transmuatation if a soul just ceased to exist efter death than human transmutation would be the moral thing to do. just imagine you find out the soul exists but you find out when the human dies the soul fades into nothing, but you discover you have the power to do human transmutation, don't you think it would be morally right to save that soul from ceasing to exist?

[@Kaempfdog]

@@houseofaction you’re not wrong. But there’s no transmutation in existence and no way to pull them back from death. We may know a soul exists in this world, but from a literal matter perspective there is nothing you can base the soul on in a transmutation. And since the transmutation OCCURS, it attempts to use SOMETHING and takes what was not used in the transmutation as punishment. Heck, some of the organs of the amalgamation may straight up be Izumi’s in her transmutation.

[@supermoogle07]

*Screams in spoilers*. Man I love this show. I think this will be the one that gets me on their Patreon. It’s so painful waiting to see them get to certain character introductions and explanations, and each one they get to just makes me start waiting on the next. Love this show.

[@KnIf0rTITAN]

I love how they come close then reason themselves in to a hole :D

[@DaDunge]

27:00 Oh Ed would do that in a heartbeat but he knows Al would never forgive him.

[@being47]

this show doesn't forget or leave a single thing behind, every plot point every little detail matters.

[@speedhuntr]

This is so fun to watch you guys piece things together 🙂

[@rumfordc]

"we don't know anyone in this show with black hair except lust" ... and mustang, and mei, and the prince, and bradley, and their teacher, and the girl they helped escape?

[@ThatCheekyWalrus]

I have watched this like 200+ times, no exaggeration. I still cry at like 30 different points, every single damn time...

[@Sellot91]

It isn't a spoiler as it is never explained, but to explain Ed's logic about Al being abe to get his body back: Bringing someone who is dead back to life is impossible, as shown by the body of the being they transmuted. It wasn't really their mother, once you're dead, you're dead, you can't be brought back. Therefore, the fact Al exists in the armor means he is still alive, he isn't dead, therefore, he can be returned to normal.

[@Lupinemancer87]

Now we are finally getting closer to the goal.

[@TheDupus]

It’s important to remember that Ed and Al used all as ingredients to create what they did when they attempted human transmutation. They used the ingredients to make up an average human body, which is what they got. Perfect equivalent exchange. But what’s the other most important thing Ed and Al used? THEIR Blood. They were under the assumption that was equivalent to their mother’s soul. But there is no equivalent exchange for their mother’s soul. How would one even figure out what a soul is made of? How could you provide the equivalent ingredient for something so nebulous and abstract a concept?

[@DaDunge]

30:00 But there were plenty of pctures of Ed, Al and Trisha, what's unique in the oen he took is that he's in it.

[@hinahina7417]

Hohenheim in the flesh, along with Scar and Kimblee, Hohenheim is also considered one my personal faves. Even though he's definitely NOT a good dad. That does not exempt him from being a good person who's (seemed to selfishly leave Ed and Al behind to do his needed um...'work' trying not to spoil) is one of the factors of this show excelling at morally gray characters. It sorta like Aang being (implied) of being a not so great father to his children, but is still ultimately a good person, I think Hohenheim is in the same boat (please keep an open mind for him).

[@houseofaction]

SPOILERS........................................................................................ him leaving doesn't make him a bad dad

[@AshleyGarcia-ck2ki]

“They’re gardening” lolol

[@MaxWelton]

17:18 idk they added some “soul data” (blood) to the cocktail

[@garretmurphy911]

I know this is off topic but I know Montana would absolutely love Fruits Basket. With how much she enjoys analyzing characters trauma and issues it would be the perfect non shonen for you guys. Also Chris Sabat is in it so I know Kenny would like it.

[@SwordTune]

"Have his shoulders always been so broad," says the girl responsible for making his shoulders symmetrical.

[@olga1231]

part the fun of watching someone watch fma for the first time is seeing them not know things and their theories, but also it can be frustarting haha

[@DaDunge]

24:30 And Ed realized something was wrong and broke the connection with the truth at a time when it only cost him his leg. Al was more desperate for their mother and held on thus losing his entire body. Ed being older and the more well read alchemist of them, at least at the time, is why he left the truth only losing a leg. Ed mesed up he should never have brought Al into it.

[@behindzerosp]

Winry pointing Ed sholders is for so many reasons from her actually liking him to him being older and also without the burden of killing his mom twice

[@merlinsmusings]

I am *so* looking forward to their reaction at the big reveal of the villain's true identity.

[@skyllamma991]

Im so glad you guys are having success. You make us all happy

[@narutosraman]

If you’re still confused, basically they transmuted an average body with no soul. It wasn’t anyone that already existed. Similar to how Roy got the transmuted corpses but the boys tried to make a live body for their mothers soul to bond to, and since they used their own soul data instead of their mothers it was Al’s soul that tried to bond to it hence why the truth took his body since you can’t be bonded to two bodies at once.

[@alperonce]

Welcome Father

[@MaxWelton]

10:27 lol that’s like what happened in the 2003 series

[@Shax22132]

I'm really enjoying your theories and discussions; I really hope neither of you get spoiled.

[@bat0s4i]

What i get from Ed realizarion is: its impossible to bring people from the dead because the soul just dont exist in this world anymore, so if Al soul still exists his body should exist somewhere as well and it must be possible to reach it somehow. As for what they transmitaded, they just produced a body out of the materials they had, and without any real know-how they made an crappy inside-out male body insted of an somewhat functional human body like what an homunculus whould have.

[@indigoghost7399]

no spoilers but I love all your theories. some things you guys got dead wrong (but are really interesting theories!) and some you guys are right on track with or got exactly right. at ep 20, you got some things right that most dont get til eps 30-50

[@nikkidee6009]

I can't wait for you to see this storyline play out.

[@cjjackson2423]

2:22 "You ran away and you know it" okayyy dad who left us at what like 9? So what if they they ran away, THEY WERE KIDSSS wtf 😭

[@attackduck9768]

I’m throughly enjoying their predictions on what’s gonna happen and can’t wait for them to see how it all pans out… iykyk

[@areopanda1664]

Spoiler spoiler God!!! they are soo close yet so far when theorizing I love it

[@haydenberends3905]

I find it both amusing and INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING

[@GamerGrovyle]

@@haydenberends3905 Agreed. It's like watching a cat try to climb a tall object only to continuously slip down.

[@miguelosvaldofloresdomingu8911]

Such a great episode!

[@jdogx211]

I think those souls they transmuted were probubly individuals who died and were free floating at THAT SPACIFIC MOMENT, and got snatched up.

[@Cappy-Bara]

The transmuted bodies failed because there was no soul at all, and they were essentially the beginnings of a Homunculous

[@TheBatmanWhoReacts]

Absolute favourite episode of the entire series

[@stardmg]

Basically all human transmutation results in is a soulless human body with a random selection of features (hair color, eye color etc.) Ed states at one point in the manga (but never in the anime, so this is *not* a spoiler) that "you can't recall a soul that doesn't exist in this world anymore" Al's soul was sort of in limbo, stuck inside the gate, which is why it was an exception

[@Sunaki1000]

Hohenheims Backstory will blow your Mind.

[@gabzi27]

I'm really enjoying your reactions but I can't wait for you to get to episode 26. Can't wait to see your minds explode.

[@remangapage21]

You can't bring a dead person back to life, because the soul of a dead person can't be taken.

[@Noct31]

We all know Montana will miss Lust simping, but she'll recover once we get to Briggs.

[@AStrangeWindmill]

Let the slander begin.

[@noremac7216]

I'm enjoying it so much, the rug pull is going to be fantastic

[@flygonkerel781]

Hoenheim is best father😭😭😭

[@badbeardbill9956]

Well no. He definitely wasn’t a good father, but… he does love his family

[@ChrisClark-ChrisExists]

The fact that Montana used Stranger Things logic to explain this is so dope💙

[@wlliamson53]

20:48 The Edward scream button

[@r.thomas9648]

Dope shirt Kenny

[@WaywardVet]

I hope we get back to central soon. Lovely flags there.

[@cosesu8929]

Spoilery It's funny how they are basically correct on Father's end game but are taking a different path to get there

[@SHGogo-df5jr]

Dunno if it matters, but just a thought. For Montana's idea about why Hoenheim took the photo, if that's the case why take the one with all 4? Why not one with just Ed and Al?

[@TheZanyWarlock]

Love Kenny's shirt😂😂

[@ThatCheekyWalrus]

"I'd smoke they key largo" I need that fucking shirt...

[@lucasmatos5701]

It's funny how your predictions often start right but swiftly fall down the river of WRONG haha

[@robinmartin2818]

I always took it as They had the elements to make up a person but they had no really guide as to how it would shape. So rather than be the person they wanted, it just ended up being some random shmow. In a real world example, you can make a person with a sperm and egg, but you can not control how the jaw bone develops, or the eye color, or the sex. SO like an actual birth, the physical features were completely random. Basically it's not so much as they brought someone back but rather they made someone new.

[@MaxWelton]

7:03 Ling echoing Greed’s words?

[@mohamedelhediissa289]

So basically that demonic thing is made out of the material they used and the soul inside it was al's before he was bonded to the armor

[@DaDunge]

I would guess the reason it's not a specific body is that Ed failed in visualizing the full complexity of a human body. It would still only have been an empty body even if he had been able to do it.

[@mohamedelhediissa289]

@@DaDunge yeah and when you actually look back at it the materials he listed are far from making a human body that's probably one of the reasons it looked so misshapen

[@BryMartinezV]

Great reaction. I don't think I've ever seen Kenny's shirt and now I just wanna smoke a joint with them while we smoke some meat it sounds like a wonderful evening 😩

[@NameIsZ]

Stress and stump pain from weather change is what made Edward vomit, at least from what I remember reading.

[@lucasmatos5701]

14:40 you once again forgot about this detail, they had all the materials equivalent to a human body in the middle of the transmutation circle, remeber his list of an adult human body. The body was created wich makes the Tabu, but there was no soul to put inside so all's soul got into that body cuz his own was taken, if he had no place to come back from the Truth his soul would be lost and he would die, the only reason Ed could make the soul bounding was because Al as still alive unlike their mother that was already dead so her soul can't be "pulled" into a random body by this transmutation. I don't remember when but i'm pretty sure they say it, once someone's dead there's no turning back, and i think by now you should know that Al's body is with the Truth, just like it was shown twice that the true takes a "payment" to look into the door and show it taking Ed's leg and materializing on itself, same when shows Al paying with his body