FMA storyline
Posted: Mar 03, 2005 6:11pm
i saw a couple episodes i just want to know how it all started and whats going on now in the series
The setting is an alternate reality (like in <i>Sakura Wars</i>), set early in the 20th century. In this world, Alchemy, though it looks mystical, is an actual science. Most notably, it follows the scientific laws--sort of like conservation of matter. In the opening, Al describes the situation pretty well.
The main characters are the two Elric brothers: Edward and Alphonse. They are alchemical prodigies, having learned the basic of alchemy when they were just 6 and 5, respectively."Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth."
Their father, Hohenheim, is also a noted alchemist but left a long time back, leaving their mother, Trisha, to care for the two boys. Tragically, Trisha succumbs to an illness she had been hiding. In a fit of desparation, the two of them began to really study alchemy...and then, they attempted a taboo in the world: they attempted to revive their mother by means of alchemy. That's when things went wrong.
No one has yet to figure out the Equivalent Exchange for a human soul, and that's where the boys' calculations went awry. For their folly, they paid dearly. Ed lost his left leg up to the thigh. Alphonse's own body was rapidly disappearing, so Ed made another desparate move: a soul attachment. It bonded Al's soul into a nearby suit of armor. Ed paid for this move with his right arm, but Al's soul was still in the mortal plane.
After the accident, Ed asked their neighbors the Rockbells (Pinako and granddaughter Winry) to fir him with prosthetic limbs (the Rockbells are automail mechanics). For close to the next year, Ed and Al trained. Then, they went to Central. Their goal: to become State Alchemists. Eventually, Ed pulled off something amazing--transmuting without the aid of a drawn Transmutation Circle--and earned his way into their ranks, earning the name "Fullmetal Alchemist".
State Alchemists are essentially part of the army, so many would think the move to be crazy, but for Ed, the benefit justified the risk. The Central Archives are some of the best in the field of Alchemy. It is here that he learns of the Philospher's Stone: the holy grail of alchemy. If what the rumors say are true, the stone can be used to bypass Equivalent Exchange. Ed could restore his limbs and his brother's body.
But there is a story behind the stone: a story not fully told as yet. Other forces are pursuing the stone.
One of them is other factions of the military, wanting to use the stone to bolster their might.
Another is an unusual group of individuals known--for lack of a better term--as "The Sins". They seem to possess unique powers and are ruthlessly after the stone, too.
Then there is Scar. Apparently a survivor of a military massacre in Ishbal, his right arm seems to possess destructive powers. He's made it his goal to destroy the State Alchemists...and Ed is on that list.
The series is airing even as I write, so I won't spoil it right now. There are 51 episodes in total. However, the series will apparently go on hiatus after season 2 (episode 26) concludes.
The story so far (as of #19: The Truth Behind Truths):
- The Sins have found Dr. Marcoh "Crystal Alchemist", who had developed enhancing stones that seemed to work on the same principle as the fabled stone. They threaten him to reveal the location of his hidden research.
- Scar escaped a military pursuit and has also learned that he needs to return to Central if he's to find Dr. Marcoh's work. What he'll do with it once he finds it is uncertain, but the marks on his arm seem connected to Dr. Marcoh's stones. Marcoh's research also seems connected to Ishbal.
- They end up encountering each other in the library. There is a brief encounter where Scar is wounded by Gluttony, but Scar is able to escape. But before then, Scar realizes that Lust and Gluttony are "Homonculi" (common definition: beings created through alchemy).
- Ed returns to Central and discovers the library branch burnt to the ground. Fortunately, a mousy former employee of the library provides a means to recover the lost notes. Ed and Al pore over the notes...only to discover something sinister. The secret ingredient in Marcoh's research...is live human beings. At first discouraged, Ed's convinced to continue looking into the matter, and he remember Marcoh's other words: "The Truth Behind Truths".
- So Ed decides to look into Marcoh's methods to get an idea on where to go from there, and with help from his two guards discovers an "abandoned" laboratory next to a prison. How convenient. Ed gets inside. But now he's being confronted by what he discovers is a soul-attached suit of armor. What he doesn't realize is that Al is also being attacked outside the lab. To be Continued...
If you watch Saturday's episode, you'll know as much as the next man.