Fullmetal Alchemist - Episode 34 Review

Episode 34, "Theory of Avarice"

"I knew I shouldn't have bought this novelty sledgehammer!"Monica Rial... I mean Lyra is not amused.

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Ed, Izumi, and Sig are detained by the military as Archer welcomes Kimbley and Tucker (who had been with Greed's group) back into the fold. The military mercilessly slaughters Greed's men as they try to escape. Armstrong arrives and takes on one of his number who reveals he was also in the Ishbal war. Ed manages to slip away from the soldiers using alchemy. Greed and his remaining cohorts hide in a cabin, where they're confronted by Lust and Gluttony. Al is cut loose (with Martel still in him) and Greed leaves as his men try to take on the other homunculi. Running through the woods, Greed comes upon Dante's house and enter. Greed is welcomed by Lyra and shown Dante's apparently bisected body. An alchemy array under him activates, causing him to spit up red stones, weakening him. Seeing the light of the alchemy, Ed enters the house and confronts Greed, who he assumes killed Dante. When Greed refuses to tell Ed where his brother is, they do battle again, with Greed in his full armored form. This time Edward realizes Greed's shield is made of carbon and uses alchemy to get past it. In the heat of a charge, Ed stabs Greed in the chest with a blade formed on his arm and Greed is mortally wounded. Dying, Greed reveals that he already set Alphonse free, and tells Ed that the homunculi can be weakened by parts of the bodies of the people they were intended to come back as. Then he dissolves into a pile of red water. As the sun rises, Ed can hardly believe he's killed. Martel seperates from Alphonse. Later, Ed, Al, and Winry leave Dublith.

A pimp in his last moments is still a pimp.NOT a brofist.

Comments:

This is my favorite episode of Fullmetal Alchemist. One of my favorite episodes of any anime, to be honest. It has all the elements that made me fall in love with this series.

Greed, badass he is, goes out the way he wanted to. He could have told Edward he set Alphonse free. He could have tried to get away. He didn't. He stayed, knowing that most of his life had been drained away and urged Edward to use lethal force against him. He taught Edward that the weakness to the homunculi is pieces of the bodies of the people they were intended to come back as, which is why he was stunned long enough for the array to do its work. This information will allow Edward to better combat the homouncli. Essentially he went down bringing the others with him, or hoping to. He really is greedy. If he can't have it his way, the others can't either.

Greed could have told Edward who was behind everything, though. Before Lyra disappeared, Greed seemed to know what was really going on, understanding something about Lyra that isn't revealed until later on. But I guess when you're dying, you don't know how many words you have left to say before the boneitis acts up and the weakness of the homunculi took precedence.

The fight between Ed and Greed was masterfully done. The art was solid. The animation flowed nicely. Few speedlines (and where they were, it was hardly noticable). It was short, but it was intense. It's probably the best fight scene in the entire series. The music was perfect, too, especially after the battle, when Greed dies and the sun shines into Dante's mansion. This is some of the best of FMA.

Well, this episode ends my favorite arc in the series, but there's plenty of good stuff to come. Just not right away, unfortunately.

"I'd totally be getting hard for you if I had my penis." "You're already hard.""So... can I squat here now?"

Overall Score:

5 out of 5


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