Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 9

Ed and Al may have escape from the alledgedly shut down laboratory number five before its collapse at the end of the last episode, but both Elric brothers are left bearing wounds from that particular adventure which take the full duration of this episode to heal.

In Edward's case, the wounds are purely physical, as he recovers his health whilst giving Winry a call (still in the dark about her little maintenance error that compromised the strength in his artifical arm) to ask her to come and fix up his Automail once again. However, things are far more difficult for Alphonse, who is still trying to come to terms with the thoughts pushed into his head that he may be nothing more than an artificial being. Rather than confronting Al about it, he simply lets things stew, only causing them to get worse inside his head until they inevitably spill over.


Thank goodness then that Winry is there to the pieces back together once Ed and Al apart, undrestanding more about Ed's worries and mental weaknesses than Al gives her credit for. Thus, the most brotherly of arguments doesn't last for too long before all is well once again for the Elric brothers. All, that is, apart from a pending reappearance from Scar as he too recovers from injury...

Given Al's dark mental state coming into this episode, it is perhaps surprising just how light-hearted the vast majority of it was, keeping the episode afloat almost purely on humour and silliness alone. However, when the time comes to enter that darker territory, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood does so with aplomb, genuinely bringing a tear to my eye as Ed and Al argue before Winry steps in to smooth things over whilst clearly affected herself by what she's seen before her both now and in the past. It's a beautifully realised and poignant moment, that more than makes up for what was otherwise an almost overly jovial and slow-moving instalment - A true reminder of the emotional power than this series can hold when it really puts its mind to it.