Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 14

Come the end of the last episode, the Elric brothers had well and truly found themselves in a tight stop - Despite some assistance from their teacher, we were left with Edward wounded and Alphone kidnapped by Greed and his Chimera henchmen. With the forming sporting an "ultimate shield" and regenerative abilities that render him more or less immortal, things certainly weren't looking rosy.

However, help is soon at hand in the form of none other than the Führer himself, King Bradley. While he may be rather advanced in years (sixty to be precise), he makes short work of Greed and his cohorts thanks to some impressive sword skills, while also giving us a glimpse of what lies behind that eye patch of his (it wasn't a Halloween pop-out eye, which disappointed me greatly). Even Martel, hidden away inside Al, doesn't escape the Führer's wrath, killed inside the young Elric brother himself in a rather unpleasant fashion, although it does have the positive side-effect of jogging some of Al's memories regarding "the truth".


Speaking of truth, it is of course about time that the real identity of King Bradley is revealed (to the viewer at least), as we learn of his true role as one of the Homonculus, under the command of a mysterious and aged man who bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain someone...

For all of you who have been patiently waiting for Brotherhood to step out of the shadows of the original Fullmetal Alchemist series, this is it, as episode fourteen did away with some of the plot devices used previously to go down its own road. It has to be said that this made for an action-packed instalment (who knew King Bradley was such a badass?) that also managed to find time for plenty of major plot exposition, which was more than enough to leave me salivating and hungry for more like some kind of... well, glutton I suppose. This was possibly one of the best episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood yet, and we can now look forward to a real and absolute departure from the original anime.