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How far are you willing to go to achieve your goals and desires? That is a fundamental question present throughout all of the 2009 anime adaption of Hiromu Arakawa’s beloved manga Fullmetal Alchemist. The anime, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, focuses on brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric as they attempt to get their bodies back. However, in the process, they discover dangerous political and military conspiracies.
Sacrifice, whether physically or metaphorically, is seen consistently throughout almost every character’s experiences and is also at the heart of the main tenet of alchemy. To gain something in alchemy, one must first give up something of equal value. One driver for the characters’ actions throughout Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is the ideology of having to sacrifice first in order to experience the change and benefits of your actions. This ideology is also one of the main reasons the anime is so captivating.
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.
(( Alphonse Elric | Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood | Bones ))
The Unknown Price Of Equivalent Exchange
The concept of Equivalent Exchange is discussed by the characters numerous times throughout the series. It keeps alchemy from being used for complete destruction and from any one person from having too much power. However, if an alchemist wishes to bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange, they need the power of a Philosopher’s Stone. At the beginning of the series, Ed and Al are searching for a Philosopher’s Stone as they believe it will be able to return their bodies back to normal.
Alchemy also requires the use of a transmutation circle, which one can draw in chalk, tattoo on themselves, or have embroidered or carved into armor and clothing. Ed, Al, and their teacher Izumi Curtis do not have to use a transmutation circle since they have all seen Truth, the omnipotent power that oversees all of alchemy. However, they each had to sacrifice something in order to gain the knowledge that allows them to conduct alchemy without a transmutation circle. Whether or not their sacrifices were worth the suffering that each had to endure to gain this ability is seen through their emotional and mental turmoil. Ed’s reputation as a State Alchemist is founded upon his ability to conduct alchemy without a transmutation circle. However, Ed feels enormous guilt and anger about the what he and Al had to give up for him to gain his ability and prestige.
Ed and Al’s sacrifice involves one of the largest taboos in alchemy: human transmutation. In an attempt to bring their mother back after she died from an illness, they followed what seemed to be a recipe for crafting a human being. Ed and Al gather all the different elements and proportions that make up an average adult woman, such as carbon, phosphorus, and zinc. They even mix some of their blood in since they believe their DNA will be the final touch that specifically brings back their mother. However, they do not take into account what could possibly equal the value of a human soul, as a soul is not a tangible object that someone can create in a laboratory.
Instead, in the process of attempting to resurrect their mother, Ed ends up sacrificing his left leg and Al loses his entire body. The loss of Ed’s leg is what allowed him to see Truth and once he regains consciousness, he uses his new knowledge to sacrifice his right arm to transmute Al’s soul, binding it to a suit of armor. Ed and Al make the ultimate sacrifices, their physical bodies, in an attempt to bring someone back from the dead. While they were not successful, it was this moment of sacrifice that was the catalyst for the rest of the events in the series.
Uncovering The Secret Of The Philosopher’s Stone
The physical, emotional, and mental agony of Ed and Al’s sacrifices are what lead them to try to regain their bodies and search for a Philosopher’s Stone. However, the stone is not what it appears to be. Not only are they extremely rare, but they are crafted through alchemy itself. What Ed and Al are not prepared for however, is that to create a Philosopher’s Stone human lives must be sacrificed.
This type of mass sacrifice was conducted in Xerxes to make Hohenheim, Ed and Al’s dad, a living Philosopher’s Stone. It also gave Father, the creator of the homunculi, his physical vessel. This was also done during the Ishval Civil War. Many Ishvalan people were unwillingly sacrificed to create a Philosopher’s Stone for the military’s use and to further Father’s plot of world domination.
It was attempted again at the end of the anime when Father planned to sacrifice the citizens of Amestris to create a Philosopher’s Stone that could challenge God for power. Once Ed and Al learned of the suffering and sacrifice that is required to create a Philosopher’s Stone, they vowed never to use one to regain their bodies. Doing this, they symbolically sacrifice their best chance to regain their bodies and their only lead for further action at the time.
What Is It All Worth?
In spite of everything that the Elric brothers and their friends have to give up to continue working towards their goals, their actions do have positive outcomes. Like the Law of Equivalent Exchange says, sacrifice produces something of equal value in return. These returns may vary in size. From amassing the respect of others, finding strong connections and allies, and regaining parts of a body, these returns are all equally important. Each exchange assists the Elric brothers on their journey in vastly different yet meaningful ways.
Other results from the exchanges are more complicated. When the Elric brothers are reunited with their father Hohenheim later on in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ed refuses to speak with or spend time with his father. He blames his dad for the death of their mother Trisha and the events that followed, which caused them to lose their bodies.
However, after learning more about the plot to sacrifice Amestris’ citizens and his father’s life story, Ed decides to make a difficult sacrifice. He pushes away his stubbornness and pride, two things that were not only at the core of his personality but also protecting himself from his past decisions. Ed’s sacrifice allows him to work with Hohenheim and other allies towards defeating Father and saving Amestris. However, this isn’t the last sacrifice Ed will make.
The whole series of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, follows the Elric brothers as they find a way to regain their bodies. They sacrifice the pursuit of this goal countless times to help others and their country. Oftentimes the audience may ask themselves what the point of Ed and Al’s actions are – will they ever get their bodies back? At the end of the series, Ed and Al make a series of painfully beautiful sacrifices for each other.
In the fight against Father, Al sacrifices his soul so that Ed can get his arm back and rejoin the fight with the ability to use alchemy. Afterward, Ed meets Truth who asks him what he could give up to retrieve Al’s rejoined body and soul. Ed decides to sacrifice the one thing that he has created his identity around. It has aided him in many dangerous situations but has also been a source of great pain in his life. He gives up his alchemy.
This scene is heart-wrenching and poetic. The audience gets to see the extent of Ed’s love for his younger brother. They also see that the sacrifices Al made for Ed over the years were not in vain. The Law of Equivalent Exchange is applied in this situation and works, this time in major favor for the Elric brothers.
Finding Hope In Sacrifice In Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
The sacrifices in this show often play out over long periods of time and in dramatic fashion. However, the core message is still applicable to everyday life. The characters of this series go through a wide range of sacrificial experiences, from losing body parts and their lives to giving up future plans, dreams, and relationships. The sacrifices vary from being so large it affects everyone around the character, to being extremely personal.
While human lives and souls are often the focus of sacrifice in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the series also explores the many different forms of sacrifice and its consequences that are both good and bad. It may be disheartening to watch the characters we love go through so many painful experiences, but in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood it is also uplifting. Ed, Al, Winry, Mustang, Hohenheim, and many more characters give up so much in the pursuit of their goals, but as the Law of Equivalent Exchange dictates, they also receive a lot in return.
This exchange is what makes this anime so captivating and well loved, even over a decade later. Sacrifice to the point of pain without anything learned or gained is not engaging in the long-run. It is not nuanced or poetic. The hope that comes from sacrificing something is what drives the characters in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as well as in humans’ everyday lives. Viewers connect with Ed and Al’s journey through their pain, anguish, and eventually success and love. It is these moments of happiness and joy that help people around the world, not just our favorite anime characters, keep moving forward, in spite of what they may have sacrificed along the way.