Episode 62: A Fierce Counterattack (2009 series)

A truly epic battle erupts when Edward, Mustang, Hawkeye, Greed, Izumi, and Armstrong attack the god-like Father. The odds are against the forces of good – until one brave boy makes a shocking sacrifice.

Episode Notes

 * This episode is adapted from content in Chapter 106: The Abyss of Pride and Chapter 107: The Final Battle.
 * The symbol that appears in the background of this episode's title card is Alphonse's Blood Rune.
 * Scar's final appearance here (before the final chapter) in the manga is portrayed much differently than the anime. In the manga, it has a very heavy sense of foreboding as Scar topples over, assumed to have either died from his wounds or simply faded into unconsciousness due to exhaustion. The answer is not addressed until the final chapter. In the anime, he is simply clutching his wounds the entire time while the camera stays focused on Olivier Armstrong.
 * Several aspects of the battle are changed in this episode:
 * When the Briggs soldiers open fire on Father to protect Edward and Izumi, he takes damage from a bullet and falls to the ground rather than blocking the shots with energy.
 * In the manga, when the souls of the Xerxesians were "reborn" through Father, their bodies begin to deteriorate rapidly soon after, as they were technically "imitation humans". In the anime, however, there is no sign of the bodies deteriorating in the time they're seen. Nonetheless, they're still destroyed in the same way when Father unleashes a full blast in his attempt to wipe out the five Human Sacrifices.
 * Greed's frontal attack on Father is altered so as to be a grab at Father's "God energy" rather than a tactic to have him drop his guard so that Edward can strike from behind.
 * Edward's punch is blocked with a rapidly transmuted wall rather than energy and instead of going in alone, he is joined in his close-range onslaught by Izumi and Major Armstrong, who had both attacked from long-range in the manga.


 * Edward's final line in this episode mirrors the threat he made against Cornello at that start of the series.