The Promised Day

The Promised Day refers to the coming time of the long-awaited culmination of Father's two-hundred year plan involving Amestris, the Human Sacrifices, the Philosopher's Stone and the Nationwide Transmutation Circle. It was first mentioned by Father during his first appearance in the manga as a toast to his faithful children before he quaffed Greed's Philosopher Stone heart back into himself and has since been mentioned sparingly and with few details. It appears, due to his excitement regarding its proximity, that General Raven (and the other members of Military High Command ) are well aware of the time of The Promised Day, though they may not know all of the true details. In Chapter From the scattered hints given by those responsible, it would seem that the completion of Sloth's underground tunnel is essential to the Promised Day, but when Alphonse Elric questions Van Hohenheim on what their next move should be regarding the tunnel, in Chapter 82, Van responds by telling his son to look not only at the ground, but also at the sky - suggesting that Hohenheim himself knows all the details regarding Father's true plan.

Al and Van, knowing the truth, begin a contact chain from Mason to Sig and Izumi Curtis to Major Miles and Captain Buccaneer to General Grumman to 2nd Lt Rebecca Catalina to Lt. Riza Hawkeye to Jean Havoc to Colonel Mustang, informing them all that the Promised Day - the end of this great battle - will take place in the Spring of 1916. The manga takes a short time skip to Spring 1916, when both sides gather all their resources for the final clash. In Chapter 89, as the final march begins, the younger siblings of Sergeant Denny Brosh declare that there is to be a solar eclipse on that very day, suggesting perhaps (in conjunction with Hohenheim's earlier statement) that the eclipse (and perhaps the celestial circle created by the sun's corona around the moon) is part of the ritual that will open the Gate.