Episode 12: One Is All, All Is One (2009 series)

While visiting Izumi, their childhood teacher, the Elrics recall the early difficulties of grasping equivalent exchange. They also discover she shares their intimate knowledge of alchemy’s greatest taboo.

Synopsis
Ed and Al arrive apprehensively in Dublith at the home of their teacher, Izumi Curtis, who greets them violently, angrily displaying her disapproval of Edward's enlistment in the State Military's State Alchemist program. But after she coughs up blood from her illness and her husband Sig calms her down, she invites the boys inside, where they ask her what she knows about the Philosopher's Stone. Not having any interest in such things, Izumi explains that she has very little information in that branch of alchemy, but that she had encountered an alchemist on a recent trip to Central City who did seem to know a great deal about the Stone. Ed and Al ask eagerly who this person was, but respond very differently when Izumi states that the man's name was Van Hohenheim. Alphonse explains that Van Hohenheim is their long-lost father, but Edward, remembering the day that man had abandoned them as children and left their mother to struggle and die on her own, outright refuses to accept any help from him. Continuing carefully, Izumi reveals that Hohenheim had mentioned that his lifelong dream in connection to the Stone was on the verge of fruition.

That evening, over dinner, the boys regale the Curtises with tales of their recent adventures, not noticing Sig's concerned gaze at his wife when they bring up the birthing of the LeCoulte baby in Rush Valley and as they go to bed, Ed reminisces about the day, years ago, when Izumi had wandered into Resembool and saved the villagers from a flash flood with alchemy - the day they had asked to become her apprentices. Though she refused them at first, after hearing that the Elric boys were orphans, Izumi had agreed to give them a test to see whether or not they were worthy of her tutelage. With the instruction that they were to survive alone and without the use of alchemy for one whole month, by the end of which they would have to have correctly deduced the true meaning behind the phrase "one is all, all is one," she left them on Yock Island by themselves. Though they had struggled to survive in Yock's jungle, the boys gradually learned self-reliance, taking with it a realization that - as humans they are only a minute and insignificant part of an immense and flowing cosmos which itself is made up entirely of minute and insignificant parts. When Izumi had finally returned at the end of the month, the boys gave this answer to her riddle and were accepted as her apprentices. For the next six months, Izumi had trained them in Alchemical theory and martial arts, explaining that the endless flow dictated by her riddle applies not only to alchemy but also to every aspect of life and existence. But when the boys ask her how she is able to transmute without the use of a transmutation circle, Izumi merely explains that they will understand if they ever encounter "the truth." Remembering this point, Edward wakes from his reverie and realizes that Izumi must have passed through the Gate just as he had.

The next morning, Ed intends to ask her about it, but before he can, Izumi forces him to transmute without a circle and reveals that she has known all along that Alphonse's armor is empty. Demanding to know if Edward saw the Gate, Izumi laments that he had made the same mistake as her when he responds in the affirmative. Izumi explains that she had attempted to revive her stillborn child and, as a result, the Truth had taken some of her internal organs, making it forever impossible for her to conceive and causing the internal bleeding which so endangers her life. Izumi is sympathetic to the pain that the boys have borne and, despite their brave faces, she tells them that they don't have to act so strong all the time. Embracing her, they grieve and ask for her forgiveness.

Episode Notes

 * This episode is adapted from content in Chapter 19: I'll Do It for You Guys!, Chapter 20: The Terror of the Teacher, Chapter 21: The Brothers' Secret, Chapter 22: The Masked Man, Chapter 23: Knocking on Heaven's Door and Chapter 25: Master and Apprentice.
 * The symbol that appears in the background of this episode's title card is the Flamel.
 * The scenes involving Mason's role on Yock Island are not shown in this episode.
 * In this episode, the path Edward takes to understanding "One is all, all is one" is different from that in the corresponding manga chapters. With the exclusion of Mason and his involvement in their training, Edward learns by first eating ants to survive, rather than realizing that they will eat him if he dies.
 * Izumi's encounter with the children of Dublith is omitted and her discovery of Edward's ability is altered - instead of witnessing his circle-less transmutation during an exhibition of the boys' improved skills, she attacks Ed and forces him to transmute his automail arm to defend himself.
 * This episode displays Izumi's attempted Human Transmutation from a wider angle from the manga, revealing that her circle had been of an identical design to that which Ed had created, albeit using different runes in places.
 * This episode sports one of the few instances in which Izumi is seen not wearing her signature W.C. slippers (in Resembool she was wearing blue boots).