Episode 40: The Scar (2003 series)

The Scar
Series	Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)
Episode number	40
Japan airdate	July 17th, 2004
U.S.A. airdate	December 17th, 2005
Language	English/Japanese
Subtitles	English
Navigation
Preceded by	Secret of Ishbal
Followed by	Holy Mother

Synopsis

As Al tries to stop Martel's vengeful attack on Kimblee, Scar's past is revealed to Ed. When all is said and done, the seventh Homunculus will be exposed and a friend of the Elrics will die.

Full Synopsis

Martel jumps out of Al's armor and begins her attack against Kimblee, determined to avenge Greed and her friends' deaths. While Martel is holding him at knife-point, Kimblee reveals to Al and Martel that he is once again a state alchemist, further angering Martel. Once Kimblee tricks Al into stopping Martel, Kimblee uses his alchemy on a nearby soldier and launches the body at Martel as she breaks free from Al. However, Al pulls Martel away at the last second and jumps down to a grass field. Disgusted, Kimblee chastises Al for butting in and insults the unconscious Martel about being a chimera, but Al fights him off to protect her. Al uses a transmutation to create some stones that allow Kimblee to transmute. Then, at the right moment, Al creates a giant stone wall to surround Kimblee, causing him to use his own alchemy against himself and he comes out with his arm injured. Al requests that Martel be able to escape, just as Colonel Mustang and additional soldiers arrive. Mustang points out that Al is under his jurisdiction and suggests to Kimblee to write up a formal complaint against Al. Kimblee threatens that he will turn Al's armor into a bomb the next time they meet.

At Central Command, Führer Bradley assigns General Hakuro as Acting Führer while he heads out to suppress the uprising in Reole to prevent it from turning out like Ishval. In actuality, he is heading there to destroy it with his secretary Juliet Douglas (Sloth) and Wrath.

In Reole, Ed dodges Scar's attack, and the man acknowledges the Fullmetal boy's awareness of him planning on creating the Philosopher's Stone in the city, demanding Ed not to interfere. Lust and Gluttony observe them from up above, with Lust being surprised when she hears of the Philosopher's Stone. Refusing to back down, Ed has Scar confess that he killed Nina four years ago in Central out of mercy for her being turned into a chimera, leaving Ed devastated and guilt-ridden, knowing there was nothing he could do to ever return Nina to normal. Ed then uses this logic to further accuse Scar of using Rosé and the other townsfolk as human sacrifices, which surprises Scar that Ed knows Rosé. The Fullmetal Alchemist and the vengeful Ishvalan engage each other in combat once more, as Scar attempts to deconstruct Ed's automail arm like before but cannot. The Elric boy informs the scarred man that the metallic composition in his automail is invulnerable to deconstruction, as he is changing the metal around, but it is causing problems with the mechanical parts inside. Therefore, determined to end the bout quick, Ed gets a few hits in on Scar, who then grabs Ed's left arm, reminding him that he can destroy flesh, but Lust and Gluttony intervene before the fight carries on. Ed breaks his automail arm free from Lust's Ultimate Spear by transmuting hot steam on the two homunculi, but they regenerate. Lust declares that she and Gluttony will protect Scar since he wants to create the stone. Taking out the locket he retrieved in Ishval, Scar asks if Lust recognizes it, which stuns her, forcing Gluttony to take Lust and retreat. Lyra and Rosé appear, and Lyra asks Scar that Ed should hear what he has to say which is what Rosé wants, causing Ed to realize that Rosé is now mute.

Once all four of them are settled down at Rosé's house, Scar reveals to Ed the story about his brother and the girlfriend who had died from an illness. His brother became an exile for performing human transmutation to resurrect her. Ed reveals to Scar that Lust was created from that transmutation because homunculi are created from a failed human transmutation and take on the form of the person meant to be revived. Lyra remembers hearing about it from Dante who also performed human transmutation, which Ed suspects was Greed. Ed starts to wonder that because the homunculi know so much, someone is likely behind controlling and bringing them together. Taking the locket, Ed sees some pieces of hair inside of it and explains to Scar that homunculi are weak against material from the person they are modeled after, which is what happened to Lust.

Continuing his story, Scar reveals that after the sudden attack and outbreak of war, his brother came back, knowing how to create a Philosopher's Stone, but the faithful Ishvalans ignored him, and he later renounced his research. Ed admits he met the Ishvalan Exile in Kishua and heard the story that the stone requires a large amount of human sacrifices such that a town or civilization must be eliminated. Scar mentions that anger, frustration, and malice are also needed to blend for the stone's creation.

Back in the past, Kimblee had attacked Scar's group under orders to murder every Ishvalan present. He had tortured Scar by giving him his X-shaped scar and taking away his original right arm. When Scar's brother came to save him, the transmutation circle that was drawn on his body absorbed Kimblee's red stone before the Iron Blood Alchemist Basque Grand attacked. Soon afterward, Scar woke up with his brother's right arm and the tattoo, because his brother had sacrificed himself to save him, knowing that Scar was also in love with his girlfriend.

Ed realizes Scar's brother had transmuted the souls of the people dying during the war into the transmutation circle before passing off the symbol to Scar, and that the fact it is incomplete is why it absorbs red stones and how Scar can use deconstructive alchemy. Scar remarks that the incomplete Philosopher's Stone inside his tattooed arm is not enough and still requires more lives to complete a full Philosopher's Stone. Under the continued impression that Scar is using Rosé as a figurehead and her people as human sacrifices, Ed is corrected by Lyra that Scar will not sacrifice Rosé and her people. Instead, he will lure the soldiers into Reole and use them as the sacrifices with the giant transmutation array while the townsfolk escape unharmed through the underground tunnels. Ed is still furious with Scar about his mad quest of sacrificing soldiers. Seeing Rosé holding a baby, Scar reveals to Ed that Rosé became mute due to torture while she was imprisoned by the military. Scar declares that his sympathy will not be spent on soldiers and neither should Ed's.

Back at the military outpost, while looking for Martel, Al learns from Lt. Havoc that the Führer has arrived. As she crawls through the vents, Martel overhears Bradley meeting in secret with Kimblee and Tucker. Bradley wants Kimblee to lead Tucker's new chimeras into Reole to force the people there to fight back and make it look like they attacked first similar to what happened in Ishval, so that way, the military won't be accused of any wrongdoing. Bradley also wants Kimblee to assassinate Ed if possible to support this heroic image. Not wanting this to happen, Martel attacks Bradley at knife-point as he is leaving, only for Bradley to knock the knife away. Easily dodging Martel's attacks, Bradley's eye patch comes off, revealing it has an ouroboros tattoo. Bradley, who is the seventh homunculus Pride that can predict attacks with the eye, follows Martel as she escapes to Al, who has her get in his armor. As Al's expression changes, Bradley arrives and places his sword at the right spot, allowing it to go through Al's armor and kill Martel, all the while frightening a visibly disturbed Al. Bradley explains to Al that he dealt with the fugitive chimera that hid in his armor, thanking him for his "help" before leaving. Watching Martel's blood streaming all over the lower waist of his armor, Al visibly continues to break down and mourns for her.

Trivia

• This episode has some adapted content from Chapter 30: The Truth Inside the Armor.