Just finished this today and Al gets his body back because Ed gives up his power to perform alchemy without a sign. Wtf how does that equal a human soul and body? This is not hinted at all and just happens out of the blue for the ending the hell. There legit philosophers stone right there and they don't use it. Even tho there was a whole episode about the circle of life and consuming to survive they refuse to use souls of people who are basically trapped in purgatory i don't get it. Seems like a twist just for the sake of it.
Full metal ? eh what
Hudson Green
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Nathan Fisher
>just finished this today
What, after fucking speedwatching it? The only reason Al could even do alchemy without a circle in the first place is because he gave up his arm and his brother's body for it. The whole point of the ending for them was a return to the status quo, he returned his circle-less alchemy and in exchange got back exactly what he gave up to get it in the first place.
Landon Stewart
That's an asspull though
It was never foreshadowed before
Jayden Thompson
>Just finished this today and Al gets his body back because Ed gives up his power to perform alchemy without a sign.
Ed didn't give up his ability to use alchemy without signs, he gave up his ability to use alchemy entirely. Al sacrificed his body to peer through the Gate of Truth, so Ed sacrificing his Gate of Truth was an equal trade to get Al's body back.
>There legit philosophers stone right there and they don't use it
They swore not to use a Philosopher's Stone for a selfish purpose like reclaiming their missing body parts. Burning human souls for a trivial reason like that is abhorrent to them.
Evan Ortiz
>he returned his circle-less alchemy
I thought he couldn't use alchemy at all
Parker Thomas
You're right, he couldn't and I'm just a retard who misremembered. My point stands, though.
Daniel Robinson
>he gave up his ability to use alchemy entirely.
We only see him try to use Alchemy with the prayer not symbols so that's debatable. Even so why is giving up his alchemy a appropriate tow to get him a person soul and body? What about the law of equivalent exchange surely his sight would only give him his leg since that was the price he paid for it?
Justin Bailey
the ability to do alchemy is priceless. If you're willing to give that up, you can demand anything in exchange. the way Truth reacts like Ed finally solved a riddle tells us that alchemy itself was a secret test of humanity and only those willing to humble themselves and give up the demigod-like power it offers are granted the privilege of performing a true miracle. The whole point is to juxtapose with Father for whom just giving up power in order to get what you really want is inconceivable.
Furthermore it was forshadowed by the discussions Al had had about finding a way to bypass Equivalent exchange and prove that the world isn't just some cruel zero sum game. While alchemy has infinite value, it still had less value to Ed than getting Al's brother back. It was also forshadowed by Ed realizing he could use a portion of his own soul as if it were a piece of a philosopher's stone, demonstrating that even conceptual things like that can be used for alchemy without first processing them into a material object
Henry Jackson
Because Al's body and soul were originally sacrificed for arcane knowledge, to peer through the Gate. Ed sacrificing his own source of arcane knowledge was therefore an equivalent exchange to get Al's body and soul back.
Luis Lopez
So they paid for the same amount of knowledge? Why did Al have to pay a whole body and Ed paid 1 limb? The show implies that Al had gained more truth in giving up more of his body. Then again they never bring that up again so i guess the writer forgot about that.
Luke Jackson
No. Al's body was paid to resurrect their mom. Since that was impossible he ended up in that deformed body. It was a price paid for a useless transmutation, for nothing. Al didn't peer into the gate.
Connor Campbell
Because Truth like to be ironic with the price as a form of karmic punishment. Al want to feel the warm of his mom hugging him, so he lost his body. Ed want to stand on his own feet so Truth take away his leg.
Nicholas Clark
Think of magical ability as another limb and it makes sense.
Carter Ross
Al paid more, and so got to look further into the gate. But that was many years in the past, so by the point of the end Ed and Al had learned much more and had become much more capable in alchemy. So Ed sacrificing all his current and future potential to use alchemy was an acceptable equivalent exchange. And relying on others to help you do the things you cannot is Truth's intended lesson, so even if it wasn't a perfectly equivalent exchange he still allowed it to go through.
Jack Martinez
Which makes no sense because alchemy is described as a mathematical equation where as long as you know the formula there is nothing stopping you from performing it.
It's like forgetting how to a ride a bike, there's nothing stopping you from learning how to do it again if you just apply yourself. Completely deflates the whole point of the story, that shitty ending.
Isaac Ortiz
No, AL also peer into teh gate, he just didn't remember it due to the trauma. He later regain his memories and can do circleless alchemy too.
Lucas Miller
>that's debatable
it's not. he straight up says he's giving up his gate, which contains all knowledge of alchemy, and truth immediately replies with "are you sure? you're not gonna be able to perform alchemy anymore".
Benjamin Bennett
Yes he did, because Al learned to use clapping alchemy too, he just needed some time to remember that he learned it then. Al traded his entire body for eldritch knowledge, and so when his soul was returned it was first placed in the flesh abomination that he and Ed created (because his body was unavailable), and when that expired his soul was left adrift in the Gate of Truth again. Ed paid his arm to reopen the Gate to go retrieve Al's soul and bind it to a nearby suit of armor, anchoring him in the living world again.
Xavier Sanders
Alchemy is literally magic in this setting
Wyatt Gomez
The point is that Ed and Al committed a sin and need to pay something. In the end they got back everything beside Ed ability to do Alchemist, meaning that is the price he paid for their sins. SO it's more like a punishment.