FMAB 22 Full Reaction
Added 2025-07-18 19:00:04 +0000 UTCFull uncut reaction to Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 22
Comments
it must be said scar's tragic backstory and his anger/rage is understandable but it's trying to kill all the state alchemists he doesn't it changes what happened in ishval and as for ling and bradley's conversation at the beginning of the episode ling's talk about what kind of a real leader/king is you have to like that idea
Guru_Rick_
2025-08-07 11:53:33 +0000 UTCScar isn’t necessarily trying to prove alchemy is wrong. He is holding alchemists accountable for the GENOCIDE they participated in. The show initially presents all these characters to the audience as very likable, but their body count is in the hundreds of thousands, outside of Edward Scar has only hunted war criminals.
ben mur
2025-07-21 16:35:06 +0000 UTCThat's fair, and there's a difference between understandable and justified. Of course after killing Winrey's parents I'm angry at Scar but I do look forward to continuing to watch his story evolve and learn more about him as a character.
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 16:21:18 +0000 UTCWell said and totally agreed!
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 16:17:51 +0000 UTC"You’ve just seen the completely unjustified genocide of his people. Meaning everybody he ever loved was killed. You dont think trauma like that changes people for the worst." Very well said and absolutely correct, that absolutely would change someone for the worse and this is how the cycle of violence continues.
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 16:03:44 +0000 UTCFeels like with Scar there is a strong parallel to a recent Invincible episode we watched.
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 16:01:42 +0000 UTCWell you know Ken enjoyed the reference in this comment and thank you for the well wishes! 🙏 And yes, I too am an only child, and if I woke up with my mom's arm grafted to me I would 100% freak the fuck out, so this is a very valid point 😂
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 15:49:49 +0000 UTC"Good writing has a way of making you feel a certain way towards a character until the truth comes out, and then it’s up to us, the audience, to ultimately judge the character after everything’s been revealed " - well said. Looking forward to learning more and we love a good redemption story!
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 15:46:53 +0000 UTCThis is very fair. And human history and modern times provide ample evidence that the flames of hatred are tough to put out. Tougher still when they continue to be fed over and over again.
Bethany and Ken
2025-07-21 15:44:06 +0000 UTCEvery state alchemist we've seen scar kill was a "war hero" ie prolific murderer of his people Except Ed his makes no sense
alloces
2025-07-21 00:47:08 +0000 UTCI don't think Bethany fully processed just how deep the atrocities that Scar lived though were and why his hatred runs so deep. He's a civilian who has survived a brutal genocide where entire families were gunned down in the street by blue-eyed soldiers or were eradicated in various brutal ways by the powers of State Alchemists. Remember, Mustang was one of the weapons of that war and he has the firepower to kill a seemingly unkillable being, he's a living weapon of mass destruction - you even see one of his explosions in Scar's flashback. You also get to see the aftermath of Basque Grand, one of the alchemists you've seen Scar kill, who's specialty was weapon transmutation. To Scar, these living weapons are the stuff of nightmares and are a representation of pure evil, which is why his crusade focuses on them. As for being saved by alchemy, Scar was bleeding out and wasn't moving at that point, his level of consciousness would have been low if he was conscious at all when his brother grafted his own arm to stop the bleeding. He woke up in an unfamiliar place with people who looked like the people killing everyone he knows, his brother missing, and yet somehow he has his brother's arm. He was enraged and horrified, probably thinking in the moment that the Amestrians had used his brother like parts to stitch him back together. We tend to learn a lot from repetition and exposure and Scar's exposure to blue-eyed Amestrians and to alchemists have been almost exclusively wrapped in violence and death. His brother's use of alchemy wouldn't likely make him change his mind, especially with his brother studying alkahestry as well - it would make him the exception to the rule, the rare example of a good alchemist amongst all those who use their power to kill and maim. He doesn't hate without justification - he's earned every bit of it and while it's easy to think the dude should just get over it, it's not that easy to let go of something so powerful. He knows how horrible and destructive his hatred is, he's been told by an elder of his people that he has to end the cycle of hatred, but for now his hatred still burns to hot.
Inifus
2025-07-19 19:42:05 +0000 UTCDaaaaaaamn this episode was nuts!! Literally had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! I definitely see why you hate him Bethany, and I think the writer in a way wants you to feel that way towards him for the moment, but I just get the sneaking suspicion that we’ll learn more about Scar and his motivations moving forward, so it’ll be interesting to see how you guys feel about him and his actions once everything is said and done. Good writing has a way of making you feel a certain way towards a character until the truth comes out, and then it’s up to us, the audience, to ultimately judge the character after everything’s been revealed
J Sal
2025-07-19 06:27:12 +0000 UTCI loved the discussion for this episode! I think scar using alchemy is kind of like Peter Parker using the symbiote in some stories.( not a 1 to 1 analogy I know but stay with me) He’s not happy about it, but it’s the only way to be on any level of fair ground. And so he’s justifying his use of something “bad” by focusing on greater good or net positives for them/their worldview. I do think you’re right Bethany, but to be fair if I (an only child) woke up with my dad’s arm grafted on me I’d probably freak the fuck out too lol. Hope you feel better Ken :)
Chris Collier
2025-07-18 22:35:07 +0000 UTCScar is a fascinating character. Like some of the other comments have said, he's there to show the consequences of things like genocide, from a survivor's perspective. This show does lock us very much in the military mindset, because we've got Ed, who's a State Alchemist (a military alchemist), Mustang (also a State Alchemist), Armstrong (State Alchemist), Hawkeye, and the rest of Mustang's men (not alchemists, but military). Most of our main characters have some affiliation with the military, so it would be easy to just show events from a military perspective. Scar is a civilian and a survivor, however. He was already fighting to save his village and his people (and we'll learn more about the Ishvalen War - this isn't the last we'll see of it, or the last perspective we'll get on it. The show is very good at demonstrating all sides of an issue.) so he had already seen some pretty terrible things with his people being slaughtered in the streets. Then he nearly died, watched his brother sacrifice himself for Scar, wakes up in an Amestrian field hospital, being tended to by Amestrian doctors, and has a psychotic break from reality. Once he "recovers" and regains his sanity, however, he is looking at alchemy in a different light. Ishval is an extremely religious society, with very strict views on god. Alchemy, by their definition, is sinful, so Scar already had reason to dislike alchemy before the war, as we can tell he is extremely religious and is willing to go so far as to cast off the name he was given at birth because he knows his hands are dirty and sinful, and he clearly didn't understand why his brother was studying it. Everything that Scar has seen tells him alchemy is evil - the war, what happened to Nina, and who knows what other atrocities he's seen. He also knows how powerful the State Alchemists are, and he can't take them out without using their own weapon against them, like those other men said his brother could do (which again is a problem because those men were suggesting to put aside their own beliefs and use the enemy's sinful weapon against them). Ed and Al do rightfully point out his hypocrisy in episode 5 when Ed points out that he wasn't in Ishval, so Scar coming after him is purely for revenge, not justice. Al also points out the fact that Scar killed Nina, who had done absolutely nothing to harm him in any way. Scar's response is also telling, because he forces Ed and Al to realize and admit that alchemy isn't perfect. They already know that, of course, because of what they've been through, but they are such good alchemists, they try to use it in a way to benefit others while trying to reverse what they did to themselves, because they view it as a tool, and a tool doesn't have motivations or intentions - the user has motivations and intentions. Scar is viewing this as using the enemy's weapon against them, because it's the only way he could go toe-to-toe with the State Alchemists he wants to kill so badly. He hates what he's doing because it goes against his religion and culture, but he's too locked into the revenge mindset until he sees Ed protect Winry and realizes that he is now in the same position as the State Alchemist who murdered his family. He is also forced to acknowledge that he has made mistakes as well, by killing Winry's parents, which is why he just stands there when she's pointing a gun at him. If he hadn't attacked Ed first, he could have easily killed Winry, then returned to attacking Ed and Al. Hawkeye established in episode 5 that he is extremely quick and extremely skilled when she was only able to graze Scar with a single shot, even though she shot at him 5 or 6 times, and she's one of the best snipers the military has.
Megan Saunders
2025-07-18 22:33:53 +0000 UTCTo be fair, Scar's not just going after the alchemists who killed his people. He's killed any number of military guards, like the ones outside Tucker's house, and he went after Ed, who wasn't even a State Alchemist during Ishval. Ed has no association with Ishval other than the fact that he joined the same unit years later. That would be like going after a brand-new Navy SEAL today, just because a SEAL team may have been involved in a battle you were also involved in sometime in the past. So yes, by lumping all the military police and all alchemists (who may not have even had anything to do with Ishval) into his list of targets, he is being a little high and mighty in his "judgment". Ed pointed it out at the end of episode 5. Roy says Scar's revenge was justified, and Ed said, "There's no justification for taking revenge on people who had nothing to do with it. He's just dressing his ugly lust for vengeance in the mantle of his god and calling himself an agent of justice." But yes, it would be morally superior to stop the killing, like his master told him.
Megan Saunders
2025-07-18 22:09:29 +0000 UTCI completely disagree with what bethany said. Just to clarify. He wasn't saved using alchemy, they were just regular doctors. He’s also not targeting all alchemist, it’s just state alchemist (the ones in the military), because they were the ones directly involved in starting the war, so people like the teacher and mps wouldnt be included. You’ve just seen the completely unjustified genocide of his people. Meaning everybody he ever loved was killed. You dont think trauma like that changes people for the worst. He’s not just “the bad guy” . He was a regular person before the war. That event turned him into a killer. Its easy to say he's being an ass hole or dick-ish and should've died based on his actions, but he’s doing exactly the same thing the military did to him. This is why the old ishvalan guy told him about how hatred leads to further violence. Why be ok with winry shooting him but not him killing the military alchemist? Its the same thing lol (I know you didnt explicitly say that, but it was kinda implied when you said you wanted him gone) lol
DarkUchiha
2025-07-18 21:49:39 +0000 UTCFor clarification, Winry's parents are just normal doctors. No alchemy. Scar was seemingly experiencing full blown psychosis when he woke up - between watching his people get slaughtered, his family dying, the intense pain he was in surviving the attack, and realizing his brother grafted his alchemy arm onto him, it's a lot to handle. So it's understandable that the blonde hair, blue eyed people in front of him are not able to be differentiated by him from those doing the slaughter in such a state.
Ceeneon
2025-07-18 21:33:43 +0000 UTCi don't really see any hypocrisy from scar. if he was just going after innocent people then he would be wrong but he's going after alchemists who are military and use their power to kill innocents and destroyed his whole people. i also don't think it matters how he kills and whether he uses alchemy or not. the main point is that his revenge is justified since all of his people were slaughtered for no reason, although yes it would be morally superior of him to just let it go.
John
2025-07-18 20:52:11 +0000 UTCBethany analogy on gun doesn't fit scars situation. The more accurate one would be that person knows gun is evil, his brother is using a gun to fight against enemies and the enemies committed genocide on his people. He then uses the gun for vengeance. The police saving the person with a gun and that person taking a gun and shoot everybody to prove gun is evil is far from what Scar faced.
schifferjack
2025-07-18 20:33:02 +0000 UTCScar as a character is meant to show what genocides create, they create cycles of violence and hypocrites within those cycles. Irl examples are plentiful throughout history. Scar is a message regarding those instances.
Tyler McDonald
2025-07-18 20:00:57 +0000 UTCScar isn't trying to take out all alchemist in the world, just State Alchemist (the ones in the military). Also like Ken said when he killed Winry's parents he wasn't in his right mind. He just watched all of his friends and family gruesomely die, his brother sacrifice himself for him, he wakes up in an unknown place with his brother's arm, and then the first person he wakes up to is someone that looks like the people who have been whipping his whole race out. So basically he just lost it and killed them which is why he had no issues with Winry killing him if she wanted to because he didn't intend to kill her parents. He still holds onto his belief that alchemy is evil and with all the stuff we've been seeing throughout the show and what happened to his people, it's kind of hard for even Ed and Al to prove him wrong. Even great people we know like Roy Mustang has a few hundred (maybe thousand) ishvalen people that he has burned to death just because he was ordered to. Scar isn't in the right for indiscriminately killing state alchemists, but with everything he's been through it's definitely understandable.
Kami_Psy
2025-07-18 19:52:39 +0000 UTC
