Fullmetal Alchemist

As children, brothers Ed and Al used the clandestine science of Alchemy to try the unthinkable— resurrect their dead mother. They failed, unleashing an alchemic reaction that ripped their bodies apart. Four years later, Ed and Al are combing the country for a rumored stone that could amplify their alchemy and bring their bodies back to normal.

What is the meaning of a miracle? Or compassion? Is it right to leave a girl and her village in blissful ignorance, or take away all their comforts for the sake of telling the “truth”? These are the questions Ed and Al must face, as they battle against the false prophet Cornello, who is using the science of alchemy and parading it as acts of God.

An old book takes Ed and Al down a painful spiral of memories. Childhood-- a time of war for their nation, when every week, news from the front lines could devastate the family next door. But Ed and Al had their mother, a pillar of strength who always made life okay. When she died, they would try anything to bring her back.

On their way to Central City, Ed and Al hear of a man named Majhal living nearby—an alchemist who not only knew their father, but wrote to him about creating human life. Ed wants to learn from him, but Majhal has other problems: Rumors of a young female ghost wandering the outskirts of his town, taking the souls of young girls.

Ed and Al are only one train ride away from reaching Central City and applying as State Alchemists. But onboard with them is General Haruko, a key figure in the nation’s turbulent politics. When gunmen hijack the rail, holding the General and all of the other passengers hostage, Ed and Al must use every skill they know to survive.

Finally arriving in Central, young Ed and Al begin their studies for the Alchemy Exam. Mustang arranges for them to stay at the lavish house of Shou Tucker, a State Alchemist who won fame and privilege for creating a Chimera that could speak the human language. Ed and Al must quickly learn all they can, as they face a test that only one in hundreds pass.

Shou Tucker is a troubled man. His wife is gone. His daughter needs love he rarely knows how to give. Ever since he stunned the military with his speaking Chimera, he’s set a bar he can’t surpass. Now his annual Assessment is coming, and if he doesn’t impress the state with his alchemy, he’ll lose all he has. What horrors will a desperate man commit? Can Ed and Al stop him before he caves?

A serial killer is on the loose in Central, butchering only women. The gruesome murders are an embarrassment to the military, sending the message that they can’t control their own backyard. As young Ed and Al learn about the powers of the Philosopher’s Stone, their childhood friend, Winry, arrives in Central, and may become the killer’s next victim.

Mustang gives Ed his first assignment as a certified State Alchemist: go to the Eastern town of Youswell and inspect its coalmines, a seemingly mindless task. Ed is furious—experiencing for the first time the tug of the military’s leash. Mustang has hidden motives, however, and there is much more going on in Youswell than it seems.

Tired of answering to Colonel Mustang and the state, Ed takes a detour in the tourist town of Aquroya, the City of Water. But Ed can’t shirk his responsibilities, as he finds himself in the middle of a hunt for a beautiful cat burglar who uses alchemy to commit her crimes. But is Psiren a self-serving criminal... or a vigilante trying to save her city?

Acting on Psiren’s tip, Ed and Al travel to Xenotime. Once a prosperous gold-mining settlement, Xenotime’s gold has been exhausted, and its economy is crumbling. Its only hope: two alchemists who are developing an artificial Philosopher’s Stone to rejuvenate the mines. But everyone says the names of these researchers are Edward and Alphonse Elric. Someone has stolen Ed and Al’s identities.

Ed and Al are entangled in Xenotime’s web of legacies, gold, and corruption.The imposter Elrics are creating artificial Stones by manipulating a substance called Red Water.But the liquid is toxic, and has been causing the town’s children to get sick and die. As the imposters try to repent, the true mastermind reveals a second phase to his plan that would make even the toughest of stomachs turn.

The Elrics return to Eastern Headquarters to report their progress—which, as Mustang points out, is none. Angry and needing to pass his annual Assessment, Ed challenges Mustang to a fight. If Ed wins, Mustang must tell the truth about the traveling doctor who saved children in Xenotime with a powerful form of alchemy. Who will win in this all-out battle?

Ed and Al leave for the countryside to search for Doctor Marcoh, a State Alchemist who deserted during the Eastern Rebellion and is now a fugitive of the state. Unbeknownst to the brothers, Marcoh possesses secrets that could prove invaluable-- if they can keep him alive. Scar, the serial killer who is hunting State Alchemists, is quickly drawing near.

On the run from both Scar and the military, Doctor Marcoh confesses to the Elrics the reason these tragedies are happening. A decade ago, State Alchemists were called into Ishbar to end a seven-year civil war. What followed was a wave of unspeakable atrocities that neither the Ishbalans, nor the State Alchemists who committed them, can forget.

With Ed and Al both gravely injured from their battle with Scar, they decide to return to their hometown of Risembool for repairs. But when the crippled Al is mistaken for cargo, and then vanishes from a remote train station, Ed is led on a detour that will make him question the one principle he believes in most.

The hobbled Elrics return to their childhood village for the first time in four years. As the Rockbells construct Ed’s new limbs, the boys sift through the ashes they left behind. While Al comes to the fearful realization that his memories are fading, Ed visits his mother’s grave, and both must redefine their view of family and home.

Back in Central, Ed and Al scour the library for the elusive records of Dr. Marcoh. But a freak accident…or was it…burned the library to the ground! With little hope discovering the secret behind the stone, Ed must think outside the box. Meanwhile, Scar battles it out with Lust and Gluttony!

For years, Ed and Al have devoted themselves to searching for the all-powerful Philosopher’s Stone. But they have just learned the Stone’s secret ingredient: human beings. How can they reconcile their strong desires to fix their own bodies with the knowledge of its gruesome costs? What could possibly justify the mass extermination of human life?

The two guardians of Lab 5 unleash a terrible assault on Ed and Al, but nothing is as terrifying as their true identities. In a startling exchange, Ed and No. 66 discuss what actually makes a human a human. With his very existence in doubt, Al thinks back to a question Ed was too afraid to ask.

While Al defends himself against the transmuted Barry the Chopper, Ed discovers more about the dark alchemic experiments deep within Lab Five. Scar, Lust, Gluttony, and the never-before-seen Greed are all fast approaching. But the biggest threat of all may be Ed’s own morality, as he’s tempted with the ultimate power he’s been seeking for years.

Hughes issues an order to allow Armstrong, Bloch, and Ross to investigate what’s going on inside the 5th laboratory. Now Ed sees that Tucker was hiding the fact that there were human prisoners involved in the making of the stone…and that Ed would have unknowingly killed them. But Lust has Al held hostage… forcing Ed to attempt the unthinkable.

After the explosive finale to Lab Five, Ed and Al wake up in the hospital, once again in pieces. Winry travels to Central to make repairs, and is enraged by the brothers’ refusal to tell her the truth about their lives. Meanwhile, Al’s recurring questions about his existence come to a boil. Was there ever an Alphonse Elric? Or are his memories and soul alchemically created lies?

As Al runs from Ed and Winry, desperate to know the truth about what he is, mercenaries swoop into the Ishbalan encampment where Scar is recovering and massacre helpless refugees—an attack the military may have condoned. In a chain of events, Al finds himself side by side with Scar, on a renegade mission against the state that Ed represents.

Ed and Al claim they’ve quit their search for the Philosopher’s Stone and board a train heading south. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes’ investigation of Lab Five leads him to a startling discovery of military corruption and conspiracy that could topple the entire national government-- and put Hughes in considerable danger.