Exaclty. A pure filler evolving this idea further would have been very nice, though. This recap was just bad, even for a recap. The events didn't even seem to connect that much to each other at several points, making it feel rather r*ndom. The only part of the actual recapping that I felt fitting was the beginning, where people were talking about war, and you really got an impression of what state Amestris really is in: a nation ravaged by conflicts, hate, revenge and blood-spilling.

But even the parts where Hohenheim is conversing with himself about whether to give humanity a chance or not, before giving up, feels a little out of character. I always imagined manga-Hoho to bee strictly determined to stop Father from the very beginning, and not losing faith along the way. I feel he still has his heart in the manga, and although odd and quirky, he still has his human values intact.

I think you're giving Van Hoenheim too much credit here. This is a man who describes himself to other people as a "monster", and can't bear the thought of touching his children through fear of spreading his "taint" to them. He is the sole survivor of a whole city/country being destroyed by the thing he thought to be his mentor and friend, with most of his friends and acquaintances now trapped forever inside him. Of course he's going to have doubts, be afraid to go up against the original Homunculus, be jaded about humanity after seeing several lifetimes of senseless war. It requires him to remember what he's fighting for, which is where his memories of Trisha (who he just found out he's lost) and others come in.

As for the episode itself, I don't think it was that bad. Just that people's first reactions to fillers tend to be and their first reactions to clip shows are so when you've got a filler that's a clip show you've got people going It gives people who don't obsessively catch every episode or try to catch up on the internet a chance to see what's come before, and it's fun to see some of the best moments so far in one episode. Yes, I would've preferred to either advance with the plot or see something really interesting as filler, but it's better than a clip show had to be.

For a filler episode, I thought it was pretty good as it was a great recap of what's gone on in the series so far.

Other than that, the episode served it's purpose so there's no need to nitpick at it.

Loved the OP and I hated the ED, but it's only because I didn't really care for the ED song - the OP song and visuals were awesome though, despite being spoilerific.

I can't decry this episode too much. Sure, a recap episode is pretty worthless, but it was well-organized, and helped put together many of the pieces of the story for those who might have had difficulty keeping up. Not to mention I enjoyed how they handled Hohenheim's dream, talking to Pinako, but really it ending up being himself, since it seems to be the part of him that wants people not to give up, and the assurance of Trisha in his mind.

I couldn't help chuckling at the Evangelion episode 26-like scene, but it was sort of nice to see Hohenheim having human doubts and trying to resolve them in his head.

An unnecessary episode, but as recap episodes go, not the worst.

Watched the episode all the way through with subs.
I have to say, for a recap filler, I'm impressed. They got all of the major themes of FMA down, from the Ishval devastation to how humans are different from homunculi, all leading to the final conclusion that humans by nature might be weak, but they got sum good legs so they'll move on.

So yeah, not a good episode compared to the recent ones, but not a bad recap at all. (Considering the entire thing is just Hohenheim passed out cold from booze. XD)

Music at the very beginning is nice. Aargh, I want the soundtrack more and more with each episode. That military music during the homunculus montage is killer.

Anybody else reminded of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
And apparently creepy and bizarre dreams are hereditary for the Elrics.

Quite a dull episode, but if I pretend there was no episode this week, and this was just a bonus...I can get by.

It was a short break before we *really* get into the heavy stuff now.

I am so excited to see Briggs very soon, woo!

Maaaybe you're right... xP This thing about being jaded about humanity, yeah, I'll buy that to a certain degree. It's actually one of the themes in a book I'm reading right now, where people can store their minds in stacks, which you can later insert into a new body when your old one's "best before"- date has exceeded. Some of the the few really rich people who can afford to do this several times have lievd through whole centuries, and thus they are referred to as Meths - people who have a completely different, and very distant, perspective on things.

But anyway, my point is that I feel Hohenheim was portrayed in this episode as more than just a little jaded - it felt as if he were almost anti-humanity. Cold, cynical, uncaring, demeaning... It felt as if he were a man who doesn't care more about human life than he cares for the ants under his feet. Which is kinda similiar to something Father said once, if I recall correctly.

Then again, it was all just a dream, and once he woke up he seemed a lot more cheerful, and more human. So... yeah, we all have strange dreams from time to time. Perhaps he is a lot less "Meth" in real life. Maybe the dream conveyed his doubts in a different light, having them grow in proportions. Maybe it's the Pinako-part of him that's the dominant part, in reality, while in his dream everything was distorted and his doubts expanded and took on the dominant role.

Maybe he fears that he one day will become like Father, and that is what his dream reflected.

Not got a lot to say this week but I'll dive in:

- Okay as recap episodes go, this was very good. Admittedly that's not saying much, if anything, but the episode was well put together and served its purpose well. The wrap-around for it was also good, and helped make up for the fact Hohenheim has had some of his scenes cut. It also foreshadowed alot, which I did not expect at all.

- When 'Let It Out' started playing I got chills, as montages in a clip show go, that was a pretty awesome one.

- I guess this episode was supposed to be saying 'oh Hohenheim has decided to fight now' which confuses me as to what he'd been doing up this point...

- I'm a bit confused why this episode exists, it stinks of a contractual thing with the animators tbh. The animators demanded a clip show if they were gonna do so many episodes or something (bare in mind, this series is going to the end of the story and Manga isn't even there yet) I wont decree it as filler tho, mostly because I'm being generous btu also because at least showing Hohenheim doing something is... something.

- Next week we're back into the thick of things with the debut appearance of Father. Bit curious how the order events are going tho... from the preview looks like they may be shuffled around a bit... not sure

Woah, Pinako was beautiful when she was younger. Wonder if Winry will suffer the same fate as Pinako several years down the road.

Trisha was actually prettier in her younger years before she started looking like......well, a mom.

Liked that one, very intense, though nothing really new. Probably the best filler ever. The whole thing was very sad, but had some optimism in the end. Really good ep.

The op song is the best !! luv it. The epi was cool i enjoyed it, how can' t you not!!

However i think the end of the season is coming near !!

This episode was just a filler. Not the best episode, but a very good filler. Loved the op song and scene. The Briggs arc is coming up, finally!

This has probably been said already, but the filler hit all the high points of character interactions before the meeting with Father, I noticed. It would get most of the viewers up to date before cracking another chunk into the series.

Eh, brain's muddled after a very long day @_@; Anyhoos, new ep tomorrow! Yaaay.

Please add FMA:B English dubbed episode 27 (on CN on Adult Swim) talk-back/discussions here.

FMA:B will air 1:00 AM - 1: 30 AM and 5:00 AM - 5:30 AM eastern time.

Just watched the episode again, this time dubbed, and I know it's a filler episode from watching it before in Japanese, but after months of hiatus it's nice to see newer episode on Adult Swim again.

Nothing much to add since it -is- mostly a recap and I've seen it a couple of times already.

But I will add that I am disappointed at the removal of Winry's womanly assets in the end credits.