If you read my previous post I explained the difference. But actually it's not much of a difference just the length of time that passed.

At the time of Xerxes Hohenheim probably did not know how to return the Xerxes souls to their bodies. By the time he might have learned how (assuming he might know now or it will be figured out before the end of the story) their bodies like Envy said had rotted and decayed. It's been hundreds and hundreds of years since Xerxes was destroyed. Of course their bodies won't be around anymore. I don't think it will take quite that long to return the souls of the Amestrian citizens to their bodies.

O_____________O ALKFJSDLFJDSLKFDSLKFJDSLKFJ

HOLY CRAP!! I need scanlations SOOOO bad right now! EEEK!

This is obviously an EPIC chapter, but not I'm waiting for the next one even worse again! It never ends! lol

HOLY ....E WHAT JUST HAPPENED

ALJGF:SLEBGHAkasfjglsd DOES NOT COMPUTE

About everyone being dead or not, I am actually hoping that everyone doesnt make it. I mean, Winry and some others I would like to see alive again, but i think that it would be kinda of a cheap-out if Arakawa had everyone come back and be like "LOL, WE'RE ALL OKAY" I mean i see how that would be okay since Hohenheim wasnt able to save his fellow people of Xerxes and they would be able to save Amestris, but IDK i just think that FMA is a bit too realistic for the perfect happy ending where everyone is alive and everyone gets their bodies back, if they do. LOL ignore me, I make no sense.

This is the ending I see right now -

1) Amestris is saved and everyone is left without their bodies restored except for Mustang and maybe Alphonse, Father and the Honunculus die, Hohenheim dies, etc.

or

2) Same as above but everyone gets their bodies restored.

I hope Arakawa will be as unpredictable as ever, and we'll all be wrong ha ha.

I see Tombow is about to pounce on the situation anyway, but STOP SPAMMING please. Please keep discussions about the chapter, and don't quote several posts at once as it lengthens the page and is irritating for other members not involved in the chit chat.

Edit: Much as I love it can we also keep Ed/Win discussion in the appropriate forum too? Thank-you.

I think it would be a COP OUT if only certain characters (like Winry and ones with names come back). If anything this entire story has made me love the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. Yes we only get to know certain people in this world really well but I think Arakawa has shown even the ones without names are important in the grand scheme of things. It's not about just the heroes but it's about everyone, even the people just living their daily lives who we've never got to meet personally.

So I am sorry I am really saddened that people want characters to die and not be okay because it will be more dramatic. The characters are fighting to protect Amestris and seeing their fight be for nothing (because it would be for nothing if all those people can't come back and we are only left with a few characters we know by name) just so we can add a bit more drama to the story... that would be the biggest cop out of all. Luckily I know Arakawa will not do something like that and ruin the story.


So LONG LIVE THE CITIZENS OF AMESTRIS

If it had to be dramatic, I would let the citizens' fate be known in the last page of the epilogue, or something like that, something subtle.

If Winry is dead I am going to cry my eyes out!! That would be SO sad! Especially since I am one of the biggest EdxWinry fans ever!!

*points to my sig*

Again, as I've stated eariler, I would be broken if Winry dies..in my mind, she's a major staple in Ed's life. Not just as a love interest, but that she's cared about him, repaired him out of love..It would be an awful shame if she died.

But if Winry dies in Ed's arms and tells her she loves him, it would be bitter sweet and cliche..

In my opinion, I don't think she'd die. EdxWin would be resolved in the end, either directly or to our imagination, if Arakawa wants to end it with us filling in the gaps. ( i know its a bit off topic but it's part of my point =\ )

Seriously, Winry is one of the characters I can guarantee you will survive. I don't know if Ed will, or if EdWin will even happen officially, but I do know that she won't kick it. She's very safe, trust me.

<Program Note>

Guys, I took out these SPAM posts!!!
If that is your idea of "fun," please go somewhere else to have your kind of "fun," and NOT on this thread!
Now, please listen to our Mod, Chiyo, and stop making spam posts and building quote pyramids, please!!!


-----------------------------

For those who are here for real discussions on the content of chapter 104, sorry for the interruption, and please go back to discussing the content of this chapter.

Okay, this may be a stupid idea, but maybe we haven't seen the last of those characters quite yet. You know how Hohenheim was able to talk to all of the people in his Philosopher's Stone, and said, "Together we will defeat you" or something like that to Father? Well, maybe, even though they are just souls, they can still communicate in that form. Although, I don't think that they would be able to do anything, even if they COULD communicate. Even Ed or Roy wouldn't be able to devise a plan in that situation, since it's so weird. But it's just a thought.

A bit of a stupid idea, but stupider predictions have been made. XD

so uh..

yeah..

this might be as close to the end of the world in the story, eh? Wonder how it will all be reversed..IF it can be..

-several minutes of incomprehensible screaming-
No. There's no way. Arakawa isn't going to end it with "lol lol the world ended, now there's just you few left of your country, sucks to be you." It's just not in keeping with how the rest of the series has gone. All right, I mean, loads of people have died, but... simply BECAUSE Amestris was meant to become the next Xerxes, it won't succeed. ...Right?
-more screaming-

I'm guessing that what's been done can be reversed, either that or the moral of FMA is 'bad guys win'.

Also did anyone else find it highly amusing that Den is completely unaffected? Father don't want no dog souls!

Also just cause no one else has mentioned this from what I've seen, OMG PRIDE ACTUALLY GOT HURT! Why do I bring this up? Cause in previous chapters they've really shyed away from showing Pride recieve any kind of serious injury. Yeah he got smacked about but his regeneration seemed to happen alot quicker to the point where he's never even bled. I can guess WHY this is, but it always struck me as a tiny bit odd.

So Greed proved hismelf to be a nastier piece of work than expected, cause if you think about it he wants same thing Father does, only he's too lazy to do any of teh work himself.

I thought that was Ling in full "STOP FATHER" mode.

WTTFFFFF. We finally get to see winry after a YEAR and she flippin dies!!! I wonder what ed is gonna do when they find out the entire country croaked. Father officially is going to give me nightmares. When he went all giant I kind of thought of Princress mononoke for some reason haha. I cant wait for the scanlation.

Hey, maybe Den'll save the day

That's what's been bugging me though. This is clearly something on a huge, huge scale, but from what we know it's not that easy to reverse something like that. Not to mention it would be cheap if it was done 'just like that', even if I don't really want anyone to die. I'm guessing that there's got to be a huge price to pay to get everyone back.

I doubt it'll be done 'just like that' (unless Tommy Cooper turns up, HAHAHA OBSCURE REFERENCE)

For one thing Hohenheim has said at least twice he has something else planned just in case. I suspect taht will come into play next chapter. I think this chapter is Father's triumph, next week will be the beginning of his fall.

Also does anyone else look at this and think 'methinks THIS was meant to be chapter 100' ?

SHE ISN'T....at least that's what I've gathered....nothing can be truly determined until the next chapter comes out T_T

The Al protecting Mei part was pretty cute! =P

Like others have been saying, I don't believe this'll be how it all ends...that'd be such a bummer and all of their efforts would be for naught!

I think that Hohenheim will have an ace up his sleeve...! Someone must! xD

I am not going to respond to the first part of the post I deleted because of what I am going to write.

I always am a bit irrational and nonsensical after I read a new chapter and my opinions change after a while, and they have. They probably will again once I read the translation. So forgive me for posting my previous response.
__

If that was directed at me, I don't appreciate having words thrown in my mouth. I never said I wanted everyone to die because it is more 'dramatic'. So please don't degrad me as a loyal FMA fan to someone who just wants blood and gore and drama in every chapter because it's 'better'.

I WOULD like to see everything turn out all right for Amestris, because I agree on their fight being for nothing if everyone dies after all this time and all the connections and promises they made with each other. I just watched FMA:B 40 for the first time and this only makes me think that more. Hohenheim wasn't able to save Xerxes, and it would be a hard blow if it happened again to Amestris. I also want everyone to regain what they've lost, but Mustang seems to be the most likely to me to regain his sight since in his case the truth was cruel, but it wasn't just, as it was with all the others.

To finish, I apologize, Kiara, if I came across to you the wrong way.
__

Okay, so I was reading the chapter and then watched FMA:B 40, and saw that globe thing that engulfed the 'palace' where Hohenheim and Father were. It most certainly had some citizens besides the emporer inside it. I know its a different transmutation, but shouldn't they have been alive like Scar, Wrath, Hawkeye, the chimeras, and Mei most likely are? Or am I mistaken and Mei wasn't shown again before the end of the chapter like I thought?

i highly doubt this is the case, but just throwin the idea out there XD er do ya think that the 5 sacrifices may have a share of amestrias souls inside them? Ed would be so creeped out XD

Weird, perhaps that is something important : in Xerxes, every living thing was absorbed!

I'm expecting Scar to save the day here, that circle in the previous chapter wasn't shown for nothing!

Well I apologize as well if I misinterpreted you and was coming off strong against your post. It's just a pet peeve of mine when fandom (not you specifically) acts like a story is a cop out if there aren't deaths and destruction in the end. And what I read in your post set me off. Because I do think even if everyone is "lol we are okay" at the end it's not a cop out at all and I am sure Arakawa will come up with a logical way to bring them back. Anyways I can be a bit irrational at times when it comes to FMA as well so please forgive me.
__



I don't know I think in this case everyone where Father is and right above him (or is it below him I forget now) is safe. They are most likely all within the transmutation circle. I think (and I could be wrong) that if we don't see these characters fall (like Winry) they are okay.

I think Mei is fine too. Well she is hurt because of what happened with Father but not because of the alchemy.

Hagaren_4ever -> But I can totally see this happening. Not that Father would like to talk to all these souls anyway, but who knows, maybe they'll pull Greed's "I'll give you a nasty stomachache" and somehow manage to make Father weaker.

Katya Martin -> And that's exactly why it won't end up like this, at least I hope so.

AzzieMusical -> the Anti-Climax-Dog's Come Back from about 3 chapters ago?

DistantBlue -> I think that the Amestrian transmutation circle is bigger than that in Xerxes so the center of it has a wider reach, that's why they're still alive. I may be wrong, of course.

There's one thing that bothers me though, the quote from the AnimeSuki forum:
"Father reaches out to the gate of Earth, and calls upon god... and claims to bring God down on earth, and claim it for himself." So, there's something like the Gate of Earth? And what happened to The Truth? Should we take it literally like it's inside Father or he just managed to surpass it?

Heheh! That made me chuckle!

The thing that amused me was that everyone but the sacrifices are dying. (If everyone is actually dying.) Sort of defeats the object of them being "sacrifices." *shot*

I'm sure Father's just about to get around to that. x_x

^Yeah, good point! =o

Speaking of Father, he's looking pretty cool there. xD

I can't believe we have to wait a MONTH before we find out which one of all these predictions is right. (None of them, probably. XD)

That is how it always goes, isn't it... Arakawa's got something up her sleeve. Hopefully something good.

Oh that dog was AMAZING. All that fuss over a normal dog.

Keeping on topic, I wonder if there will be a specific reason why the animals are spared. I'm assuming their souls are worthless to Father or something, but it just seems interesting to see that Den isn't effected; though y'know, he's barking up a storm. Something to do with the alchemy perhaps? IDK.. I can't wait for a scanlation <3

And mm... Father. Very nice.

That's always the case isn't it. Well I suppose sometimes people come close but never exactly.

Ok, I read through most of the comments, not all, but I didn't see this thing that my friend and I just figured out.

We all guess that they're gonna reverse the transmutation some how, but I didn't hear any theories as to how exactly they would. Well, what about Scar's brother's notes? Remember when they connected all the dots and found the transmutation circle, then flipped everything over and found the reverse of it? Yep. They're gonna do that. Iunno if they have somehow carved that transmutation circle into the country already or what, but it's quite likely what will happen.

It still begs the question of what they will sacrifice to restore all those souls...

Probably that's why I'm not too disturbed about what happened actually.

I might be when the translation is out though.

@live4him4eva:

Maybe that'w what that circle is for! As for the sacrifice part, Father is obvious... and then I'd hazard a guess at Hohenheim.

A friend of mine also mentioned the reverse transmutation circle. Weren't some Ishbalans setting something up in the last chapter. They could have been setting up the circle.

And I remember many chapters ago when Hohenheim was releasing his Philosopher Stone he might have been planning a counter attack (since he obviously knew Father's plan well in advance).

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the other Amestris-wide alchemy circle yet. Or whatever it was Hohenheim was up to, when he was using some of the souls from Xerxes earlier in the manga, before he encountered Izumi and Sig (sorry, can't recall what chapter, and am too lazy to go look it up). Because these are the things I am assuming will be used to counter Father's circle, and probably stand the best chance of reversing the damage that has just taken place.

After all, the new circle is the combination of Amestrian and Xingian alchemy, yes? And Xingian alchemy is more concerned with healing. Kind of stands to reason then.

That said, I would still be surprised if everyone comes out unscathed. Though of all the known characters we've seen affected, I'm actually most concerned for Pinako. Because of her age, she just seems the most unlikely to bounce back, even if they manage to reverse this.

Ah, crap, was too slow! Someone else beat me to that theory! Hee!

Yeah. I can definitely see everyone getting their soul back; I can also see a lot of people getting heart attacks directly after.

I also wonder if Arakawa will show reactions of the fifth sacrifices when they discover what happened to everybody else. It would mean a lot of angst.

I think it'll mean a lot of OWNAGE, actually. Not that Father hasn't had that coming to him for the whole time.

0_o *screams* As many people have said, this has to be the most epic chapter ever. It was so amazing, I yelled spoilers at my friend and my brother. I hope they aren't dead. That would be terrible. As for the reverse circle, I think they'll use it. If the openings/endings are canon, then the forth opening at the end has Ed and Al at the reverse circle... maybe a clue? I'm just depressed by this chapter. *Looks for hope*

I wouldn't take openings/endings as clues, I think those are mostly just meant to mess with our heads/look cool.

Edit: Whoa, that really is Greed being nasty. Gauh.

Yup, that was my guess, but they would probably have to be careful to use Xerxes souls and not Amestris souls as fuel for the transmutation. Hoho is my best guess, because honestly, he just wants to die. He's tired of seeing his loved ones die before his eyes, and he just wants to lay himself to rest. I'm 80% sure that by the end of FMA, one way or another, Hoho will be dead, but it will be a bittersweet thing.

Oh wait, Hoho doesn't have his souls anymore, I forgot. ._. Looks like it's Father then, most likely.

Hohenheim's probably the only one with any idea how to pull it off, though...

Hahaha, well your explanation was much better, I didn't remember the whole thing that Hoho was doing! It made no sense to me so it was one of those things you forget. But does that mean that Hoho knew of the reverse circle long ago, and Al and the gang had to figure it out for themselves? XD Ah well. Also, the Ishbalans. I do wonder what they were doing, but do you think it was helping to make that circle? I'd have to reread, but from what I remember, it didn't seem too much like it, unless perhaps some of them were burrowing around underground. xD



I believe they already know what happened. My friend translated bits and pieces for me, and at one point, Ed asks if they are philosopher's stones now, and Father says yes, essentially. So I think they can deduce what has happened, especially since Ed already knew it would take the lives of the citizens of Amestris when he told Pinako and Winry to get out of the country.

Perhaps a break in the circle could reverse it?

Wait. He said the planet. Is he implying that everyone OUTSIDE the circle got it too?

I endured about six hours! A record for me! Thank you, Michiyo for finding and bringing the chapter to us and thank you, Tombow, for your translation. I hope I'll understand what is happening once I read it translated.

The whole planet? What do you get once you open the door? I think you see the truth. I'm somewhat calm now but it's quite laughable how afraid I was what unfair-play trick Grumman bring and now he's just there lying...

Poor Gracia and Elicia, I was most sad of seeing them lie on the ground. Wow. Something is happening and after getting near to the end we're finally here. This must be very close to the actual ending.

I think that no matter what, after they rescue Amestris (because damn it they HAVE to) everyone, every single person of Amestris would have experienced something that would change their outlook in life. Maybe.

Anyway, as mentioned before, in this chapter Father said in an incredibly roundabout way that they are all essentially the same as Hohenheim??? Does that mean that they cannot have fatal wounds, because then they are killing Amestris souls to give themselves immortality?? Also, it probably means they can't use alchemy...i think...

I know I know... Trust me Im as big an EDWIN fan as you or anyone else. I hope when ed finds out about the world he thinks of winry and then goes APE .... on father for taking his girl away. Scar and his gang are up to something I think they are going to reverse what happened somehow. arawaka wont do us wrong.