Not sure if this thread is the place to post.

Even though a lot of things did not get settled, I like how it ended. It opens up the opportunity for Arakawa Hiromu to expand more in a guidebook, something like "All the things you want to know about HAGAREN. Plus, a 10-page never-before-seen 'special short manga' exclusive to this guidebook!"
(I hope. ^^

Though Scar's birthname I think should be kept unknown. I know some people are disappointed, but I feel that should Arakawa Hiromu reveal his name, and it doesn't live up to fan standards (It might be something like Jabaal or Nikhil. Those are the names of two of my classmates who are from the Middle East, where maybe the Ishval influence is from?). There would be three groups of fans: fans who like the name, fans who hate the name vehemently and/or will change his name in a fanfic they will write to something they think is extraordinary (but is probably a simple name like Jon), and fans who dislike the name so strongly the only mention of the manga they will mention to others will be "a story about two brothers who travel blahblahblah, but the guy's true name is [INSERTNAMEHERE], WHICH RUINS THE WHOLE STORY."
So even though Arakawa Hiromu mentioned she would reveal his name, I believe she prevented a useless debate among the fans. The choice is given to the readers. If they want to give him a name, okay. But that's their own opinion and it isn't canon, so other fans wouldn't be upset.

But back to the "10-page never-before-seen special short manga" I mentioned above. My friend who helps me with English came up with the idea that:
o After years pass and Grumman has passed on, Mustang becomes Fuhrer. Ed tries to see him at headquarters, but Mustang is in a meeting, so he hands a small envelope to his secretary (maybe Hawkeye?) to give to him, and when Mustang returns, he opens the envelope to see the 520 cenz and a note that says "About time, idiot."
o Cut to Ed going back home where his eldest child is celebrating his birthday party. For a present, Ed gives him an alchemy book. His other child looks over the elder's shoulder at the book, and the two share a glance that says "Can't wait for the guests to leave so we can study this!" It is implied that Ed has been teaching them alchemy (along with "friendly reminders" not to attempt human transmutation).
o Ed then looks over to the corner where Al is standing, munching on a slice of apple pie that Winry made for the occasion. Al is wearing an outfit of Xingese origin. ("No idea where May is - no matter what I come up with it would be too shoujo and non-Arakawa that people would immediately shun me for the rest of my life" - My friend who came up with the idea).
o The last page is Ed napping under a tree, with Winry doing maintenance on his automail.

The above is my friend's idea, I take no credit for coming up with. I only bring it up here because it would be nice if that happened. ^^

This is me right now. 5 days of waiting sure made for a lot of pent up emotion.

All I want to say at the moment is... I loved it.
Could've done with a lot more Roy, but I can't complain.

Nope, Arakawa has stated in interviews that the Ishvalans were inspired by the Ainu.

But I agree with you about Scar. As I said earlier at this point giving him a name would be anti-climatic. I doubt it would tell us anything more about his character.

So, the manga has ended now. I have always been more fan of the first anime than manga and the brotherhood. Yet, I had always thought that the end of the first series was too sad and not to my liking. Now, after reading the last chapter, I think of the first anime even more fondly. The end of the manga wasn't bad by no means, it was only too happy. I had thought that someone would die or lose something important but, as many have complained, it was very similar to the end of Harry Potter. The happy ending doesn't seem to suit FMA. This was a series about sacrifices and the harsh reality of the world. Yet, as I had feared, the inner theme of the true meaning of family must have been the aim.

Yet, there is sill one thing I don't understand: Did Mustang get his sight back? It's pretty difficult to tell from a picture of that kind. Yet, we see Havoc in rehabilitation.
Many responses I've read said that Mustang used the Philosopher's Stone to get his eye sight back. If that was the case, Havoc wouldn't be able to walk. Havoc said clearly that the nerves were damaged so there was no way of moving his legs again. I'mso confused by this thing! Musatng wouldn't be able to become Fuhrer if he remained blind, yet he was so willing to make Havoc able to walk again that he very well could have given the Stone to Havoc.
Anyone got information?

I'm sorry but I don't understand why you think the message about sacrifices and reality wasn't reached in entire series and the ending. Yes, the ending left off on a positive note, but in the end...


-Father got dragged behind the gate because he got too conceited and tried to trick Truth and was punished because of it
-Ed gave up his gate/alchemy to get Al back
-Hoho was ready to give up his life for his son

And that was just in the last chapter! Throughout the whole series it's been an overarching theme. Just because sadness or sacrifice (and I still think that's debatable) wasn't heavily prevalent during the last chapter, doesn't mean that wasn't the theme.

Also there can be more than one theme in a major work. In fact, there often should be, in my opinion.

I would argue that the series was never about sacrifice or the harsh realities of the world. Well maybe the first series but not the manga. What I mean is Arakawa seemed to reject needless sacrifice. If you remember during the first Scar incident Al is angry that Ed is willing to throw away his life. At another point Ed makes the 520 Cenz promise with Roy also in attempt to stop Roy from needlessly throwing away his life too. No FMA was never about sacrifice it was always about instead of needlessly throwing away your life think what you can do with your lives to give them meaning. Many characters in the end are following this path" Ed and Al trying to find way to fix the bad things alchemy has done, Roy and Scar dedicating their lives to fix Ishval, Ling is working as emperor.


And while the manga certainly does not deny harsh realities it also doesn't say those harsh realities are the end. No the manga has always said despite these realities there is still always hope. The reason these characters succeeded is because they worked for what they earned. They certainly did not earn anything by taking the easy path and they all learned a lot along the way. I think Ed's lesson that he no longer needed alchemy was especially potent and for me it really tied everything together beautifully. In the very first chapter Ed told Rose "Alchemists are the closest to god" and in the end of the story Ed realized his true conceit. I wasn't really sure about Father but now we see that he was the opposite of Ed. He wanted to obtain perfection and the ultimate truth, but Ed realizes in the end these things do not matter. It's okay not to know everything, it's okay to rely on your friends, it's okay to take your time. Because Ed can no longer rely on alchemy he now discovers the beautiful view and who knows what else he will discover.


Also I am tired of the Harry potter comparisons. JK Rolwing does not have a copyright on married main characters with children. If anything this just shows the full cycle of life. And after following these characters for so many years I for one am pleased they got the happy ending they deserved. And yes they did deserve it.



On another note Mustang healed his blindness using the P.Stone. He would not still be in the military otherwise (which the series indicates he is). However he is not Fuhrer yet although he has been promoted.

As for Havoc being able to walk even in real life there are cases where a patient who is told they will never walk again ends up recovering.

Why do you think so? Maybe there was enough Philosopher's Stone for both of them.
Besides, Roy was clear when he gave his orders: he called ALL his subordinates (key word: "subete"). That means Havoc too, regardless of the army's say on that.

And as I predicted... Hiromu surprised me as always. Ed using the gate itself as the toll... I would have never dreamt it in a thousand years. Like my friend said "I didn't even know that was allowed!" For a shining second I thought Hohenheim was going to live, but his life was ended. It felt more like a happy ending for him though, since his immortal life was more painful to him than a normal life span. And Al... I've never been so powerfully happy for a fictional character before! It's like a small weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I don't feel a need for any further Royai happening, especially after all those powerful previous chapters! Roy stopping revenge for Riza's life, and the magical hug of awesomesauce is my conclusion to their relationship. There's a lot in the future for our minds to fill in. (Besides being Fuhrer at 30 would be crazy young!) Glad Roy got his sight back - both physically and mentally.

In the very last panel with all the pictures... did anyone notice that Black Hayate had puppies?! (it's above Ling as emperor) Also - did Riza cut her hair again? She must have because Roy's got his fancy new stars for his rank there... (that looks like a General rank too) Anyways, I think that whole panel is great. It made everything feel so genuine!

Edwin FTW. Loved how the characters can be romantic but still be themselves and slightly cute/embarrassed! I'm really glad that Winry was content to let Ed and Al travel the world again, and wait for them once again. This time she won't have to worry about an apocalypse!

Love for Hiromu I believe her message from all this is - you can still be an ordinary and small human, and be content with yourself. Not only that, but be a legend and a hero to the people. Perfection is for no-one, and happiness can be attained by all through hard work and endurance. Those lessons are valuable to me, and I'm glad I was able to enjoy through them this amazing work of art and soul.

Apparentally, a lot of people misunderstood my message. I don't know where to begin...

I'm sorry but I don't understand why you think the message about sacrifices and reality wasn't reached in entire series and the ending. Yes, the ending left off on a positive note, but in the end...

Yes, the meaning of sacrifice was a major theme in the series and those parts, in my opinion, were the highlights of the manga. I'm just saying that the ending was too clean. No one really lost anything that they would miss. Ed lost his ability to do alchemy but he seems to be okay with that, he enjoys his life. In anime 1, Edward got sent into a different universe, wasn't able to do alchemy and couldn't be together with his brother. In anime 1, Edward sacrificed his life in Amestris in order for Al to get his body back.
I had hoped for something more dramatic, something no one had expected. The last chapter was okay in explaining what happened in Amestris after the upheaval, but it seemed like Arakawa lost her interest in the series. Actually, the thought first came to my mind when she at the end of one chapter took away the souls of all of the people in Amestris but at the beginning of the next chapter, the souls are reunited. That soul-taking, in my opinion, was an excellent plot twist and I would have loved to see more of it. It's as if Arakawa wanted to end the series so that no one would be asking for more FMA because they're satisfied.

Also there can be more than one theme in a major work. In fact, there often should be, in my opinion.

I agree with you; complex stories are the best. FMA had many themes; sacrifice, the value of life, family, determination, love... That is one of the reasons why I love the series.

What I mean is Arakawa seemed to reject needless sacrifice

By sacrifice, I do not mean the kind of things you referred to (like the Scar incident). By sacrifice, I mean that something must be given up for something bigger and more important to take place. Like, if Hohenheim had given up his life for Alphonse to get his body back, that would have been sacrifice. Hohenheim loves his sons and he already was dying and longed to be with Trisha.
I hope I explained it better this time.

As for Havoc being able to walk even in real life there are cases where a patient who is told they will never walk again ends up recovering.

This Havoc thing keeps bothering me! I have heard of those cases but wouldn't that be kind of cheap? One day he would just walk to HQ and say "My nerves connected themselves." Gosh, no! The man has spine injury and the nerves there do not just heal by themselves. Those nerves never heal, they haven't got the ability to do so. No physical therapy is going to help Havoc to walk again because the nerves are damaged.

Why do you think so? Maybe there was enough Philosopher's Stone for both of them.

I want to believe that. I hope Mustang let Havoc take the share so they both can recover enough to be in the army.
Oh, I hope Arakawa will explain that.

No offense but it seems to me you wanted the manga to end like the first anime. That might have been fine for the first anime but that would have been absolutely horrible for the manga because none of these things fit the manga at all. These characters struggled throughout the series. I for one am happy they found some happiness because they worked hard for it and they did deserve it.

As for Ed being content without alchemy that is just manga!Ed for you. The loss of alchemy is a big thing because this was something that defined him throughout the series. However instead of seeing the negative side of things Ed gets something positive out of it. To me it shows what a wonderful character Ed is and how much he has grown throughout the series.

And I am sorry it seems a little silly that because you personally didn't like the last chapter that Arakawa lost interest. I personally thought the last chapter was absolutely wonderful.






Hohenheim did offer himself as a sacrifice but Ed did not want to use his father's life like that. And in fact pretty much everyone predicted this would happen. I feel what Arakawa did with Ed giving up alchemy was unexpected yet more true to the nature of the series.

And once again this story is not about sacrifice. It never was. If you think it was then you missed the point.

In the first series Ed and Al sacrificed themselves for one another which I strongly disliked. In this series Roy said it perfectly


Edward isn't going to sacrifice himself. He knows all too well the horror and despair of being left alone. He wouldn't subject Alphonse to that.







Again it's not cheap because it happens in real life and if you pay attention it's not that one day he is like yay look at me I can walk again. In the picture he is moving but you can still see he is clearly struggling. It's probably something that will take a long time but that doesn't mean it is impossible.

Yeah, who saw AlxMei coming since chapter 48?

That was me.

...Also, I knew Greed pretty much HAD to die, but I'm pleased he went out so awesomely. Overall, I am very satisfied with the way the series was wrapped up.

Long time no see

Wow, first of all I cannot believe it that my favourite manga has just ended. It's going to take a while to fill in the hole. Then again it's not really a hole, because I can still return to the awesome FMA world via rereading the manga, fanfics/arts, amv.. I do sympathise with people who have been in touch with the FMA universe for more than, what 8 years or so? I've only met Ed & co two years ago and stil it's so painful.. really guys you have it tough, but like I said, FMA still lives on our hearts and we all know it.

Now to the chapter discussion. There were so many things I liked and to make a long post short, I'll just say that RoyxRizaFan, Kirara and His Name Is Unknown have already pretty much summed up my thoughts and emotions. I was a bit dissapointed at the lack of Royai and I would've prefered to see one last discussion between Ed and Roy in the 'you-still-own-me-money-elric' style but I guess one can argue that it's sort of better for Roy and Riza to still be in the military position which disables them direct romantic contact and instead causes many subtle romantic moments between them (attention Royai that way the 'forbidden love' them isn't over, so I guess that's not so bad either?). And also Roy and Ed both know where they stand and enough has been said between them too, I guess, so no point in really stretching that either.

Some of the people have been wondering about Riza's new haircut. Well the way I see it (and I may be wrong..), is that she cut her hair because she does not feel the need to sort of stay in touch with the innocent, pure part of herlsef (remember she thought that when she saw Winry), the part which wasn't corrupted by Ishval. Now I'm not implying Riza is corrupt, far from that, it's more of a guilt thing and a way to keep hope that there will be a way for her to attone for her misdeeds in the war. When she saw the man (father) who was behind all those attrocities fall, she felt a great weight fall off her shoulders and she knew for certain now that her future path will never be as dark as it were (Another good thing for Royai fans ).

All in all I'd like to thank Arakawa for the awesomeness that was/IS the FMA world. Really, thank you

The one thing I was EXTREMELY disappointed with at the end was Mustang getting his sight back, because in the grand scheme of things, it was absolutely pointless that he lost his sight. I feel like the only reason Arakawa did it was because if he COULD see, he would have just destroyed Father in ways that Ed never could. Personally, I thought she would be more creative with it.

I rememberi n the latest FMA episode, and in one manga chapter when Mustang gets back up top, he says to Riza, "Can you still fight?" And when he said that, I thought he had some plan in mind. He didn't.

My perfect RoyxRiza ending, woulda been that he can no longer use flame alchemy without her. I thought they would become a fighting duo. Like, Riza is known for her shot with a gun, I figured she'd shoot a target, Mustang would listen for where the bullet hit, *snap* *boom* Flame Alchemist is back. Like, he'd use her abilities with a gun to pinpoint where the target is, or something to that effect.

I was a bit dissapointed at the lack of Royai and I would've prefered to see one last discussion between Ed and Roy in the 'you-still-own-me-money-elric' style but I guess one can argue that it's sort of better for Roy and Riza to still be in the military position which disables them direct romantic contact and instead causes many subtle romantic moments between them (attention Royai that way the 'forbidden love' them isn't over, so I guess that's not so bad either?). And also Roy and Ed both know where they stand and enough has been said between them too, I guess, so no point in really stretching that either.

Although I'm not a fan of this pairing, I was expecting too something more romantic between them. The wedding picture that had been released just before the chapter came out obviously misguided me. Royai was heavily implied in teh series, as well as AlMei and Edwin so I was a bi surprised for the lack of it. Yet, the pairings were always subtle, as you said; the readers got to choose whether or not the characters had somethign between them. I would have loved to see a certain prove of Roy and Riza's feelings although they were made quite clear in a strange way. Still, it is kind of like them to act that their relationship is platonic: they'vebeen doing it for years, why not wait a little longer? I assume they'll hit it on when Roy becomes the Fuhrer.

Actually, many moments that I had expected to happen didn't happen in the manga like how Winry got her earrings back and the cenz thing (this one might actually take place far in the future). I assumed they would be the concluding scenes but,now that I think of it, these actions side-plots might have only been made up to build the characters and the important relationships. Well, I have always been a friend of sweet side-plots.

All in all, I would have liked to see more of the other military characters in the last pages that told the events two (?) years after and a little further explanation. Yet, I understand AlEdWin was the main point in those last pages and it was a nice concluding theme.

Again it's not cheap because it happens in real life and if you pay attention it's not that one day he is like yay look at me I can walk again. In the picture he is moving but you can still see he is clearly struggling. It's probably something that will take a long time but that doesn't mean it is impossible.


Okay, don't take me wrong here. I'm just relying on anatomy. I'll repeat: I would like to have an explanation. I assume the Philosopher's Stone helped Havoc to heal, I would just like to have Arakawa confirm why Havoc got the sensation in his legs back. If she says the nerves healed, I'll take the explanation, I'll take anything she throws at me. Yes, I saw the picture and he was having hard time. I assume it was from rehabilitation, I know healing from that kind of thing takes a lot of time.

No offense but it seems to me you wanted the manga to end like the first anime.

I admit anime 1 always comes to my mind when someone says FMA. I live in first anime so I look at many things first from that point of view. It's not the best thing for a person who also has read the manga, so I feel unsatisfied by a lot of things.

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I think she already did, in a way. Back when both Roy and Havoc were healing in the hospital, Roy made Breda go for doctor Marco. Remember that the doctor was a runaway, and a traitor to the army; and Roy, an ambitious young colonel. Yet, in spite of all the evil that could fall upon him because of that, he did order Breda to get him. Hell if Roy was not to seize the chance of healing Havoc, regardless of what he decided for himself. (As for the prospects of such treatment, well... Roy decided to get Marco after talking with Knox, so I suppose those were good).

Well I get what you are saying here but keep in mind that those last pages were snap shots. They aren't even necessarily all taken at the same time but they could be taken at various points within the future. Thus while we get glimpses of their lives some things are going to be unclear. Not everything about the future is spelled out. Exactly when and how Havoc started to be able to move his legs is just one of those things.

Uhm, for those of you whom were disappointed about the 520 Cenz Promise not making an appearance in the last chapter..

1) Ed made the promise to repay Roy >when< he became Fuhrer.
2) Roy was not yet shown as Fuhrer in 108, he was at the ranking of a Brigadier General, Grumman was Fuhrer.

This meaning the Ed repaying Roy would take place after the timeline of the manga series, meaning us readers will not see it unless:
1) A gaiden is released with epilogue scenes / chapters
2) An artwork is produced by Arakawa showing the scene of the 520 Cenz being given back.
3) An after-manga FMA novel is written and released.

Otherwise, we assume it happens, but we do not get to see the actual promise being fulfilled.

Regarding the picture of Havoc:

This is just me, but I didn't see the image as him walking, I saw it as him working out doing dips, its for your arms and pecs:

this is "Dip"

Like when I think of people in wheelchairs, I think of their upper body strength. How often do you see ppl in wheelchairs working out their arms? Thats what I thought it was, it looked like him at the peak of a dip.

Happy tears omg. I loved the finale, and it was so fitting for an incredible journey FMA has taken us on.

The two-page scene of Winry hugging human Al and Ed left me teary-eyed... it was too perfect. One of the most beautiful panels I've seen in a manga.

Honestly, for a long time I had expected Scar to die before the end of the series. It was just a hunch I had. I'm shocked by just how long he's lasted *laugh*. I like the route he's taking with Miles, though, to revitalize and rebuild Ishbal.

I know a lot of people are upset that the romance between Roy and Riza was not confirmed, but hey, it wasn't confirmed for Ling/Lanfan and others. Although, as for Roy/Riza, I was surprised by the lack of... closure they got. I don't necessarily mean romance here, but I was expecting more of a talk between them, or something profound. I mean, I would have really liked to see more between these two major characters rather than the chimera fellows taking up space. Perhaps I am belittling them but I really wanted to see more of two extremely important characters to the series. The picture of them on the last page felt a bit too... serious for me given it was the end of the end. I dunno. I'm hoping we get a little more of Roy and Riza's relationship (whatever it will turn out to be) through a side story or even omakes or something.



Wait... whaaat? Do you have a link to this?

I imagine that Bradley will be given a proper funeral. He was the leader of Amestris for decades, after all. I was sad for Mrs. Bradley, but then was happier when I saw a somewhat disturbingly adorable child Selim and Grumman's controversial statement. It lets us know that there is more in store and more conclusions to lead to in this world concerning humans and homunculi. I'm probably one of the few people who's happy that Grumman took the position of Führer rather than Roy. I do like that Roy is working on Ishbal with Riza at his side though. Roy always says he wants to lead the country, but I feel he's still too young in many ways and needs a lot more time to a) cope with his inner demons and b ) figure out exactly what he wants to do with his own life before he can lead an entire country.

I'm really proud of Ling, considering he's probably my very favorite character in the entire series. Greed may be gone, but he's not separated from Ling permanently, as indicated in this chapter. He's become emperor but hasn't lost his humanity that he probably would have if Greed remained. He is accepting the rest of Xing's clans into the kingdom and has taken his position not for his lust for power or avarice, but for the good of Xing.

When I saw the panel with Hoenheim's grave next to Trisha, that really affected me too. I also like Al's statement of Nina. It illustrated just how much that incident had impacted and tormented the Elric brothers. They'll never forget her, nor do they want to.

I thought the last page was excellent. Yes, I "aww'd!" when I saw beautiful EdWin babies, but also seeing adult Mei with Alphonse. Havoc recuperating, Yoki and the Chimeras at the circus, Emperor Ling with Lanfan, the Curtis family, and so on. It was a fine homage to the first page and themes of the entire series, but also gave wonderful finishing lines.

I've never been so affected by a story before. I can't thank Arakawa enough; this has brought me and many other readers so much joy and richness in our inner lives.

I thought someone would say that.

http://community.livejournal.com/royai/436174.html
Just click on the link.

The picture isn't explicitly stating EdWin or Royai, I just assumed by the expressions of those women.

^ Nice pic, but... before everyone starts adding off-topic comments like "OMG, that pic is so cuuuute!" etc....

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Since this thread is made specifically for discussions on the FMA manga chapter 108/conclusion of the FMA manga series, please make sure your comments are FMA chapter 108 content/series conclusion related.

For a split second, i thought Mei was wearing an Amestrian military uniform. But when I saw Mustang and Hawkeye's collars on the upper portion, I realized she was just wearing a traditional Chinese garb. Silly me..

I'm not too bothered by Roy's getting his sight back, but I am disappointed that it does appear that the only reason it got taken away was basically keep him from being particularly useful in the big fight. Its understandable, in a way, he's an extremely powerful alchemist not only in being really good at what he does, but in that his particular area of expertise is capable of being highly destruction. Like they homuculus said, Roy's power was the one they feared the most. But still it does seem like rather an easy way out--even though I'm not really sure I can think of another way out of it.

And as much as I do love Roy x Riza, I would really find it just too much for him to need to depend on her in order to be able to fight. It was interesting while it lasted and I think it was meaningful on an emotional level - in terms of showing the total amount of trust he had in her and in his willingness to depend on her. But she already helps keep him on the "straight and narrow" and watches his back, she gave him his alchemy because she trusted him with what was on her back.

It would have made her his "eyes" too and the only way he'd even be able to defend himself or anyone else. He'd really very little independence. I mean sure he could live on his own, he could conduct business, blind people do it every day, but he's an alchemist and a soldier. As Knox said, a blind soldier would need to retire. It would greatly reduce his power and influence. And she would be tied to him completely, too, because he'd be much more helpless(in terms of protecting himself) without her. It sounds "romantic" to some, I know, but I think some autonomy in a relationship is important. They are already connected in so many other ways, it almost seems to me like that would be a bridge too far, like something that could just over-balance them and could cause them to fall eventually.

You know how some people say it seems like Roy doesn't advance? Well, Arakawa just pulled another one of her genius moves. If you know military ranks, Mustang's shoulder clear show four stars. That's right, four. What does it mean? It means that he's not Colonel Mustang he's General Mustang

I love little details like this

Yeah Mustang moved up something like 4 rankings, from Colonel to what I guess would be called Colonel General--he would have skipped Major General, Brigadier General and Lieutenant General to get to his rank.

Sorry to butt in with no real input on my thoughts for the end of the manga, but Mustang is actually promoted to Brigadier General following the whole Promised Day catastrophe. Over a given period of time (many say two years, but I doubt Ed and Winry would've conceived two children by then...) the montage of Polaroids kick in and that is where Roy is seen ranked as a full-fledge general. I'm inclined to believe reaching that rank took a pretty decent amount of time and much more hard work because promotions don't usually come quick in the military, especially when you're among the top brass.

So my thoughts on Roy's conclusion: Ah, it was kind of a copout to render Mustang useless, but Ed had to beat down the big bad guy. He's the hero remember? With Roy responsible for 1 1/2 of the Homunculi deaths (1/2 because I'm not sure if Mustang flameraping Envy counts for anything), it just wouldn't be right having Ed as the hero. But Roy got his sight back and as a fan of his, I'm happy with that. More scenes with him would've been nice, but I guess it's whatever.

Where do we learn this? Was it the radio? I didn't notice.

In any case the snapshot could not have been take too many years later it's still a big jump in a short period of time. I don't think all the snapshots were from the same time, I think the Elric Family snapshot was the "last" one to be taken probably.

^ Here. Yeah, it was on the radio. I got really confused myself when they called him a brigadier general and then had him in the final shot sporting an insignia that of a general's.

Oh. I did consider that perhaps all the snapshots did take place over a period of time, but I didn't really run it over in my head. But at the same time, you're right in the sense that it couldn't have jumped too far ahead. I'll just leave all the time jump speculation... to be just speculation, I suppose. ._.

I'm almost positive that Pride still has a stone in him, no Homunculus created by another Homunculus (Father) was made without a stone or could survive without their stone.

What Edward did was destroy just Father's Pride that was mixed in with all of the other souls of the stone. This pretty much made Selim "normal" but still powered by a Philosopher's Stone. Kinda controversial but at least those souls are able to give life to a little boy, it's not like they can be saved themselves. So I thought that was really cool to see Selim and the fact that Mrs. Bradley and everyone else knows he's a Homunculus but are hoping he stays normal (which he should with the part of Father that was in him destroyed).



Nah, was definitely him trying to walk again. They use the same bars/walkway for people to rehabilitate their legs to walk on. Of course he's going to looks like he's "dipping" a bit since it's hard to stand. I think him walking again is more powerful than just him working out.

Besides, Breda gave him some bar bells for that earlier on. He's walkin' I tell ya! I know he is!

SERIOUSLY LONG RANT AHEAD.
You guys are gonna hate me and really not liked my post, but....

I seriously hated the ending. I despised it with every fiber of my being that I could use to hate my favorite series. I was looking forward to this for so long, reading every month, anticipating, and foolishly getting my hopes up for the stuff I was SURE would at least be hinted at.
It didn't happen.
My main focus was basically everything but Ed, Al, and Winry directly. Which makes me feel bad...They were the main main characters. ^^; But I didn't care for them. I liked Roy's supporters(Specifically Roy's original loyal team of military dogs; Him, Riza, Hughes, Havoc, Falman, Breda, Fuery, and Hayate) , Briggs, All the chimeras (even Greeds'), The good side of Central, 'the Truth', Izumi, Ling, Mei and the other Xingians, the Ishvalans, even the homunculi in a twisted way....(I'm also still upset that Maria and Brosh were pretty well forgotten after Brosh teared up in the radio station)...Anyway, the focus was on the half of the series I was NOT in favor of. I felt ripped off. The pictures at the end were about it for what I liked, but to my dismay....Riza's hair got chopped off, and so did Roy's. Which made me want to cry for trying so hard to get thier hair right in my sketches. Sad me.
Royai wasn't even hinted. It just...wasn't there past the whole loyal dog thing Riza has in the last chapter. I liked that Havoc was trying to walk (I don't think it was dips, personally. I prefer to think it's him walking.) and that Hayate had puppies. But that was it. The 520 cenz promise was dropped. Grumman got Fuhrership simply because before his blindness was solved, Roy said to give it to him.
Which brings me to something else. In a wierd, twisted way, I wanted Roy's blindness, Ed's arm, and Al's armor to be permanent. Roy's blindness was some stupid way of hindering him from stealing the final hurrah from Ed, and while it did give him a chance to depend on Riza(which I ate up like candy) It was very short lived. He didn't really have that much time for it to set in, and was literally useless in the beginning of the final battle.
Also, I like blind characters and there was at least a pun about not needing to do paperwork in there. He's still Roy. And with Riza? He's Royx2.
Onto Al getting his body back. He's very cute, but I always liked his armor form the best, over him as human in the movie and as a child. Being a suit of armor really deepened Al for me, and now he's a pool of......Flesh. ^^;
Then there was the huge Edwin thing. Ed proposes, or asks her out, or something, and Winry's her usual hateful self. "Of course, you idiot!". Then she acts stupid with percentages and meanness and Ed's like, Oh, I love your stupid! -laughlaugh- She might as well chuck a wrench at him. And the kids. -sigh- Was one of them Al and Mei's? I couldn't tell, but I wanted it to be. And then Hohenheim dying was a downer, but it was fitting for him. =3

Heck, I didn't even notice that my favorite homunculus, Greed, had died until someone posted it here. It seemed lost in the chapter, even though it took like, ten pages. I realized 'Father' died. But it didn't hit that Greed did too. The Xingian's returning home made me smile. "We're here illegally, anyway!" And then Ling's emporer-thing. But no Ling and Lan Fan...=<

In a lower tone, Selim's thing made no sense and SCAR JOINED THE MILITARY somewhat. -twitch- Blughrrhhrghgr.

In my personal opinion, (and it is very biased and still upset) I think Arakawa half-notniceworded the end. It didn't wrap up at all and some major plot points were just....dropped. >_<; I sure hope Brotherhood takes some artistic license and wraps things up a bit better.....

I want there to be something more about Roy and Riza meeting for the first time. Fanfiction doesn't work for me. =/

FINALLY, The Mrs. Bradley being Grumman's Riza & The chimeras and Yoki joining the circus? XD

/End seriously long, biased rant and list of my selfish wants. You can yell at me for being stupid now. Sorry for jumping from topic to topic in like, every sentence.

P.S. I know everyone likes the open ending, but it is the final chapter, and I'd like a bit more finality. I just like the author to be the one making the endings, you know? Not some fanfiction writers.....-sigh- I'm different.

In his final photo with Miles, he is wearing Ishvalan clothes. I don't think he joined the military (that would be so completely un-Scar-ish!)

Hell no, Mrs. Bradley is just a respected widow here. She would bring moral support at most, but her main occupation is raising Selim. XD

I want to say that I really disagree with the "Mustang going blind was a cop out" comments. Honestly, would it have really been THAT hard for Arakawa to write Mustang useless against Father with his vision? Father would have either deflected his flames entirely at Roy or all over the place, or simply consumed them. It wouldn't take much to write Roy useless like the others.

This is all in my head, but during Lust's death when she speaks of Roy's eyes becoming one day clouded and full of agony and despair, I wonder if that was Arakawa foreshadowing on what would happen later. Not that any of us could really figure it out from there though, just something I wonder after going back and reading it since I remembered it.

I recently watched the dub for the episode and was thinking that as well... It's kind of hard to tell now though, what's foreshadowing and what's not... sometimes when you think it is foreshadowing, it doesnt end up happening like that D:

Anyway I'm also disappointed with the Roy incident. I mean yeah I dont mind him getting his sight back, but not like that. I didnt think anyone was going to use the Stone for anything for the same reason Ed didnt use it to bring back Al. For Roy to get his eyesight back I was betting more on Hohenheim sacrificing himself to bring everyone's losses back or at least sacrificing Selim/Pride or something. Just seems like a cop out to me I was also looking forward to Riza's reaction to him getting his sigh tback but oh well, we can just imagine that one up as well.

(And I swear Scar did join the military, that looks like military uniform to me)

A lot of people think that any of mention of the future from a character is foreshadowing. You know, Lust saying that she looks forward to Roy's eyes becoming clouded with hatred... Ed saying he'll borrow money from Roy until he becomes Fuhrer, Riza saying the military will be put on trial for what they did in Ishval.... I think there's more.

Now there are plenty of times where this IS foreshadowing. Like Ed telling Winry she'll cry tears of happiness, Winry telling Al she'll bake him an apple pie, (This doesn't count, but Roy telling Hughes he's gonna be the first one to be killed off. XD), Roy telling Riza she can shoot him in the back if he strays from the right path, you know, foreshadowing happens all the time.

I think the "eye's clouded with hatred" thing WAS. But not about going blind. I think she just ment that Roy's pursuit for Hughes' killer would lead him to ruin. And it did. Did you SEE his eyes when he was fighting Envy? I don't know about you, but they seems pretty clouded with hatred to me.

Well, if you noticed, Miles is wearing the same Ishvalan cloak. So were all the Amestrian soldiers during the war.....
You can't see Scar's front well, but with all of Olivier's talk about sending them (And Roy's about Miles) to patch stuff up in Ishval, I believe he joined the military. Which is un-Scar-like. Which was one of the many things I was unhappy about. D<

And yeah, it was a bit much of me to say Mrs. Bradley was Grumman's Riza, but it was more a joke. Grumman said that 'Without her to scold him, he might just keel over and die'

...It's not the same thing, but I think it makes my invalid point a bit less foolish sounding. ^^;

Here, from Mangastream: The photos' collage. I think it's clear enough.

Honestly, I get confused when I read "cloak". I still don't know if it means "coat", "cape" or both ^^U.
Scar's coat is generic. But if you're talking about the cape instead, I remember well the Ishval flashbacks and, believe me, there were NO Amestrian soldiers wearing Ishvalan capes. Not even the Ishvalan soldiers that were imprisoned. In this photo, he is the only one wearing an Ishvalan cape. Look carefully, you'll notice it.

By the way, I love how does Roy look in its photo. Way too serious and with a little ring under his eye, true, but also with excelent hairstyle and haircut... and even more handsome than before.

lol what? To me, Roy's hair just looks like it's pushed back, a la Hughes funeral. I like it better like that, makes him look more refined and rather dashing.

Well, I recently read a chapter of a summer reading book that fits this discussion perfectly! It was called, "He's Blind for A Reason, You Know"

Honestly. That's what it was called. And my thoughts immediately came to this forum, and I read it with Roy Mustang in mind.

Like Hagaren_4ever said, when he was fighting Envy, his eyes were already blinded - with rage. Roy lost his path, and he found his way back, but there are still reasons for him to lose and regain his sight.

- Obviously, something had to be sacrificed. Light Father said, his sight was the most ironic thing, and so that's what he lost. But why shouldn't he be able to regain it, when he didn't commit a taboo?

- Why should he us a PS when no one else would? He killed a lot of people during the Ishbalan War, and the PS was made of other Ishbalan souls. Marcoh used those souls to give Roy his sight back - if you think about how he lost his sight to his selfish rage and then regained it through the souls that were taken during the time he set his goals for the country, then how he devoted the time in-between that moment and becoming Fuhrer to fixing Ishbal, it shows how he has regained sight of his goal and even expanded it.

In literature a hero never looses their sight for no reason - Oedipus learned to 'see' more clearly, Mr. Rochester lost his sight but regained it once he led a better life. How Roy lost it is less important here than how he regained it. Someone mentioned on another thread that that was the same PS that was made with Ishbalans, given to Kimblee to kill more Ishbalans, then discovered by Al to defeat Kimblee, then given to Roy to help rebuild Ishbala. When you look at it that way, it all makes sense.

Sorry for the long rant. ...I was bored...

I love how Roy looks in this photo too. I love his hair, which is just a little shorter(not that I have anything against long hair at all:) and also pushed back, he looks very refined and elegant, and his basic demeanor. Yes he looks stern and serious in this particular picture but he also looks very professional and sharp and yes, handsome.

I guess it's important to remember that before the coup he was probably putting on something of a persona, maybe a bit sloppier in his on-duty dress(not that he was generally sloppy), hair a bit messy. I assume that was to play up his "Yeah I'm just coasting on the fumes of being "the hero of Ishbal" and am really pretty lazy and no one has to actually worry about me" role. So he obviously realizes the importance of appearances and now that he is going right for the leadership, he's going to want to look like one.

I also just noticed that Riza is actually pointing something out to him in that picture, if you look at the bottom left you can just make out part of her arm pointing outward out of the frame. It looks to me like they are at some of military review so I assume she's pointing out something to him in the field or if there is a crowd watching from the side.

I just thought of something - in a lot of ways all these years Roy and Riza were working towards just being able to START actively doing something about their guilt. Sometimes when you have a goal you are focused on the goal(whatever the motivations for the goal) - once you reach that goal that is when you finally actually start dealing with the motivation behind it, so I'd imagine for both of them it's not just going to be like "Yay we won, everything is wonderful now", in some ways there are probably some things both of them are just going to be able to START dealing with.

Fuuuh. I just finished reading all six pages, with breaks in between of course. I'm not really sure what to say, my opinions are going to be tainted after reading all these posts.

I guess, the ending really satisfied me. Like Ed said, "it's been one long dance." It's not the perfect ending, but I like it. I just really love it.

Just a few things I wanted to point out, I kind of wished the brothers had spent more time with their father, like walking home together. They probably wouldn't have much to talk about, but still, I wanted more moments since they were pretty much fatherless the rest of their lives. When I saw Hohenheim at the grave, I cried. Hard! "Ah, dammit! Now I'm wishing I didn't have to die." It just got to me, you know. T__T

I'm actually quite content with Mustang's and Hawkeye's relationship, romantic love has never really been my kind of thing, at least not anymore. They have a really strong bond, whether it's between a superior and subordinate, or between friends, and I appreciate that more than them being romantically involved.

Greed was really not that greedy at all, huh? All he wanted was friends. Even the first Greed seemed to cherish his friends as well since he saved those chimeras from the lab experiments. Part of me wished that Greed has stayed with Ling because I wanted to see how they would work out together as the emperor of Xing.

I was really touched yet somewhat creeped out by the decision of Mrs. Bradley for keeping Selim. It's really interesting though, and I kind of wish there would be a sequel or a spin-off and little Selim's future. Goodness gracious he was really adorable though! Despite being homunculi, both King Bradley and his son showed affection and fondness of Mrs. Bradley, and I can see why as she was willing to raise Selim again despite the risks and controversy.

The family moments throughout the manga really got to me too. The Tuckers, when that s.o.b turned his daughter into a chimera, and yet she still cried out fom him when Scar killed him, the Hughes; during the funeral when little Elicia said, "why are they burying papa? Papa can't go to work that way!" I just lost it, Ran Fan and her grandfather; when Fuu scolded Ran Fan for failing to protect the young master but then worried about her lost arm (again, tears just streaming down my face) and of course the Elrics and Rockbells as well. I think somewhere, the Bradleys are also included in my list. I don't know why, no matter how minor, the family moments always stood out to me the most. Hughes' funeral scene has got to be the most heart-wrenching moment in the whole manga for me.

That's that. I'm just going to stop here. I'm not sure if I'm even still in-topic, haha. (^__^;;)

Now that fma has concluded , we should be well versed wit the fact that most anime/manga these days are having happy endings .

Regarding Roy/Royai:While I agree with everyone about there not being enough Roy/Riza/Royai content in 108 I think to me everything that needed to be said has been said. Riza will follow Roy no matter what, if he will rebuild Ishval then Riza will be at his back. The final picture shows us that. They will always be together no matter what. The pervious chapters mentioned and showed us that their bond is that of King and Queen.

In regards to romance I think it's hard for them, especially with this semi-open ended chapter. There is a lot left to tell that I think the Holy Cow wants us to fill in ourselves. Roy is not yet Fuhrer, he is close though. They were practically ready to give their lives for the future of the country, willingly aim for a future where they will be labeled as criminals and put to death, and because of that they are noble spirits. They both want redemption for what they did, and are ready to give themselves for their cause, how can they think of themselves? They don't have time, even if they deeply love each other (which I think they do), right now they can't submit to their love because there is more to be done.

Because of they are willing to give themselves so fully, disregarding even their own desires, makes me really love this pairing and I think the end (108) is fitting if you allow yourself to fill in the blanks from previous chapters. (Father)Hayate having puppies is filling in for Riza since she is too busy (and by the time she and Roy get together she may be too old for kids).

I loved the ending. I like happy endings, to me I don't want to invest my time in something that will make me feel sad that the end.

However the ending felt a bit rushed with so much content. It seems like Arakawa wanted to add more and yet couldn't because of time constraints. I really think the tokuban will have a gaiden or we'll be getting another 4 panel omake book.

The thing about Selim and Mrs. Bradley did confuse me a bit but I think if we had more background info on how Father was created perhaps it would make a bit more sense.

I will miss Greed, and Papa Elric dieing was his happy ending, so I have mix feelings on those two events, probably like everyone else.

Not sure what else to say about the ending. I think for the time she had, Arakawa did a wonderful job. I will be grabbing her next work!

I wish Arakawa's next work will be about Al's time in Xing calling it "The Golden Alchemist" XD

I didn't like the ended. It was too happy. I'm a big fan of the first anime, so I was hoping for a sad ending.
And we never find out what Scar's real name was.
Plus I thought that Ed should have hooked up with Rose.

^ I don't think knowing Scar's name was necessary. At least he didn't say "Oh, and my name's Dudley".

I thought it was a great ending. I was expecting something sadder, though so I was kind of pleasently surprised.I don't have anything original to say, so I'll just shut up now...

There wasn't anywere I was meant to post to intoduce myself, was there? (I'm such a noob )

Also, did Hoho degrading when he died (does that make sense?) happen in the manga or not. I can't remeber. And why does that happen anyway? Is it like all his years catching up with him or something? It made sense when it happened to wrath, but now i'm just confused...

I liked how it ended, but even so, it felt so sudden. (Okay, that's probably just me, I always hate the endings and they always feel sudden to me, but still..)

I wouldn't have minded a sadder ending though. Actually, I think I would have preferred something more tragic and dramatic. Well, maybe I just don't like happy endings but still, for everything to turn out so nicely in the end? Bah, a little boring. I mean I would have liked to see something unexcepted that no one had seen coming, including the characters.

I liked how it turned out with Ed and Winry though.

Ed barely had anything at all to do with Rose in the manga. Why would he have hooked up with a girl he barely knew?

I agree. O.o

And winry actually had more of a personality. It comes with not having less that 10 pages screentime

First of all I love the ending, it was too perfect for this awesome manga. I like every panels, I almost cried when I read page by page with a thought that these will gonna be the last pages of FMA.
Everything was settled in a good way, the chimera's, ed and al issues, the conflict in Ishval, the untrustworthy government were concluded in a way that everyone will understand. Actually, It was kinda hard to tell my thoughts on how in was concluded because I was totally overwhelmed, and was carried away by the story. I can say that this is the best ending ever. And FMA was the best manga ever.
The thing about Ed and Winry, well, I like it and they destined to be together ever since. lol. But I'm really looking forward on Royai which was not, I think, settled yet. I mean, they can't be end up just like that. So I'm hoping for the spin-off story about roy being the fuhrer and with Riza as his first lady. LOL. I keep on imagining things XP
To simplify, the series concluded significantly and the readers will surely gonna love and enjoy reading it^^