For info about the "Reading Reference", go to page 14.

===================

No, it's not out yet, but I thought I'd follow Saturn Stars' example of last month and just get the topic started in advance. It's September now, after all! Not much longer!!

In the meantime, we can always do some more speculating... I'm most curious to hear some theories as to what exactly y'all think is going to happen to Roy now. It's interesting that none of the others in that room (where General Raven took Roy) seemed to be surprised by the suggestion that Bradley is a Homonculus.

Anyway, I was surprised no topic for ch. 51 appeared on September 1st, so I thought I'd go ahead and start one myself!


<Last edited by Michiyo- on May. 22, 2011>

There better be some Mustang vs. Bradley.

And for some reason I want Bradley to kick Mustang's ass.

I can't wait to read chapter 51! To be honest, I'm more curious about where Ed, Envy and Ling are. And what is Al gonna do now that Ed got eaten...?

Yes, especially if Envy regenerates! What's he going to do then?

Ne, here's something I haven't seen talked about yet (strangely)... who is General Raven? I looked at the silhouette of Pride and compared his face shape to Raven, and they don't look quite right. But he's obviously aware of the homonculi. Is he Sloth perhaps? (Btw, does anyone remember what chapter Sloth was mentioned in? I can't recall...)

I think Sloth was mentioned in chapter 31. Not sure though.

I don't remember hearing anything about General Raven before chapter 50. I doubt he's Sloth, though. I think he and all the other people in the room already knew about Bradley being a homunculus.

I really hope Pride is in this chapter! I want to know who he is. It's been bugging me. Maybe...he's Al! Bwahahaha!!! Yeah, right. He does kind of remind me of human Al though...

Hmm, you're right, I just looked at Sloth (it was chapter 31, thank you!) and I think he'll be kinda hard to miss. He's bigger than Armstrong. Beardless, too. Ah well, it was an idea, anyway.

I cant wait for chapter 51 to come out! I want to see how Ed and the others get out of Gluttony's tummy. Other that being digested and wound up as ..............(its best if i dont finesh that sentence).

Its like a rollar coaster ride, you wait for ever, then its over in 2 min.

I honestly think in chapter 51, Bradley will smile and shrug it off and laugh, like he always does when things like that happen.

*Er, my ramblings contain manga spoilers, so yeah...*

That would pwn if Pride really was Al. ^^

But I really wanna know what Ed and Ling are gonna do! I mean, being stuck in Gluttony's stomach must suck nasty. >_> And stupid Envy will probably just whine the whole time. *cough*Ling please kill Envy.*cough*

Does anyone have any theories about how ed will get out of the stomach?

I think that Ling and Ed are gonna SOMEHOW kill Gluttony from the inside and everything that was in his stomach will come out... Ew. O_o

perhaps blow him up from the inside? or alchemize the blood into something toxic?

i find it odd...that in...gluttony's stomach....you see ed, being all: oh em gee, dubya tee eff...but...where...is ling?! wouldn't they ve at least close to gather o__O

*hopes that he was just wandering around* TT^TT

I think Gluttony's stomach is actually the inside of the Gate, not the other side but the inside.

I think a lot of people have had that theory... Though we wouldn't know until next week... (I don't want to wait.. *cries*)

Hm.. oo; Maybe Ed and Ling will force feed Gluttony rats, toads, and snakes from the inside! xDD ..Nevermind.

At the end of Chapter 50 it states, "This voice that echoes inside the darkness, is it going to reach someone...?!" So, judging from this cliffhanger, I think it's safe to assume that Ed's voice will attract someone who was eaten by gluttony's attention. I wonder who it will be. ;o;

(It would be really cool if Pride was Al. o_o <3)

I've been away for so long... ;_; Anyway...

I think all those General's prolly did found it 'funny'. After all, it was supposed to be a joke. Maybe they're even angered at Mustang for being so childish at the point to say those things. And I doubt there'll be a fight, Wrath's way to smart to reveal himself like that. He'll prolly just joke with Mustang a little then make that friendly smile that he often uses, just like when he offers melons to Edo xD

Hum, about Edo & Co... Maybe they'll find a way to exit the same way they came in, maybe they'll force the belly to open again, making a passage from the Gate to the outside. Not that that place IS the Gate. I doubt that's the inside of the Gate. That's prolly just another 'room', where all that Gluttony ate are stored. Remember that inside the Gate there's the entire knowledge! All the explanations about men, the world... maybe even the beginning of the universe! *_* So that place where Edo is may be another place, as if another dimension... o_O

and Ed was saying earlier on that he wanted to meet up with truth... maybe that happens?

When exactly it should be released?

I don't know, it seems like there's too much build-up for this incident for everyone to just "laugh it off". There isn't usually this much suspense for these types of scenes with Bradley... I don't know though. Probably the next chapter will be exactly the opposite of all my expectations and theories... I've never been very good at figuring out mysteries.

I'm still withholding judgement on what I think will happen to Edo and Ling (and Envy?) in Gluttony's stomach, though. I still don't know what exactly I think about that.

One thing that occurred to me, though, is that it's taking Envy an awfully long time to regenerate, isn't it? Usually he (and the other homonculi) can do this in a few minutes. But it seems to be taking longer than usual... maybe because Gluttony's stomach was connected to the Gate somehow? Or then again, maybe it just seems that way because the focus switched to Aru for the rest of that scene. *shrug*

ETA: Guest, it should come out on the 12th (in Japan, so we might not get the scanlations until the 15th, like last month). Right, everyone? I have a terrible memory...

I can't wait for this chapter I'M EXCITED

I wonder if some of you even read ch. 50.... >_>


Mustang realizes that when Hughes said "the military is in danger," he didn't mean the military itself was under threat from the homunculus, but the fact that the very military itself is dangerous since all/most of its high ranking officers are aware of the Fuhrer's secret and support him nonehteless. Why? Well when you are a top brass in the military and your leader is creating lots of wars that help you stay in power, would you honestly care that he's not human? Not really.

So in other words, Mustang has just found himself in a den of lions. He won't get out easily without some fight breaking out.



As for the situation with Ed, Ling, and Envy, it's a little harder to predict what's going to happen. I myself don't really believe that they are inside "The Gate" but it could be a remote possiblity. And since the chapter ended focusing only on Ed, we don't know what Ling or Envy are doing, although rest assured they are in there somewhere.

Sure, I understand that about the high ranking officers. But I don't know, maybe I'm thinking too much about the anime, it just seems to me like there's something else too it. General Raven's character interests me particularly.

So none of them can let Roy just waltz out of there having discovered the truth about Bradley - and the rest of the top brass. Unless, perhaps, they can secure his silence through some sort of threat? Hawkeye perhaps? Wasn't there a comment made about her and Roy by Wrath in a recent chapter?

But we know that they can't kill Roy because he's supposed to open the gate, according to Wrath. So threatening him into silence is really their only option, is it not?

...Hmm, not sure if that made any sense at all. I just can't wake up today. I need a Frappucino or something... >_<

The Philosopher's Stone is located in the chest, since that got swallowed up, I'm assuming his bottom half is not going to regenerate and his top half will wherever he is.

Wouldn't it be in his leg where the tatoo is? I mean Lust had the stone in her chest, not Envy.

Yes, people guessed that the Ouruburos (sp?) tattoo marked where the PS was in the homunculus but I don't really believe this is true.

Why?

Well,

1) If you look closely at Lust revealing her PS, the stone wasn't directly under the tattoo. The tattoo was placed higher.

2) Lust called the PS the "core" of the homunculus. Thus, wouldn't it make sense to place the core in the center of the body, unlike some periphery like the leg? I can't imagine Gluttony's stone being in his tongue.

I agree with tathchan here. As I explained somewhere else, the probabilities of a big fight starting over there are really low. Most probably it'll become a "who-outwits-who" fight between Bradley and Mustang, rather than a "physical" one.

And, tathchan, in chapter 48 (I think, maybe 49... ) Wrath, after having lost the trace of Ranfan, sees Riza going to/coming back from "picking up" Ling and Gluttony, and he thinks something like "oh, that's Mustang's pet. This means he's behind this". Or similar .

EDIT: Fixed quoting.

3) In the last panel we see Envy's legs, you can notice they're already starting to "decompose/dealchemise", as happened with Lust or with Gluttony's pieces (-Booom!- ) before.
This means they've been "deattached" from the core, the stone.

Considering that it said "This voice that echoes in the darkness, is it going to reach someone...?!" I think somebody is going to hear Ed. With his luck, it'll probably be Envy. I really think Gluttony is going to die soon, especially since he ate Ed & Envy.

Maybe Wrath plans on somehow using Hawkeye to open the gate...? I don't think a physical fight is going to break out with all those high ranking officers. That would pretty much be suicide on Mustang's part.

It would be awesome if Al was Pride, but...that would create too many plotholes, unless there's something we don't know yet. It also means he would probably die. I really don't want Al to die. Something's going to happen to him though. I mean, he's all alone in the middle of nowhere with Gluttony...

Pride being Al? Ugh. I'd hate that to be true... poor Al!



Rather than Hawkeye, what about Havoc? He's practically a sitting duck! *is really worried about Havoc now...*



I agree with that. Another point against the PS being in the same place as the tattoo is that they seem to regenerate around the PS. Greed's tattoo was on his hand, and he wasn't regenerating from there during his fight with Wrath.

Lemme take a gues at just about everything now...

Roy and Bradley will have this big convo and blah blah. Bradley will threaten Roy to opening the gate...he will refuse adn dare I say run for his life like a sissy girl...ha-hahah! I had to say that, ok anyway. He arrives outside ready to give Hawkeye his orders to run liek there's no tomorow...only to find Bradleys little soldier frineds with a gun up to her temple. Then with that the General will come through and say something like "I'm warning you, Mustang....do the Fuhrer that little favor and no one will get hurt" or something...
Meanwhile in Gluttony, Ed wanders around yelling out for Ling ...he bumps into Envy AGAIN and all that chit chat about shimps and the PS and homonculus and lolly pops...

Yar i duno the rest I justr couldnt be stuffed with it....well...OK OK! Hawkeye could get taken away by Pride....beleive me...i WANT that to happen, only so Roy can chase after her though ^^ yay! there must be more Royai ... Edwin isnt too shabby either!

Hmmm... or rather... Ed bumps into Ling, who tells him how to get out of there and the likes... only to find out (in the last moment, 'f course) it was actually Envy who was trying to leave Ling behind!

I need to get my hands on 51! I hate waiting for things to be released...I do wonder what's gonna happen to Mustang...

Well at this rate, there's ALOT of things we don't know yet. ;___; Oh well. Inside of Pride being Al, maybe Pride is Hoho-papa? Er, no. That'd be too weird. O_O

Hehe...

Ed:"Where am I?!"
Envy: "We're in the Gate, Shrimp"
Ed: *DAMN, why does HE here?* >_>

LOL!

I know! I feel like Roy gets away with way too much. It's odd that he never suffers any personal reprecussions for any of his actions- he never dies or gets injured ect. It's always someone else and, yes, I get it that others getting hurt hurts Roy but still. Plus, I think it'd be great character development if he was forced to drop that arrogant attitude (which is a facade, I know. Don't go yelling at me.) and have to beg, even if it's only in front of Bradley and co.



That'd be really interesting. If all knowledge is there, then maybe Ed will find out something really pivotal to the plot. Like the identity of the Homonculous (sp?) creator or, like someone else sugested, who sloth/truth are? If Ed stays for another chapter or two in Gluttony's stomach, I'd like that.



Well, I know people aren't going to like this but they could very well just beat him senseless. People recover from beatings after all and, as far as warnings go, it doesn't get through much clearer then with a good punch or two. (How sick did that make me sound? yeesh.) Besides, we don't know how they're going to open the gate. They may just need his living blood and not his consciousness so beating him until he's Colonel Vegetable would be the easiest solution to the problem.
Do I think this is going to happen? No. If that would work, the Homonculous would have just knocked everyone out before now. However, I am stating it for the point.
If anything is going to get Mustang to cooperate via a threat, more then anyone else, I think Pride may threaten Gracia and Elysia Hughes. Besides having an extraordinary emotional impact on the readers, Mustant would probably sacrifice just about anything to protect those two, his best friend's widow and only child.

He got stabbed in the gut by Lust and put in the hospital. O__o He's been practically useless (and heavily criticized for it) and in constant danger even while he's STILL recovering from a near-fatal wound and self-cauterization for the past 5 chapters! What else do you want?? At this point he's weakened by just a hard smack on the back.

Which is why he's in such a precarious position at the moment. Remember, Lust tried killing Roy despite him being a candidate for sacrifice, because he'd stuck his head in too far. Though it seems Wrath is becoming soft toward Roy, so who knows what'll happen next...

Sorry, head hurts too much to fully read through all the commentary put forth so far, but...

Just to throw this out. Are we even sure there is a 'gate'? I mean, the anime has the "Gate", but... do they actually refer to it that way in the manga?

I thought what Ed, Izumi, Al saw was more like a repository of knowledge and judgement.

Nope, sorry. Lust referred to it (at least translated) as a gate.


But I'm pretty sure it isn't like the gate in the anime. And I'm also pretty sure Gluttony's stomach isn't linked to it. Notice all the rotting stuff in his stomach? The bones and skeletons? (See also SweetJanie comment)

As for Pride,.... I was thinking more like Hohenheim. Afterall, they kinda look the same (in shadows), Hohenheim's not harmed by bullets, and he doesn't age. Plus when he was visiting 'home', Pride wasn't around in Central. Basically, you can't account for them being in separate places at the same time.

As for Envy, I wouldn't be too sure that the stone is in his chest. It was in Lust's chest, but her tatoo was also on her chest. Maybe not exactly... but the tatoo also represents what each one does. And you wouldn't exactly have the stone in Gluttony's chest with all his ribs poking out every once in a while. But true, Greed had the hand with the tatoo (actually both hands) cut off, but he regenerated from his main body.


Right. So, just ideas. Head hurts; later!

-AECK

I bow my head in shame!!!! How could I have forgotten?? Thanks for the point...I feel sheepish... But where do you see Wrath softening toward Roy?

Hmm.... I could kind of see Wrath softening towards Roy, but I don't think that it will ultimately change things much. And here's another candidate for being used to threaten Roy into silence - Alphonse. Roy has been keeping the truth about Al's body quiet, but obviously Wrath is fully aware of it. But does Roy know that Wrath knows? Personally I don't see Havoc as particularly high on the list as another candidate (or maybe I just hope he isn't!), but that's a good suggestion about Gracia and Elysia. Although I kind of feel that there would be a slight lack of buildup if they were to be pulled into "centerstage" (so to speak) all of a sudden. They've kind of been in the background throughout the story. My first choices would be Riza and/or Alphonse (and/or even Ed himself), but you never know....

Re: Pride as Hohenheim... For some reason I really doubt that. He is the "father" of the homonculi, is he not? And each of them was "part of his own soul", as I think he said when executing Greed. Wouldn't this suggest that he is something else entirely apart from the homonculi (or at least, not the same kind of homonculus)? Also, Wrath's attitude toward Pride doesn't seem to match his attitude when addressing his "father"... Again, this is all guesswork, of course.

Re: the Gate/Gluttony's stomach possibility. Well, given the eye that we saw in Gluttony's "stomach" when he was hunting down Edo-tachi, it certainly seems to be connected to the Gate in some way. But as for actually leading to the Gate (i.e., the same one Ed, Al and Izumi have seen), I don't know. But wouldn't it be interesting if Ed spoke with "truth" again (with Ling tagging along - since he wants to learn the secret of immortality, I doubt he would be afraid of going right up to the Gate and asking for the knowledge) and perhaps gained some more insight into where exactly Al's body really is/how to get it back? Or even saw it? And what if Envy were with the two of them... Perhaps in the manga the homonculi have some link or insight into the Gate? The eye in Gluttony's "stomach" would support that idea, at least...

...Or perhaps I should stop reading so much into everything and just go get some sleep? I'm really tired right now, so probably nothing I said made sense. My memory's also really bad, so if it turns out I'm just making stuff up about what's actually happened/been said/shown in the manga thus far, that's why.

Okay, no more speculating, I'm going to bed now. Oyasumi nasai to those of you who are doing the same! (And sorry for the rambling. Didn't mean to go on that long...)

ahhh!!! one more week!! i cant wait!! eii!! anyhow..my ideas

ed: im worried for him.. but i think that whereever he is will lead to the gate or perhaps thats the other side? who knows. but he'll get out for sure...i wonder if that'll kill gluttony. im worried for ling too got a pretty good hunch he's a goner either that or we're gonna have mroe auto-mail customers on our hands.

roy: potential showdown with the fuhrer? if that does happen, we all know that hawkeye is gonna have to save the day. so drake, i think you may get your wish ^_~

i think gluttony is pretty much on the calm side right now. what happened to envy tho? didnt see him.. maybe al will fight with him out of the angries...i also doubt that pride is hohenheim just because i dont think that really fits i mean pride..hohenheim? naaah. besides he is the big bad father man, aint he? its strange that ed is inside gluttony because then where is the stone in that big mess? then again he is on hyper mode... ive got a lil idea that trisha might make an appearance but that is perhaps wishful thinking on my part. im waiting for winry to come back into play.. well..i think ill stop thinking about it hahha. gate action some fighting the bradley automailins? ooh we'll just have to wait and see but can we? eeeii!!! welps, ja ne!!

Envy got bitten in half X3

If Hohenheim is the homunculi's "father" then he couldn't be Pride, because, after their conversation about Mustang, doesn't Pride say to Wrath "I shall not report your previous speech that can be taken as treason to father." Also, I don't think Wrath will do anything too drastic to Mustang, like, say, killing him, because in his "speech" he sounded like he almost wants Ed and Mustang to get in their way.

I got it! Pride is Pinako in a chicken suit with stilts.

::hangs head and groans::

Whoops, should sign it.

-AECK

Ugh, I just want to read ch. 51 and find out who Pride is curses!!! >_>

I don't care if it's not translated yet! Gimme the raw!

Heeey, could this guy be Pride?! He's got the nose, it looks like...

http://www.readmanga.com/view.php?currtitl...chap=034&img=36

Yes, I'm just throwing random characters out there now. What of it? I've got nothing better to do until the chapter comes out!

Actually that military guy's been coming out a lot more often recently.

Hmm...

Not even out yet. Mr. Kill For Cats guy.

That Military guy has crossed my mind. I mean the people that framed Maria Ross was who exactly? The Fuhrer? No really, who was it again?

Interesting... if nothing else, he has the surname "Douglas" - and Sloth was using the name "Juliet Douglas" in the anime.... not sure if that really counts for anything, but...