Well, I just gotta say that the first half of this episode is nowhere near as epic as the second half. I think the problem here is that it doesn’t really start to advance the plot much. All of the events that have happened in the last few episodes is reiterated for the characters of the anime by way of Mrs. Bradley. She has been taken to a radio station, telling her story about how she was kidnapped and rescued from her own military. She does, however, finally learn of her husband’s disappearance and faints upon hearing the news, but only for a brief moment. It seems that not only the citizens have been listening, but the military as well. They attempt to stop the broadcast with threats; however, one of the station employees puts on a good enough show and hangs up before anything more is said.

Down somewhere in the city, Brosh hears a familiar voice over the radio—Maria’s (we already know, Denny!) Thus, the word begins to spread. Just about everyone in Central, talking about the news of Bradley’s disappearance. They suspect the upper echelon is behind everything, but the military is having problems of their own. The Briggs soldiers have managed to make their way to headquarters and with some heavy artillery.

Now, this is where things start to pick up. The next scene begins where last week’s episode left off. Mustang has burst through the barrier Ed constructed to keep the dolls from escaping. There is a bit of bickering between him and Scar, but the petty arguments are left for later when, having taken a few moments to assess the situation, Mustang—with the snap of his fingers—sets the dolls ablaze in a controlled attack, killing them instantly.

In the tunnels, May-chan is still running from Envy. She attempts to hinder him by using a bit of her skills, crumbling the pipe under his feet as he runs over it. The two are just above the room where Ed, Scar, the chimeras, Hawkeye and Mustang are and May crashes down first, followed by Envy. After getting yelled at by Scar, May-chan has rejoined the team. Envy, on the other hand, uses this chance to express his distaste for humans, but not for long. Remember, in the very beginning, how Mustang was hell bent on finding out who really killed Hughes? Well, little does he know he’s found his man. Envy taunts him a little before transforming into Hughes’ wife, Gracia. Envy continues to take these low blows until Mustang decides he’s heard enough. He orders everyone but Hawkeye out of the room as he wants to deal with the homunculus himself.

They hardly even have a chance as Envy practically blocks them from leaving, but Mustang does not hesitate to deal the first strike. Despite this, Envy transforms, making himself a bigger target. This doesn’t seem to be a very distracting turn of events for the Colonel, and not much time goes by before Envy realizes just who Mustang really is—the one who killed Lust. After hearing about what happened to her, Envy wisely decides to run away. Mustang, of course, runs after him, telling Hawkeye to stay behind, with the intent on killing Hughes’ murderer.

Again, in the tunnels, as the gang attempts to make their escape, Ed stops Scar to have a brief chat about his concerns for Mustang. Apparently, he’s worried that the Colonel will be completely engulfed by these horrible feelings and the Ishbalan is the only person he knows who might understand. Ed’s feelings are not far off, if at all. Mustang is presented in a dark, menacing light. He is consumed by smoke and shadows in his attempt to find and kill Envy. There is even one point where it seems as though he’s not just trying to get rid of the homunculus, but to torture him before that happens. But, Ed is not the only one worried about Mustang’s wellbeing. Lieutenant Hawkeye knows that the Colonel is taking this personally and disobeys his orders to stay put.

Eventually, Envy manages to get away, forcing Mustang to keep looking. As he does, he runs into Hawkeye. The two of them continue on their hunt for the homunculus, or so Mustang thinks until Hawkeye pulls her gun on him; thus, ending the episode and leaving us to wait anxiously for next week’s episode!

~Blogged by Dee