Fullmetal Alchemist recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 2003 · Series

Fullmetal Alchemist recap

Edward Elric, the young Fullmetal Alchemist, and his brother Alphonse, a soul in a suit of armour, search for the Philosopher's Stone to restore the bodies they lost trying to revive their mother. Ed joins the military as a State Alchemist under Roy Mustang. The early episodes follow the manga: the false prophet Cornello in Liore, Shou Tucker turning his daughter Nina into a chimera, and Scar, an Ishvalan who kills State Alchemists. From there the story splits off. The brothers learn the Stone is made from human lives, and that the homunculi, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Wrath and Pride, are the failed results of human transmutation; Sloth was created from their own attempt and wears their mother's face. Scar turns himself into a Stone inside Al's armour. Maes Hughes is killed, and the homunculi are revealed to serve Dante, an ancient alchemist and the former lover of the brothers' father, Hohenheim, who has been switching bodies for centuries and wants a new Stone.

How Fullmetal Alchemist ends

In the final battle Envy kills Ed, and Al uses the Stone inside him to bring his brother back, losing his body. Ed gives up his own life to restore Al's body, and wakes up through the Gate in a version of our world in the 1920s, while Al, back in his ten-year-old body, has lost his memories of their journey. Dante is killed, Mustang kills Pride, and the brothers are separated, a story concluded in Conqueror of Shamballa.

No. 02 · 2005 · Film

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa recap

Two years after the 2003 series, Edward lives in Munich in 1923, a world without alchemy, where he has lost his automail and wears mechanical prosthetics. He works on rockets with Alfons Heiderich, a young scientist who looks like Al, hoping to find a way home. He meets Noa, a Romani girl who can read minds. The Thule Society, led by Dietlinde Eckhart, wants to open a gate to Ed's world, which they believe is the mythical Shamballa, to seize its power. Back in Amestris, Alphonse, who has regained his memories, works to reach his brother. The Thule Society uses Envy and Hohenheim to open the gate, while Al sacrifices the homunculi Wrath and Gluttony to open it from his side. Eckhart's soldiers cross into Amestris.

How Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa ends

Alfons launches Ed back home in a rocket and is shot down. Ed, with new automail from Winry, defeats Eckhart, who returns to her world and is shot. Ed plans to seal the gate from the other side and stay there, but Al has Mustang seal it from Amestris and goes through with him. The brothers stay in Munich to stop the weapons gathering for Hitler's rise, concluding the 2003 anime.

Post-credits scenes

No. There is no post-credits scene.

No. 03 · 2009 · Series

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood recap

Ed and Al Elric, who lost their bodies trying to bring back their mother, hunt for the Philosopher's Stone. In the opening arcs they expose the false priest Cornello in Liore, see Shou Tucker turn his daughter Nina into a chimera, and are attacked by Scar, an Ishvalan who kills State Alchemists in revenge for the Ishval war. In the Laboratory 5 arc, they learn the Stone is made from human souls and meet the homunculi, Lust, Gluttony and Envy. Maes Hughes, close to the truth, is murdered by Envy. The Xingese prince Ling Yao arrives seeking immortality and becomes the vessel of Greed. Roy Mustang kills Lust and learns that the Fuhrer, King Bradley, is the homunculus Wrath. At Fort Briggs, under General Olivier Armstrong, the brothers find a tunnel tracing a country-wide transmutation circle, and the homunculi's creator, Father, plans to sacrifice all of Amestris to absorb God. The brothers' own father, Hohenheim, is Father's original template and the survivor of the fall of Xerxes, and he prepares his own counter. The arc of the Promised Day brings every ally together in Central as the eclipse arrives.

How Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ends

Father activates the circle, but Hohenheim's counter returns the souls of Amestris. Mustang, forced to open the Gate, is blinded. Al trades his soul to restore Ed's arm, and Ed defeats Father. Ed then gives up his Gate, and with it his alchemy, to bring Al back in his own body. Hohenheim dies at Trisha's grave, Mustang's sight is restored and Ling becomes emperor of Xing. Two years later, the brothers travel separately to learn more, and Ed and Winry marry and have children.

No. 04 · 2011 · Film · optional

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos recap

This side story takes place during Brotherhood. Ed and Al chase an escaped prisoner, Melvin Voyager, to Table City on the border with Creta, where the Milosian people live in poverty in a valley below. They meet Julia Crichton, a young Milosian alchemist, and learn that Melvin claims to be her long-lost brother, Ashleigh. The Milosians, led by the fighter Miranda, want independence from Amestris and Creta, and Julia hopes to make a Sanguine Star, a Philosopher's Stone made from the red water of the valley, to free her people. The brothers discover the red water is tied to human lives. Melvin's real name is Atlas, a former Crichton guard, and the Cretan officer Colonel Herschel is pursuing his own plans for the Star.

How Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos ends

Atlas uses Miranda's blood to create the Star, and she dies. Herschel sends lava toward the valley, and Julia swallows the Star to stop it with Al's help. Herschel turns out to be the real Ashleigh and kills Atlas. Julia fights her brother, then uses the Gate to save him, losing a leg as both Stars crumble. The Milosians win their independence, Julia stays to lead them and Ashleigh returns to Creta, while Ed and Al take the train back to Central.

Post-credits scenes

The credits play over L'Arc-en-Ciel's "Good Luck My Way". There is no post-credits scene.