Backs in the Distance

Struck by Wrath's blades, Lan Fan blunts the blow with her kunai but is left unconscious with a mangled left arm. Ling slices into Gluttony to reach her, hoists her onto his shoulder, and trades sword strokes with Wrath, whose speed and regenerating partner soon overwhelm him. Recognizing the stars on the man's uniform, Ling identifies King Bradley as the ruler of Amestris and argues that no true king exists without his people. A flash grenade from Lan Fan buys a moment, but Bradley halts the escape and exposes his Ultimate Eye. Elsewhere, Winry visits Hughes' grave with Gracia, then overhears in the market that the Elrics are fighting Scar and rushes toward them.

Stalling for Ling's signal, Alphonse presses Scar on why he slaughters State Alchemists, and Ed brings up the Ishval war and the Rockbell doctors just as Winry arrives within earshot. She collapses on learning that the man her parents saved killed them in return, then picks up a fallen pistol and aims it at Scar. Scar recounts his brother's alchemy research, the massacre by Kimblee that left him the sole survivor grafted with his brother's right arm, and the rage in which he murdered the Rockbells. He invites Winry to fire, warning the cycle of hatred will only repeat. Ed shields her, and Scar freezes on seeing the same protective stance his brother once used against Kimblee. Al drives Scar off, and Ed convinces Winry that her hands are meant to give life, not take it, then holds her as she weeps.

The episode combines material from four manga chapters covering the distant backs sequence, the girl caught in past and present battles, the absence of God, and the hero of Ishval. The array on the title card is the deconstruction half of Scar's right-arm tattoo. This marks the first time Scar shows regret for a killing, and the story notes the irony that he ends up mirroring Kimblee, using alchemy against someone shielding a loved one. The wiki links the parallel Ishval and Scar episodes from the 2003 series.