Teacher

Ed spots Sig looming behind Alphonse and bolts for the window, only to be flattened. Izumi Curtis, the boys' alchemy master, has come after hearing about their exploits, and she barely recognizes the armored Al before laying him out too. On the train to Dublith, a stunned Winry watches Izumi's rough treatment while the brothers recall her past visit to Resembool. In flashback, a young Ed and Al fail to hold back a flood during a storm, and Izumi succeeds with a superior circleless technique before collapsing and coughing blood. The next day the boys beg to become her students, and she agrees to a thirty-day trial once Pinako reveals they are orphans, warning them along the way that State Alchemists are killers who take lives without a thought.

Meanwhile Mustang confirms his transfer to Central with Grumman and arranges for his subordinates to follow. In Dublith, the group meets Sig's assistant Mason and settles in, and Al performs an impressive transmutation while Izumi mends a broken toy train by hand to show alchemy should not be a crutch. A local girl's cat, Chiko, is found badly hurt after giving birth, and despite Ed's aid she dies, letting Izumi teach that alchemy cannot restore life. Alone with the brothers, Izumi notes that Al's hollow armor, Ed's automail, and their circleless skill all point to human transmutation, and asks whether they have seen the Gate. When Ed tearfully admits they tried to revive their mother, Izumi beats them senseless, then gathers them into a gentle embrace and lets them grieve at last.

The episode adapts the manga chapters The Terror of the Teacher, The Brothers' Secret, and Master and Apprentice. Chiko's role was included so the staff could practice cat anatomy. This telling differs sharply from the manga and the 2009 version, where Izumi stops attacking soon after recognizing the brothers' tragedy; here she beats Ed until he collapses, bruised and cut, and only embraces them once he struggles back to his knees. Director Seiji Mizushima framed the prolonged beating as a deliberate paradox meant to reveal Izumi's own weakness.