The Philosopher's Stone

Rain falls over Central as Edward remains crushed by what became of Nina, the child lost to Shou Tucker's chimera work. With Tucker quietly executed to bury the scandal, the military hands the boy the grim task of sorting through the man's notes. Alphonse spots repeated references to the Philosopher's Stone, an artifact said to sidestep the Law of Equivalent Exchange and possibly restore what the brothers gave up. Ed, still raw, dismisses the research as fantasy and marches to Mustang, demanding a role in catching the serial killer preying on the city's women, whom he blames for Nina. Mustang agrees but tells him to hand back his certification first.

Wandering the streets, Ed crosses paths again with a scarred stranger who notes with relief that the boy has surrendered his title, muttering that his tattooed arm would otherwise have destroyed him. Meanwhile Winry reaches Central hoping to surprise the Elrics, and Alphonse quietly asks Riza Hawkeye and later overhears Führer King Bradley, who points him toward the National Central Library for records on the Stone. A butcher's delivery girl, secretly the killer in disguise, lures Winry into a refrigerated truck. A stray screw that fits Ed's automail tips him off, and he trails the truck to the shop, where he is knocked cold. He wakes chained, his arm removed, as the culprit reveals himself as Barry the Chopper and displays Winry bound among slabs of pork.

Using the screw to scratch a circle into his chains, Ed frees himself, reattaches his arm, and barely survives Barry's cleaver before nearly killing the man in panic. Alphonse arrives to halt him, and the authorities haul Barry away. The arrest becomes Ed's first real success and restores his resolve. Mustang lets him pursue the Stone between assignments, vows to keep their attempt at human transmutation hidden, and grants him the name Fullmetal Alchemist. Ed later confirms Barry was not Nina's killer, leaving the question open as the scarred man watches from afar and marks Ed's silver pocket watch.

The episode draws on material from Chapter 5, The Alchemist's Suffering, and Chapter 24, Fullmetal Alchemist. During Barry's boasting he recalls a State Alchemist who slaughtered civilians during the Ishval conflict, a description that fits Zolf J. Kimblee. Mustang calls the new title ironic because the kanji for steel doubles as a word for a stubborn person, and because Alphonse, encased entirely in metal, is himself an alchemist, seeding the recurring joke that strangers mistake Al for the famous Fullmetal Alchemist. The dub carries two continuity slips: Al names Mustang a Major rather than a Lieutenant Colonel early on, and the closing shot places Ed's watch in the wrong pocket.