Chapter 36: Alchemist in Distress

Believing he has just watched Roy Mustang burn Lieutenant Ross alive, and realizing Roy deceived him about Maes Hughes, Edward flies into a fury and attacks the colonel. Winry, meanwhile, discovers the newspaper report of Hughes' death on her own. When Alphonse reaches the pair, he pins his brother and demands answers, and Roy repeats that standing orders called for the escaped, convicted Ross to be shot on sight. On the rooftops above, Barry and Ling remark that events have drifted off plan, then flee as police close in. The arriving military police scold Roy for burning the body beyond recognition.

At the morgue, Armstrong apologizes for keeping Hughes' death secret, and Edward begins blaming himself for having drawn Maes into the matter, though Armstrong insists the fault is not his. Roy, also chided by the coroner for excessive force, urges the grieving major to take leave and recover in the east where the colonel was once posted. Back at the safe house, Falman berates Barry for the public stunt and resents having Ling around, while Ling's cook-fire smoke signals summon his bodyguards Lan Fan and Fu straight to the door. The Elrics return to tell Winry of Hughes, only to find she already knows and has gone to the Hughes home.

Gracia phones the brothers to collect a distraught Winry, and there Edward and Alphonse confess that Maes likely died researching the Philosopher's Stone to warn them off. On the verge of quitting, they are stopped by Gracia, who tells them that giving up would render her husband's death meaningless and encourages them to keep seeking a cure. Back at the hotel, Edward coaxes Winry into eating, and the two share the apple pie she baked at the Hughes house. Elsewhere, Lust, Envy, and Gluttony review their derailed scheme and Barry's unexpected return, and Lust dispatches Barry's original, soulless body to hunt him down.