This volume has the carryover of Al’s doubts after his fight from last volume. It is understandable to think why Al would overreact as he has, because in a way Ed rejects a lot of the things that he doesn’t have. Ed can cry but refuses to cry. He refuses to drink milk when he can do just that. The reality is that Ed blames himself for everything that happened to Al. While they both wanted to bring back their mom, it is easy for Ed to blame himself. He tries to act like the tough big brother in front of Al. At least he was able to confront his brother about it, and now they are on the same page going forward.
This volume had a real gut punch with Hughes death. He had the closest feel to a father figure for the Elric brothers. Even adding Winry visiting and seeing his family really showed you he was a great family man. Sadly, he found some important information at the wrong time.
Still, his death brings to light that there clearly is something up with the military. Armstrong not “obeying” Roy’s command is a concern considering we know it came from King Bradly. Still, it is difficult to tell whether this is a red herring or not. Consider that Envy was the one who killed Hughes; it is clear that they are part of the corruption alongside Gluttony and Lust. It looks like Roy has sniffed something, but hopefully he doesn’t meet the same end as Hughes.