As the battle continues on, we see that Lin is helpless to see that nobody can save Gramps from death. The ironic part is that Lin was looking for immortality to show to the Emperor, but despite possessing a Philosopher’s Stone now, it doesn’t mean he can make use of it. As true immortality requires both the Philosopher’s Stone and alchemy, and the latter Lin doesn’t possess. Still, both he and Greed stay on the side of humanity.
We do get another showcase of how Bradley is a bit more human than the rest of the homunculi, as he does enjoy Roy’s constant refusal to give in. It does turn into a disturbing scene when Pride essentially forces Roy to perform human transmutation. As Ed mentions before him, Al and Izumi all performed human transmutation as a form of choice. Clearly forcing Roy to perform Human Transmutation creates some lasting issues with Pride.
As Ed mentions, seeing the truth has consequences, as the brothers and Izumi have consequences for their greed. Ed losing his only family member for trying to bring back his mom. Izumi for wanting to bring back her baby, can no longer have another child. It is messed up when the ones who initiated the transumation don’t receive the consequences of their actions.
On the other side, it is very cool to see Al not give into the temptation of getting his body back in the moment. After all, it is his long-running goal, but he is aware that there is a bigger fight at hand. It is not easy, but this is the main way that Al can help everyone.
It is most interesting that Mei was able to head below to where Father is. Furthermore, it makes me wonder how strong she truly is and who she is. Still good on Scar to face off against Bradley. The constant part in this series has been how Scar has been rampant on his revenge, and he could only destroy. Thus he could only deconstruct and never reconstruct. Surpassing his revenge and learning from his brother’s notes allows him to now reconstruct. This should give him a great boost in the fight against Bradley and really show off his character arc well.