Recap / Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood E 35 The Shape Of This Country

• Call-Back: The episode title is a callback to Issac Macdougal's cryptic comment back in the Pilot (and foreshadows this episode's reveal).
• Ironic Echo: "Do you know what shape this country is in?" This quote by Isaac McDougal goes from being the inane words of a crazed terrorist to an ominous question, coming from Amestris' would-be savior.
• Motive Misidentification: Ed and Al finally realize they did this with Hughes' murder. Their assumption up to this point was that the Homunculi had killed him as a warning to them to drop their investigation. While that was certainly a benefit, they realize now Hughes was really killed because he'd deduced the Nationwide Transmutation Circle's existence and they couldn't risk him spilling the beans.
  • Likewise, Ed also realizes they did the same with Isaac McDougal in the Pilot. He wasn't some crazed ex-State Alchemist targeting Bradley; he was trying to stop the Homunculi conspiracy (though in their defense, he did a terrible job trying to warn them).
• Noodle Incident: A retroactive one with Isaac McDougal after this episode's revelations. While he knew about the Homunculi conspiracy, the circumstances of how, when, and where he learned the Awful Truth are left unrevealed.
• Once More, with Clarity: Ed flashes back to the fight with Isaac McDougal back in the Pilot, realizing now what the Freezing Alchemist was really talking about and doing.
• Wham Shot: As our heroes mark all the places in Amestris where the military caused bloodshed, they gradually discover: the entire country is in the shape of a transmutation circle, one meant to turn humans into a Philosopher stone.

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