Forgive me, little brother
I am so sorry before you.
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.
The one who knows the law of existence
Could help me to find the answer.
I was very mistaken
There's no cure for death.
Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.
I tempted you
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
My brother, it's all my fault.
Don't cry, don't be sad, big brother.
You're not the only guilty one.
There's only one road before us,
We will purge our sins completely.
I cannot blame you,
I am not hurt at all.
Well, we sinned
By wanting to be stronger than everyone else.
Dear Mom, sweet Mom!
We loved you so much.
But all our efforts
Unfortunately were in vain.
I was tempted
With the wonderful hope
Of returning our home.
I'm guilty for all of it.
But what should we do, how should we be?
How to fix everything, to forget?
It's forbidden to try to return
One taken by the earth.
"You wanna bring back someone you lost, ya might want money, maybe you want women, or you might wanna protect the world. These are all common things people want, things that their hearts desire,
Greed may
not be good, but its not so bad either. You humans think
Greed is just for money and power, when everyone wants something they don't have."
"There's something comforting facing death like this, wouldn't you agree? It's all that matters, nothing else seems to exist outside my pure instinct to survive. Rank, personal history, birth, race, sex, the name given to you; it's all meaningless, this is the only thing that's real, to fight on behalf of my own life and nothing else. I've never felt so complete, I guess you could say I've finally arrived."
—
Wrath, better known as King Bradley "The years that pass between the moment of birth and the moment of death are the true materials that construct a human being. Time must accumulate to create a genuine and robust self. But the person is only complete in their final moment."
Dante: Equivalence? Don't tell me you still believe in that naïve theory.
Edward: It's no theory, it's the absolute law of alchemy. No, of the whole world! To obtain anything, something of equal value must be lost! You couldn't have gotten anywhere without knowing that!
Dante: A beautiful story, told to comfort the oppressed and make children do their lessons. The truth is that the law of equivalent exchange is a lie.
Edward: That's impossible!
Dante: 'To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost? Conversely, if you give something up, you will always get a prize of equal worth in return?'
Edward: Exactly, that's why people work hard at anything they do. Because it pays off.
Dante:
Wrong. People work because they believe it will pay but equal effort does not always mean equal gain.
Edward: Like what?
Dante: Consider the state alchemy exam that you passed with flying colors. How many others took the test that day? Spent months, years preparing, some working much harder than you. Yet you were the only one who passed. Where was their reward? Is it their fault they lacked your natural talent? Or what about the equal value of each person's life? If I clap my hands, the baby won't survive. And if I do that, where is the world's balance in that? Does that mean the baby was born just so it could die? It's doing all an infant CAN to survive, breathing, crying for help. But what does it get in exchange? People can say there is a balance, a logic that everything happens for a reason. But the truth is far less designed. No matter how hard you work; when you die, you die. Some spend their entire life trying to scratch their way to the top and still die in poverty, while others are born into wealth without ever lifting an arm. It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.
Edward: That's enough Dante!
Dante: Equivalent exchange is a myth. A contrived order to give sense to a world that has none. Can you accept that now or do you need another lesson?