It Was A Conscious Decision To Make His Automail Into A Gun - Tumblr Posts

“I agree. Al couldn’t do that. But then, he doesn’t need to because I can and will.”

We’re seeing here how Ed’s attitude has changed following his confrontation with Greed. His reluctance to take a life has been replaced with steely resolve, and it honestly reminds me of the attitude change that happened while he and Al were stuck on that island as little kids.

The boys are faced with 2 moral dilemmas on the island: what to do about food and what to do about the masked man, and Izumi leaves them with nothing but a single knife to act with. Initially, neither Ed nor Al are willing to directly use the knife to solve these problems, but the knife remains in Ed’s possession. He tries to hand it over to Al the first time they’re faced with killing a bunny, but Al freaks out. The boys argue, the bunny is stolen by a fox, and we never see Ed try to hand the knife to Al again. The knife is always carried by Ed, and he uses it for practical things like cutting vines and sharpening fishing spears.

That changes when Ed has his epiphany about the circle cycle of life and how the universe operates on a kill or be killed basis. He finally uses the knife as a weapon against the masked man. It’s important to note that the boys have tried defending themselves against the masked man before. In this scene we even see Al armed with a thin log. But it’s never been with the knife, and it’s not until Ed threatens the masked man with the knife that the man lets Al go and walks away.

The knife has an entirely different connotation than a log or a fist. As a weapon, it’s meant to draw blood. Using it can easily cause death. The threat here is clear: let my brother go or I will kill you.

From then on out, Ed has less reservations about using the knife to survive. The next time he’s faced with killing the bunny, he kills it.

The whole situation kind of parallels Ed’s fight with Greed. Greed takes Al and won’t let him go unless Ed fights like he’s ready to kill. The previous times they met, Ed got his ass handed to him because he held back against Greed. It’s not until Ed stops holding back that he gets his brother back and Greed is no longer a threat to them. Just like with the masked man. But this time Ed’s not 10. This time he doesn’t get out of using the knife. This time the knife is his arm, and he feels it go straight through Greed’s chest. A lethal blow he didn’t exactly mean to deal. But after that, he has less reservations about killing people if necessary. The next time he’s faced with killing a homunculus, he kills her.

And just like on the island, it’s only Ed we ever see ‘using the knife’ per se. Al doesn’t kill people. He never has to because Ed does it for him. And I bet that’s how Ed wants it to be. He doesn’t want Al to have to go through that. He’s trying to shield Al from that trauma. Ed always wants to take the worst of it, whatever it is. If one of them has to be chained to the military, let it be him. If one of them has to die by Scar’s hand, let it be him. If one of them has to bloody their hands, let it be him. He’s always putting Al’s health and wellbeing first like that.

And yeah that’s not uncommon in older siblings, but this is a little more intense than that. Because Ed could give fuck all about himself. He’s not fighting to get his body back. He’s fighting to get Al’s body back. He’s motivated by love for his sibling as much as he is by self-destructive guilt.

Each time his morals are significantly pushed, its because of Al. On the island, it’s using the knife to save Al. Later on, it’s Ed using Scar’s partial transmutation to destroy the Slicer’s body so he can stay alive to help Al. It’s nearly sacrificing other people to get Al’s body back. It’s killing Greed to save Al. What Greed says to Ed before the battle makes way more sense afterwards, when Ed’s collapsed on the ground sobbing because of what he’s done. “Tell me, Edward Elric, how could you go so far to protect your little brother?”

You see the progression from no killing to nearly killing to killing when necessary, from “I’m not killing anybody. That’s not what I do.” to “I’d best be ready to kill.” The way Ed’s moral code shifts into that of one more belonging to a soldier as he has to fight to accomplish his goal. How he really is a child soldier. How, by the time he reaches the homunculus that wears his mother’s face, he can’t even cry as he kills her too.

You see how it affects him. His conversation in the tractor here is as much him deciding he’ll dirty his hands as it is him expressing anxiety over how dirty his hands already are. He reflects on what Barry told him 4 years ago and the way he felt next to nothing for the prisoners in Lab 5. He’s terrified of becoming desensitized to killing, but he will kill if he has to, especially I think if it means Al doesn’t have to. It’s the reasoning of an adult. He’s been forced to grow up very fast.