Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood covers
a wide range of philosophical topics but
one of the more pervasive is its
thoughts on the meaning of truth falling
in line with Theosophical principles
there is no greater force than truth in
the series it's what drives all
existence and the highest level of
enlightenment one can wish to attain at
times just relating to a general idea
and at others a real metaphysical
existence truth presence is everywhere
but it's not always as obvious as some
of Brotherhood's other themes one of the
very few problems I had with the series
upon my most recent rewatch is how
ham-fisted some of its ideas are that's
not the case with truth however as
there's still tons of intrigue hidden in
the details particularly as it relates
to the series use of eyes yes the
imagery is just as an volition as
anything at times what would giant
horrifying eyes blankly looking on as
people's souls are ripped from their
bodies but it runs much deeper than that
most striking example Brotherhood uses
eyes as a way of conveying truth
primarily by taking advantage of anime
style after all eyes are animes most
expressive feature you can tell a lot
about a character just by looking at
their eyes as the exaggerated design
makes it easier to read their emotions
because of that rarely do you see a
character's eyes obstructed thus when a
character's eyes are blocked out it's
probably trying to tell you something
like when a character's trying to hide
their emotional state say in a fit of
grief a classic trope is the shiny
glasses look emphasizing a character's
emotional or even moral ambiguity often
times it's used to clue in the viewer
hey this character is probably up to no
good or you might want to question their
motives by hiding their eyes you've
hidden their true frame of mind
Brotherhood uses this trope quite a bit
like when we're first introduced to scar
and Hohenheim in both cases it's an
effort to cloud the character making you
wonder who they really are and what
they're up to as we get a sense of their
motives and both grow into characters we
pull for that goes away and they lose
the look the reverse is also true
Ramon for example gives off a sense of
total harmlessness his glasses are
blurred by default but when they turn
transparent the master manipulator comes
out Hugh's glasses are often blurred out
while he's maintaining an upbeat
friendly persona - but when we actually
see his eyes we get a real sense of the
military officer Hughes Tucker is the
same way albeit in a much more
disgustingly evil light Moore first
introduced to him his glasses are
blurred out and he seems like kind of a
nice guy then we start to see what
really drives his character
and that there's a much darker person
hidden underneath at the same time in
his most evil moments we also see that
blurred out glasses look to indicate
something really tragic has happened
only now it's far more exaggerated than
before Brotherhood also hides characters
literal identities within their eyes
for instance miles wears glasses to
shield his red eyes which proved he's
ish fallen the or amorous tattoo on
Fuhrer King Bradley's left eye reveals
his identity as homunculus so he uses an
eyepatch to cover it up the series also
unveils crucial details about where its
villains came from by the rise the dwarf
and the flasks I strongly resembles the
eye of God applying the gate is likely
where he came from but there's some
notable differences between the two as
well emphasizing how the door from the
flask is just a cheap imitation of God
it falls right in line with father's
ultimate goal he wants to become and
even surpass God fitting then that he's
mimicked God in appearance from the very
start
we also learned gluttony is a fake door
of truth created by father when he sucks
at envy and laying into its stomach note
how its eye takes after father's and not
the eye of God father could only imbue
in him what he knows again in
illustrates how gluttony is nothing more
than an impersonation but also how
father doesn't really know what he's
doing
it's a crude attempt to copy God's power
here eyes revealed the distinction
between father and God as well as the
gap that still exists between the two
all of these examples highlight ways
Brotherhood uses eyes to literally
convey truth by looking at these
characters eyes you can learn a lot
about who they are what motivates them
etc but there's another less
surface-level meaning of truth present
as well and it brings us to the being of
truth itself Auto Kawa described truth
as a sort of hollow form of oneself like
a conscience or negative version of the
person that directly falls in line with
what we see throughout the series as
truth seems to want to teach the subject
a lesson the tools for human
transmutation all offer some form of
karmic justice be it easy Me's loss of
fertility after trying to bring back her
miscarried child or Mustangs loss of
eyesight preventing him from seeing the
future he wants to build but fathers
maybe the most poetic truth answers his
arrogant desire to seek perfection by
letting the eye dragon back inside the
gate in a sense allowing him to reach
that height while taking away the
freedom he's so desperately craved it
feels like something needs see out of
the twilight zone the being stuck in a
flask who wanted the limitless freedom
of a God forced to spend eternity
trapped in a cage with the very power he
wished to obtain in this final
conversation between truth and father
with
finally get a clear sense of what truth
is the homunculus has the audacity to
ask truth who the hell do you think you
are as he boasts about seeking
perfection one last bit of arrogance
before truth gives him his just reward
finally truth leaves him with this
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you simply must have seen the answer
with your own eyes there's a few
interpretations you could take from that
line first is a more literal look
whether it was mimicking the eye of
truth are taking Hohenheim x' likeness
father never truly saw anything with his
own eyes everything he is has or knows
he stole from others hell the only thing
keeping him alive was the souls from the
people observe cease it's why his door
of truth is empty every other door we've
seen contains some symbol of that
character's knowledge of alchemy
edie has the Tree of Life on his
Mustangs resembles the symbol for fire
alchemy
fathers however is completely blank
unlike EDL Mustang and easily whose
outcome acknowledged was their own
nothing father has truly belongs to him
he's merely leached off others second is
how he had to have known deep down where
it is that he went wrong his brief
flashed back to an earlier line you made
about the arrogance of man corroborates
this father never appreciated humanity
constantly tearing them down as a lesser
form of being he attempted to rid
himself of all his human elements by
making the homunculus
thinking he'd become a perfect being in
the process in doing so he failed to see
the very reason he lost is because he
wasn't human
the power of Ed nails bond and the bonds
they'd forged along the journey outweigh
any physical power father could muster
tying into Brotherhood's overarching
message on the importance of human
connection humans may be weak flawed
creatures but their compassion and
unyielding determination make their
combined force stronger than anything
finally father couldn't see the truth
because he wasn't looking for it as
discussed brotherhood often uses eyes to
convey the truth whether by exploring a
character's hidden motivations and
thoughts or revealing their true
identity all you need to do to see the
truth is look at their eyes
here however at the climax of the series
that doesn't work because the truth
isn't about who a character is or where
they came from it's much deeper father
couldn't see it's the power of humanity
that beat him too blinded by his desire
to absorb God from the second he sat
upon stripping himself of all that makes
one human he was going to lose that's a
truth father refused to believe in had
he only learned to embrace the strength
of humanity and what makes it special
maybe he wouldn't be confined to this
fate when edy finally comes to this
realization that human relationships are
far more important
than physical power only then is he able
to save his brother that's a truth you
can't see with your eyes it's no
coincidence the physical embodiment of
truth doesn't have eyes father believes
truth is sadistic it's only goal is to
make people suffer in reality truth same
seems a bit nobler to inspire genuine
maturation and growth in order to defeat
it you have to actually learn your
lesson ed is the first to confront truth
exhibiting real growth he's come to see
the folly of his actions willingly
accepts the consequences and finally
understands what's most important in
life nothing is more powerful than truth
it encompasses everything from your
physical identity to who you are as a
person it may run counter to what you
believe in and how you see the world but
no matter how difficult it may be the
truth is something you have to accept or
continue to suffer the same fate some
truths you can see with your eyes others
not so much there's a lot you can learn
about the world and its people by
looking at them but even more that you
can't so easily define Full Metal
Alchemist Brotherhood gets that it's
those truths we have to discover and
only when we come to know them can we
move forward
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