Al's body

[Mephista]

Hi, everyone. I dunno if this has been speculated before, but... if/when ed gives al his human body, will he be making it from his memory of al's human form? If so, wouldn't that memory be based on al's 10-year-old body? That'd be pretty awkward for a 14-year-old (possibly older, depending on how much longer they might have to journey for that goal) soul to move into. Heh, maybe he'd make sure al was shorter just so people wouldn't mistake which one was the older brother anymore...

Also, this is kind of a side speculation, but if he plans on making al's body from scratch, doesn't that resemble the forbidden transmutation that got them in that mess in the first place? I was kind of under the impression that they were living in regret of their sin, so it'd seem kinda dumb for them to repeat it... then again, it seems they know they're pretty deep in the forbidden business, so i guess they acknowledge it with the fact that they'd do anything, even forbidden alchemy, to grant each other's wishes.

[Forklift]

with the philosophers stone they should be able to get around the laws. The stone is made of humans so therefore it should be able to make a human

[Yebyosh]

Originally Posted by Mephista

Hi, everyone. I dunno if this has been speculated before, but... if/when ed gives al his human body, will he be making it from his memory of al's human form? If so, wouldn't that memory be based on al's 10-year-old body? That'd be pretty awkward for a 14-year-old (possibly older, depending on how much longer they might have to journey for that goal) soul to move into. Heh, maybe he'd make sure al was shorter just so people wouldn't mistake which one was the older brother anymore...

Well they did discuss it in the manga... The discussion and outcome though short was very humourous judging from the actions/insinuations of the participants (including Al). They were talking about "you know" and how ummm large it could be...

Also, this is kind of a side speculation, but if he plans on making al's body from scratch, doesn't that resemble the forbidden transmutation that got them in that mess in the first place? I was kind of under the impression that they were living in regret of their sin, so it'd seem kinda dumb for them to repeat it... then again, it seems they know they're pretty deep in the forbidden business, so i guess they acknowledge it with the fact that they'd do anything, even forbidden alchemy, to grant each other's wishes.

Not really... they were inexperienced at the start. Anyways it was Human Ressurection that caused them to become this state. Restoration of limbs and organic body parts (including the whole body) might be considered "lesser transgression".

Why they need the stone? Probably they learnt something about what went wrong during the Ressurection and realised that they needed more power to prevent something going wrong with the restoration.

[Mephista]

Originally Posted by Yebyosh

Well they did discuss it in the manga... The discussion and outcome though short was very humourous judging from the actions/insinuations of the participants (including Al). They were talking about "you know" and how ummm large it could be...

If that's what i'm thinking of... *nosebleed?* I haven't read any manga beyond TW's scanlations... not for lack of japanese skills, i just haven't found a place to download "raw" manga scans... But that part does sound interesting... o,O

Anyway, i figured that they were trying to get around the natural laws (of exact exchange, a body for a body) with the philosopher's stone, as it wouldn't have much to do with legality. I thought that by "human transmutation" they meant simply the transmutation of a whole human body, not resurrection. It makes sense, though, now that i think of all the alchemist doctors in the series, none of whom have yet been hauled in for restoring body parts.

[A Lamer]

Originally Posted by Mephista

Anyway, i figured that they were trying to get around the natural laws (of exact exchange, a body for a body) with the philosopher's stone, as it wouldn't have much to do with legality. I thought that by "human transmutation" they meant simply the transmutation of a whole human body, not resurrection. It makes sense, though, now that i think of all the alchemist doctors in the series, none of whom have yet been hauled in for restoring body parts.

In reality, human resurrection and human transmutation are the same thing. In both senses, they are creating a body and affixing a soul to it. Technically you could consider Al dead, its just his soul has a vessel to dwell in. The reason they're after the philosophers stone is as you say, they figured it would not only boost their powers, but also allow them to circumvent equivilent trade.

Marco, the only alchemist doctor I've seen in the series, was only able to do what he did because of the unperfected philosophers stone. Had he not had it with him, chances are he wouldnt have been able to heal people to the extent he did.