"I Don't THINK So!" Poll--Who are we going to lose and what are you going to AU? (Ch. 102 spoilers)

[mfelizandy]

It's getting close to the end. Soon we'll have the last issue in our hands, and we'll know who survived and who didn't, and in what condition. I have my own opinions on who's likely to be a casualty of "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", but I thought it'd be fun to see what the rest of the community has to say about the ending.

Poll We Know We're Going to Lose SomeNow for

Comments

[kashicat]

I've always just assumed that Hohenheim and Scar would die, and probably Izumi too. Though I like the arguments posted above about why Scar might not die. In fact, I've written some fic that follows a time when he helped clean everything up in Central, and in turn went back to Ishbal as the Amestrians returned the favour and started helping to rebuild that country.

So I'd like to see Scar survive this, as a changed person. I don't buy the idea that he'd have to be jailed or executed because of everything he's done before this. If he helps save the country and destroy the homunculi, I think he's redeemed himself and paid his debt to society, in the same way I think that Roy, Riza, and the others will have paid their debt to Ishbal by destroying the real source of the war against them.

But Hohenheim definitely.

And it wasn't until Chapter 102 that I suddenly started wondering if Ed might actually die too, by the end. Though the arguments that that would NOT be a happy ending for Al -- which I think is pretty much the point of the whole manga -- have mitigated that thought somewhat. I agree, though, that Ed will not get his limbs back. And I think he's known that all along.

As to AU fiction. Well, I'm already writing some AU stuff, having Al recover his body a year after the end of the manga, in an incident in which Ed dies.

And if Roy stays blind, I'm also already writing some AU stuff that has him with his sight. And some potentially AU stuff in which Scar is alive.

But I suspect any stories I would write after the manga, if Roy stays blind, would accommodate his blindness. I'm not sure how much I would write that has him seeing, if anything.

Going to get all debate-y here:

[fractured_chaos]

If he helps save the country and destroy the homunculi, I think he's redeemed himself and paid his debt to society,

Regardless of his intentions, the war was over, therefore Scar is a serial killer. It doesn't matter if the people he did kill were nasty guys, it's still vigilantism. It doesn't matter if he worked triple-time to help clean everything up, he's still a criminal who's offenses (in -any- society) carry a hefty price. With actual murder (not self-defense, not manslaughter, but actual, premeditated, first-degree murder), there is no: "Well, you paid your debt by saving the world". It's more: "Thanks for all you did, but you're still going to prison (or be executed)." The best he can hope for would be his choice of punishment. Either life in an Amestrian prison, or a quick death by firing squad.

If Arakawa let's him walk off with nothing more than a hand-slap, I will be severely disappointed. After all, everyone else has been paying for their "crimes" all through this story.

Re: Going to get all debate-y here:

[fractured_chaos]

And after going through all that:

I'd rather see Scar die in battle. It would be more fitting. A proper warrior's end, yanno?

Re: Going to get all debate-y here:

[kashicat]

I agree that if he's going to die, better that he do it in battle, heroically. And if he's got to pay for his crimes, it should be in a way that helps prevent even worse damage, and lets him inflict some "righteous" damage instead of what he's previously done.

Re: Going to get all debate-y here:

[kashicat]

It's possible you're right, which we'll discover by the end.

But I think people also forget that sometimes, especially in war times, clemency is offered, and even mitigating circumstances are taken into account. People on the "other side" who killed people on "our side" are often "rehabilitated" if they change sides and begin to fight for the good guys. Mercy can be, and often is, offered in such circumstances.

And really, whether Scar was a serial killer or a freedom fighter is always going to depend on whose point of view you take. The definitions are always determined by who wins the conflict.

But there is both the letter and the spirit of the Law, too. The "letter" is sheer mathematics (and equivalent exchange), while the "spirit" takes at least some account of what sorts of things might have driven a person to do what they did, and what kind of change of heart they might have had afterward and what they then did.

It may be that Arakawa stays with the strict, mathematical "letter." If Scar had never begun to help defeat the homunculi, I would have too.

Re: Going to get all debate-y here:

[kashicat]

Also, although the Amestrians thought the conflict they were engaged in, in Ishbal, was over -- it actually was still ongoing. Both Amestris and Ishbal (and Scar) were duped into thinking their battle was with each other. So I wouldn't consider the "war" over at all, until the very end of the manga.