Picking up where the previous episode left off, Hohenheim confronts Dante as Lust and Gluttony both watch, declaring that he will tell her the reason their current bodies are rotting in exchange for leaving his sons alone. Ignoring Hohenheim, Dante tries to convince him to help her enjoy her new vessel in Lyra, as it has been centuries since they last met. Hohenheim claims he will remain faithful to his late wife Trisha, the only woman he truly loved. Dante goes on to say that she too has been married repeatedly and if she stayed with one of her ex-husbands it would reveal her secret and her decaying body. Flashing back to 400 years ago, Hohenheim was nearly killed when he and Dante created the Philosopher’s Stone from the souls of plague victims and those accused of witchcraft. She saved his life by performing her first soul transfer and they have been transferring between bodies ever since. Lust realizes that this was Dante’s real goal to obtain the stone; Dante states that she needed another alchemist after Hohenheim left her. He explains to her that the virtual immortality they achieved by transferring their souls from one body to another is blasphemy. At Resembool, while Winry and Sheska argue about their views on cooking, Mr. Tucker makes a call, which Winry picks up, leaving Al an urgent phone message to hide from Ed when he returns.
Back at Central, the Führer (Pride) and the military council officers are interrogating Colonel Mustang. After the charges against the Elric brothers in the Reole incident are reviewed and Mustang states that the conflict started because Hakura’s troops were over-asserting their authority over the citizens, he is then questioned about his actions in calling off the search for the Elric brothers. They claim that they went north to the territory of another country, Drachma. He then deflects further questioning by revealing the Führer’s secretary (a sloth)’s involvement in the death of Maes Hughes. The Führer takes the hint and the interrogation ends. While visiting with his subordinates at the hospital, Mustang confesses to them that he now suspects that the Homunculi were responsible for the Ishval Civil War, out of desperation to force someone to use the lives of the Ishvalans to create the Philosopher’s Stone. Lieutenant Havoc confirms this by stating that the military has become embroiled in many more conflicts since King Bradley took over as Führer. Mustang admits that the reason he can no longer trust the Führer is his willingness to sacrifice innocent lives to secretly create the stone.
Back in Resembool, Ed changes his hair color with alchemy along with his clothes, while Al’s armored body is hidden in a fake statue as disguises. After saying goodbye to Winry and Sheska, the Elrics leave to end the conflict over the Philosopher’s Stone. Back at Dante’s hideout, Hohenheim explains that their souls are gradually eroding with each transfer, and soon they will lack the energy needed to sustain their bodies. Dante refuses to accept the truth and reveals that while she used the last piece of their old Philosopher’s Stone to transfer into Lyra’s body, it doesn’t matter because of Scar’s actions that turned Alphonse’s body to stone. Hohenheim is then distracted by Lenh’s resemblance to Trisha and is imprisoned by the homunculi woman. Dante then uses Rosé’s child as an alchemical key to open the Gate and banish him inside. He then meets Rosé, making it clear that he plans to use her as his next host. He then frees Lust from her imprisonment and sends her to help Sloth and Wrath capture Alphonse to bring her the stone. He even states that he will fulfill his promise and turn her into a human if he succeeds.
Although their disguises on the train to hide their official records are effective, the Elric brothers are forced to flee when a military manhunt threatens to destroy the statue in which Al is hiding. Ed retreats to a nearby hotel and leaves him to go do something. At Central Command, Mustang meets Armstrong, where, having recently been promoted to brigadier general and lieutenant colonel, the two are ordered to launch military operations across the border in the north to at least nominally capture the Elric brothers or force Drachma. send them back. However, Mustang reveals that testing the Führer’s reaction was part of his plan to verify what the Elrics had previously said about the Führer’s identity. Because it betrayed Bradley and exposed their secret communication with them, Mustang believes he will be assassinated on the front lines to silence them for learning too much of the truth.
Ed meets Izumi at Dante’s house, who has been hiding to learn her master’s secret, and asks her if there is any part left from her child’s corpse that would give him a weapon to use against the Wrath. Al travels to an empty factory where Tucker is waiting for him and asks for his help in learning how to use the Philosopher’s Stone.