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When Van Hohenheim met Izumi the second time, he heard that she had opened the
gate of Truth and lost some internal organs. Instead of giving her back her
organs he rearranged them to improve her blood flow, and said

> I can't give them back because they are a token of your sin

Dr. Marcoh at the end of the series volunteers to restore Colonel's vision. So
does that means it was Hohenheim's choice not to give Izumi her organs back
back so that she doesn't forget her punishment? Or they can't be returned
since they were taken by Truth ?


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2014-08-25T07:33:35.387
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2020-02-23T16:22:16.177
2016-01-18T09:39:29.220
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fullmetal-alchemist-series fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood fullmetal-alchemist-manga
Why was Mustang's vision restored, when Izumi Curtis didn't get her organs back?


Let's take a look at the events at the end of FMA - I'm using the manga.

  * Hohenheim offers to use himself to get Alphonse back, out of paternal duty. Ed refuses because what happened to him and Alphonse was their own responsibility. Notice that in FMA, there's this sort of emphasis on personal responsibility for one's actions (e.g. Riza's comments about Ishbal, Ed's comments here, etc.). Consequently, it's possible to read Hohenheim's comments to Izumi Curtis as implying that he shouldn't - morally speaking - just give back to her _everything_ she lost, given her own culpability. If I'm not mistaken, Ed has a similar attitude towards his automail leg at the end of the manga.

  * Ling also offers the philosopher's stone he has for the same purpose, but since Ed promised Al they wouldn't use it to get their bodies back, Ed refuses. This and Hohenheim's comments seem to imply that it is possible to recover what's lost from Truth if the appropriate toll is paid and what you're trying to recover actually exists.

  * Marcoh asks Mustang if he can use his philosopher's stone as payment in exchange for his sight, on the condition that the policies on Ishval are revised. It's not clear if Marcoh knows about Mustang having been forced to open the gate, but it is clear that Ishval is one of his motivations for putting forth this offer.

**Given that it seems to be implied that Alphonse could have been retrieved
with means other than Edward giving up alchemy, this seeming inconsistency is
probably best interpreted as Hohenheim choosing not to completely restore
Izumi Curtis in accordance with themes and ideas about personal responsibility
in the series (since the state of Alphonse and Edward is also a result of
their own actions)**.

While Hohenheim's offer to use himself to get Alphonse back may seem out of
touch with his comments to Izumi, it's honestly not that inconsistent,
particularly when he feels some responsibility for his sons' attempt at human
transmutation and when this is an egregiously life-or-death scenario compared
to Izumi Curtis'.

Moreover, just because there's some sort of emphasis on personal
responsibility (and, at least judging from Riza's comments about Ishval, or
those in the last episode of Brotherhood, the impossibility of atonement) in
FMA doesn't mean that the characters don't try to improve on their own
situation or that of others (e.g. Hohenheim's improvement of Izumi's blood
flow, Ed and Al's pursuit of a means to get their bodies back, etc.). Rather,
it seems more like a rejection of the attitude of "if I do X, I can make up
for Y and forget about it". As thus, in the case of Roy, we should also note
that Marcoh seems to have had fairly specific motives apart from restoring his
sight in giving him the philosopher's stone.


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2014-08-25T09:56:04.887
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I figured it was because Hohenheim was not willing to use the stone's power to
cure Izumi. He was a pro with medical alchemy, so it was just highly advanced
Alkahestry. He said he made contact with all of the souls, then asked
permission. He could only use them to kill the dwarf in the flask.

He had no idea Izumi would be part of the final battle.


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2018-02-27T01:26:28.430
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2018-02-27T02:35:05.060
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Roy didn’t ‘sin’.

Izumi, Ed and Alphonse alike all performed human transmutation of their own
will, unlike that of Roy, who was forced to do so against his will. I’d say
that Dr Marcoh was able to use the philosophers stone to give Roy his sight
back because he wasn’t purposely trying to commit a taboo and the truth would
have known that since its y’know... the truth. Just my opinion


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