FMA timeline question!

[timepiececlock]

I jsut had a thought. I've been laboring under a miscomprehension about the timelines/ages for the FMA characters in the anime v. the movie.

Ed's not 18 in the movie, he's 20-21. Al's not 12, he's 14-15. (and looks it.)

I know the movie takes place two years after the end of the anime. But I (and others) have forgotten the date we get at the end of episode 51, in the scene with Hohenheim in the market. Two-three years pass between the stuff with the zepplins and then the date of the scene in the market. Then another two years have to pass to get the date we have for the movie. Think about it.

Which means it's also been 4-5 years for the FMA characters too, like Mustang and Hawkeye and Armstrong.

Because "2 years after the end of the anime" means literally 2 years after the END of the anime.

Huh.

If I'm wrong, explain the whole date thing to me.


... Unless there was a time jump on Earth side, and Ed pulled himself through the gate in 1918 (WWI!) and then when he traded himself for Alphonse, he landed in 1921 instead? I was under the impression that the timelines for both worlds passed at a parallel rate. But if that's true, then Edward is 20-21 in the movie. Because the end of the anime actually has him at 18. It also explains why in some of the Alphonse scenes in episode 51, he looks more like 12 than 10. And why Winry looked so mature in the film.

What do you think?

Comments

Re: Makes sense

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. But you know, when I first watched episode 51 I had assumed that at least a year or two passed between Ed's disappearance and the scene where Al's at the dinner table wanting to learn alchemy with Izumi again. And I remember thinking Edward looked older in the unpacking scene. Then I changed my mind based on all the other stuff I read in fandom about the end of the anime. But now... I think my original reading was right. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why they marked the one date 1921. Everything we've seen points to the presumption that the timeline is the same on both sides of the gate, and WWI ended in 1918.