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In FMA: Brotherhood, Alphonse recover the memories he lost after going through the Gate, by having Martel's blood spattered over his own blood seal (the one that binds his soul to his armor), and is, henceworth, able to use the knowledge inherent to it, such as using alchemy without transmutation circles.

Is there a reason for which blood should have been splattered over his seal for him to recover his memories?

Or was it only coincidence/traumatic?

кяαzєя
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Eric Wu
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    I think the spell seal was pretty badly done by Edward. who was a noob in alchemy at the time, and as a result Al's soul was poorly tied to the armor suit. Spilling some more blood likely helped "complete" the seal in the important parts where there was not enough blood. I may be totally wrong, but that's what it looked like to me. – Hakase Jun 28 '14 at 01:41
  • I can't see why that should trigger such a response. First of all, the blood on his seal belonged to Ed, and had an intent of binding Al's soul information. ... To me, Martel's blood has no such info. – Eric Wu Jul 01 '14 at 17:33
  • I don't think that the owner of the blood matters. It's the intent of the spell and the shape of the alchemy signature that's important. Ed knew what he wanted when he cast that spell, but he wasn't skilled enough to draw a perfect seal with his finger. – Hakase Jul 01 '14 at 18:27
  • It was probably a coincidence as AL had his memories taken from him due the shock of the event. Also, I cannot think of any better way the manga writer would have him bring his memories back. – UsamaMan Aug 10 '14 at 21:40
  • I don't understand your comment. Yes, Al had his memories taken due to shock, but how does that make it a coincidence? – Cattua Aug 10 '14 at 21:49
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    Where is it stated due to shock? I believe there's some confusion here with the word shock. He got his memories back because he paid a visit to the "inner door/god/truth" which was triggered by his shock with Martel's death. His meeting with truth is what returned his memories. This is also what's stated by the wikia. – Quikstryke Aug 11 '14 at 15:20
  • @UsamaArshad's point is that Al's memories were _taken_ by shock, not _returned_ by it. Even though I'm inclined to agree with him in this point, if he is correct, I believe the mangaka made quite a loose decision here. Still, that's only my opinion. – Eric Wu Sep 11 '14 at 08:53
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    Doesn't anyone else think it has more to do with the fact that Martel's body was infused with a snake with the help of a philosopher's stone? Meaning, the key ingredient isn't just blood. – Mazyod Nov 16 '15 at 23:51
  • At second (and third) glance(s), @Mazyod's comment actually makes sense. I mean... if not for triggering the return of Al's memory, what use did Martel, a man-snake chimer had in the series? Kinda random encounter, if you watch it intently. – Eric Wu Dec 19 '15 at 16:23

2 Answers2

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Personally, I think it's just the blood splatter itself that "jogged his memory" so to speak in a similar way as to how the blood splattered from the transmuted body Al's soul failed to latch onto.

Usually selective amnesia like Al's memory of everything involving the trauma itself can be brought back into one's conscious memories using a trigger which is usually something similar to something happening in the lost memory in the first place (I.e. saying an otherwise insignificant word in the right context that would explicitly be tied to that 1 memory or catching a smell similar to the environment that the event took place)

In this case, the trigger that would affect Al and tie his mind only to that incident is the death that HE experienced when his soul had been so violently and near immediately rejected from the body. (Which I'm pretty sure would be the trauma which caused his mind to suppress the whole memory in the first place. Who wouldn't be traumatized by actually dying?)

Also, the reason it happened when it splashed on his seal and not say...any other time they might have been fighting and gotten blood on his armor is because he can't feel it. The blood seal is a direct link to his soul, is the only thing grounding him to earth. Since his rejection occurred in a different body he's no longer attached to, it would stand to reason that such a trigger could only be felt directly by his soul or the body he harbors. The blood seal acts as that direct touch to his soul. And this is because blood is ones 'life fluid' and often thought to hold the soul and its direct energy within it (like our unique DNA and Mei's explanation of the dragon's pulse flowing in our bodies). But Al's seal is made with Edward's blood, not his own.

As such the defining reason it even managed to latch onto Al's specific soul and hold it so well and for so long is because their souls were mixed during the transmutation as Ed explains later. In brotherhood this is even easier to see with the brief flashback to Al inside the body they made when it bleeds out rather similarly under an outstretched hand.

That's my take on it anyways.

Lenora
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The blood acted like a charge and amped up the signal of the seal binding him in the armor and his body by the gate this is the only thing that makes since

jslhshadow
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    The "signal"? There is no electric current running through the seal, if that's what you're suggesting. The blood and the metal [are physically bound](http://anime.stackexchange.com/a/3865/274). It would also help if you cited some kind of background where you originated this idea from, since nothing in the series seems to suggest this. – Cattua Nov 07 '14 at 00:15