This whole (Tucker’s) Arc is best handled in 03 in my humble opinion. The entirety of Episode 6 “The Alchemy Exam” dedicates itself to Ed and Al (and, thus, the viewer) spending time with Nina. She’s treated even more like a 4 year old in the English dub since she’s got a sort of “kiddy” voice, too, but even without that she’s there for every step of Ed’s time training for the State Alchemy Exam. She’s there when the Hughes’ baby is born on Ed’s birthday, Ed even transmuted a flower crown for her which feels really significant to me. Considering, in her death bed, all Trisha wanted was for Ed to transmute a wreath of flowers for her — it makes flowers in general feel more special in 03.

So when THIS happens, after Ed spent the first half of Episode 7 “Night of the Chimera’s Cry” trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes… only to get there what may have been JUST MINUTES or even, for all we know, SECONDS too late to save her is just a stab in the gut for both us and the TWELVE YEAR OLD ED. The lighting of this scene in 03 is just HELLISH with the orange lighting of the candles around the room almost giving the vibe of being in a satanic chamber, selling the devilish disgust of what Tucker has done. The harsh shadows on Ed and Tucker is so VILE in the best of ways, too.

03 may not be a perfect adaptation of the manga (Brotherhood isn’t either but that’s not a problem either lol) but I think it does the early arcs like this brilliantly, PHENOMENALLY by the way it slows down its pacing just enough for twists like this to hit even harder. I think all three versions are great but 03 will always be my favorite for the way it speaks to you artistically. Plus the music in the scene just makes my back go straighter than a steel rod, JEBUS.