gay-jesus-probably:

…So I’m rewatching FMA:B, and I totally just realized: for the first Scar fight, Mustang wasn’t actually being a fucking idiot. The man’s a veteran combat alchemist with PTSD up to his ears; no way he’d just forget that rain shuts down his brand of alchemy. He even showed up to that fight with a firearm drawn, because he was prepared to not be using his alchemy. So why the hell would he put the gun down and try to fight a serial killer with alchemy that he should have known he couldn’t use?

Because Mustang wasn’t trying to fight Scar.

Ed being saved at the last second is excellent dramatic tension, but ignore the storytelling stuff and look at the scene from a tactical perspective. Scar can destroy/kill anything he touches. His hand is literally inches away from Ed’s face, and Ed can’t even get to his feet, let alone defend himself. Scar’s really fucking fast, and the backup is standing a good twenty feet back. Which is why everyone stands there and lets him have a little monologue, because this isn’t a showdown with a serial killer; it’s a hostage situation. If Scar went for the kill, they wouldn’t be able to stop him. They’re not going to talk him down, Ed’s not going to escape, so the immediate priority is to make Scar move away. Ideally without alerting him to the fact that he’s got a hostage at his feet.

So Mustang hands Hawkeye his weapon and steps up as a shiny distraction, trying to get Scar to walk away from the helpless Fullmetal Alchemist and come fuck up the Flame Alchemist instead. Note that Hawkeye doesn’t move until Scar’s begun walking forwards; she’s not going to make any sudden moves while the serial killers got a victim in arms reach. But one Ed’s out of immediate danger, she’s charging in to cover Mustang, and shots get fired.

Also notice how Ed doesn’t react to the situation until Havoc’s helping Ed sit up? Yeah, that also seems… purposeful. When Scar’s giving his short monologue, he’s literally standing over Ed. Of course Ed’s going to be silent and stay perfectly still - if he draws Scar’s attention, then he’ll be killed or used as a hostage. So he just keeps laying there while Scar’s standing over him, and doesn’t try to wiggle away or say anything, because it would be a very bad time to be noticed.

Basically it’s a good thing that Scar isn’t the type to use human shields, because if he was I really doubt Ed would have made it out of that episode alive.