Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Episode 20- Father Before The Grave

Thank you to Max for commissioning this episode!
In this one we're getting some additional information about what could potentially be going on with Al's body in the portal based on some revelations about the bodies that were conjured with alchemy. The issue I'm having is that there are an awful lot of leaps being made that don't seem to have a lot of evidence behind them, and I'm wondering if there's some additional info in the manga that might fill in the gaps I'm seeing in the show.
Thanks so much for listening!