That's quite interesting, greybob. I would agree with your points on Father. I recall certain points in the series that support what you say and it does make a lot of sense.

I can't think of any examples of specific things that bothered me. It was just stuff that felt "fanficy" in its blanket acceptance. The only thing I can recall specifically was how May and Ling could "sense energy" a la Dragonball. May has an excuse because she's an... alkahestrix? But Ling appeared to just be a regular (though well-trained) guy. And the "entering a homunculus" thing that Ed did with Pride was a little bizarre. Thematically, the choices characters made were sound (and is another reason I was so happy with that ending). How they pulled off some things seemed to come out of nowhere.