A thousand-year bloody war is against the court

The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3, Episode 5, “Against the Judgment,” available on Hulu and Disney+.

Key conclusions

• Aizen returns with immense power, displaying his power with familiar techniques such as the Kurohitsugi.
• Alliances shift as the surviving Quincy join forces with the Shinigami against a common enemy.
• Despite the missed opportunities, the cinematic quality of the episode sets the stage for things to come.

The fifth episode of the third year BLEACH: The Thousand Year Blood War served mainly as a setup for the main event of the season, but it saw cameos from various characters we haven't seen in a while, as well as the first display of Aizen's devastating fighting power for the first time since his dramatic battle against Ichigo years ago. While Episode 5 wasn't quite as exciting as previous episodes, it still had the series' signature cinematic qualities and gave the return of fan-favorite Grimmjow Jagerjakes the flair it deserved.

With the worst case scenario now a reality, the Shinigami find themselves forced to team up with former Gotei 13 officers, Hollows and even Quincies to put an end to their common enemy.

Terrible flood

Torrents Creepy Eyeball Monsters Ravage the Seireitei

After Yhwach assimilated the Soul King, streams of his power rain down from the Soul King's Palace through an opening in Shakonmak. The dark, gooey monsters take the form of hideous eyeball monsters that cling to anything that moves with lamprey-like teeth. We see various Shinigami fighting the creatures that swarm in every corner of Seireitei. Seated officers such as Ikaku Madarame and Yumichiko Ayasegawa of the 11th Squad, as well as the 9th Squad's Lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi managed to fend them off, but with the sheer number of monsters, it was only a matter of time before they were defeated. Fortunately, 6th Squad Captain Byakuya Kuchiki uses his Senbonzakura to deal with the groups of eyeball monsters, giving the three a chance to catch their breath and regroup with himself, Rukia, Renji, and Soi-Fon. More dark gooey mess pours in, but a powerful spiritual presence arrives: Sosuke Aizen, still chained to the chair he served his 20,000 year imprisonment in Muken.

I still understand

Maybe he got stronger in prison

Aizen quips that creatures such as these are not something to raise a sword against, but something to crush with the power of his spiritual pressure. Rukia and the others are shocked to see that Aizen is out of prison and prepare to fight, but Kyoraku is there to explain that he was the one who released him. Naturally, they all have a lot to say about the need to team up with a person who has caused immense damage to Soul Society and irrevocably changed the lives of many Shinigami who have unfortunately crossed paths with him, but Kyoraku tells them that he doesn't think that fighting with evil evil is wrong. As new creatures enter the Seireitei, Aizen fires his favorite Kido, #90, Kurohitsugi (“Black Coffin”), which was dazzlingly remade for A thousand-year bloody war arc

Arcs of purple-black electricity appear, signaling Kyoraku to order everyone to take cover before a giant black box appears, patching up the hole in the Shakonmaku before delivering a brutal devastating blow that essentially clears the eyeball area. The moment is captured in an animated frame that does a great job of conveying Aizen's unfathomable strength despite being imprisoned for the better part of two years. Despite his stunning display of power, the restraints used to subdue Aizen do prove to be a hindrance to him, and you can see the first real change in his facial expression since he began appearing in A thousand-year bloody war arc Kuratsuti arrives with Nemu and gloats that something he made couldn't be broken by Aizen's power, clearly bothering the former 5th Squad captain as he challenged. “Let's see what comes first, your technology or my spiritual pressure.”

Enemies?

The surviving Quincy helps the Shinigami

The verbal exchange between Aizen and Kuratsuchi is interrupted when the former is hit by a wave of energy coming from Sternritter U – Lower Belly, NaNaNa Najakup, who believes that he has Aizen's spiritual pressure. He fires a death ray that hits Aizen in the head and appears to have killed him (everyone except Najakup knew it didn't). Najakup is joined by Buzz-B, G – Objora Liltoto Lampard, and Z – Zombie Giselle Hevelle, who at first appear to help Najakup, but Buzz-B punches a hole in his chest. Unlike Najakup, who remained loyal to Yhwach even after being abandoned, Buzz-Bee and the others did not accept being cast aside and decided to help the Shinigami as they now had a common goal.

With that, Kyoraku sends an order through the Seireitei to all officers still able to move to head to the 12th Squad barracks where their spiritual pressure is needed to help activate the gate leading directly to the Soul King's Palace. The build-up to this gate features cameos from a number of characters we haven't seen in quite some time, including Visoreds Hiyori Sarugaki, Love Aikawa, Lisa Yadomaru, Hachigen and many more, but there's also a brief glimpse of a silhouette approaching Gargantuan – teasing Grimmow's return Jaegerjaquez, how the episode ends.

A missed opportunity

The dramatic ending of the last episode ultimately meant nothing

While there were some epic moments here and there, there was a missed opportunity BLEACH: A Thousand Years of Blood War, Part 3 episode 5, which began with the dramatic conclusion of Ichigo's battle against Uryuu, a clash that ended with the former badly injured. We don't see either for the entire episode until the very end, and after the emotional rollercoaster of the previous episode, simply cutting to the part where Ichigo is okay again means the aftermath of the battle is off-screen, but given the fact that we know Orihime's stunning abilities, it can also be considered pointless to see the consequences if the effects of the battle itself were nullified by Orihime's ability to deflect phenomena. As a bridge to things to come, this episode did what it needed to do and continues the series' incredible run, even if it wasn't as intense as previous episodes.

BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 is available on Hulu and Disney+.