KILL THE KING

KILL THE KING
Quote	"I was once you. Soon, you will become me. I can only pray the lives you carry are not a burden to you."
TYBW Episode #	28
Overall Episode #	394
Manga Chapters	Chapter 612 (pages 5-17), Chapter 613 (pages 1-3 & 11-12), Chapter 614 (pages 10-17), Chapter 615 (pages 6-7 & 12-15), Chapter 616 (page 2), Chapter 617 (pages 13-14), Chapter 619 (page 3)
Arc	Thousand-Year Blood War arc
Chronology
Previous Episode	"A"
Next Episode	The Dark Arm
Airdate
Japanese	October 12, 2024
English	November 9, 2024 (international) November 23, 2024 (U.S.)
Theme Music
Opening	Kotoba ni Sezu Tomo
Ending	Monochrome
Episode 394 Screenshots

For the chapter of the same name, see KILL THE KING.

KILL THE KING is the twenty-eight episode of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and the three hundred and ninety-fourth episode of the Bleach anime overall.

Ichigo Kurosaki battles Yhwach once again to stop him from killing the Soul King.

Summary[]

Bidding farewell to his father, the Soul King, who has seen the future, Yhwach envisions himself as a young boy gradually growing into his present-day self while watching the Soul King separate the Primordial Sea into the Three Worlds with a strange ceremonial sword, causing Yhwach to be enveloped in the waters and return to his infant self as the Soul King's limbs are severed and separated. With the Soul King being bound in his crystal, a younger Yhwach sheds a single tear after recalling his sense-deprived infant self being buoyed by thousands of hands.

Yhwach inquires if the Soul King can hear the screams within his heart and the cries of the forsaken while a bewildered Ichigo Kurosaki appears over the Soul King and looks up at Yhwach in confusion. In the real world, Ichigo snaps out of this vision while riding Orihime Inoue's Santen Kesshun up to the Greater Soul King Palace with her, Yasutora Sado, Yoruichi Shihōin, and Ganju Shiba, where he ruminates on what he just saw as the structure draws closer to his group.

Meanwhile, on the Vestibule Road below, Ichibē Hyōsube sits alone as tremors continue to rock the replaced Seireitei, where 6th Division Lieutenant Renji Abarai wonders what is going on and 13th Division Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki admits that she has never felt anything like this before, which cannot be good. Elsewhere, 12th Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi deduces that the Wandenreich removed the keystone that holds the Three Worlds together and ruminates on what they could be aiming to accomplish while his technicians and Kisuke Urahara observe the tremors from within his hidden laboratory.

With Sternritter "H" Bazz-B, "G" Liltotto Lamperd, and "Z" Giselle Gewelle looking up at the sky as the latter shakes Bambietta Basterbine's corpse, Ryūken Ishida inspects some chunks of Still Silver in his hand before Karakura Town begins shaking as well, prompting him to look out of his window and Isshin Kurosaki to stand outside the Kurosaki Clinic while beginning to realize what this means. Back in the Soul King Palace, Yhwach tells the Soul King that these are footsteps toward a new world and promises to put an end to the latter's endless humiliation before being confronted by Ichigo and his friends.

When Ichigo declares that they are here to stop him, Yhwach claims to have been expecting Ichigo, and with the curtains behind him closed to obscure the Soul King, he asserts that he foresaw Ichigo coming to stop him from killing the Soul King, to Ichigo's confusion. An unnerved Orihime points out Yhwach's triple-pupiled eyes, prompting Ichigo to inquire about what they signify and leading Yhwach to explain that they are the eyes of a true Quincy that can see everything, which has put the future of both Ichigo and the Soul King in the palm of his hand. In response, Ichigo grabs the handles of both blades of his Shikai, Zangetsu.

With Ichigo asserting that he will not let Yhwach complete his plan because he has grown powerful enough to stop him, Yhwach notices his dual blades and invites him to use them, though he warns Ichigo that they may break again as his hands glow with blue flames. Rushing forward with Shunpo, Ichigo clashes fiercely with Yhwach, producing a radial shockwave that explodes out of the Greater Soul King Palace and fills the surrounding air with dust and smoke, before reappearing outside of it and waiting to see Yhwach appear within the cloud below. Once Yhwach becomes visible, Ichigo moves next to him and fires a point-blank Getsuga Tenshō.

Unable to react in time, Yhwach's eyes widen as the Getsuga Tenshō slams into his face, producing another explosion while Ichigo's friends watch from below, having evacuated from the Greater Soul King Palace onto Orihime's Santen Kesshun. Upon flying out of the resulting smoke cloud, a surprised Yhwach sees Ichigo reappear behind him and barely manages to manifest his Reishi Broadsword in time to block the latter's subsequent attack, which sends them hurtling down toward Tenjirō Kirinji's city. When Yhwach attempts to stab his free hand into Ichigo's face, Ichigo narrowly evades this and thrusts his smaller sword down toward Yhwach.

Ichigo and Yhwach crash into the top of Kirinji's hot springs, destroying the pool barrier, as Ichigo kneels over a pinned Yhwach and is startled to find the latter blocking the tip of his smaller blade with the Blut Vene-infused palm of his free hand. After admitting that this was a good attempt, Yhwach preempts Ichigo's next attack by summoning his Sankt Bogen at ground level and firing a horizontal shot at Ichigo, decimating the surrounding area and letting Yhwach return to the air. However, Yhwach is surprised to see Ichigo unharmed and infers from the energy crackling around his wrist that he countered with a Getsuga Tenshō.

Praising Ichigo's cleverness in this tactic, Yhwach exerts his blue Reiatsu and rushes toward Ichigo for another clash that pushes them off the edge of the city and into the open air, where Ichigo exerts his own golden Reiatsu and speeds up to cross blades with Yhwach dozens of times as they fly and intersect through the air and across another city. Once he catches Ichigo in another blade lock, Yhwach inquires if he is not going to fight back and proclaims that the only future left for Ichigo if he fears is death, to Ichigo's bemusement, prior to disengaging and leaping back to initiate Qual Kreis, which forms a circle of Heilig Bogens around Ichigo.

Suddenly, with Yhwach telling him to rest in darkness once more, Ichigo quickly slashes through all the Heilig Bogens and their Heilig Pfeil before they can reach him, and with an alarmed Yhwach setting up Kirchenlied: Sankt Zwinger in turn, Ichigo fires Getsuga Jūjishō at him, shattering the defensive barrier and colliding with a shocked Yhwach in a massive cross-shaped explosion. While a stunned Orihime watches with her friends and comments on this being Ichigo's new level of power, Yhwach hurtles out of the explosion and crashes into the shrine at the top of Ichibē's city, demolishing it and leaving Yhwach lying in a crater in the floor.

After reappearing in the air above a prone Yhwach, Ichigo asserts that it is over, only for Yhwach to acknowledge that his training with the Royal Guard indeed made him stronger and infer that Ichibē had him enter the Irazu Sandō to gain its everlasting memories and revelations, startling Ichigo with his knowledge of it, before raising his head to show his normal eyes and revealing that he has not been using his triple-pupiled eyes for their entire fight, to Ichigo's shock. While standing up, Yhwach cracks his neck and declares it is time for him to take action prior to reactivating The Almighty and adding the pupils to his eyes.

A gigantic column of crackling blue flames fills the air above the city, forcing Ichigo to move much further into the air with Shunpo, before condensing into an even larger instance of Qual Kreis with Yhwach standing behind the Heilig Bogens. Frantically blocking the subsequent barrage of giant Heilig Pfeil, Ichigo eventually cuts through them with a Getsuga Tenshō and rushes toward Yhwach, who simply reappears behind him every time Ichigo attempts to attack him and states that he can clearly see Ichigo's every move. As he laments Ichigo's inability to see the difference in their power, Yhwach grabs Ichigo by the face.

With Blut veins extending from his hand into Ichigo's face, Yhwach sees Ichigo raising the long sword of Zangetsu and disparages him for trying to attack even after finally seeing the difference between them before unleashing a column of energy that engulfs Ichigo and blasts him upward into the underside of the Greater Soul King Palace. While Ichigo coughs up blood in the rubble, Yhwach moves up to stand upside-down next to him and promises that Ichigo will fall further into despair for as long as he keeps trying to resist, and when Ichigo attempts to declare that he will defeat Yhwach and protect everything, Yhwach interrupts him.

Having predicted what Ichigo would say, Yhwach responds to Ichigo swinging his longer sword toward his face by reiterating that he has seen Ichigo's future and counterattacking with enough force to propel Ichigo up the side of the Greater Soul King Palace and through the floor of the Soul King's chamber, where his friends are aghast to see him collapse face-down on the ground as Yhwach rises through the hole next to him. Down in the replaced Seireitei, Renji observes that the tremors are not stopping, leading Rukia to suggest that they head to the Shinigami Research and Development Institute because Urahara might know something.

Excited by this idea, Renji assumes that he knows where the building used to be, but an annoyed Rukia tells him that it is in the opposite direction. Elsewhere, 2nd Division Captain Suì-Fēng and her lieutenant, Marechiyo Ōmaeda, look over the trembling city alongside 5th Division Captain Shinji Hirako and his lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, while Shinji points out that the tremors have been going on for a long time. When Marechiyo wonders if the other captains and lieutenants are okay as he holds his unconscious sister Mareyo, Suì-Fēng reminds him that they should be fine if Marechiyo himself was able to survive this.

As Marechiyo ponders this, Shinji praises Hinamori for healing them and laments her inability to fix Suì-Fēng's sharp tongue, leading Hinamori to frantically apologize to the latter after initially acknowledging this. With Suì-Fēng wondering what the tremors and change in the air mean, Shinji claims there is no point in wondering and threatens to leave Suì-Fēng behind if she does not stop talking, only for a dismissive Suì-Fēng to depart with Shunpo, leaving Shinji to complain about her going on without them. Simultaneously, in an intensive care ward, 13th Division Captain Jūshirō Ukitake applies Kaidō to 11th Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.

With Ukitake begging Kenpachi to not die yet and a member of the Fourth Division tending to 9th Division Lieutenant Shūhei Hisagi nearby, Mayuri and his lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, work on a trio of healing capsules outside. Meanwhile, within the hidden laboratory, 12th Division 3rd Seat Akon tells a researcher of Urahara's requirement for vast amounts of Reiatsu to create the gate that he is working on as 1st Division Lieutenant Nanao Ise asks Urahara about the conflict they are embroiled in being the result of enmity between the Shinigami and Quincy going back one thousand years, which Urahara confirms.

However, when Nanao questions why Yhwach went to the Soul King Palace without completely eradicating the Shinigami if this is the case, Urahara stops typing on his keyboard and looks up with a frown. Back in the Soul King Palace, Yhwach infers that a prone Ichigo also saw the eternal world that once existed, as well as the darkness which threatened it and was repelled by the power of the Soul King, and laments someone with the power to overturn the world instead being used to stabilize it before revealing that the Soul King, with the true name Adnyeus, saw everything in the three worlds a thousand years in advance, including the tragedy of the Quincy.

While Yhwach asserts that the Soul King foresaw this and still chose to abandon the Quincy, Urahara explains to Nanao that the Quincy faced near-extinction twice simply for not fitting into the system of this world and that there can consequently be only one reason for their king storming the Soul King Palace. With Yhwach concluding that this is why he has chosen his path and revealing that he will kill his father to create a new world, a struggling Ichigo gets to his feet with blood dripping from his face and readies his swords against Yhwach, who wonders if he has a reason to do so, prompting Ichigo to reaffirm that he came here to stop Yhwach.

Ichigo proclaims that he is here to protect the Human World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, and despite Yhwach countering that the Quincy blood within him can never forgive the Soul King, Ichigo leaps forward as Orihime follows and rapidly heals his injuries with Sōten Kisshun, to Yhwach's surprise, allowing him to unleash a point-blank Getsuga Tenshō. However, on the Vestibule Road below, Ichibē apologizes to Ichigo and his friends because they cannot defeat Yhwach, only to assure them that this is fine since it is what peace is all about while Yhwach casually holds back Ichigo's blade with one hand.

Down in the replaced Seireitei, Rukia and Renji fly over the rooftops as Renji worries about the possibility of the Royal Guard being defeated, leading Rukia to ruminate on the intense Reiatsu that they felt earlier being the product of one of the Royal Guard using their Bankai or something just as powerful. Though Renji assumes that these tremors are the result of that, Rukia admits that this would just be the ideal explanation and admits that she has a bad feeling about the safety of Ichigo and his friends, which prompts Renji to remind her that he and Rukia just have to trust their friends who went up to the Soul King Palace to stop Yhwach.

Smiling at this, Rukia admits that she did not know Renji could come up with such good advice, which Renji takes as a compliment until he realizes what she is implying as the two of them land outside the laboratory, where they are greeted by Suì-Fēng, Marechiyo, Shinji, and Hinamori. After Shinji notes that everyone has found their way here, the group enters the laboratory, where Urahara claims to have been expecting them, though Shinji denies this. While Urahara insists that he really does need their help, Rukia steps forward and inquires if he knows what the true cause of these tremors is, prompting Urahara to sigh and assert that he does not know for certain.

Despite this, Urahara warns Rukia that these tremors are tied to the safety of the Soul King as Yhwach calls Ichigo arrogant for claiming he can protect everything, but when he inquires if Ichigo believes that he is the only one who can do so, Ichigo counters that someone else being able to do the same is not a reason for him to stay out of this fight. As Yhwach comments on the absurdity of Ichigo seeking to protect the Soul King despite knowing he is a sacrifice to Soul Society, Yoruichi surrounds him with layers of Tenshi Heisō: Hissaki Kumoi, mocks Yhwach for talking so much, and warns him not to touch the strings unless he wants to be torn apart.

In response, Yhwach sets the strings alight with blue Reishi flames and dispels the crumbling strings with a shockwave that sends some of the burning pieces flying onto the curtain behind him, causing them to begin burning up as well. With Yhwach revealing that he foresaw Ichigo finding Ichibē and being sent here too late at his urging, Ichigo and his friends are mortified to see the Soul King with Yhwach's Reishi Sword driven through his chest suspended in the air behind the curtain. However, when Ganju demands to know if Yhwach killed the Soul King, a sweating Yoruichi realizes that the Soul King is somehow still alive.

In turn, Ichigo swiftly moves past Yhwach and to the crystal with Shunpo to grab onto the Reishi Sword, which he begins attempting to pull out while his friends call out to him. Noticing this, Yhwach encourages him to pull out the Reishi Sword, which he should be capable of doing, and as a yelling Ichigo slowly manages to pull the Reishi Sword out of the Soul King's chest and crystal, Yhwach concludes that he can now destroy Soul Society with his own hands. Suddenly, Blut veins run up Ichigo's right arm and the side of his face from the Reishi Sword, forcing him to hold it back in a swinging position.

Yhwach asserts that he foresaw this as well and informs Ichigo that the Quincy blood within him can never forgive the Soul King before proclaiming that Ichigo must slay the Soul King because of the Quincy blood coursing through him while a screaming Ichigo is forced to slash the Reishi Sword horizontally at the crystal, where it embeds in the side and slowly pushes through the material until it cuts the Soul King diagonally in half. With his friends aghast at this, Ichigo falls to his knees as Yhwach congratulates him and details how he transferred the Reiatsu within his Reishi Sword with Ichigo in order to call to his Quincy blood.

Further claiming that Ichigo's actions and will are connected to his own will, Yhwach reveals that he needed someone with the power of a Human, Quincy, Shinigami, Fullbringer, and Hollow to fully break the Soul King's seal, to Ichigo's disbelief, and states that Ichigo's awakening of his Shinigami powers and later acquisition of his true Zanpakutō were all for this moment where he ended the Soul King's life in front of Yhwach. While Yhwach concludes that this is what he foresaw, a vast wave of energy expands outward from the Soul King's corpse and envelops the entirety of the Soul King Palace.

Traveling downward, the energy slams into the replaced Seireitei, toppling buildings and shaking the laboratory with incredible force just before the ceiling caves in, which forces the researchers to flee as Urahara remains shocked at the readings he is getting. With Hueco Mundo and the Human World being rocked by tremors even more violent than before, Mizuiro Kojima scrolls through a social media app and notes to Keigo Asano and Tatsuki Arisawa that there is still no news on where the epicenter of this apparent earthquake is. Though Tatsuki questions how such an earthquake can exist, Mizuiro ruminates on the possibility of it not being a normal one.

Keigo expresses disbelief at what Mizuiro is implying as Tatsuki looks down sadly at the Soul Ticket given to her by Captain-Commander Shunsui Kyōraku and thinks of Ichigo. Back in the laboratory, an unharmed Urahara looks up in astonishment and deduces that this is the result of the Soul King dying, leaving Nanao aghast while Shinji questions what the Royal Guard is doing. While Ukitake looks up solemnly, Rin Tsubokura frantically worries about what happened to Ichigo and Akon wonders what is going to happen now, leading Urahara to warn them that Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World will all cease to exist. Above them, Yhwach invites a speechless Ichigo to watch the end of Soul Society with him.

Characters in Order of Appearance[]

Fights & Events[]

• Fall of the Soul King

Powers and Techniques Used[]

Zanpakutō Techniques:

• Getsuga Tenshō (月牙天衝, Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer)
• Getsuga Jūjishō (月牙十字衝, Moon Fang Cross-Shaped Piercer)

Hohō Techniques:

• Shunpo (瞬歩, Flash Steps)

Kidō Techniques:

• Kaidō (回道, Turn Way)

Quincy Techniques:

• Hirenkyaku (飛廉脚, Pure Flying Step)
• Blut Vene (静血装 (ブルート・ヴェーネ), Burūto Vēne; German for "Blood Vein", Japanese for "Stilled Blood Guise")
• Heilig Pfeil (神聖滅矢 (ハイリッヒ・プファイル), Hairihhi Pufairu; German for "Holy Arrow", Japanese for "Sacred Destruction Arrows")
• Qual Kreis (苦悶の環 (クヴァール・クライス), Kuvāru Kuraisu; German for "Torment Circle", Japanese for "Circle of Anguish")
• Kirchenlied: Sankt Zwinger (聖唱 (キルヒエンリート)「聖域礼賛 (ザンクト・ツヴィンガー)」, Kiruhienrīto: Zankuto Tsuvingā; German for "Church Hymn: Saint Ward", Japanese for "Holy Chant: Sanctuary Veneration")

Other Techniques:

• Santen Kesshun (三天結盾, Three Sacred Links Shield)
• Sōten Kisshun (双天帰盾, Twin Sacred Return Shield)

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:

• Zangetsu (斬月, Slaying Moon)

Spirit Weapons:

• Reishi Broadsword
• Sankt Bogen (大聖弓 (ザンクト・ボーゲン), Sankuto Bōgen; German for "Saint Bow", Japanese for "Great Holy Bow")}}
• Reishi Sword

Schrifts:

• The Almighty (全知全能 (ジ・オールマイティ), Ji Ōrumaiti; Japanese for "All-Knowing and All-Powerful")

Other Powers:

• Shun Shun Rikka (盾舜六花, Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield)

Items:

• Tenshi Heisō: Hissaki Kumoi (天賜兵装・引っ裂き蜘蛛網, Heavenly Gift Armaments: Shredding Spider's Web)

Music[]

Timestamp	Track Listing
00:18	No Official Release
04:35	Bleach: The Blood Warfare OST 2 - Track 9 - The Precipice of Defeat - choir overture
06:04	Bleach: The Blood Warfare OST 1 - Track 21 - 2211 TYBW racy orchestra
09:15	Bleach: Fade to Black OST - Track 21 - What Can You See In Their Eyes
11:06	No Official Release
14:05	No Official Release
15:09	No Official Release
16:36	No Official Release
19:46	Bleach: The Blood Warfare OST 2 - Track 8 - GINORMOUS
22:04	No Official Release

Anime Notes[]

Navigation[]

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