Massive spoilers after the cut.
"Peace from Shadows" starts off with Ichigo looking at his two swords. The color page for the chapter shows him holding the swords; his appearance is rather haggard, as opposed to the neat and trim clothing he had in his shikai and bankai forms previously.
Into the story proper: Seireitei disappears as captains, VC's, and even new Captain-Commander Kyouraku look on. And finally, we have an answer as to the location of the Wandenreich. It was in Soul Society all along, more precisely in Seireitei, where the shinigami couldn't find them. According to Bach, the Quincy used the free-flowing reishi of the Seireitei to conceal themselves, to wait for their inevitable day of reckoning.
Bach's second, Jugram Haschwald, appears in 1st Division HQ to speak to Kyouraku directly. As usual, Bach is portrayed as someone who does not like long battles and wants to finish this thing quickly. Fine with me; this manga doesn't need to run 600 chapters, even though I've long thought that it would run past it gleefully.
Of course, despite the invading force, the captains of the Gotei 13 are not about to slack off. 12th Division captain Kurotsuchi (the biggest of the big-mouths) and 10th Division captain Hitsugaya are the first to engage the enemy. Ichigo is nowhere to be found as yet, as well as Bach's new secret weapon, Ishida.
Clearly, the first chapter of the final arc is little more than set-up. At least we know about the location of the Wandenreich; that was a detail that was bothering me for a little while. It obviously wasn't in Hueco Mundo. That was just a temporary thing while Bach and company investigated the possibilities of arrancar manipulation. As we know, that experiment wasn't fruitful. The results were the same for Bach as they were for Aizen.
The chapter is almost more interesting for what it leaves out. We currently have no idea where Ichigo is; he seems to be preparing for the next battle, at least. Urahara, the author's avatar and main troll, is conspicuous by his absence. Surely, he'll find a way to meddle in the coming battle and manipulate it to his satisfaction.
To be honest, I'm not all that interested in "Shinigami vs. Quincy" part II. I mean, we've already had this type of grand battle twice. And if you count the first two arcs, where Ichigo damn near took on Soul Society by himself, then it's three times. I don't think the Stern Ritter are formidable enemies, and that the shinigami will win with ease. Sure, Kyouraku already lost an eye, but what's that, really, in the grand scheme? Just like when he took on Stark in the so-called Winter War, it was little more than a feint from the author. It makes it look like Kyouraku has it tough, but really, he's just biding his time, likely so he doesn't have to release his bankai in front of those who might see it (i.e. the readers, mostly).
So where does the drama come in? Well, I think the most obvious thing that we'll see is Ichigo vs. Ishida. This has been a long time coming. They've been reluctant comrades for the length of it, and now Ishida has done something that will likely piss off Ichigo. Though I'm sure Ichigo will have his little moments of self-doubt and questioning his motivation, etc. There is sure to be a reckoning with Haschwald of some kind. Seeing as Haschwald broke Ichigo's previous incarnation of Zangetsu (thus setting up Ichigo's jaunt to the Royal Realm), I think Ichigo will have to fight him. Of course, if Kyouraku steps up and actually does his job for once, Haschwald will be a corpse by the time Ichigo gets back to whatever's left of Seireitei.
Finally, Ichigo and Bach will have to duel. I believe that's where the manga will end, barring epilogue chapters either in WSJ or in the final tankoubon volume.
So far, a solid start.
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