Another Bleach chapter is out, so let's discuss it.
Spoilers and an unusual amount of action after the cut.
It's not every week (or month, or year) that we get a chapter with this much action in it.
Until last week, the manga had been in a holding pattern. Then we had the twin revelations of Ukitake being the vessel of a fallen god and Kyouraku going down into the darkness to speak with Aizen.
I was more or less fine with Ukitake's part in the story, although it seems entirely too convenient to be anything but a ret-con. His part unfolds a bit more at the beginning of chapter 617, wherein Mimihagi-sama explodes out toward Reioukyuu and essentially knits the Soul King's body/cocoon back together. This act keeps the balance intact and the destruction of the worlds is halted for the moment.
Naturally, Bach is not pleased with this. And we learn an interesting detail about his power "The Almighty": the Soul King is not within Bach's vision of the future. This would also seem to be incredibly convenient. However, I look at it as an important limit to what was previously a power so strong that it was extremely broken (much like Aizen's Kyouka Suigetsu).
The scene then shifts to the underground prison below 1st Division HQ. Kyouraku has been given keys to the seals that keep Aizen imprisoned. He has been given permission to use up to three of them to converse with the prisoner, and wisely chooses to unseal the traitor's mouth first. This couldn't possibly go wrong, could it?
Oh, hey, Captain Kurotsuchi has a "reiatsu amplifier" that will make it easier for the shinigami to get up to Reioukyuu. How convenient!
Of course, Kyouraku's plan didn't go as expected. At least, that's how it looks at the moment, as he perceives Aizen walking toward him.
So the question is this: did Aizen actually free himself? Or is this another trick from a being who has mastered the art of deception?
