Recaps

Rei uncovered Soul Society’s hidden history, developed the Healing Way, and was framed after Seigen’s Hollowfication, leading him to rebel and escape with Seigen to Hueco Mundo. He expanded his forces, absorbed Baraggan’s faction, and selected the first three Espada while Soul Society weakened.

• Aizen broke into the Great Spirit Book Gallery, learned that the noble clans had crippled the Soul King, and resolved to overthrow Soul Society’s order.
• Rei created the Healing Way, earned the Soul King’s invitation to Zero Division, and refused to leave Seireitei, and Central 46 then restricted access to the treatment.
• Rei tracked Kisuke Urahara in Hueco Mundo, while Aizen’s experiments caused the first disappearing souls and produced the Hōgyoku.
• Aizen framed Seigen for Hollowfication, and Rei failed to cure him before Central 46 convicted Rei and sentenced Seigen to life as a Hollow.
• Rei escaped custody, killed Tokinada, freed Maki, and fought the Captains and Yama-jii before Negación carried him and Seigen away to Hueco Mundo.
• Rei’s forces developed Half-Arrancar, defeated Baraggan’s followers, and persuaded Baraggan to surrender in exchange for his subordinates’ release.
• Aizen manipulated Seigen into attacking Honda, but Rei showed Seigen evidence of the deception and let him return to Soul Society, and Rei then prepared to conquer Soul Society and the Soul King Palace.
• Rei held the Espada selection, where Luppi, Tiruti, and Gangbaiten advanced and were named the eighth, ninth, and tenth Espada.

Rei built his Arrancar forces while Aizen manipulated Soul Society and pursued his own Hōgyoku, then launched an assault on Seireitei to reach the Great Spirit Book Gallery. The battles remained unresolved when Yama-jii sealed the Garganta and trapped Rei’s forces inside Seireitei.

• Rei ranked his Espada, monitored Aizen’s experiments with the Hōgyoku, and began probing the Quincy’s strength, while Gin and Rangiku’s childhood paths led them toward Soul Society.
• Baraggan defeated Quilge’s forces and captured Cang Du, but the Quincy invasion of Las Noches ended in heavy losses before Ulquiorra brought Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka into Rei’s army.
• Aizen and Gin triggered the Hollowfication of Kensei’s group, while Rei sent Espada and Hollows to attack Seireitei and confronted Aizen in the Sixth Forest.
• Rei’s forces stole Aizen’s incomplete Hōgyoku, while Urahara and the Hollowfied captains escaped Soul Society after Aizen’s deception turned Central 46 against them.
• Rei used the Hōgyoku to evolve Grimmjow and strengthen his Espada, while Aizen forged another Hōgyoku and Soul Society prepared for future threats.
• Byakuya encountered Hisana and defended her and the townspeople from Hollows, then defeated Luppi as Rei’s forces opened a larger assault on Seireitei.
• Maki entered the Great Spirit Book Gallery as Grimmjow and the Espada engaged Soul Society’s Captains, including Kenpachi, Mayuri, Byakuya, Kyōraku, and Ukitake.
• Yama-jii ordered the Garganta sealed, trapping Rei’s forces in Seireitei, while Rei’s technicians lost contact with the Espada and Rei remained confident they could handle the barrier.

After the Hōgyoku fused with Rei, he vanished into the Dangai while Soul Society and Aizen’s forces fought over Hueco Mundo and the Hōgyoku. Years later, Rei escaped the Valley of Screams, returned to Hueco Mundo, and forced Baraggan to join his campaign against the Soul King Palace.

• Rei’s clone fought Ichibē Hyōsube while Negación extracted the Espada and other fighters from Soul Society.
• Rei returned to Las Noches, took Kisuke Urahara’s Hōgyoku, and fell asleep as it fused with the Hōgyoku in his chest.
• Yama-jii led the Gotei 13 into Hueco Mundo, where Soul Reapers and Espada fought while Aizen entered Rei’s training room and removed the Hōgyoku.
• Rei awoke and fought Aizen and Yama-jii as Kyōraku battled Ulquiorra, Yama-jii fought Starrk, and the battles devastated Las Noches.
• The Soul Reapers withdrew after Rei and the Espada seemed to fall, while Rei drifted through the Garganta and awoke in the Sixth Valley of Screams.
• Rei studied the Blanks for years, reshaped the Valley of Screams into the Great War Spear, and broke through into Hueco Mundo.
• Rei confronted Baraggan at Las Noches, overwhelmed him, and made him agree to join the campaign against the Soul King Palace.

Rei invaded the Soul King Palace, was defeated and sealed after a devastating battle, then sent a part of himself through reincarnation. More than twenty years later, reborn as Ryūsaki Ishida, he began navigating Quincy life and new alliances while Soul Society investigated signs that he had returned.

• Rei led the Espada into the Soul King Palace, where Ichibē erased Rei’s name and crushed him, but the Hōgyoku restored Rei and let him destroy much of the palace with his Bankai.
• Rei entered the Soul King’s chamber and learned that replacing the Soul King would cost him himself, while the Soul King showed him visions of the worlds ending and renewing through Rei.
• The Captains and Espada fought across the palace as Rei battled Ukitake, Isshin, and Yoruichi, and Isshin’s Mugetsu split Rei apart, but Rei regenerated before Ukitake held him in stasis and Urahara prepared a seal.
• Over twenty years, Soul Society and the Soul King Palace were rebuilt, while investigators tracked Reiatsu connected to Nangong Ling and Rei’s soul reached a newborn in the Ishida family, whom Sōken named Ryūsaki Ishida.
• As a child, Ryūsaki fought Hollows with Reishi Chains, helped Ginjo defeat Suolang, and earned Sōken’s approval as a Quincy despite being unable to form a Heilig Bogen.
• Ryūsaki met Tsukishima and learned about Fullbring, but Tsukishima’s sword inserted false shared memories into him, and Ginjo helped undo the effect and offered to hide Ryūsaki’s Quincy identity from Soul Society.
• After Ryūsaki visited Dr. Isshin for treatment, Yoruichi warned Isshin that Soul Reapers had been killed by a suspected enemy from Hell, while Sōken began teaching Ryūsaki Blut Vene and Blut Arterie.