Recaps

Ren used Mayuri’s Hōgyoku experiment to unleash a Black Menos Grande as a diversion while he raided Yamamoto’s hidden collection and killed Chojiro Sasakibe. After Yamamoto destroyed Central 46 in response, Ren held the Soul King’s broken Zanpakuto and a damaged book whose contents he sought to learn.

• Ren and Mayuri created a multicolored gem from purified Menos Grande particles, but it transformed into a Black Menos Grande that Ren sent to attack Aizen and the searching captains.
• As the captains fought the Black Menos Grande, Ren took Kayle and Yoruichi to Yamamoto’s courtyard, where he found a Soul King Fragment, a damaged book, and a broken blade in a hidden space.
• Ren killed Chojiro Sasakibe with Heavenly Sin, plundered his power and Zanpakuto, and escaped while Yamamoto fought the Black Menos Grande with Zanka no Tachi.
• Yamamoto’s flames tempered the Black Menos Grande’s mask, and Ren’s darkness swallowed it before he extracted a multicolored gem that was close to, but not yet, a Hōgyoku.
• Yoruichi identified the broken blade as the Soul King’s Zanpakuto and recognized the damaged book as written in the Soul King’s script, so Ren decided to seek Isshin Kurosaki’s help reading it.
• Yamamoto returned to find Chojiro dead and ordered the captains to find Ren, while Ren listened as Shunsui and Yamamoto discussed the nobles’ opposition and Yamamoto’s connection to the Soul King.
• Yamamoto killed Central 46’s sages and noble representatives after they tried to pressure him, then ordered Shunsui to deal with the ringleaders and rebuild Central 46.
• Byakuya and Soifon realized Yamamoto was preparing Shunsui to become the next Captain-Commander, while Yamamoto left to train Chojiro until Ren was found.

Ren awakened the Black Stone’s Hollow power, defeated Unohana and Yamamoto, and plundered Zanka no Tachi before escaping to the World of the Living. As Seireitei struggled with Yamamoto’s Hollowfication, Ren prepared Uryu for training and turned his attention to Oetsu Nimaiya and the transformed Captain-Commander.

• Shunsui Kyoraku ordered the captains to rebuild Central 46 and purge troublesome nobles while Ren studied the Soul King’s records with Yoruichi.
• Mayuri Kurotsuchi brought Ren a mysterious Black Stone linked to the Zaraki Clan, and Ren awakened it with the Prismatic Crystal.
• The Black Stone released a Hollow formed from Ren’s evil thoughts, and Heavenly Sin absorbed its darkness before Ren returned to his senses.
• Retsu Unohana confronted Ren, but he defeated her before Yamamoto arrived and attacked him with Zanka no Tachi.
• Ren used Heavenly Sin to devour Yamamoto’s flames and shatter Zanka no Tachi, then escaped through a passage opened by the Soul King Broken Blade.
• Yamamoto became half-Hollowfied, and Ichibe Hyosube and Tenjiro Kirinji helped the captains contain him while Ren returned to the World of the Living.
• Uryu Ishida asked Ren for help defeating Ryuken, and Ren sent him to train with Kayle and Yoruichi.
• Mayuri told Ren that Oetsu Nimaiya had entered the World of the Living, and Ren ordered Morgana to arrange Ichigo’s early dismissal before going to observe him and Isshin.

Ren watched the Seireitei prepare for war, continued his experiments, and became entangled in Urahara Kisuke’s plan involving Rukia and Ichigo. After fighting the Visored, Ren obtained the Soul King’s Notes and uncovered the Soul King’s Hollowfication and the possible link between the Hollow and Yhwach.

• The Captain-Commander awakened, appointed Shunsui Kyoraku to lead the First Division, gave Jūshirō Ukitake command of the Expeditionary Force, and announced his plan to enter seclusion as the Seireitei prepared for war.
• Ren continued his Hōgyoku and Gigai experiments while Aizen recruited resentful Death Gods for Hollowfication, and Urahara Kisuke arranged for Rukia to carry the Hōgyoku into the Seireitei.
• Rukia arrived in the World of the Living, where Ichigo Kurosaki gained Death God powers and quickly killed a Hollow with his Asauchi.
• Ren confronted Urahara Kisuke and the Visored near Ichigo’s home, defeated several of them, and fought until Isshin Kurosaki intervened and handed Ren a translation of the Soul King Script.
• Ren deciphered the Soul King’s Notes and learned that the Soul King had become Hollowfied, divided the Three Worlds, and sealed away his Hollowfication energy for the Zaraki Clan to guard.
• Ren concluded that the Soul King’s Evil Thought had become a Menos Grande and wondered whether the Hollow that survived their battle had become Yhwach.

As Aizen prepared to defect and Rukia was taken back to Seireitei, Ichigo and Uryū awakened new powers and fought to stop Byakuya. Ren allied with Ryuken, completed a Hōgyoku, and revived Madara in a New-Type Gigai.

• Rukia showed the captains how Ichigo became a Death God and how Ren fought alongside Urahara, the Visored, Morgana, and Kayle, while Aizen identified the Hōgyoku’s presence.
• Aizen decided to use Central 46 to condemn Rukia and seize the Hōgyoku, while Ren empowered Uryū with a Soul King gemstone that awakened his Quincy abilities.
• Ichigo confronted Grandfisher over Masaki’s death, and White Ichigo emerged to destroy the Hollow before Masaki’s manifestation disappeared.
• Ren’s crystal helped sustain Rukia, but Central 46 ordered her arrest, and Byakuya took her from the World of the Living after defeating Ichigo and Uryū.
• Ryuken asked Ren to cooperate against Yhwach, Aizen, and Isshin, offering complete Hōgyoku research and explaining the Soul King fragments behind its creation.
• Ren accepted Ryuken’s proposal, gave Uryū his cultivation notebook through Yoruichi, and combined a Soul King Fragment with Hollow and Death God energy to create the Hōgyoku.
• Ren fed the vortex over a thousand Energy Crystals until it formed a Hōgyoku, then used it to gather Madara’s scattered soul and awaken him in a New-Type Gigai.