Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War The third of four parts is almost finished, and one problem remains in the manga: its villain, Yhwach, is too strong. With just one piece left to work with, you can Bleach pass and give Yhwach a satisfying defeat?
Yhwach, the leader of the Quincy Wandenreich, is arguably one of the most powerful villains in anime history. Their abilities define the term “god-tier,” and there is no hero character who can come close to wielding that level of power. Having a villain who is much more powerful than the heroes is not necessarily a big problem for most stories; it simply requires the heroes to outsmart the villain in some way, leading to their defeat. The problem with using this technique against Yhwach, however, is that Yhwach is not just omnipotent; he is also omniscient.
Yhwach's powers and abilities explained
Yhwach exerts unparalleled strength in Bleach
Yhwach is far from being your average villain, as he possesses a variety of tremendously powerful abilities that make him nearly impossible to defeat satisfactorily. Yhwach's primary ability, the power Schrift A “The Almighty”, allows Yhwach to see not just the future, but all possible futures, and instantly neutralize those futures however he sees fit.. This ability alone would be enough to make Yhwach overpowered, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Yhwach is also able to grant these Schrift powers to others, and the powers they gain can be just as broken as his.
Yhwach's other key ability is Auswahlen, which allows him to regain the power he gave to others and gain the strength they gained using Schrift, strengthening him even further.. Yhwach has already used the Auswahlen twice, killing the overwhelming majority of his own men to increase his power to these godlike levels. He, of course, also has all the standard Quincy powers – Blut Vein, Holy Arrows, and reishi manipulation. He is extremely skilled with both a sword and a bow, making him a difficult opponent even without his other powers.
Finally, part 3 saw Yhwach absorbs the powers of the King of Souls, who is effectively the God of Bleach. In doing so, Yhwach gained even greater powers than he already had, allowing him to manipulate energy, create barriers and portals, reshape matter (as seen when he transformed the Soul King's palace into Wahr Welt) and gained immunity to Hollows, something normally dangerous for Quincy. At this point, he could combine the three worlds into one, as he planned, at any time, and simply chooses not to because he wants to see the Soul Reapers fully defeated first.
Yhwach's abilities make him unbeatable
No fight with Yhwach can be fair
With the literal powers of a god, Yhwach is practically unstoppable in Bleach right now. His precognitive ability alone is a huge advantage in any fight, meaning he can neither be surprised nor fooled. The fact that he can win any time he wants means that the world only continues to exist in its current state whenever he wants, and that is something that can change at any time. It has been established that Yhwach only has one weakness so far, and one weakness that emerges in the manga later: aspects of the Soul King, which are immune to his precognition, and Still Silver, created when he performs Auswahlen.
Ichigo is absurdly powerful, wielding the abilities of almost every race within Bleachbut even he cannot hope to measure up to Yhwach. Even every Soul Reaper attacking in unison would only be a minor inconvenience for Yhwach at this point, and that includes all the captains with their own ridiculously powerful Bankai.. Yhwach could use his precognitive abilities to predict such an attack and destroy all of Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto simultaneously, leaving them completely powerless. His spiritual pressure is so absurd that no Kido spell could contain him.
It's no spoiler to say that the way Yhwach is defeated in the manga is not considered particularly satisfying by most fans. Without going into detail, Yhwach's defeat is rushed and the solution comes out of nowhere quite conveniently. The final battle has some interesting and redeeming qualities, but overall, it fails to provide an ending that is believable and satisfying for fans.
How can the bloody war of a thousand years make amends for Yhwach's defeat?
Bleach has already made changes that could resolve the final battle
Happily, Bleach has already laid the foundations that could allow for a more enjoyable final battle. In the anime, Ichigo undergoes special training in the “Irazusando” path, which gives him visions of the origins of the King of Souls.. Many fans speculated that this was a test to see if Ichigo was a good candidate to become the next Soul King, if necessary. But what if it also imbued him with some fraction of the Soul King's powers? Awakening these powers would make Ichigo immune to Yhwach's precognition, allowing Ichigo to surprise or deceive Yhwach.
Ichigo isn't exactly portrayed as an intelligent character, so perhaps a surprise attack would be more in line with who he is. This would give Ichigo the ability to stand at least on par with Yhwach, and with the help of his friends, Ichigo could actually achieve victory. It would also give him a chance to show off his new Bankai, something that unfortunately has a short lifespan in the manga.
Yhwach's overwhelming power level makes him a problem for the story, but it's not an insurmountable obstacle. Ichigo would be far from the first anime character to receive a divine power at the last moment, and it's been appropriately foreshadowed in such a way that it won't feel like it's being pulled out of nowhere. Although this would require some changes at the end of the manga Thousand Year Blood War has already made it clear that he has no qualms about making changes if they improve the story, and nothing would improve it more than an outright rewrite.