Warning: Spoilers for Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, Part 3, Episodes 13 and 14Bleach: Thousand Year Blood WarThe epic season finale contained a peculiar scene, which raises some serious questions about Uryu's origins and how he became the last surviving Quincy outside of the Wandenreich. The scene in question shows Uryu as a child and may reveal how he survived a tumultuous situation.
Episodes #13 and #14 of Thousand Year Blood War Part 3 revealed that Uryu, despite appearances, has been working behind the scenes to defeat Quincy and Yhwach, and that he, for some reason, believes he is the only one capable of defeating the tyrant. He encouraged Ichigo's group to return to the world of the living, but it was soon revealed that Haschwalth had been expecting his betrayal, thanks to the Almighty's foresight, and had already rendered this escape route unusable. Uryu agreed to hold Haschwalth while Ichigo's group tried to kill Yhwach while he slept.
Uryu's Auswahlen Scene Explained
What happened to Uryu during Yhwach's first Auswahlen?
About nine years before the present day Thousand Year Blood WarYhwach initiated Auswahlen, a technique he can use that draws power from all Quincy around him, often killing them in the process. To help recover from the injuries he suffered in the war a thousand years earlier, Yhwach initiated an Earth-wide Auswahlen, killing all Quincy who were not purebloods - except Uryu.. It is known that although Uryu's father, Ryuken Ishida, was a full-blooded Quincy, his mother was not, and therefore neither is Uryu himself. Why did only Uryu survive?
Uryu's situation during Auswahlen was never very clear. One could guess why he survived - perhaps he was too young to display Quincy powers, leaving nothing for Yhwach to take from him, for example - but the fact is that Uryu is the only mixed Quincy known to have survived. However, the final episodes of part 3 add a new scene, which shows a child Uryu and a maid falling victim to the Auswahlen, while his mother is apparently unaffected. The scene then cuts to young Uryu standing before his mother's grave, with him somehow surviving while she does not.
How did Uryu survive the Auswahlen?
There are many possible reasons for Uryu's survival
The scene has generated many interpretations from fans, hoping to reveal the secrets that the scene must be hinting at. Some fans have speculated that Uryu's mother did something to sacrifice herself in Uryu's place, though it's unclear exactly what that could be. Others have proposed that Uryu actually made unconscious use of his power Schrift, the Antithesis, to reflect the effects of Auswahlen upon himself and his mother.. Some fans have even suggested that Uryu's mother used the Antithesis to transfer the effects of Auswahlen to herself.
Some fans may argue that Uryu would not have had access to the Antithesis as a child, but there are a few characters who displayed Schrift powers before they were granted by Yhwach: specifically, Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie, two of Yhwach's elite soldiers. Yhwach also sought out Jugram Haschwalth for powers he already possessed before their encounter. It's not impossible that Uryu (or his mother) had some kind of special ability without coming into contact with Ywhach, and that this ability may have protected Uryu from the Auswahlen.
Whatever the case, the scene was definitely designed to create a mystery and remind fans that we still don't know why Uryu survived Yhwach's Auswahlen. This is never addressed in the manga, but it could become a key element of Part 4, which many fans hope will have substantial new content additions that weren't in the manga. The fact that Uryu was apparently affected by the Auswahlen, but survived, is extremely noteworthy - it's not like he was simply untouched, like his father and other pure-blooded Quincy were.
Hopefully Part 4 of Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War will help illuminate this situation, and this information could even influence Yhwach's eventual defeat, especially since Auswahlen is already tied to how Yhwach is defeated in the manga. Uryu even says that his blood could be essential to defeating Yhwach, so perhaps this was meant in a less literal way, and it's an inherited ability he's referring to. It is certainly interesting that the fate of Uryu's mother, nine years earlier, was so essential to defeating Bleach: Thousand Year Blood Warof the biggest villain, revealing how his fate may already be sealed.