Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War It’s been an exciting conflict between Quincy and Soul Reapers, but there’s one aspect of the story that leaves some fans scratching their heads. The Quincy wanted to exterminate the Soul Reapers, but allowed a powerful weapon to go unused in their war against Soul Society.
The Quincy in Thousand Year Blood War are a massive force equipped with some incredible powers of their own, from their Vollstandig to the Schrift abilities granted to them by Yhwach. However, the beginning of the arc sees the Quincy attacking Soul Society with an explicit goal: steal the Bankai from as many Soul Reaper captains as they can. The Quincy manage to steal some Bankai from powerful figures, including Genryusai Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto’s Bankai, one of the most powerful abilities in the world of Bleach.
Quincy’s stolen Bankai were underused
Although they deprived the Soul Reapers of their power, they did not use most of their Bankai against them.
In their first attack on Soul Society, the Quincy managed to steal six Bankai using special medallions created by Yhwach.. This was still a huge advantage in the second invasion, depriving the Soul Reapers of their ultimate abilities and putting them at a severe disadvantage. However, relatively few of these Bankai were actually used against Soul Reapers by the Quincy, who apparently preferred to use their own abilities.
Byakuya’s Senbonzakura Kageyoshi is used against him immediately during the first invasion, but is not used in the second invasion. Hitsguaya’s Daiguren Hyourinmaru is used against him during both invasions, but he is the only one. Komamura and Sui Feng’s Bankai is never used by the Quincy despite being stolen, while Chojiro’s Koko Gonryo Rikyu is used against Yamamoto during the first invasion, but the Quincy who stole it is killed. And then, of course, there’s Yamamoto’s Bankai, Zanka no Tachi.
The Quincy never used the Soul Reaper’s greatest weapon against them
Yamamoto’s Bankai Could Have Devastated Soul Society
Chief Captain Yamamoto’s Bankai is the most powerful of all 13 Court Guard Squads and generates sun-level heat, threatening to burn the Seireitei if he uses it for too long.. It’s an incredible level of power, and Yhwach managed to steal it from him. However, despite insisting that he is the only one powerful enough to make use of it, Yhwach never uses Zanka no Tachi against the Soul Reapers.
No reason was given why Yhwach didn’t make use of this power after going to the trouble of stealing it. Yhwach keeps the medallion with Yamamoto’s Bankai on him and eagle-eyed fans have noticed that the medallion along with the rest of Yhwach’s clothes were covered in Ichibe Hyosube’s black paint during the fight potentially stealing his power and erasing Zanka no Tachi from existence. This may explain why Yhwach doesn’t use Bankai after this point, but there were several opportunities to put it to use before going to the Soul King’s Palace that he never took advantage of.
It is possible that, like many of his subordinates, Yhwach simply found it distasteful to use the power of a Soul Reaper, no matter the circumstances. However, this raises the question of why he bothered stealing it, especially since Yamamoto was practically defeated when the Bankai was stolen. He could have just let Yamamoto’s ability die with him. It could have simply been caution, as Yhwach didn’t want to risk underestimating his opponent, especially since Yamamoto obviously tried to pull Yhwach’s Bankai when he appeared.
It may have just been a moment of extreme cruelty, letting Yamamoto know that his power was no longer his and that he was completely helpless when he died. After all, “Crushing the captains’ hope” was an explicit goal of Yhwach’s, and Yhwach had a particular grudge against Yamamoto after their last encounter 1,000 years ago. Yhwach may have kept Yamamoto’s medallion as a reminder of his victory as well, though even that doesn’t make much sense considering Yhwach’s plans to rewrite the fabric of reality.
The mystery of why the stolen Bankai are so underused is likely due to the writing of the story; perhaps the stolen Bankai was originally intended to play a much larger role, but that was changed at some point. Whatever the case, the Bankai stolen from Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War they were a powerful weapon that Quincy could have used much better than they could.