Bleach: Why Was Ichibei Holding the Soul King in His Arms? Is Ichibei the True Soul King?

We all know that Kubo never had the time to explore the history of the Soul King and the origins of his world because the manga was cut short at the time, so many moments were left out of the final story. But the Can’t Fear Your Own World sequel light novel expanded on that and, recently, the anime. In Episode 24, after many earlier hints, we finally find out more about Ichibei’s role in the past, and this article will explain that scene.

Ichibei is not the true Soul King; the Soul King is the entity sealed within the Palace. But Ichibei Hyosube has been around for a long time, and he is closely tied to the origins of the Soul King and his story in the series. The scene shows that Ichibei was the one who took care of the Soul King after the five Nobles had disembodied him and that he was responsible for sealing him. This scene is completely in line with the light novel, which sees Ichibei doing the same thing to the “new” Soul King, so it can be said that as “the Balancer,” Ichibei is responsible for taking care of the Soul King and balancing out the realms.

The rest of this article will go back to the history of the world of Bleach, as we will discuss Ichibei’s role in the history of the Soul King. The scene from Episode 24 gave us – albeit once again a very blurry one – the best look into what happened in the past, and in this article, we are going to explain everything to you. Of course, we must warn you that this article will have numerous spoilers, so be careful how you approach it.

No, Ichibei is not the true Soul King

Sadly, due to the manga being rushed in the end, Tite Kubo never really got to explore his world’s history properly. Many questions were left unanswered, some were only hinted at, but all in all, the story of Bleach was never completed in a way that Kubo wanted it to be completed. We know why, so it makes things a bit easier to understand, but still…

The sequel light novel, Can’t Fear Your Own World, expanded a bit on that story and revealed more details about the Soul King’s past, which were later confirmed to be canon. On top of that, the ongoing anime adaptation of the final arc also included numerous never-before-seen scenes not in the original manga, which expanded on the history of the world of Bleach and, especially, the Soul King.

We have already discussed Irazusando and some details, and in this article, it is time to analyze the scene from Episode 24, which is closely related to Ichibei. But first, let us see how the Soul King came to be in the first place.

The story goes like this. Millions of years ago, the Soul King managed to balance out the world, which was one primordial mass without the realms. People who did not fear death inhabited that world, but evil spirits, the Hollows, started appearing. When they evolved, the Soul King “appeared” and destroyed them, thereby balancing out the world and becoming its deity, in a way.

Among the special beings born at the time were the five Noble Families‘ five ancestors and Ichibei Hyosube, to whom the Soul King bestowed the title of the “Monk Who Calls the Real Name” and the power to name things.

However, the five ancestors were not satisfied with such a world, and at one point, they decided to seal the Soul King to create a world of their own. Now, although the Soul King was cooperative, they still did not trust him, so they mutilated him, cutting off his limbs and tearing out his organs to ensure he wasn’t a threat to them. They used their new powers to create Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living (the origins of Hell are still unknown).

In that new world, Ichibei, who is seemingly unquestionably loyal to the Noble Families, was left with the task of taking care of what was left of the Soul King, so he sealed him away and guarded him, who has – in such a state – been maintaining the balance between the three realms.

Ichibei knows much more than he lets on, and while his own personal goals were never explained, he seems to be driven only by his loyalty to the original cause and will do anything, whatever it takes, to maintain it. He shows absolutely no empathy towards others (almost like a sociopath, although he is not evil) and would sacrifice even Ichigo to maintain the balance of the realms.

So, in light of these facts, we return back to Episode 24. After Yhwach refused Ichibei’s proposal for a non-aggression pact, Ichibei decided to show him the truth. He activated the Left Arm of the Soul King, which was in his possession at the time (yes, it’s Pernida), and then showed Yhwach several scenes that explained what happened to his father; after observing them, Yhwach called his father disgusting and only a shadow of himself.

So, what did the scenes show us? Well, they were as blurry and fragmented as the scenes shown during Ichigo’s training, but there was a very specific shot of a sinister silhouette of Ichibei holding a mutilated Soul King in his hand like a parent holds a hurt child or someone holds a dying person. It was only for a moment, but it raised many questions.

We can immediately exclude the possibility of Ichibei killing the Soul King and taking his place, as we know what exactly happened. This scene shows us how Ichibei was given the corpse of the Soul King, what was left of it, to take care of it, and it is in line with everything that has been said in the light novel. Ichibei was actually the caretaker and guardian of the poor Soul King, and after accepting him in such a condition, he sealed him away and has been taking care of him ever since.

Of course, this was not out of pure altruism, as Ichibei did not have such emotions, but because he was tasked with doing it by the Five Nobles and because he had to use the Soul King to maintain the balance on the grandest scale imaginable. If you want proof of this, just read the light novel, where you will see how Ichibei restored the Soul King after Yhwach’s defeat.