The following contains spoilers for Episode 2 of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War “Foundation Stones,” now streaming on Hulu & Disney+.
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s much anticipated second episode couldn’t have come sooner for fans. The second episode, Foundation Stones, reveals the complicated connection between Hueco Mundo’s Arrancars and The Quincy’s Wandenreich.
As a quick recap, episode one of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, The Blood Warfare, introduced the audience to brand-new characters such as the Soul Reaper squad members, Shino Madarame and Ryunosuke Yuki, as well as brand-new antagonists, the King of The Quincy, Yhwach, and members of The Wandenreich, Asguiaro Ebern and Luders Friegen. In addition to new characters, mysterious technological devices are introduced such as the Medallion and the Shadow that aid in stealing Bankai and teleporting Wandenreich members.
The Fate of Luders and Ebern
At the end of episode one, the King of Quincy, Yhwach, slices off the right arm of his subordinate, Luders Friegen, after he complains about Ebern’s failure to defeat Kurosaki Ichigo. The start of episode two continues the conversation between Yhwach and Luders leading to Luders’ decapitation. After Yhwach compliments Ebern’s success in stalling Ichigo for as long as he did, Ebern is also slaughtered by him.
These two deaths come as a shock to anime-only watchers, as Ebern and Luders are set up in the first episode to be quite formidable opponents to Ichigo and potential antagonists for the season. These scenes, however, are not just for shock value, as later on in the episode, it is revealed that Yhwach has been using Arrancars from Hueco Mundo as the front-line members of The Wandenreich. As speculated, Ebern and Luders turn out to be two of these enlisted Arrancars, and their deaths serve as a reminder of how much The Quincy despises Hollows and Arrancars.
The Fate of Lieutenant Sasakibe
In episode one, the Squad One barracks are attacked by a seven-person group called The Wandenreich. In episode two, Ryunosuke receives a phone call from his Soul Phone, and he turns the volume up loud enough for Ichigo and his group to also hear the message. One of Mayuri Kurotschi’s subordinates in the Research and Development Center relays to all Soul Society squad members that fifty-seven minutes prior to his announcement, the unidentified group attacked the Head Captain’s office and fatally-wounded Lieutenant Sasakibe leading to his subsequent death.
Some more important information is reported revealing that the group of attackers who entered and exited Soul Society used an unknown route. During the same time, one unidentified intruder slaughtered all 116 of Squad One’s Soul Reapers in a 182-second battle at Kokuryo Gate. With the high death count and decimation of Squad One of the Gotei 13, Soul Society is on high alert. After a meeting between the Captains of the Gotei 13 concludes, a cremation ceremony is held in honor of Lieutenant Sasakibe. His death is harrowing, as he was a loyal subordinate of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, serving him for over a hundred years.
The Fate of the Arrancars
Falling from the sky, Ichigo is tackled by Nel Tu, a former Arrancar, and member of Aizen’s Espada. Arriving with her is Pesche, one of Nel’s brothers and protectors. After their initial reunion is over, Pesche implores Ichigo to save his friend, Dondochakka, who was captured by The Quincy during their takeover of Hueco Mundo. During a flashback, it is revealed that the current ruler of Hueco Mundo, Lady Tier Harribel, has been taken captive by Yhwach and that the other inhabitants of Hueco Mundo have either been slaughtered or enlisted into his army.
Even though the Arrancars were one of the main antagonists in the original Bleach series, Ichigo doesn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand to save them. Ishida, a member of The Quincy, tells Ichigo that he can’t help him as Hollows and Arrancars are his natural enemies. With the arrival of his mentor, Kisuke Urahara, Ichigo, and his friends, excluding Ishida, go through the Garganta to get to Hueco Mundo. When they arrive, the situation is exactly as Pesche has described. The land of Hueco Mundo is filled with the dead bodies of Arrancars and the remaining survivors are taken as slaves to either be enlisted in Yhwach’s army or to be slaughtered.
The Fate of Tres Bestias
During the one-sided slaughter of the Arrancar survivors, a three-person team called the Tres Bestias of the Espada, who worked as Aizen’s subordinates during the main Bleach series, arrives and defeats the lackeys of Quilge Opie (or, Sternritter J), the executive hunting commander of The Quincy. Unfortunately, the three of them prove to be not strong enough to win against Sternritter J. And by the time Ichigo arrives on the scene, the bodies of Tres Bestias are scattered among the rubble. The episode, however, doesn’t confirm or deny their deaths, so hopefully, episode three will reveal whether they survived the battle or not.
The Espada, as Aizen’s aides in the fight against Ichigo and Soul Society, was a group of powerful Arrancar fighters who had an entire story arc dedicated to them in the original series. Although only three of them showed up to fight in this episode, Sternritter J’s complete dominance over them in terms of sheer strength strongly suggests that Ichigo’s current skills may not be enough to fight against him or the rest of the core members of The Wandenreich.
In terms of the main conflict, episode two of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War confirmed that the masked intruders calling themselves The Wandenreich are actually the thought-to-be extinct members of The Quincy. Additionally, it is established that Yhwach has some plans involving Hueco Mundo’s Arrancars, specifically its ruler, Lady Tier Harribel; although, there was no indication of what that might be in this episode. Likewise, the ending of this episode alludes to a fight between Sternritter J and Ichigo which could lead to another training arc for Ichigo to get stronger to fight The Wandenreich. Finally, similar to episode one, the studio continues to produce stunning artwork and smooth transitions.
