Highlights
- Aizen’s grand scheme involved secret research, manipulating events, and ascending to become the Soul King.
- Aizen’s manipulation of events led to Ichigo’s arrival in the Soul Society and the stealing of the Hogyoku.
- Despite his grand plan, Aizen’s ambition was outwitted by the strength of will and unity of his enemies.
Sosuke Aizen was one of the most cunning and deceptive villains in the Soul Society. As the captain of the 5th Division, he hid his true nature and ambitions behind a calm and scholarly facade. Over many decades, Aizen worked to further his own goals and eventually place himself above all others in the Bleach universe through careful planning and manipulation from within the Gotei 13.
Aizen devoted a long period of his life to crafting a calculated scheme to achieve absolute dominance. Using his leadership position and Zanpakuto’s powers of illusion, he was able to operate in secret for years. But what exactly was Aizen’s “grand plan” from beginning to end, and how did he execute each phase with such calculated precision?
Aizen’s Secret Research Sets Things Up 100 Years Before Bleach Starts
It all started with Aizen’s secret research, well over a hundred years before the main Bleach story. As a young and talented Shinigami, Aizen turned his scholarly mind to exploring the mysterious boundary between hollows and soul reapers. Through experimentation and invention, he devised a small yet potent mystical sphere called the Hogyoku that had the potential to lend Hollow powers to Shinigami and allow Hollows to shed their masks.
However, Aizen’s Hogyoku failed to yield the results he wanted from creating Shinigami-Hollow hybrids. Meanwhile, Kisuke Urahara had succeeded where Aizen initially failed, crafting a fully-functional Hogyoku through his own research. Despite this setback, Aizen’s ambitions to expand the boundaries of spiritual power had taken root, driving him to continue his experiments in secret.
The Hollowfication Experiment Rocks the Soul Society
It was around this time that Aizen’s deceptive nature began to truly emerge. As lieutenant of Squad 5 under Captain Shinji Hirako, Aizen took the opportunity to conduct secret experiments by placing a proxy in his place using his Shikai’s hypnotic abilities. In a shocking incident, Aizen turned several high-ranking Shinigami, like the Visored captains, into Hollows against their will in what became known as the “Hollowfication Experiment.”
While Kisuke Urahara was framed for this atrocity, Aizen had begun manipulating events from the shadows. Although he hit another dead end when the experimental Hollows proved too weak for his designs, Aizen now had his eyes set on stealing the perfected Hogyoku that Urahara had created and hid within Rukia Kuchiki. And so the scheming mastermind embarked on his grandest manipulation yet.
Aizen Arranges Ichigo’s Arrival
Through careful maneuvering, Aizen engineered nearly every pivotal event that led Ichigo Kurosaki to gain Soul Reaper powers from Rukia and storm the Soul Society to save her. He framed Rukia for giving her powers away and had her imprisoned and sentenced to execution, knowing Ichigo and others would intervene. With chaos erupting, Aizen murdered Central 46 and impersonated them to speed up Rukia’s death date.
When Ichigo and his allies arrived, Aizen feigned combat and “died” to thoroughly mislead everyone. But in truth, it was all part of planting the seeds for the Hogyoku to fall into his hands. And so when Rukia’s execution nearly commenced, Aizen materialized and stole the Hogyoku from within her without killing her. His machinations were paying off seamlessly.
Ascending in Hueco Mundo
After retreating to Hueco Mundo with Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen, Aizen continued experimenting with Hollows and Menos to create arrancar soldiers through strategic forced evolutions. By fusing with the Hogyoku, Aizen was able to vastly accelerate the growth and powers of arrancars like Ulquiorra Cifer. However, his goal was not immediately achieving the highest evolution for his arrancar army. Maintaining the arrancars’ strength kept the Gotei 13 preoccupied, as outlined in his grand plan.
Aizen’s true aim was to ascend and replace the Soul King. To achieve this, he needed to construct the legendary Ouken key to the Soul King’s realm. Aizen knew creating the Ouin was an arduous task, but one necessary to fulfill his ambition of ruling as the supreme being.
Luring Ichigo Into His Web
Through meticulous planning, Aizen coerced Espada Four Ulquiorra into kidnapping Orihime Inoue to ensure Ichigo’s anticipated arrival in Hueco Mundo. As expected, Ichigo and Soul Reaper allies came charging in and fought many Espada along the way. But their battles were merely playing directly into Aizen’s hands by thinning the numbers guarding Karakura Town.
Everything had been painstakingly prepared for Aizen’s next critical stage: invading the fake Karakura Town to create the Ouken and achieve his ultimate form. Ichigo and company scrambled to foil Aizen’s endgame, but they were still pieces on his chessboard as his grand plan reached its climax.
Aizen’s Grand Scheme Comes to a Head
Upon fully awakening the Hōgyoku’s power within himself, Aizen had achieved a transcendent state beyond that of a normal Shinigami, granting him immensely powerful abilities. Through cunning battle strategies and the use of his Zanpakutō’s ability, Kyōka Suigetsu, he was able to overwhelm Ichigo Kurosaki and his allies in Fake Karakura Town.
Through perseverance and teamwork combined with strategic interventions from Kisuke Urahara and the Visored, especially Shinji Hirako, Ichigo was able to push himself to new heights and eventually overwhelm Aizen in a cataclysmic final attack. However, Aizen’s megalomania and quest for dominance were too deeply ingrained to be swayed, even in defeat. Due to the immense danger he posed, Aizen was sealed within the Muken by the new Central 46 to be imprisoned for eternity, resolute in his delusions until the end.
A Genius Outmaneuvered by Willpower
Sosuke Aizen’s grand scheme was a titanic effort of deception, preparation, and manipulation spanning over a century. Fueled by an obsessive desire to usurp the Soul King’s role, Aizen thought of everything and nearly succeeded. However, through the growing strength of will within characters like Ichigo Kurosaki and the aid of stalwart souls like Urahara, who sought to correct past mistakes, Aizen’s ‘perfect’ calculus was outwitted in the gravest of contests.
Aizen’s desire for supreme power and control was simply no match for the resolve of those fighting to defend everything they held dear rather than gain absolute dominion. While a prodigious schemer and ambitious villain, Aizen still had much to learn about the true measure of one’s spirit that prevails through cooperation and courage over lonely tyranny. His master plan was ingenious, but no genius may triumph over united hearts in the Bleach universe.
Bleach is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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