"I told you. I came here to stop you and protect everything."
One of many lines that is a repetition, and each time I was like :O. And then at a crucial moment, Uryu appears. He says little and turns his bow on his closest friends and comrades, proclaiming that he will not show mercy. Ichigo refuses to believe this so easily and tests him, and the music, like always, comes in at the perfect moment.
How could he be doing this? With no warning, no explanation? But the answer given is warning and explanation enough.
"Because I am a Quincy."
The utter weight of this line! So obvious, so self-evident, and still, so unbelievably shocking! It's something Uryu has often said; it's what has always differentiated him from most of those around him. So of course it's well known and understood. But for him to say it now means something else altogether. For such a simple idea to suddenly carry a new meaning, one that is charged to the utmost with malice and belligerence, is almost frightening to witness.
Uryu and Ichigo's battle is interesting for how they test each other, and how many different facets it has. And this is their first fight since the very beginning! Ichigo fights, like always, with his feelings on full display. He can't attack directly, and keeps hoping to make sense of what is an endlessly vexing situation. But Uryu is fighting on multiple fronts. He has to fool Ichigo and all his friends, but he also has to fool Yhwach and his fellow Quincies. So he has to ultimately fool himself if he hopes for his ploy to work. If anyone could do such a thing, it's Uryu. Ichigo would fail so miserably hard in his place. But Uryu seems to channel his frustration and determination into the act.
But he can't go far enough. He attacks, but then leaves himself open. He waits for the counter, and it seems that he is hoping to be hit to atone for his deceit. Of course it never comes since Ichigo would never deliver such a thing to the full. So he forces Uryu to continue, Uryu says:
"There is no need for shinigami in this world!"
I could hear his angst. Sugiyama does a masterful job in this one line. It could so easily be interpreted as a demonstration of blood lust, and this must be what Ichigo hears. But at the same time it sounds so desperate, as though he is uttering a confession. He's inflecting something he doesn't believe with every modicum of his energy, almost like he needs to declare it openly in order to perform his Vollständig against his friend.
No show that I've never seen in my life has done a better job with its title cards than Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War. The placement, the timing, the effect; everything about it is always so considered, but so direct! And this one was somehow above the already high standard.
"The Betrayer"
Haschwalth looks down on Uryu, doubting him, but not having enough reason to denounce him. He did just beat someone who took down base Yhwach after all. And how is it that it took me until the fourth time I watched this episode to realize how splicing the title card with Uryu and Haschwalth's image foreshadows Uryu's betrayal of the Quincies? I feel like an idiot!!