Warning: The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, Episode 2, "The Separation", now available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
The second episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 was broadcast on the protagonist's birthday, but it was far from a happy one as the Quincies launch yet another surprise attack. This time; however, having stolen the Bankai of various Shinigami Captains, the Quincies have multiple tools in their arsenal, and only one order from Yhwach: leave no enemy alive.
The Quincies also reveal how they've been able to rebuild their forces over the past 1000 since the last war, as it turns out that they've been right under the Shinigami's noses all along. With several fights getting their start in this episode, this second installment of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War was an exciting continuation to the climactic arc of the BLEACH anime. Do the Shinigami have what it takes to defeat the shadows?
Shadows
Among the attacking unit are the Quincy Second-in-Command Jugram Haschwalth; Askin Nakk Le Vaar, the Sternritter assigned the schrift "D"; Bazz-B, who is assigned the schrift "H"; the robotic BG-9, assigned schrift "K" and the enigmatic Cang Du, schrift "I". Nakk Le Vaar emerges deep in the barracks of Squad 12, the department responsible for the research and development of spiritual tools, while Haschwalth visits Squad 1, explaining that Yhwach has no intention of letting a single Shinigami live. Working together with former Captain Urahara, the 12th Squad has been working throughout the Thousand-Year Blood War arc to figure out the mechanisms behind the Bankai plundering medallions, as well as the analysis of the enemy's abilities and reiatsu. As such, it was 12th Squad Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi who tried to get the various Captains and Vice-Captains to limit their use of their trump card. Needless to say, that didn't work.
BG-9 appears at the Omaeda mansion, ready to face-off against Soi Fon after stealing her Bankai in their last fight; while Hitsugaya finds himself having to keep his cool against the hotheaded Bazz-B, but lucky for the youngest Captain in the Gotei 13, he has Matsumoto to back him up. Nakk Le Vaar and Haschwalth explain to their respective opponents that the Quincies had never "invaded" Soul Society – they simply crossed the veil from their world that they constructed fully within the very shadows of the Soul Society. After the last war, they left the land of the living Effectively, the Quincy bided their time until they were ready to launch an attack. Their presence in Soul Society went undetected in the first attack due to the fact that they didn't have to cross the barrier to get in; they were there from the beginning. The only person in Soul Society who could have expected this development was none other than Mayuri Kurotsuchi himself, who emerges from a brightly-lit room within the Squad 12 barracks, dressed in a garb of pure light.
On The Precipice
Hitsugaya and Matsumoto's fight against Bazz-B, and Soi-Fon's battle against BG-9 get the spotlight in this episode as both Captains enter the fray for the first time since their defeat at the hands of the Quincies. Like Kurotsuchi, various other high-ranked officers of the Gotei 13 have developed new tools to help their side, like 1st Squad Lieutenant Nanao Ise's development of an anti-Quincy barrier, and Soi-Fon's mastery of the Shunko technique invented by Yoruichi Shihouin. Having seen Kurotsuchi's appearance, Nakk Le Vaar decides that he's not the opponent for him to face, attempting to lead him into his territory. Despite Kurotsuchi seeing through Nakk Le Vaar's attempt at trickery, the Quincy ominously reveals that all is still within the Quincy King's calculations. Despite being able to hold his own with Matsumoto's help in the beginning, Hitsugaya is soon overwhelmed by Bazz-B's heat, and Soi-Fon's mastery of Shunko is quickly oppressed by the suppressing fire of BG-9. Haschwalth tells Nanao that she should've made her handy new technique something that all Captains could use, otherwise they wouldn't be facing such certain death.
As Hitsugaya lies badly wounded, Cang Du, the Quincy who stole his Bankai arrives and reminds Bazz-B that it is Yhwach's will that the Shingami Captains are killed with their own Bankai, so he will be the one to finish him off. Kurotsuchi's acknowledgment of two vanished reiatsu signatures, those of Hitsugaya and Soi-Fon, suggests that the glimmer of hope that they could defeat their current enemy without their Bankai has very quickly vanished. The apparent sacrifices of two Captain-level Shinigami in this second episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War aren't without some kind of return as Urahara patches through to Kurotsuchi to tell him that he has finally completed the analysis of the medallions used to steal the Bankai in the previous cours. This episode, despite airing on Ichigo's birthday, only featured the series protagonist in a post-credits scene narrated by Hyosube. Ichigo is seen walking through the strange realm he entered in the previous episode, as an unknown weight bears down on him.
The Omen
"It begins, but it does not end. Names wither in the silence. In an abyss of rolling clouds. Raindrops fill an empty vessel. Those who are unworthy to become a vessel succumb to its weight as it turns to stone. It breaks apart and becomes gravel. Pounding rain reduces it to dust. For such a vessel, there is no way out. But if one does not enter, there is no path. Those who are about to perish call it...
Irazusando."
The post-credits narration is particularly eerie as Hyosube reads a scroll describing Ichigo's current situation. Faced with a shrine-like gate at the end of a tunnel, Ichigo advances but is soon afflicted by a mysterious sensation of heaviness. Hyosube's narration describes the becoming of a vessel of mysterious but vast power. "Irazu" means "without entry", while "sando" is the road approaching a shrine. Together, "irazusando" would translate to something "no entrance to the road of the shrine" – the unapproachable path. This is particularly ominous assuming the shrine itself is the point Ichigo needs to reach in order to gain the massive power that Kyoraku and the Seireitei reckon will make him unsuitable for return to the World of the Living. With more questions arising than answers despite some of the new developments, BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2 continues.