Warning: Contains spoilers for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War episode #27One of the biggest draws to Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has been the multitude of changes to the source material. Series creator Tite Kubo reportedly suffered numerous health issues while writing the original arc, which forced a lot of ideas to be cut for time, and those ideas are now presenting themselves in the anime for a much richer experience for old and new fans alike.

So far, the only major changes to Bleach’s story have been some expanded fights and new dialogue and flashbacks to flesh out the lore, but Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3, “The Conflict”, is already doing far more in that regard. Part 3’s premiere continued Senjumaru’s battle against the Schutzstaffel, and surprisingly, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is heavily implied to have given Uryu a major power-up that could completely change his character. The power-up could explain a lot about Uryu’s character, and more importantly, it could lead to the anime giving him a much better showing than the manga.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Hints At The True Nature Of Uryu’s Character

Uryu Has the Eyes of a True Quincy

In Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War part 3’s premiere, when Yhwach activated The Almighty, the Schutzstaffel all received another boost in power that Uryu used to break out of Senjumaru’s Bankai, and several times during their fight, Uryu’s eyes would suddenly turn the same shade of red as Yhwach’s eyes. Yhwach refers to The Almighty as the eyes of a true Quincy, something likely connected to his father, the Soul King, so Uryu’s mysterious red eyes could hint at him having the potential to be a new Soul King.

Nothing like that was ever even suggested in the manga, but the framing of things in the anime provides a lot of for it. The reveal of The Almighty and Haschwalth’s explanation of it was immediately followed by Uryu suddenly having red eyes, with Senjumaru even wondering if Yhwach’s awakening made him develop new powers, so all the new changes to Uryu are all but stated to be directly tied to The Almighty. Whether that’s a sign of Uryu being a potential Soul King is unclear, but ideally, the Bleach anime will be quick to explain what’s going on.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s New Twist Explains Uryu’s Biggest Mystery

The Manga Never Explained Why Uryu Survived Yhwach's Purge

Uryu being a potential Soul King could also explain the biggest mystery about him that Bleach left unanswered. When Uryu first ed the Wandenreich, Yhwach mentioned how it was a big deal that he survived the Auswählen when it had killed every other Gemischt Quincy, but the series ended without explaining why that happened. Now, though, it might be that Uryu survived the Auswählen because he was a potential Soul King like Yhwach, and if so, it would also explain why Yhwach both named Uryu his successor and made his Schrift the letter “A” like The Almighty.

That makes even more sense when taking Haschwalth into . Haschwalth was made Yhwach’s second-in-command because he was also born with the power to share spiritual power, and that eventually led to Yhwach sharing The Almighty with Haschwalth to keep it under control while he was sleeping. Haschwalth is also meant to be a foil to Uryu, so with that in mind, Haschwalth’s relationship with Yhwach and The Almighty could be another hint at Uryu being a potential Soul King, all of which would make their conflict even better to see play out.

Bleach’s New Twist Can Save Uryu Where The Manga Failed

Bleach's New Anime Can Do Uryu Justice

Uryu being a potential Soul King can completely shake up how Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War will go, and it can even give Uryu a much better showing than the manga. The final events of Bleach didn’t focus much on Uryu outside the conclusion of his character arc and his contribution to Yhwach’s defeat, which comes across as the story wasting his potential as a character. Now, however, Uryu being a potential Soul King could lead to him having a bigger part in the story’s final act, and that could provide a more satisfying conclusion to his story than the manga.

An expanded role for Uryu in the final act could also lead to a better conclusion to his conflict with Ichigo. Despite all the focus given to their conflict, Ichigo and Uryu don’t interact that much in the final arc, but Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War could use Uryu’s new story to expand on his conflict with Ichigo for a more satisfying conclusion. Overall, Uryu’s new development promises a lot for Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, going forward, and it will be great to see how it plays out.