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Yhwach and Uryu Ishida in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
Yhwach and Uryu Ishida in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Bleach: Why Does Uryu Ishida Betray Ichigo to Join Yhwach?

Priya MajumdarBy Updated:5 Mins Read Anime

For the entirety of Bleach series, fans have seen Uryu Ishida assisting protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki and their mutual friends, including Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado, out on various missions involving the Soul Society. However, when viewers saw him going up against the very own people and friends he chose to protect in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, it raised some eyebrows.

Characters betraying their friends is slightly common in shonen series, and the greatest example of that being Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto who defected not only Konoha but also went against his best friend in pursuit of seeking vengeance. Uryu Ishida’s case was also treated as similar. But unlike Sasuke’s betrayal, Uryu’s going up against his friends felt sudden and off. So, was Uryu Ishida evil as he followed the footsteps of Yhwach, the Father of Quincy? The answer may seem complicated, but it’s not.

Note: This article contains spoilers from the Bleach manga and anime series.

Bleach’s Uryu Ishida family history has a great role to play in his allegiance towards the people he chose to fight for

To put it simply, Uryu Ishida is not evil, nor does he betray the trust of Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends. Thus, making him an ally of the same people. But as stated above, to probe into details about his step towards following Yhwach is a web of complications yet it seems like an obvious choice when taking into account his mother’s death and the Quincy extermination history.

How is Uryu Ishida’s mother’s death connected to Quincy extermination?

On June 17, nine years before the start of Bleach timeline when Ichigo met Shinigami Rukia, Yhwach conducted a sacrificial technique called Auswählen. The purpose was to take the powers of all the Quincy victims who he deemed “impure” and redistribute it among those who need it. Aside from Masaki Kurosaki, Katagiri Ishida, Uryu’s mother, became a victim of it since she was a Gemischt Quincy. She first lost consciousness on that specific day, and after three months, she eventually died. Her death happened due to the formation of Still Silver around her heart.

However, the death of Uryu’s mother was shrouded in mystery for the majority of the series. But in Bleach: TYBW, when Uryu Ishida goes through his family’s archives but Ryuken, his father, guides his son to his office (although he doesn’t say it) for him to discover a journal with the Wandereich insignia, which belonged to his grandfather, Soken Ishida. 

Aside from discovering Yhwach’s role in Auswählen, which killed his mother, he also gets to know about the Quincy extermination from 1000 and 200 years ago. However, reading up on all the history leaves him in a dilemma as he contrasts the Quincy and Shinigami history with the present situation and friendship with Ichigo Kurosaki.

What prompted Uryu Ishida to join Yhwach’s Wandenreich in Bleach: TYBW?

After Jugram Haschwalth scouts Uryu and invites him to Yhwach’s palace, the Father of Quincies welcomes him and later on makes him his successor. Uryu then explains how he believed his grandfather’s words from his journal that Shinigami and Quincies are always meant to be at odds with each other, which is why he severed all ties with his friends to join Wandenreich and end Soul Society.

Sometime later, when Uryu goes to visit Yhwach’s room, he is confronted by Haschwalth, who tells him that all the Quincies get connected to Yhwach during the Schrift. As such, upon drinking his blood to acquire his power by a Quincy, Yhwach carves a letter onto their soul. Uryu is then pinned to the wall by Haschwalth, who reveals that he knows Uryu’s intentions to join the Wandenreich to avenge his mother’s death, but he still continues to assist the Quincies in their battle. He even launches attacks on his friends to convince the Sternritters of his allegiance. 

However, Ichigo remains under the impression that his friend has gone against them. Following Yhwach’s absorption of the Soul King, Uryu Ishida’s loyalty is tested once again as Haschwalth asks him about Wahrwelt, which he denies knowing about. But as Ichigo, Orihime, and Yasutora attack him, Haschwalth orders him to kill them. During the fight, he offers to send his friends back to the human world since defeating Yhwach is close to impossible. 

Unfortunately, Haschwalth sees through his plan and destroys the Sun Gate leading to the human world and attacks Uryu. As the conflict rages on, both of them use their Schrift to turn the tide of the battle in their favor, but both of them end up being fatally injured. At the conclusion of his fight with Haschwalth, he notes that taking the situation into consideration, it is only justifiable for him to follow Ichigo’s lead because he was Uryu’s friend. At the last minute, Haschwalth even aids Uryu by transferring his wounds upon himself.

Later on, assisting Ichigo and his friends, he goes against Yhwach and attacks him. After a gruelling fight, Ichigo is able to defeat the Father of Quincies, sealing the victory for the Shinigami’s and helping Ryuken and Uryu Ishida avenge Katagiri’s death. Thus, to reiterate once again, Uryu never planned to go against the Shinigamis despite acknowledging the conflict between Quincies and them. Besides, he is loyal to a fault to his friends, so entering the Wandenreich was just him playing the part of the spy so as to gain intel on Yhwach and finish him. 

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Priya is an anime lover and writer at GamesHorizon. A graduate from EFL University, she is deeply interested in anything remotely anime, manga, and fan culture. In her free time, she likes to draw, cook, visit cafes, and read fanfiction on a variety of anime fandoms' ships.