‘Bleach’: Is Sosuke Aizen Dead? What Happened to Him at the End of ‘Thousand-Year Blood War’?

Sōsuke Aizen will, despite everything, remain Bleach‘s most notable villain. The former Captain of the 5th Division, Aizen, actually had a megalomaniac goal to become a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid who would surpass even the Soul King in terms of power. That is why he conducted experiments with Hollows secretly before his betrayal of the Gotei 13 along with Tōsen and Ichimaru. But, while he was the main villain only in the Arrancar Saga, Aizen’s story is intriguing for everyone, both before and after. In this article, you will find out Aizen’s story from Bleach and his ultimate fate. He has been present throughout, and we have decided to summarize his story and tell you what happened to Bleach‘s most notable villain.

No, Sosuke Aizen is not dead in Bleach and is still imprisoned in the Muken. He was “killed” at the beginning of the story, but it turned out that he simply faked his own death to execute his evil plans. He was later almost killed by Yamamoto and Ichigo, but he eventually survived and was trapped thanks to Urahara’s trick. He was later imprisoned in the Muken and was released during the Quincy Blood War, where he was, again, almost killed by Yhwach, but he managed to survive this battle as well and was re-imprisoned in the Muken after the battle.

The rest of this article will be about Sosuke Aizen, his backstory, and his role in the world of Kubo’s Bleach series. We will introduce you to his history and tell you what exactly happened to him, how he developed as a character, and tell you where Sosuke Aizen is now and what he is doing in the current narrative of the manga. This article will contain some spoilers, so if you’re not fully up-to-date with everything, you have been warned.

Sosuke Aizen is not dead in Bleach, despite being the series’ most notable villain

When he was first introduced to the story, Sosuke Aizen was the benevolent Captain of the 5th Division. He seemed to be calm, intelligent, and quite caring; he also seemed to be loved by everyone and was not antagonistic to Ichigo and his group when they broke into Soul Society.

His Lieutenant, Momo Hinamori, had a very high opinion of him. On the other hand, he seemed to be aware that Captain Gin Ichimaru of the 3rd Division was up to something. Then, one morning, Captain Aizen was found dead, his body pierced and left on the wall of a building in the Seireitei. Captain Ichimaru was the primary suspect, but no one had any evidence, and soon after, a note written by Aizen himself was left, implicating Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of the 10th Division, in the murder.

And while the death of Sosuke Aizen caused a rift among the Gotei 13, more strange things began happening, and it soon became apparent that Aizen was alive and a traitor. Along with Captains Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen of the 9th Division, Aizen came up with a horrible plan more than a century ago. He wanted to surpass the powers of a regular Shinigami and become god, wanting to take down even the Soul King himself.

As it turned out later, he began experimenting with Hollowfication, a process that would turn a Shinigami into a Hollow or a hybrid, as he thought that combining the powers of a Shinigami and a Hollow would be beneficial and that it should be done in order to increase the powers of a regular Shinigami. At that point, he caused the Hollowfication of several former Captains and Lieutenants, who would later become the Visored, as well as the Hollowfication of Ichigo’s mother, Masaki, which was stopped thanks to then-Captain Isshin Shiba’s sacrifice.

After being revealed as a traitor and a villain, Sosuke Aizen left for Hueco Mundo, where he prepared an Arrancar army to fight the Gotei 13. The decisive battle took place in Fake Karakura Town, as Aizen needed the real Karakura in order to create the Oken, the only way to reach the Soul King’s Palace, so the Gotei 13 created a replica with Urahara’s help and faced Aizen there.

His first major battle was against Yamamoto, and had he not taken precautions, he himself admitted that the Captain-Commander would have killed him, as he was more powerful. But Aizen used tricks, and he managed to win that one, although he failed to kill Yamamoto.

Later, he had a relatively challenging fight against Isshin, Urahara, and Yoruichi, but he defeated them because he successfully merged with the Hogyoku, although it was at this moment that he was ultimately struck with Urahara’s secret Kido, which would prove to be important later on.

As they reached the real Karakura in Soul Society, Aizen was betrayed by Ichimaru, who took the Hogyoku off of him and seemingly killed him, but the merger had been so advanced that point that Aizen only seemed to have been killed and then came back, killing Ichimaru. This was when Ichigo arrived.

Ichigo had, not long before, learned how to use his final Getsuga Tensho, a move that would defeat Aizen, but would also strip Ichigo of all of his powers and abilities. In a great battle, Ichigo surpassed Aizen with ease, and although he could not fully defeat or kill him, he wakened him enough for Urahara’s secret Kido to activate itself and seal Aizen. He was then sentenced by the Central 46 to several thousand years in the Muken prison, where his powers were sealed away using special restraints.

When Yhwach invaded Soul Society, Aizen was described as one of the five special threats (along with Ichigo, Urahara, Kenpachi, and Ichibei). Yhwach visited him in the Muken and offered to free him if he joined him, which Aizen rejected. He also messed up Yhwach’s sense of time despite being sealed and despite Yhwach being extremely powerful.

As Yamamoto was killed, Kyoraku replaced him as the new Captain-Commander and would later release Aizen from the Mukan so that he could help them. Aizen was still restrained, but Yhwach would later free him from these restraints, once again offering him the chance to join him.

Aizen then told him there was no chance he would join a Quincy, showing his pride as a Shinigami. And although he claimed that Soul Society was still his for the taking, he challenged Yhwach and helped Ichigo fight him. Their combined powers were enough to defeat Yhwach, although Aizen was also severely injured in this battle.

After Yhwach’s defeat, he was healed and once again imprisoned down in the Muken. We would see him again ten years later as he pondered Yhwach’s defeat as the last remaining traces of Quincy’s spiritual pressure finally disappeared from existence. As far as it is known, he is still alive two years later in the special “NO BREATHES FROM HELL” chapter in the series.