Bleach/Reality of the Despair, the Assassin's Dagger is Swung

Reality of the Despair, the Assassin's Dagger is Swung
Season 3, Episode 19
Airdate	December 6, 2005
Production Number	60
Written by	Genki Yoshimura Masahiro Okubo Masashi Sogo Michiko Yokote Natsuko Takahashi Rika Nakase
Directed by	Noriyuki Abe
← 3x18 Conclusion of the Death Match! White Pride and Black Desire	3x20 → Aizen Stands! Horrible Ambitions
Bleach — Season Three

Reality of the Despair, the Assassin's Dagger is Swung is the nineteenth episode of the third season of Bleach, and the sixtieth episode overall.

Co-Stars: Steve Staley (Toshiro Hitsugaya), Megan Hollingshead (Rangiku Matsumoto), Grant George (Izuru Kira), Peggy O'Neal (Momo Hinamori), Doug Erholtz (Gin Ichimaru), Kyle Hebert (Sosuke Aizen), Kate Higgins (Retsu Unohona), Jeannie Elias (Kiyone Kotetsu), Wally Wingert (Renji Abarai)

Plot Overview

In the Central Office of 46, Toshiro and Rangiku hope to get to the bottom of Aizen's assassination and its connections to Rukia's execution. The two break through the automatic emergency locks and rush inside only to find everyone long dead. He realizes that they must have been killed after the emergency wartime procedures were put in place and that all communications thereafter were fakes. While considering the situation, Kira speaks to them from a staircase and flees up the stairs an out of the room office. They give chase, but Kira claims that he was let in by the office itself. He also suggests that Toshiro tend to Momo before she gets hurt. Toshiro leaves Rangiku to deal with Kira, who suddenly stops to fight with her. He uses a particular technique to make her blade so heavy that she won't be able to follow him, but her unsealed sword's first form dissipates the blade.

Back at the office, Momo has discovered the murder scene for herself and finds herself unsure of whether or not she's been fighting the right man. Ichimaru appears behind her and takes her inside to the towers where he tells her that he wanted to show her something or, more appropriately, someone. Captain Aizen apparently isn't dead. He apologizes for faking his death to get her to do something for him and then, which she least expects it, runs her through on his sword. It quickly becomes apparent that Aizen may have been the one who assassinated everyone in the court.

Toshiro arrives at the towers quickly enough to catch Aizen and Ichimaru leaving the scene of the crime, which Aizen freely admits was his doing. He tells Toshiro that his outside appearances were all a show and that he was always in league with Ichimaru. Aizen provokes Toshiro into attacking using his bankai, but his attempt to kill Aizen in one attack just leaves him hemorrhaging blood. Captain Unohana watches all of this happen in front of her and she accuses him of high treason. Aizen explains that his zanpakuto's abilities are of complete hypnosis, which is how he could fake his death and easily kill dozens. He explains that every time that he unseals his sword, everyone who sees it falls under his spell and is places under hypnosis every time he unseals again. For this reason, Captain Tosen has always been his subordinate. Tosen stops Renji as he's escaping and takes him back to the execution hill using what appears to be teleportation. Aizen and Ichimaru do the same and, when they get to the hill, Aizen demands that Renji step away from Rukia and allow him to finish his plan.