According to the poll I released not too long ago, the long-haired 'transcendent' form of Aizen's is the most popular with you guys - but how did you feel about the Hogyoku transformations in general? Was it a good endgame for Aizen?

Aizen's complete loss of control in the end both figuratively and literally shows what the effects of absolute power can do not just that state that shows the real inner monster within. It's the supreme counterpoint of Ichigo willingly sacrificing his own power to stop him. To be expected of such an egomaniac of Aizen's calibre.

That final form is criminally underrated. It’s a shame that such an amazing design was only around for a couple chapters.

I really like the final form of aizen. It was almost hollow like but still showing cues to getting close to the soul king since aizens wings look similar to the soul kings In that state. The "hollow" like transcendent being was a wonderful contrast to ichigos "soul reaper" like transcendent being even though ichigo in his mugestu state resembles yhwach.

Aizen was and will be a grand character..

I think he continued to evolve while in prison. In the TYBWA he was able to activate the effects of his zanpakuto without revealing his sword to Quincy Jesus, which means his body was one with his sword. I think becoming one with your blade was the next step in his evolutions because, as he was changing, his blade was physically merging with his body, but after inprisonment, it became one with his spirit.

I wonder if the inside of the "chrysalis" Aizen was inside had some sort of time-dilating effects. He comes out and not only is he significantly stronger, but his hair is much longer, very similarly to Dangai Ichigo's strength and hair when he finally catchers up to Aizen. Just a thought!

Aizen is continously gaining power in muken, i see people in the comments here saying that hes weaker then he was in monster state.. like wtf? SEALED Aizen threw out an incantation-less hado 90 lmao, besides he can actually merge with his kyoka suigetsu whenever now. Hes growing 24/7

The fact that Brave Souls doesn’t have a playable final-form Aizen is astonishing. It’s been 7 years bruh.

Aizen’s first new cocoon form is one of the coolest looks I’ve seen in anime. It’s so great to me.

I find it interesting that when Aizen was talking to Shinji about reliance he said it was for cowards. Yet he himself relies upon the Hogyoku to give him power, to give him his "transcendence" no matter how he tries to dress up his logic by saying he's the Hogyoku's master. He's still relying on another force to give him that power and it's pretty obvious that the Hogyoku was in control over him for most of that time

Honestly now with everything in perspective it's pretty hilarious that Ichigo can naturally do what Aizen needed the Hogyoku to do, transcending passed the barriers of the different races gaining strength without the weaknesses.

I always thought that Aizen's transcendence was much closer to hollowfication than he wanted to believe. Aside from the obvious visual clues, it was his change in personality that really felt "hollow like". Looking at Ichigo and Kaname, both seemed to take on completely different personas after they fully hollowfied.

Aizen was the revolutionary who couldn't get enough support to really change the world.

Kubo is a master of thematic consistency. Think about it. The hogyoku is made of countless numbers of souls but most importantly, it is made from fragments of the Soul King. In each stage of metamorphosis that Aizen undergoes, one thing is always consistent with the hogyoku (bar the monstrous transformation). The cross. These crosses appear on all forms of Aizen's transformations except for the last one. The cross is symbolic of the quincy race and the Soul King was essentially the first quincy. Had Urahara not interupted the metamorphosis multiple times, Aizen could have undergone a quincification so to speak, specifically noting the angelic wings that get pierced by Urahara's attack in that extra panel. Themes of angels and the divine being a notable motif of the sternritter in the TYBW arc. Not only that but the eyes. Aizen has a hidden third eye on his forehead in his butterflaizen form, which opens when he is backed into a corner by Ichigo. When he enters his monstrous form, his wings all have eyes on them, and it can be argued that his entire ebony black head is now the third eye, or as you put it the eye of the hogyoku. All the pieces of the Soul King, particularly the arms, are depicted with eyes, and to add to that, Yhwach's almighty is also themed with eyes. So in theory, Aizen should have undergone a quincification, but due to interruptions and the need to undergo responsive metamorphoses, he got corrupted along the way. Perhaps the hogyoku was trying to originally turn Aizen into a form similar to the original Soul King in the primordial world, but had to constantly compensate for Aizen's shortcomings and as a result it deviated too far from the ideal form Aizen should have become.

I always end up rewatching the episodes on topic of the video. These last fights of the arc were so good.

Love that last horrific form, just firing off bombs of energy and looking so eldritch and demonic, so sool! Great video as always

Aizen is more powerful in tybw, and it’s assumed he fused with his zanpaktou cause he puts ywach under kyoka suigetsu without having his blade out. Urahara after seeing him out of muken pretty much confirms he’s stronger than his hogyoku transformations as he saw the whole fight between him and ichigo.

Ill never forget watching his white form fight urahara, yoruichi and ishinn, that blew my mind

At first I would of said butterflizen was my favorite version because Butterfree is my favorite pokemon. But after we learned how Ichibei Hyōsube abilities worked I like the first evolution with the all white look kind of symbolizing that he is whipping away the restrictions of the name Aizen and moving beyond the powers of the Monk

Every aizen form is iconic and amazing

I like the parallel with cocoons that I don't know if most know. When a bug of any kind goes into one, it's not simply its body wrapped in something and changing. It completely and totally breaks the creature down to a base liquid and then rebuilds itself, which is why there's nothing inside of Aizen's cocoon.

I would love to see a mini set of chapters of Aizen in prison trying to rebuild a relationship with his Zanpakutō set before the Thousand-year blood war. Or maybe even a brief conversation between Aizen and Kyoka Suigetsu where Kyoka Suigetsu agrees to help Aizen one last time against Yhwach.

I feel the butterfly theme suited his evolution obsession very well. I wonder though if he ever lost control of the hygokou or if he just wasn't in tune with himself after his stepping stone and test subject (a natural transcendent) was effortlessly stronger than him. That even at the level he was at wasn't enough to truly best what came naturally. Therefore he gave up on his dream thus losing the will to continue in that direction

I am imagining Aizen carrying a boom box that is playing “baby come back” while in the chair.

My favorite was the silver surfer/cocoon form. He looked slick and new, and seeing him solo the big 3 (Yoruichi, Ishiin, and Urahara) was nice

The last form is by far the best. His abilities seem to be really thematic and cool in his last form, but sadly we didn't really get to see much of it. : / Although I do prefer the muken Aizen later, it's basically old Aizen as he was, which is the best Aizen you can get : )

How do you explain aizen fusing with his zampaktou literally? I mean the hogyoku literally merged him with kyouka sugetsu? We see in the blood war that he is now kyoka sugetsu seeing as simply looking at him puts you in hypnosis? Maybe am missing something, but l personally prefer the explanation of aizen wishing to lose. This hogyoku would definitely have pushed him harder if he willed it.

Never read the manga until the tybw arc. But one of the hypest moments for me is when Ichigo tells Aizen he wants to fight somewhere else and mid Aizen’s response, he just grape aizen and drags him to the middle of nowhere.

Honestly condom Aizen looks just like the Soul King does in the TYBW which might be an indication of how close he was in evolution to the Soul King

That thumbnail is fire, your videos got me back into bleach. Keep up the great work!

amazing walkthrough with these aizen's evolution, really like this video and arc. amazing fight, great memories

Aizen "losing" his Zankpakuto is actually just him fusing with it.

I still can't believe how good content you make for us. Madness.

Thanks for the video! Aizen is the best! I can't wait to see him and chair-sama in the anime.

This was an incredible in-depth analysis worthy of a standing ovation. I personally thank you for making this video.

*Argument:* Aizen was not abandoned by the Hogyoku, it had been merging Hollow (Asauchi) and Shinigami Souls together, with itself, a piece of the Soul King. The moment he was sealed by Urahara was his moment of Re-Birth, not defeat.

Actually an interesting detail nobody ever points out is that after Gin K.Os Rangiku, as he is returning to Aizen he comments how it seems Aizen is toying with Ichigo's friends....implying he sensed Aizen.

Ive loved Bleach since being a wee lad and I have never heard greater commentary and perspective than this. You really put the whole series in a new light for me, just lovely, keep it up!

What gets me about the conclusion of the arc is that the final getsuga tensho Ichigo learns at that time is still being suppressed by his Quincy powers. So Aizen could’ve evolved many more times and still would not compare to Ichigo’s true power

I actually really liked all of his forms including the butterfly form, I just don’t like the dress he’s sporting in that form

I personally like butterflaizen because that teleport looks quite similar to Kyoka Suigetsu's release.

I don't think Aizen didn't evolve or lost his powers, I just think they were briefly interrupted because of Urahara's seal. Because what Aizen becomes in TYBW is what Ichigo was during Mugetsu: going from a Zanpakuto fused with your hand to it being fused with your entire body. I think you're right about Aizen believing that the hand merger was the final state of the Zanpakuto. So when he saw the state Ichigo achieved, he (and the Hogyoku) realised there was another way to get stronger apart from hollowfication. So I wouldn't say he lost all of his Hogyoku given powers, he just exchanged the Hollow power-up for a Shinigami based one. It would also make sense since Aizen realised that Ichigo could truly be his equal. So instead of lowering himself to a normal Shinigami's power level, he could simply stay in the same range as Ichigo.

I kind of feel like his "final form" (with the hollow mask tentacles and the crazy wings) should have come before his butterfly form. His transformations would have closely mirrored Ichigo's powerups. Ichigo awakened as a Shinigami (base Aizen), obtained the Hollow Mask (Cocoon Aizen), then went Vasto Lorde (crazy form), before finally becoming butterfly form. I do like the butterfly motif, especially after the bombshell in the Hell Chapter, but I still voted as the transcendent form as my favorite. If we include all of Aizen's appearance changes, I would say that Aizen initially removing his glasses and slicking his hair back at the end of Soul Society had more of an impact, but for this arc, the pre-transcendent form still has vestiges of the manipulator villain we grew to love while showing some transcendent qualities.

Def think he was approaching a proximate hybrid. Saw Hollow and eventual cross motifs /reishi manipulation.and hollow holes. Hogyoku was fed pieces of soul king, a transcendent hybrid, so it’s a transcendent quintessence. It recognized ichigo as a hybrid and immediately tried bridging the gap, unsuccessfully. Likely bc Ichigo and the soul king are both also mortal, and Aizen would reject that part. Idk I’m high and this is headcannon

I like the fact that Ishan said "The only one who can sense him is someone in that form is the same form". And Ichigo was the only one who could sense him. Plus I really like the fact that even though it still may be attached to him, the Hogyoku reject him. As for which form, they are all cool, but maybe the butterfly one. I also want to add that this ending for him was prefect. To me, especially now, his arrogance shows throw like a pane of glass and he got what he deserved.

I like the idea you proposed in another video that the form that was introduced in Brave Souls symbolized where his evolution was meant to end up. Perhaps, taking place after a supposed death at the hands of Ichibe or someone else in squad zero.

Bruh you broke this down so well 😭👏🏾. Amazing video man!!!

I could really feel the dread and terror that Aizen embodied as he continued to evolve and brought down every person that challenged him in that final battle, until Ichigo finally returned and beat him. That is how you write a monster. Not only was he nearly invincible but it seemed like there was no move you could make that he hadn't already foreseen or could overcome with ease. If you can invoke that fear with a villain than you've done your job well. Not to mention that close up of Aizen's face after he first went butterfly mode was so awesomely sinister while still appearing human. Maybe the most sinister looking villian face I have seen in all anime/manga thus far.

This has to be one of your best thumbnails yet, really well done on the editing.

Here's how much I love your channel and love watching your enthusiasm about Bleach. I could honestly care less about the content of this particular video, but I want to watch your content so much I have to watch it...

Obviously, best Aizen form is Hollow Aizen form, that face peeling and those skull head wings is just sick and the pillar of blood that splatters and falls is the chef's kiss of a transformation! That said, after re-watching the end of the Arrancar arc again there were a couple of things that came to mind (obviously after the TYBW arc came out) can: 1) The reason why Aizen couldn't sense Ichigo's power was because the fact that in order to gain The Final Getsugatensho, was to become Getsuga himself, but with the end of Bleach, we found out that Ichigo is actually the "son" of Ywach and Getsuga him self is just Ywach. Technically speaking, in the final form of Ichigo, his long black hair and red eyes are of that of Ywach, and in this case, Hollow Aizen was actually facing off a portion of what Ywach's immense Spiritual Pressure, which is why Aizen lost? 2) There's no mistake that Aizen undergo into a transformation as much as he did, more specifically his "cocoon" state resembles that closely to of the Soul King itself. After re-watching the Arrancar Arc ending, Aizen already knew about the Soul King, which is I think, is Aizen's path of transcendence done that way was because of his seeing of the Soul King? Outside of Kubo being "lazy" and making the Soul King look like that in the TYBW Arc, I don't think it was mere coincidence Aizen would assume that THAT is the way to transcend into a being like the Soul King during his ascension to a transcended being. Either way, great video and more better clarification that we had watching the anime/reading the manga back in the days.

So would Aizen have transformed into something different if he had a better understanding of just what Quincies were capable of (ie the Sternritter)? If these transformations were the hogyoku rationalizing Aizen’s desire to be a being that combines and transcends Shinigami and Hollow, if he knew what Juha Bach could do would it have made him into a 3 way synthesis akin to the Soul King?

32:43 great take. for the longest I did assume that he was transforming again before Urahara put a stop to it. It makes 100% more sense that Aizen is power drunk and the Hogyoku is in shambles after Mugetsu giving him an amalgamated form

I truly hope the anime expands upon the final battle Aizen has with Ywach because his power had far surpassed what he had against ichigo before he was sealed. We didn’t get to see the full extent of it after finally being released from that damn chair mayuri created just for him 😂😂😂😂😂😂.

This video is very good. I like how you talked in detail about each form. I wish that you talk more about sealed aizen from tybw.

One of your best essays, Tommo. Not one word wasted, or one word too much.

The thumbnail for this video is really damn cool, good job!

We really need an Aizen character analysis please

Well, like I said in the comments of another video; I find the Hogyoku using Aizen in it's own way to see how far one being could go is both fascinating and terrifying. The whole thing is an experiment by the Hogyoku, listening and experiencing what Aizen wanted and just seeing how far he could take it. To what level could he "alone" achieve that those with it could not before? That final forced evolution I feel was more of a frustrating moment for the Hogyoku, not in the sense of it losing to mere human made shinigami (at the time) like Ichigo but in Aizen for becoming so complacent, so careless, so unimpressive. Turning Aizen from this angelic, perfected being into a grotesque, almost primeval monster was a punishment for his failure. I doubt he would have evolved further than that, there would be no point for the Hogyoku, it would need a higher being than Aizen to see where it could go from at that point. The whole affair sort of reminded me of when Ryuk gave Light the Death Note. He knew what it could do and how things would probably end up but he just wanted to see what Light could do and where this was going to lead. When they speak of, the will of the Hogyoku, this is what I think it is. A scientist of it's own accord with interests of it's own with no desire for a master, partner or owner. Sure, it will let you think that but, the reality is that it's always in control. I honestly think the shattering of his Zanpakuto is two fold, it rejecting Aizen but, perhaps also saving him too. The Hogyoku made him immortal in the end but his Zanpakuto also fused with him permanently. A blade that was truly powerful in it's own rights, so who is to say that the final fusion isn't what saved Aizen from being permanently killed by Ichigo at the end. That's my two cents on it anyway.

I like the monster form the most from his evolutions

I'll say it again Tommo your thumbnails are amazing

I always imagined the white goo was similar to how the hollow masks originally form with the Visored and it was the whole breaking down barriers to transcend, etc.

Aizen is the GOAT aint no character better in my opinion. hes definitely more complex than people think

my theory is that the Final Getsuga Tenshou compresses all the possible power Ichigo would ever have through out his life into his body all at once

The first transformation I like.. Dark shades eyes, no mouth which indicates someone you cannot reason with or talk to (despite not being the case) and when you cut or break said cocoon its just nothingness inside or what appears to be.

I've said it before but these thumbnails are lookin crispy.

An aizen video out of nowhere? Impressive, most impressive.

Aizen’s appearance in his transcendence form has aspects of the soul king in his eyes and face

Idk who thought silver surfer Aizen was bad it’s an incredible design and it has sooo much depth

I wonder if , the Hogyoku will accept Aizen again in the Hell arc ,will Aizen take that eye patch off and reveal a very different eye with maybe a special power ? Maybe .

Idk, i kinda like the simplicity of cocoon Aizen. I also thoroughly enjoy Tosen's form when he first puts on the mask.

The Hyogyuku is fascinating to me. It’s been established it has a will and can hear the hearts and wishes of those around it. Not to mention it was made from a version of Urahara’s and Aizen’s versions. I don’t see it as malevolent but rather having a deeper understanding of the people around it even if they’re not aware of it like Aizen. I’m curious as to why it still sticks to Aizen since it could probably detach itself but maybe it too is curious about Aizen and his future along with his wishes

I remember in one of your past videos you said all Aizen transformation didn’t go well with the community. But kubos ideas and later on seeing what he does with the Quincy’s I feel he had more for Aizen especially since even though Aizen is currently sealed he seems stronger then ever

Captain Aizen, base shinigami form Aizen, SS Arc Aizen, whatever you wanna call him, that's my favorite form of his. I'd love an alternate timeline where he doesn't go evil and remains a "good" captain with his glasses :)

Tommo, is it possible you could do a video on Lille vs Aizen? Lille strikes me as near-Godlike, and I'd love to hear more how these two would fare in battle.

Man what a thumbnail, its really nice

I think Kubo create Hogyoku as a things that we as a human can't understand, the idea that Hogyoku is a thing that can make anything that the user want happens to basically happens, Hogyoku just like "oh you want this?" And Bam! Wonderweiss is created "oh you want to be somebody who above everyone else?" Bam! It happens, and this kind of idea, the things that beyond our understanding is pretty consistent were once Hogyoku understand what the user want, he can literally control the user's body to what the user wanted to happens, just like Aizen, his goal is to stand to the top, to be someone who is above everything, and in the Fake Karakura Arc Hogyoku that has fused with Aizen at first wanted to know what Aizen wanted to become Hogyoku searching and observating what Aizen wanted to become and when Hogyoku knows what Aizen wants he just can make anything based on what Aizen wants, Aizen wanted to become someone who above everything and Hogyoku slowly but surely trying to fullfill that wish, and what happens to Aizen after he got attacked by Mugetsu, I would assume that what Aizen wants is now different, the idea of he who are gonna lose against Ichigo, that delusion of losing is what Hogyoku maybe recognize and just let that things happen, Aizen's fear towards losing and doesn't want to win against Ichigo is in my opinion the reason why Aizen lose everything, because that what Aizen thinking at that time, he has no intenton about wanted to become something that above everything he now just think that he's gonna lose and basically thats what Hogyoku understand and let Aizen to lose everything.

The most interesting aspect of Aizen’s transformation is that his face splits to reveal the monster within because it juxtaposes the transformation of hollows that don a mask to hide their humanity.

I would love a "What If?" of some other character using the hogyoku.

He likes control but to lose control of himself and to let the Hogyoku that he was subduing with his reitsu to take over, produces a fear stronger than the fear of his demise. Both Gin and Ichigo introduced the feeling of fear to him.

ainzen going through metamorphosis is totally beautiful and horrifying, It's wynorrific.

The freaking goat I just wish he had a bankai

W thumbnail W Analysis

I’d like to think that the cocoon form Aizen has has effectively reduced his insides into pure reishi and is why there is no insides when his face is cut or when he removes the cuffs.

Aizen and Ichigo are more similar than many realise. The power he has in TYBW are similar to that of Ichigo in Mugestu form. He is Kyoka Suigetsu at that point.

I find Transcendence and Spiritual Dimensions (and then Temporal Dimensions with Yhwach) a touch odd and very messy, but interesting. Aizen implies that the key to it is breaking down the barriers between the different species of the series; so he becomes 3D by becoming Hollow-like. And that Dimensionality can be determined by which beings can and cannot be sensed. This would imply that a regular Human is 1D, while Shinigami/Empowered Human/Quincy/Hollow are 2D, Cocoon Aizen is 3D, Dangai Ichigo is at least 4D and The Soul King is effectively 5D. This all kind of makes sense. A Human is just a human, they can't sense anything. An Empowered Human (e.g Inoue or Riruka) is both a Human and a Spiritual Being, while a Hollow is a Spiritual Being and a Hollow; so they can sense each other. Aizen is then a Spiritual Being, a Shinigami and a Hollow. Thats all fine and dandy. Even Dangai Ichigo makes some sense, because he has fully communed with Zangetsu/White; so (depending on your take on Zangetsu) he's either 4D (Human, Spiritual Being/Quincy/Shinigami, Shinigami/Quincy, Shinigami/Hollow) or full blown, Soul King 5D (Human, Spiritual Being, Shinigami, Hollow and Quincy). I'll give Kubo the benefit of the doubt on the Vaizard/Arrancar and guess that they're only imperfect combinations of Shinigami and Hollow. So they're still 2D enough for everyone to sense them. But that always seemed odd. We start to run into real issues with every other form of Ichigo though. He is capable of sensing 3D Aizen, but 2D Isshin can still sense him. He contains every possible Dimension, but is an unstable mix of them; which seems to keep him at 2D. And at the very end of the series he seems to be a near perfect mix of all 5Ds, but everyone can still sense him; implying that he's only 2D. When he loses his Shinigami/Spiritual Powers he drops to 1D; despite still containing his Quincy and Hollow parts. He then awakens/reawakens his Spiritual Being powers (Fullbring) and goes back to 2D; and remains 2D when he regains his Shinigami powers. Only his Dangai Form even vaguely fits into Aizens Dimensionality system. Then we have Yhwach, who is a complete shitshow. Not only does he seemingly introduce Temporal Dimensions, but he also claims to be the son of the Soul King (so default 5D) and temporarily (then permanently) becomes the Soul King (so again 5D). But he also can't perceive the Soul King in his base form (so less than 5D). But everyone seems to be able to sense him in all of his forms (so 2D in all cases). Either, we've been Kubo'd again and he's come up with a great idea to make Aizen super awesome; but hasn't actually created a functional system, that he then abandons at the end of the arc. Or he's come up with a great system, but hasn't fleshed it out enough for us to understand it; and then abandoned it at the end of the arc. Or (magic option 3) Kubo is actually just fucking with us and Aizen is delusional about Transcendence and all that matters is raw power and the potential for it; so Ichigo can sense Cocoon Aizen because only he has the potential to become as powerful as him, but Butterflaizen can't sense Dangai Ichigo because he lacks the potential to equal him... but this falls apart as soon as you look at Yamamoto and Nanao or Yhwach and everyone. So, any which way you go... big confusion. We need Brandon Sanderson to pop in and iron out this whole system.

So I also have a little bit of a problem with what you say near the end. About Aizen not tracinding again and him getting Kyoka Suigetsu back after spending some time with it. Aizen is able to put Yhwach (sorry cant spell his name) under Kyōka Suigetsu's power. And this is still sealed Aizen, so we have to assume that now Aizen can just put people under its power, just by having them look at him. We also have to assume that he can choose who is put under because Ichigo is never put under Kyōka Suigetsu's power at all during the final battle with Yhwach. Thats all. Lol if Iv missed anything important anyone feel free to let me know.

Had to download… this is a work of arts

I like all the transformations. Only problem I have is with the final form looking a lot like a hollow. But it still looks awesome and cool as does the other transformations.

So in that first fight when Ichigo landed a strong hit on Suske Izen; the Hogyoku healed him then improved Suske's power. On a different scenario; when Urahara was injured by Askin he actually released his bankai: kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame to heal him and improve his power, could it be that Urahara tried to create the Hogyoku being inspired by his bankai?

About Aizen loosing KS. I acrtually shared your interpretation before his reveal in the TYBW arc. I believed, that either A) KS disappears because Aizen does not want it anymore or B) because of Ichigo's inrterpretation thatAizen reached his goal of an actual equal at his highest point and wanted in his innermost part regress together with ichigo. However I do believe nowadays that he DID evolve. The Hogyoku was effectively "fuck what is this guy? oh... it's just a perfect fusion with his bankai? Kyoka Suigetsu, come here you outdated Bitch!" Because Aizen's form after Mugetsu is VERY reminiscent of Dangai Ichigo. he does not need to show KS to create illusions, and to affect senses that are not the classical five that we know KS to work on. He straight up fuckey YWACHs sense of time. Tzhat's not KSs shikai. plus he was so sealed up he could not have brought it out to show it to YWACH. he must have done it with YWACH looking at him. Then, his sword arm still looks like it's fused. it has fully become a body part. So I believe that either the Hogyoku copid ichigo's evolution or Aizen actually did the same trainng as ichigo while being locked up. But I actually lean more towards the first idea.

Question: Could Aizen actually become the Soul King? I mean what do you have to be to become a Soul King? Do you just need an enormous reiatsu?

Great Video!! I would like to ask your opinion about something that kubo said about Aizen. If I remember correctly, Kubo once said that Aizen was an "envoy". What do you think he meant by that?

I don't think Aizen lost everything I think it did fuse him with his Zanpaktu to a higher state but it was his mental state that was destroyed by Ichigo. It would make sense given how powerful he is in the thousand year blood arc being greater than ichigo imo

Im Kinda shocked that the 0 squad was not deployed for this.....Even if Ichibi named him to be a cloud he could just evolve back from it........... its almost worse then the almighty because if he believes hes a god he just keeps going.Hes a smart Gremmy.

I often wonder how powerful a transcendent is in powerscaling terms in Bleach just how much of a boost the forms gave jn multipliers.

Actually looking at the panels as you're describing them, I think that Aizen has less become a "butterfly" completing a metamorphosis, and more a higher level angel - like a seraphim or cherubim (can't remember at the moment) with multiple sets of layered wings - as a transcendence to a stage beyond shinigami or hollow...

Interesting how merging with your zanpakto could put you at a level of existence even higher than a transcendent being I would have much preferred the final fight being that Ichigo unlocked his true zanpakto, and with help from the Soul King or some shit, he's able to access the Final Getsuga Form one more time without losing his powers. Also I always assumed the Hogyoku was basically an attempt to recreate the Soul King's power made by Kisuke after visiting the Royal Realm, and Aizen's evolution is like a evil Soul King because of his dark nature.

Actually Aizen's monstruous form fits the description of an angel quite well