Saying “nobody believed the Quincy would lose to the Royal Guard” feels like hindsight. At the time those chapters were dropping ten years ago, especially during the weekly releases, forums like Bleach Asylum where I was a member there and others absolutely speculated that the Soul King or Zero Squad could end up as the real villains. The way Kubo built up the lore around the Soul King being a sealed, passive god-like figure, combined with the Royal Guard’s shady demeanor and quick defeat, did spark discussions that perhaps they were orchestrating things behind the scenes—or at least weren’t the pure defenders they were painted to be.
That theory didn’t come out of nowhere. Ichibei literally manipulates the concept of names and identity, which is already morally gray and further expanded on in the novel. Nimaiya’s personality and killing style were also viewed as suspiciously extreme for a “protector.” and I personally saw fans on BA forum saying these two sealed the SK themselves. Kubo left room for doubt.
Also the Dragon vs Imu comparison doesn’t quite work either. Dragon’s thing is still ongoing. The Zero Squad, by contrast, acted, fought, trained the MC, and were given god-tier status (Shutara soloing the SS for reference) for a reason: to be a measuring stick that even they couldn’t surpass Yhwach. It was never about them being weak more than it was about Yhwach transcending power hierarchies altogether.
