Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-16618726-20140814025256/@comment-44061-20140814032421

The Old Man is the manifestation of ichigo's quincy powers who had been running the show and controlling the usage of ichigo's shinigami powers. In this situation he is basically saying he is proud of ichigo and that he will no longer interfer. He basically releases control over ichigo's power the inner hollow that is ichigo's actual zanpakuto spirit and the real zangetsu is reforged into the larger of the two swords and the smaller one is basically the old man. Further on that scene is explained her http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Zangetsu_(Quincy_Powers)