User blog comment:Godisme/Die Standing/@comment-2243814-20121011033004/@comment-1904799-20121011041327

"The good guys never die" wasn't really ever a saying Kubo coined. While I'll admit the sudden rush of major character deaths is somewhat jarring, Kubo did promise that this would be the final arc of the story, and it seems he feels that he has nothing to lose. Personally, I'm not against the idea of major characters dying, but Byakuya and especially Yamamoto have died in horribly anticlimactic and truly unbefitting ways. As for the "issue" of who killed Quilge, it seems we'll return to that once the story in Soul Society reaches its dramatic climax, which, while it seems very close, hasn't happened just yet.