The Espada Gather! Aizen's Royal Assembly

'''The Espada Gather! Aizen's Royal Assembly''' is the one-hundred-forty-fifth episode of the Bleach anime.

Statistics

 * Original Airdate: October 24, 2007
 * English Airdate: August 22, 2009
 * Opening Song: After Dark
 * Ending Song: Tane wo Maku Hibi
 * Manga Chapters: Chapter 244 and Chapter 245
 * Kanji: エスパーダ集結！藍染の御前会議
 * Romaji: "Esupāda shūketsu! Aizen no gozen kaigi"
 * Arc: The Hueco Mundo arc Part 1

Summary
After Sado Yasutora defeats Demōra with his El Directo attack, a heavily injured Iceringer curses the Humans intruders, but Uryū Ishida makes it clear that he is a Quincy. Ishida has kept Iceringer alive so that he can tell Sōsuke Aizen that he should fear the Quincy, not the Shinigami. All the fighting appears to have affected the structure of the room, causing it to begin collapsing. Iceringer, however, reveals that it is actually collapsing because he and Demōra - the guards - were defeated. He tells them that there is no end to the battle and that there will be no victory for them. As chunks of the ceiling crush his body, Iceringer explains that the Arrancar follow Aizen because there is nothing that he fears.

Having barely managed to escape via the stairwell before the underground structure completely caved in, Ichigo Kurosaki and company find themselves in a desolate desert landscape. In the distance, however, is a gigantic structure that resembles a palace, and the three conclude that Orihime Inoue must be in there somewhere, so they start heading towards it. After a long period of running however, Sado senses something and stops. A sandstorm of sorts suddenly starts, and the three are blown up into a twister, but Ishida saves them by creating a spirit barrier around them. The barrier starts cracking, so Sado punches it, and the force of the resulting explosion ejects them from the twister.

Meanwhile, the three’s presences has been detected by Las Noches, where the ten Espada gather to be hear about the intruders. Aizen soon joins them. After serving tea, Aizen presents a hologram of the three intruders and introduces them. He forbids his Espada from underestimating these three. He tells the Espada about how they fought Soul Society, leading to the Espada figuring out that they’re here to save Inoue. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez leaves his seat to go kill the enemy, and although Aizen is pleased that Grimmjow would act on his behalf, he tells him that he has not finished talking yet and uses his spiritual pressure to force Grimmjow to submit. Aizen then tells the other Espada that there is no reason to make a fuss about the intrusion, and tells them to return to their areas and wait for the enemy. He finishes by urging them not to be afraid, because as long as they stay with him, there are no enemies who can stand against them.

Back outside, Ichigo and the others stop for a breather as they do not seem to be getting any closer to the palace. Ichigo suggests that it could be a mirage, and although Ishida shoots that idea down, Ichigo does not care to know the explanation behind it. Ichigo then notices a small lizard-like Hollow running around, which piques his curiosity into what that kind of Hollow could eat around here. Ishida explains that Hueco Mundo has a high concentration of spirit particles in the atmosphere, so a small Hollow can be nourished just by breathing. He explains that the reason he knows this is because the Quincy fight by making use of the spirit particles around them, and he points out that the Arrancar will benefit from this atmosphere too. When Ishida starts going into length about how they’re not only the Arrancar’s enemies but also their food, Ichigo tunes him out and prepares to start running again. Before he can get very far though, Ichigo senses something coming, and a giant worm-like creature suddenly emerges from the sand behind them. Along with two others Hollows, it appears to be chasing what Ichigo thinks is a Human child, so Ichigo goes to save her.