User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 553 - Frozen Cross/@comment-2211792-20131016143500/@comment-11051098-20131016231852

That's probably why they stole Bankai in the first place, in addition to simply weaken the captains and defeating them easier.

It seems the Ritters and their special skill can be best compared to a captain with their Shikai. He/she is strong, but the special skill doesn't necessarily add more power than a captain gets from their released Shikai.

And yes, I forgot that part.