User blog comment:Pwndulquiorra/Bleach future/@comment-1501397-20100923004410

A couple of weeks ago I had this idea that the Spirit King might be the next main antagonist. It sounded crazy before, but after this chapter that theory suddenly looks much more promising. This chapter seemed to imply that the King is some sort of non-humanoid "creature", and it might not be all that benevolent. I have a feeling that the Spirit King might resemble some sort of monstrous Hollow-like creature. Perhaps Aizen isn't really a bad guy; maybe he saw the King as something that needs to be removed, and went to extreme ways to accomplish his goal.

As for Ichigo's powers, I have a couple of theories on that too. 1. The manga explicitly stated that Ichigo will only lose his Shinigami powers; that means he might still possess Hollow powers. It would be a massive plot twist if Ichigo is taken over by his inner Hollow and temporarily becomes the new antagonist of the next arc, but that's a bit far-fetched since it's likely that Ichigo has already completely mastered his Hollow powers. Maybe Ichigo can become an Arrancar? 2. Isshin used the Final Getsuga Tenshō once, and lost his Shinigami powers; however, he somehow regained them later. The same thing is likely to happen to Ichigo. Maybe he'll have to start from the basics; that way, he'll finally learn how to use Kidō! 3. The Hōgyoku might be used again in the future. I have a feeling that Ichigo might become the Hōgyoku's new master. This is pure speculation, but with the Hōgyoku Ichigo might be able to achieve a release beyond bankai: hōkai (崩解, breakdown release), a release that completely reconstructs his spiritual body. Perhaps he'll use this new power to battle the Spirit King, if the King is an antagonist?