User blog comment:Icedeath/A Bleach Rant by me./@comment-1894551-20100506201221

I personally think that the ranks only apply to their sealed state. For example, Yammy's 'true' rank may be 0, but when he is sealed its 10, marking him as being the weakest Sealed Espada. Similarly, even though after Ulquiorra does his second release, he is only ranked 4 because when he is sealed, Harribell, Barrigan, and Stark are stronger than him.