User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 600 - SNIPE/@comment-6657474-20141010041227

I have a feeling, given what we've seen in this chapter, that sending Ichigo back to the Soul Society might have been part of an elaborate ruse on the part of the Royal Guard to lure Yhwach into the Palace and fight him there. After all, the Royal Guard WOULD have known that sending Ichigo back the way they did would leave the barriers oper for some time, leaving the Royal Palace vulnerable to invasion. They also seemed to know that Yhwach would jump at the chance to do just that, especially with Ichigo no longer there (they didn't seem terribly surprised that Yhwach showed up right at their doorstep). Their plan seems to have been to use Yhwach's ambition to trap him and (supposedly) defeat him and his forces before they could get to the real Royal Palace. They really planned this thoroughly, of course we all know that Ichigo will be the one to defeat Yhwach himself, since he's arguably the only individual strong enough to do it (and Yhwach always has something up his sleeve, so chances are the Royal Guard's trap won't be able to contain him for long).