User blog comment:Lemursrule/THE ARRANCAR ARC IS OVER!/@comment-1211470-20100928105600/@comment-1454424-20100928183416

Yep, nothing you described is Deus ex Machina. It's the standard, I-didn't-like-how-the-fight-turned-out-so-I-am-calling-it-plotkai.

Although, mind you, given your blog entry - I think the problem here is that you seemed have not grasped the character flaws that brought the Espada down.

Zommari - arrogance. He didn't go for the head because going for the head would be like killing Byakuya while he was unconscious. In addition, Rukia was unconscious when Zommari controlled her. Nothing says that his control is just as effective on a concious person. But the main point is that Byakuya provoked him and so the fight became "personal" for Zommari and he wanted to humiliate Byakuya not just cleanly kill him.

I don't even know why you would think the barrier was a deus ex machina. So I can't address that.

2. Mayuri stalked Orihime and Ishida for ages before finally confronting them and even then he took the precaution of sending in rookies from his squad, whom he had modified as human bombs. So it is perfectly understandable that he gathered as much data as he could before entering the field of battle and made a beeline for Aporro because he had negated Aporro's most powerful ability. I don't really see where you get Deus ex machina there either.

Now Mayuri arriving just in time, Byakuya arriving just in time to save Rukia when Rukia had probably been face down on the ice for at least an hour... that's Deus ex machina.