Summary
The following contains spoilers for BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, available for streaming onHuluandDisney+.
Gaining a more significant role in the 11th episode ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2,“Too Early to Win, Too Late to Know”, Yhwach and his elite force of soldiers believe that they have finally infiltrated the Soul King’s Palace.
The abilities granted unto Gerard Valkyrie from the Quincy King are perhaps some of the most powerful of any Quincy, and he has thematic significance yet to be revealed in the anime. So, what abilities have been granted unto Sternritter M – The Miracle, Gerard Valkyrie?
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Aesir
Gerard Valkyrie lives up to his name when it comes to his personality and appearance, as he has the look of a quintessential warrior or Viking. In Norse mythology, the Valkyries are female psychopomps who guide deceased warriors to Valhalla. They are often depicted as powerful women with feathered wings, armour and weapons. Thesewarriors are associated with battle itself, and the basic silhouette is reminiscent of champions in mythology who set out on dangerous quests. Gerard’s love for battle is also an element gleaned directly from the Valkyries, one of whom is a shield maiden called Brunhilde, a name combining the Old High German words for “armour” and “conflict”; however, in some versions of Norse myth, a Valkyrie named Sigrdrífa is identified with Brunhilde. “Sigrdrífa” can be translated to “driver to victory”, which is much closer to what the Quincy represents, but the name is also believed to be a possible synonym for Valkyrie.
Beyond that, Gerard’s own name is German for “brave spear”, which means that his whole identity as is forged upon being a brave, powerful warrior (while also reflecting the aspects of both attack and defense). Armed with sword and shield, Gerard Valkyrie is vastly different from the other Quincies; however, he still has access to a Heilig Bogen. The sword is known as Hoffnung (“Hope”), and somewhat resembles Yhwach’s blade. Due to his Schrift M – The Miracle, Gerard’s Hoffnung is capable of damage reflection – when used to deflect an opponent’s strikes, it returns a proportional amount of damage due to it being the collection of the “hopes” of people. The rationale behind this mechanic in Gerard’s combat is thatinjuring hope brings about despair– despair which is manifested as injury upon the attacker.
Brave Heart
On a literal level, Gerard Valkyrie represents the unyielding heart of a warrior, due to the fact that he is actually the sentient heart of the Soul King himself. This is why his personality is so upbeat and positive, he is the very embodiment of the bravery and heart of the entity that would be turned into the sacrificial lamb whose body is used to maintain the current form of theBLEACHuniverse. The Miracle is an ability that enables miracle manifestation by giving form to Gerard’s thoughts, feelings and desires, or those of the people around him.
According to Gerard, making possible the impossible is the very definition of a miracle, and because of that framing, Gerard’s is actually a form of possibility control, as he understands the traditional miracle to be the inexplicable occurrence of an impossibility or near-impossibility occurring when it is needed most. Due to his identity as the Heart of the Soul King (or rather, its host, as implied in theCan’t Fear Your Own Worldnovels byDurarara!!author Ryohgo Narita), Gerard’s Schrift was not an assigned to him through the normal Schrift Assignment Ritual, but rather as an acknowledgment of his status as the Heart of the Soul King. In the final episodes ofBLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2,Gerard engages in battle with Royal Guard member Shutara Senjumaru, who at some point manages to pin him down for a finishing blow to the heart, but when her needle comes down on his chest, an image of his beating heart resisting the damage is shown, which serves as a nod to the Quincy’s true identity.
Valkyrie
After Yhwach activates theAuswählen at the end of “The Master"leading into “BLACK”, Gerard activates his Quincy: Vollständig, Ashtonig, which manifests a pair of traditional angel (or Valkyrie) wings made of a deep red reishi. Of all the Quincies, Gerard (and to some extent, PePe) is the only one who manifest the quintessential look of an angel upon activating his Vollständig. Ashtonig is translated to “Authority of God”, and that name may be a reference to the probability-bending nature of The Miracle, which could be understood to be an extension of the will of the Soul King himself, which in turn reflects the Norse myth from which he gets his name and appearance.
Valkyries would guide the souls of dead warriors to Odin’s Valhalla, and while being the overarching main god in the Norse pantheon, one of Odin’s many associations is war and frenzy. The version of Ashtonig seen thus far is actually a half-released Vollständig, and a far more powerful variant of the form is available to him which grants him abilities like gaining strength and size proportional to the level of attacks thrown his way, meaning that he quite literally “rises to the challenge”. Taking his name into account,Gerard Valkyrie exists as a living paradox– an unstoppable force and immovable object rolled into one. Interestingly, the eastern variation of the irresistible force paradox can be found in the Chinese word for “contradiction”, 矛盾máodùn,which literally translates to “spear-shield”. Gerard, which translates to “brave spear” and Brunhilde; the Valkyrie shield maiden, invoke the same paradox.
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