Ishida’s Mother
I’m finally kinda catching up on Bleach and this is my theory on how Uryu survived Auswahlen.
Spoilers ahead... possible so read with caution.
Ok so if you are reading this you know what is going on better than me, or you don’t care about spoilers and are bored like me. To catch those people up:
So Uryu has joined with the Quincy rebellion against the Seritei. Yhwach, son of the Soul King, has killed his father and absorbed his powers. Before though, a thousand years ago, Yhwach had tried to invade but was defeated by Captain Yamamoto and slept for a thousand years... or so. During his revival, nine years prior to the story, Yhwach regained his power by forcibly take the power of other Quincy. He selected Quincy who he deems as “mudblood” (sorry mixing my fandoms). This process is fatal.
Ichigo’s mother, though technically a pure blood, has her blood mixed with a hollows, thus making her “unpure” and she lost her powers just as Ichigo was attacked by the Grand Fisher Hollow. Therefore, she couldn’t protect Ichigo with her powers, so she protected him the only way a mother could: with her life. (so harry potter, no?)
As for Uryu, his father is of pure blood and was even betrothed to Ichigo’s mother. Obviously that didn’t pan out; and his father married Uryu’s mother and had baby Uryu. However, Uryu’s mother, Kanae Katagiri, is of mixed blood. Therefore she succumbed to the effects of Auswahlen and died three months later.
But by now you must be asking yourself, if his mother is of mixed blood and died, how did Uryu survive? By his immense spiritual energy alone? When Yhwach took everyone’s Quincy powers, how did Uryu retain his?
So this is my theory:
Uryu’s mother died three months after the Auswahlen. During this time, Ryuken, Ishida’s father and a prominent doctor and the heir to a pure blooded Quincy line, must have been going crazy trying to save his wife... and son. I believe that Uryu also fell under the effects of the Auswahlen and was much sicker than his mother. Much like Harry’s mother begged Voldemort to spare her son, Kanae begged Ryuken to save theirs. Unable to save both of them, he gave his promise to Kanae to save their son... by transferring the last of her spirit energy to Uryu so that he may survive the Auswahlen.
From them on, while mourning the loss of his wife and blaming Yhwach, Ryuken abandoned his Quincy roots. Soken, Ryuken’s father, understood but still named him his heir hoping one day Ryuken will return and finish his life’s work: to create a better understanding between Quincy and Shinigami.