The hit shonen series Bleach was packed with cool and scary villains, and at first, regular Hollows were more than a challenge for Ichigo Kurosaki. The stakes were later raised during the Soul Society arc, and the stakes hit their peak when Sosuke Aizen formed an army of unmasked Hollow warriors. The ten strongest Arrnacars were the Espadas.
However, the top ten Arrancars did not have an easy life, even with Aizen around to give them a new purpose. The Espadas were probably miserable deep down, and they faced some harsh realities that not even Aizen could help them with. In fact, Aizen and his allies were actually the cause of some harsh realities for the ten Espadas.
10 The Espadas Can Be Forcibly Retired
Since Aizen and the Arrancars are all villains, they tend to be brutal and merciless even with each other, let alone their Soul Reaper enemies, and Luppi Antenor learned this the hard way. At one point, Grimmjow was ejected from the Espadas, and Luppi, an Adjuchas-class Menos, was admitted as the new #6.
Soon enough, Orihime Inoue healed Grimmjow, giving him the strength to retake his rank. Grimmjow stabbed Luppi with his bare hand, then fired a point-blank Cero blast to take Luppi's head off. Such is the fate of an Espada.
9 Kaname Tosen Will Violently Punish Troublemakers
Ex-Captain Kaname Tosen was appointed the general of the Arrancars, and that includes the ten Espadas. He is a stern and humorless leader, and he expects total obedience and perfect discipline from his Espada minions. When Espadas like Grimmjow Jeagerjaques act out, they'll be heavily punished.
When Grimmjow raided Karakura Town without permission and refused to apologize later, Kaname sliced off Grimmjow's left arm without warning and vaporized it with a kid spell. If he had reason to, Tosen would do this again to any Espada who acted out.
8 The Espadas Are Expected To Fight Elite Captains
Some of the Espadas are up to this challenge, and others simply are not. The Espadas are the Arrancars' version of the Captain-class Soul Reapers, so naturally, Aizen and Tosen expect the Espadas to fight Captains without hesitation or fear.
If an Espada is too weak to fight the Captains or doesn't even want to, they are in no position to object. An Espada is expected to fight to the death for Aizen, even if they stand no chance against two or three elite Captains. No wonder Coyote Starrk tried to walk his way out of fighting two Captains at once.
7 The Espadas Are Liable To Betray One Another
The ten Espadas are a competitive bunch, and lower-ranked Espadas might resent the lofty rank and superior strength of their fellows. An example is the thuggish Nnoitora Gilga, who once ranked #8 while Nelliel Tu Odelschwank ranked #3. So, Nnoitora conspired with Szayelaporro Grantz to take her down.
Nnoitora went behind Aizen's back and distracted Nel with Szayelaporro's help, then injured her and dumped her in the Hueco Mundo desert, outside Las Noches' walls. It's not impossible that other Espadas might do this sometime too, and for similar reasons.
6 Aizen Might Betray The Espadas, Too
The 3rd Espada, Tier Halibel, was absolutely shocked when her boss, Aizen, turned on her partway through the battle for Karakura Town. She was a loyal fighter who wanted to impress him, but her efforts were for nothing. When Aizen ran out of patience, he made his move.
Aizen struck Halibel down, expressing his disappointment that the Espadas weren't strong enough to take down all the Captains and the eight Visored warriors. Given the chance, he would have done this to the other Espadas too, but they had already fallen in battle.
5 The Espadas Have No Chance Of Salvation
This is a harsh reality that the ten Espadas share with all Arrancars. In fact, it must be more frustrating for the Espadas, since they are the strongest Arrnacars but are still powerless to solve this ongoing problem. Arrancars and Hollows simply cannot be redeemed, no matter what.
Some Arrancars and Hollows seek salvation or forgiveness from the universe, but that's never going to happen, and not even Aizen can help, as Nnoitora once noted. The Espadas have all this strength, but they're powerless to find much-desired salvation. It's a cruel irony.
4 Aizen Doesn't Return The Espadas' Feelings Of Devotion
Some of the Espadas are more loyal to Aizen than others. Grimmjow and Nnoitora barely care, while the 7th Espada, Zommari Rureaux, absolutely idolizes him and Ulquiorra Schiffer is quite devoted too. The problem is that Aizen merely uses these feelings, rather than returning them.
The devoted Espadas may not realize it, but they face the harsh reality that their fanatical devotion to Aizen is totally one-sided, and even when Zommari cried out praise to Aizen during his death throes, Aizen cared not one bit. Zommari's loyalty was wasted on Aizen.
3 The Espadas Have Nowhere Else To Go
Not only do the ten Espadas face many harsh realities while under Aizen's command, but they don't even have an alternative, no matter how desperate they get. Simply put, they stay in Las Noches and obey Aizen because there is absolutely nothing else in the world for them, in Hueco Mundo or beyond.
Even if an Espada changed their mind and tried to flee, they would be running away from something, not toward something, and this quest will soon end in failure. Espadas who have second thoughts can't do much to act on those sentiments and must stick to Aizen despite the costs.
2 Espada-Level Arrancar Are Major Targets For The Wandenreich
Any Arrancar strong enough to qualify as an Espada is going to be a major target for other parties, which involves the Soul Reapers and even the Quincy, including the elite Sternritter. Soul Reapers have every reason to dispatch an Espada on sight, and the Sternritter feel that way too, including king Yhwach himself.
Tier Halibel survived Aizen's betrayal and became Hueco Mundo's queen, only for Yhwach to personally defeat and capture her. If she were a low-level Arrancar, she might have been ignored, but being an ex-Espada and a queen made her a target, and she suffered for it.
1 The Espadas Have Few Opportunities To Make Friends
Some Arrancars care more about this than others, and some Espadas must feel truly lonely, most of all Coyote Starrk. Weak Hollows and Arrancars can easily band together for mutual protection, but an Espada isn't going to attract many friends due to their overwhelming strength.
Most Espadas don't even care that much about their fraccione minions, and the Espadas don't form many friendships among their own ranks. Once a powerful Hollow becomes an Arrancar, they won't have much of a personal life. At most, they'll have disposable minions to fight for them.