Originally posted by: Strider
If we're talking about political families pushing towards something malevolent, in continuously advancing Rukia's execution up .. all I can think of is, "Why?"
If a family within a high position of power wanted her killed so badly, they could have done it themselves or with one of their grunts and simply covered it up. So, while I agree that people of power are involved, it's much bigger than killing Rukia. Byakuya and Renji could have done that when they apprehended her, and passed it off as self-defense. "She fought back, Yamamoto-sama. We had to use force to bring her down."
What I'm lost on, is why did Ukitake and Kyouraku (love this guy ..) feel it was so important to seal that executioner's halberd?