You know, I rather think I skipped most of those side quests. Most CoP areas were rough places to be a Summoner in back in those days. Thank you for bringing them to mind! I shall make it a point to do them just as soon as I manage to snag a new power supply for my home PC.
Now, this is an interesting idea! Do you have proof to back this up, or is it supposition? I'd always interpreted these lines to be more along the lines of a god speaking to a lesser being, while acknowledging that "while you are individuals, you are united in pursuit of a single goal." The idea being that, while we Adventurers are weak on our own, together we can challenge even the gods themselves.
This then tied into another theroy I had...
Having established (via CoP) that we are the true Warriors of the Crystal spoken of in the song, I also theorized that we would also be the ones to re-establish Paradise. Not by reuniting the Great Crystal, as the Zilarts wanted, but rather by reuniting the light of the Mother Crystals as reflected through us, i.e. not in the literal sense, but figuratively. If we can challenge the gods by working together - standing united - we could eventually make Vana'diel a pretty darn spiffy place to live in, too.
Alas, as with most things prophetic, there is little actual proof for my theory. Just my own interpretation on things. But I liked the way it fulfilled the terms of the prophecy/song in a way that didn't end with the world I love being winked out of existence.
I think being a true Warrior of the Crystal is more a meta-physical thing. If you're talking about the Ark Angels, those are Twisted Mockeries created by the Zilart Princes in a mad and desperate attempt to fullfill the terms of the prophecy/song so that they could say, "See? We've got all the pieces just like it says, so we'd like our Paradise back, now, thanks." The Ark Angels also had the benefit of being really nice beat sticks the Zilart could use to keep people in check. It was win-win for them, until we came along and broke their toys.
We (who completed CoP, at least) on the other hand, are the true Warriors not because we were born special, or because we were touched by some arcane power beyond the ken of mortal man, but because we are ourselves, and in being so we embody the virtues of the Crystals (their "light" with which we can push back the darkness). OK, yes, the extra power boost from the light of the Mother Crystals that allowed us to resist Promathia's power helped, but those lights aren't what brought us to that moment - then and there - ready to fight for our world. That was all pure us being awesome.
By and large, the Beastmen are just too tightly wrapped up in the Chains (the five great flaws) to rise to that sort of level. They spend most of their time squabbling and warring and killing. Not to say that the player races haven't made mistakes in their pasts, but I like to think we've gotten better.