The ascians don't all share the same plans. And ones like Elidibus are shown to make some pretty heavy interventions without consulting even one of his other peers.
-We've seen how some of them have wanted us killed. Doesn't need explaining.
-Elidibus discussed the Echo with Minfillia and hinted about persuading her to their side. Think dark side corruption from Star Wars I suppose. Crazy theory, maybe we and Minfillia are just another kind of uncorrupted Ascian.
-After 2.0 it's possible that we could be getting trained and manipulated to defeat opponents that are even stronger than our assumed main antagonists. A plot dynamic that was also explored in FFXIII. Heavenswards' enemies would have been a nuisance for the Ascians for instance.
-With the amount of help that we've given to the world, it's been reflected how weak the world itself has become. Before the Fall was a perfect example where military organisations and rulers had dropped their priorities and had become less than helpful, if not corrupted by self-interest. It's gotten way past the point of a few village folk depending on us. They're lacking the strength to deal with issues themselves or otherwise learn valuable lessons from coping with misfortune. They expect us to always plug the holes, and somehow we do. Almost like we've made Eorzea perfect for them. Needless to say, it's an enemy advantage if everyone just squabbles or presumes they can sit back.
