The Ascians are indeed the main threat and that has been true since the days of ARR. It's a shame that the protagonists have only just realised that Ascian meddling is involved in almost every conflict they get involved in and I wonder when they'll start to genuinely question whether it is wise to throw themselves into additional wars when Lahabrea and his companion literally told the Warrior of Light outright that Zodiark will be reborn through conflict between the mortal races. I suspect that we'll be due an experience similar to FF7 where the protagonists were forced to reconsider the methods that they used in their quest for 'justice'. Especially when Yoshi-P is on record stating that FF7 is his favourite main title.
