Y'know, that wouldn't surprise me. Just look at Ozma from FFIX--you've gotta kill all of the Land Spirits before you can feasibly attack him. Maybe you need to kill everything in Turn 2 to weaken Twintania's Twister? Or that Quarantine Node is just a clever troll by SE. Both are equally likely.
And when all else fails, plug your controller in port 2! That way she can't read your mind!