The connection between the Echo and the Asceans

[Enkidoh]

Maybe so, but I disagree that Hydaelyn was so drained shielding the player from Ultima that She 'no longer can assist the adventurer beyond that point' - She's clearly seen doing just that, She pulls both the adventuer and Lahabrea into her realm where the player reprises the very first scene seen in the game (where they use the Crystals of Light to form the 'Blade of Light'), thus driving out Lahabrea from Thancred, then summons the players allies (Cid, Alphinaud, Minfilia et al) to go all Captain Planet on Lahabrea to resoundingly defeat him.

[Lethorian]

Maybe so, but I disagree that Hydaelyn was so drained shielding the player from Ultima that She 'no longer can assist the adventurer beyond that point' - She's clearly seen doing just that, She pulls both the adventuer and Lahabrea into her realm where the player reprises the very first scene seen in the game (where they use the Crystals of Light to form the 'Blade of Light'), thus driving out Lahabrea from Thancred, then summons the players allies (Cid, Alphinaud, Minfilia et al) to go all Captain Planet on Lahabrea to resoundingly defeat him.

Maybe she drained herself to such a weakened state that made her vulnerable to attack from another Entity, maybe even Zodiark. The Asceans seem to always be a step ahead of us at any given moment. Could it be then that Ultima Weapon wasn't the end of their master plan and they knew that Hydaelyn would use the better half of her powers in order to assist us in the defeat of the Ultima weapon? If this were the case then they meant for Hydaelyn to be in a weakened state so that Zodiark could then corrupt her, possibly siphoning energy from her in order to make his grand entrance onto the playing field. The reason that she has "gone silent" wouldn't be that she is too weak to communicate with us, but that she is currently under attack.

As for the Echo's vision we received: It might be a vision of the future. While it is true we have only seen visions from the past so far, it has been made clear that we do not fully understand the Echo at this point. Perhaps our use of the Echo as expanded now that we have gained experience in it's use, or maybe even Hydaelyn buffing us has kickstarted expanded use of the Echo.