The Rejoining (Spoilers for EVERYTHING up to 2.55, welcome to Lore)

[Anonymoose]

I imagine that Hydaelyn is the world of "light" split off from some original dualistic world by some being/beings (the Twelve?) powerful enough to alter reality itself to suit their ideals, and that what they left behind was the world of "dark." Perhaps the "void" the Allagans called the "World of Darkness" is, in fact, the space between these two worlds.

This is also a possibility; Dualism was one of the first paths I took after seeing the "Dark Crystal" and believing there was a good chance it was a growing Zodiark (though we never really got any conclusive evidence). I thought of lots of theories as equals, at first, but Dualism started to fall out of favor with me when The World of Darkness and The Void became synonymous. The Void is spoken of as if it's far larger than the "World of Light." To use real-world science very, very, very loosely, I've started to see the "World of Light" as the physical matter that results from energy, and the Void as the source of all that energy. It makes it much harder to see a Dualistic balance, and easier to see a desperate fight for the Crystal's will to not go silent in the sea of oblivion. "Your planet is alone - one star in the void." // "In darkness, the crystal dreams."

We know that some of the Ascians are of "our" world, but that in turn can be taken to mean that some aren't.

This is a major source of my confusion. You'll notice that Elidibus and Lahabrea, the two from "our world," are the only two who've spoken of returning things to the way they once were. Nabriales, part of the other set, couldn't wait for Darkness to simply consume all. How these goals can both lead to Zodiark is where I think an important answer lies.

If the Ascians were involved in all of the Calamities, they may have some greater reason to keep the light from shining too brightly. I wonder sometimes if we have it all backwards, and the light is, or at least was, winning overwhelmingly and moving towards decisive victory in a field of battle we still lack the viewpoint to see.

I think this is what we're meant to question - did the Light overstep its bounds? Elidibus filled us with doubt in Patch 2.1... The difference between the origins of the transmigratory ascians and originals is something we need to know more about to understand anything.

<Gaia and Chaos>

I like when everything fits with both Final Fantasy and XIV's origins in Greek Mythology, so I think at least some of this must be at least somewhat on the right track.