Gerun Oracles

[Nalien]

Reading into ambiguous characters like Middy takes a step back and objective viewing, but he was never outright hostile - the "fight" against him is, like Ramuh, just a test to prove our worth, and he did nothing to actually topple Ishgard in the millennium-long Dragonsong War. He's very much an observer rather than someone on the stage - the only thing he actually does is strip you of the Blessing of Light and then spirit you out of the exploding Singularity Reactor at the end of 2.5 and 3.0, respectively.

He never got involved before because Nidhoggs aim was never to annihilate Ishgard, there was never the need to call on daddy. Heavensward made it fairly apparent that Nidhogg was tormenting Ishgard, that he always had the power to just wipe them out, but would rather make them suffer. It also made it very apparent that something had changed, Estinien comments on such, Nidhoggs gaze was solely on Ishgard, not the Eye he'd stolen. What changed? Thordan. Thordan VII gained Primal powers. He'd become a very real threat. Suddenly Nidhogg is calling for help, and Midgardsormr was ready to answer, until we stepped in.

We've actually got a fairly solid chain of events for this. The only missing piece is when Thordan was originally summoned. The first time we see him is in the Singularity Reactor, but given his Knights had already been blessed with his power, one can assume he'd been summoned at some point prior as well. That is the catalyst which started the current conflict. It's why Nidhoggs aims changed, it's why Midgardsormr was nearly dragged into the conflict. Heck, didn't Estinien even comment on wondering why Nidhogg wasn't leading the recent assaults as he used to? Being scared of a Primal is the perfect reasoning for that, too. Thordan got summoned, suddenly Nidhogg had to destroy them, rather than toy with them. Fighting a Primal could have gotten him killed, so he sits back, calls on daddy for help... Then we got in the way...