What is the extent of the WoL's powers?

[Iscah]

The Blessing of Light is a shield. I am welcome to being corrected but up to where I am currently at in the story (4.2), I have not seen anything that would suggest it is anything but that. It's the cliché 'mother's love provides the ultimate protection' in story telling. But we have to remember that we were not born Hydaelyn's champion. We were chosen to be. This needs to be considered when Midgarsormr strips us of the blessing, yet we still prevail over impossible opposition: Nidhogg, Nabriales, King Thordan and the entire Heavensward guard, all whose resolve is on par with our own.

It's at this point where Midgarsormr is like, "Damn Hydaelyn! Your champion is legit."

Our feats and abilities are later recognized by Alexander who chooses to shut himself down after confiding in us to keep the world spinning as it should.

Having just gotten an alt through Heavensward MSQ and the Alexander raids, that's not quite correct.

We're slowly reconnecting to Hydaelyn throughout Heavensward - we start to hear fragments of Her voice again when we regain the fifth crystal, and the connection is fully restored (and the "crystal circle" takes on its more elaborate form) after speaking to Tiamat in Azys Lla. This is the point where Midgardsormr recognises us as truly worthy of Hydaelyn's blessing.

We fight Nabriales without the blessing, and Nidhogg in his weakened state at the Aery (with Estinien's support and using the Eye), but our fight with Thordan and with Nidhogg at his full power both take place after our blessing is restored.

As for Alexander, its decision wasn't just based on leaving us to protect the world, but rather that its own existence was more of a threat than any benefit it could provide.

As explained in the story:

Alexander possesses the power to travel through time and space, and reshape history for the better─but such power comes at great cost. The sheer quantity of aether consumed in the process means that Alexander itself would─mayhap not immediately, but inevitably─bring ruin to this world. This perfect machine, this supreme manifestation of logic and science, deemed its own existence a threat.

And so it chose to do nothing. To leave history untouched, and the future in the hands of man, with all his imperfections. Such was Alexander's divine judgment.

A time will come when the fate of this world is placed in the hands of one warrior. For reasons hidden to me, the future from that day forth remains shrouded in mystery─beyond even the colossus's ability to calculate. And yet Alexander chose to believe in that person, and the light within them.

It's a rather interesting quote. Obviously at an external storytelling level there are particular reasons why Alexander can't calculate our fate, but to make that statement within the story itself is curious.

[Gemina]

As for Alexander, its decision wasn't just based on leaving us to protect the world, but rather that its own existence was more of a threat than any benefit it could provide.

Thanks for the correction on Thordan and the HW guard, but the quote you left about Alexander is exactly as I remember it, and what left me to the impression I put in my last post. It's not inaccurate, you just elaborated it.

[Iscah]

Thanks for the correction on Thordan and the HW guard, but the quote you left about Alexander is exactly as I remember it, and what left me to the impression I put in my last post. It's not inaccurate, you just elaborated it.

It's a matter of which part seems more prominent to you, I guess. It's a good thing we can be here to make Alexander more confident that the world will be in good hands, but even if we weren't, then it seems like it would still conclude that it's better to leave the fate of the world up to chance (maybe good, maybe bad) than to interfere (definitely bad due to its own presence).

I feel like it only becomes relevant if it calculated that the world was definitely doomed without us.