The Ascians being behind the Garlean Empire makes a lot of sense. There was always a lot of "what is going on with the Garleans" since their goals never matched up with their actions. Once we got the reveal about the Ascians being behind the Garlean Empire, those finally matched.

I think I'm more disappointed at the timing behind the reveal in the narrative. At least currently as it is before 5.0. The Ascians being behind Garlemald feels like a bit of a red herring for 5.0 with 5.0 being on the 1st Shard instead of of the Source and Varis going back to Garlemald to deal with the rumors of Zenos being possessed by Elidibus. It almost feels like the reveal was done to just introduce Solus as the main antagonist for 5.0 rather then actually do something with the Ascians being behind Garlemald in the MSQ. You'd think the Ascians being behind Garlemald would be super important for where the MSQ is going next, but nope, turns out it actually isn't really since the WoL isn't going to be sticking around the Source. And the Ascians being behind Garlemald isn't really important when it comes to events not happening on the Source.

I hesitate to say this a bit... but the Ascians being behind Garlemald doesn't matter that much for the story the WoL is going to be dealing with in 5.0. From the looks of things, that isn't going to be our fight. It is going to matter a bunch for the Eorzean Alliance and anyone else who is trying to stop the Garlean Empire on the Source. In a way, it's going to matter for the people who are probably going to be learning about how to win without relying on the Warrior of Light and the Scions.