A curious thing to make note of is that, iirc, one of the Ascians, either Elidibus or Emet-Selch, I don't remember which, make mention that only one more rejoining is needed for Zodiark to break free from his prison. Yeah, the Ascians want *all* the shards rejoined to the source, but Zodiark would likely be strong enough to accomplish that for them. If the calamity elemental alignment ever actually mattered at all, then what if it only mattered for freeing Zodiark?