Nature of the Sound

[Lusavari]

If it's any consolation, Hydaelyn has had folks suspecting her of villainy LONG before this reveal - and even folks who felt strongly that even if her acts ARE entirely benevolent, she's got to go. The very fact that she's a more powerful being is reason enough to tear her down. In the eyes of some, humankind can never be safe, never be secure, as long as such beings exist, whatever their acts, whatever their intentions. Xenophobia, to put it plainly.

The revelation that she's a Primal was a hard blow, to be sure, though it seems quite likely that she's more along the lines of Shiva - a Primal with a real person inside, guiding her actions. This puts her on a different level than other Primals - not a better level, or worse, but it leaves hope that she may genuinely be the benevolent being she was presented as, and not merely a slave to the "programming" she was originally created with.

Personally, I believe she is being presented as someone who is doing the best that she can with the cards she was dealt, who honestly wishes the best for all but who does not have the power to save everyone. She was forced to make some very difficult decisions, with horrific consequences no matter what she chose to do. If she was knowingly responsible for the Sundering, if she knew the consequences before she chose to do it, it was only because not causing the Sundering would have had even worse consequences (most likely, death of the star and all life on it vs. death of the Ancients as a people in exchange for life to live on in some form at all).

I don't think that the writers have any intention on giving up on the idea of presenting Hydaelyn as a good and heroic figure - but she is not, and never has been all-powerful. There's only so much she can do. The folks who are hoping for a Shin Megami Tenshi-esque ending where both the "good" and "bad" gods are terrible people and the only solution is to be rid of them all - I think they're going to be left out in the cold.

Personally, Lin, I feel the most likely candidate for the being within Hydaelyn has to be Venat. However, that also brings up the question of how Zodiark will behave with Elidibus now gone. And... As much as I know you don't like Zenos... I feel the story might be setting it up so that he becomes the next core of Zodiark, functionally making him a wild beast. It's very likely Fandaniel, lacking the same reverence for Zodiark, happily would use this as a ploy, likely even hoping for the WoL&D to destroy Zodiark, undoing Zodiark's re-writing of the laws of the star, and returning The Sound.