The questions I want EW to answer the most: WHY and HOW was the world sundered?

[Cleretic]

I should say that I'm not asking questions like that to shoot the theory down, I just believe that every theory has to at least be able to answer the most immediately realized evidence against it. Otherwise we hit stuff like that 'but what if Hydaelyn tempered the WoL' theory that completely ignores the fact that got shot down directly back in ARR.

I can't personally sign off on a theory that says Plan Hydaelyn basically immediately fell apart, though. Zodiark was formulated in a panic to solve a very weird problem, so it makes sense that it didn't work out perfectly. But Hydaelyn... Venat's crew had time, and clearly were composed of people that were pretty thoughtful. I can imagine that their plan frayed over time, but I don't see them coming up with a plan that went off the rails, like, minutes after they did The Big Part--and certainly not before. I don't know if their game plan involved sundering the planet, but I can't imagine that their response to doing so was 'whoops'.

When Emet talks about Hydaelyn's fight against Zodiark, he says that "your 'Mother' would probably tell a different story".
So I am guessing we will hear her side of the story.
+ we still need to find out why only 3 Ancients survived.

Personally, my theory for this one is that those three were, by happenstance, not on the planet when it got sundered. I think we're gonna find out when we get to Mare Lamentorum that Emet-Selch, Lahabrea and Elidibus were up there for some unrelated reason; they weren't trying to dodge the blast, but they happened to be clear of it.