Endwalker Main Scenario Commentary & Feedback

[PangTong]

On Hydaelyn and time travel

IMO Elpis would have been perfect if they had just kept it purely as an alternate timeline.

There's nothing essential in the plot that requires it to be a closed loop/converged timeline with maybe the sole exception of learning where Meteion is, and I can't imagine that would have been too hard to come up with something less iffy than timeline shenanigans considering how much contrived fantasy fluff is in the story already.

Loops just make things so messy, especially since we can go back and continue to muck around in Elpis (and will do so even more in Pandemonium apparently). An alt timeline would have made our own Hydaelyn's actions a lot less ambiguous (since we could assume she was ignorant of Meteion) and left us with the hope that the Elpis visit timeline could avert tragedy, even if we never get to see it.

The thing that really weirds me out is that when we meet Hydaelyn face to face, she seems to not realize that it was us in Elpis back then until we bring it up, and then she says "now the timelines are converged" or something. But how could she NOT know it was us all along? Everything in our own timeline is a result of the events of our time in Elpis. She even makes reference to the "promise from another age" when we speak to her on the ship! The whole reason she becomes Hydaelyn is because she learns that mankind needs to find a way to fight against despair, right? Even stuff liker her tracking spell on Meteion exists in our time, or are they saying that even THAT is something that was "converged"?

It just straight up doesn't make sense for her to not know, but if she DOES, even putting aside her questionable actions during the Final Days, why does she never think to tell anyone, ever, even us, about Meteion/Dynamis? She couldn't clue in the Sharlayans in their 270-something years of communications? Why did she seem surprised to learn it was us she met in Elpis?

[Loggos]

She couldn't clue in the Sharlayans in their 270-something years of communications?

Yes, this surprised me, too.

The Sharlayans were able to build a high-class spaceship on their own (even though the Allagans were the last known society capable of space travel iirc) and then they perfected it with the help of the Loporrits and the integration of Allagan components (such as the special ore).
Interestingly enough, that one lalafell engineer already seemed to have a good understanding on how to integrate the Allagan ore into the spaceship without the Loporrits. But the knowledge of the latter helped to refine various aspects of the ship.
In addition, the concept of dynamis was already known to some parts of the world in the shape of akasha and the alchemists/scientists in Radz-at-Han seemed to be incredibly capable.
So bringing them, the Sharlayans and the Loporrits together could have resulted in some meaningful dynamis/akasha research, esp. considering that at least in the new/looped timeline she has the nagivation crystal.

And instead of telling the Loporrits to stay on the moon, Hydaelin could also have instructed them to use their incredible intelligence to work with the Sharlayans and the Radz-at-Han scientists on potential alternative solutions - or even defense mechanisms against/cures for dynamis' influence (whether these would have worked is another question - but there could have been an attempt at least).

Our actual solution was quite "planning efficient" after all. We used the spaceship, which originally had a different purpose, with the Loporrits' propulsion/drive system from the moon (is that the right word in English?) to get to the edge of space. Changing the build of the ship happened really quickly.
So they could have crafted one technical solution and concived of and planned for potential different ways of using it.