Quote Originally Posted by linayar View Post
The implication that I get is they weren't erased from existence, only a separate timeline was created. That's why the Exarch remained.

The people, maybe, not the timeline.

That's not how it has to work. In this case, the subversion is in the role of Zodiark, challenging the audience's notion of seeing Zodiark as the source of evil due to the Ascians' deeds, when in truth, Zodiark was a tool from the start, which can be used for good or evil, and can be misused with bad outcome, even to the user.

Nothing actually has to become of Zodiark other than being shown for what he truly is all along. Simply showing his actual role that slightly differs than the people's expectation (but still makes sense) is enough of a subversion. And just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's a misuse.
I think the problem here lies in the fact he is one of the two main beings of the arc, and he was given incredibly little screentime. Not to mention yes, since 1.0 he has been painted as this evil thing, now we learn he is essentially a tool….but they in the end have him used for evil deeds,and then 10 minutes after defeating this major built up entity you’re playing dress up with rabbits. I think that considering enough people have spoken out about there’s a bit of a fault there. As far as the timeline goes, it wasn’t erased cuz lul plot armor, but it was a possibility that they knew of and still went along with anyways and that’s all that really matters in the end.