Primals, Gods and others (Possible Spoilers)

[Deds]

Well they COULD end up acting like Shiva and just using a person as a vessel, but indeed it doesn't make much sense because, as Kyle said, they could've used Gaius and the person seems to keep be able to command the new power. But we're talking about a primal and a 'god' so idk, maybe the god would get complete control of the vessel.

Maybe they're just making us stronger so Hydaelyn is forced to spend energ fiing the planet AND helping us.

[Kyle2006]

My theory is that the Ascians are behind all of the Calamities. Hydaelyn gets weaker because she has to heal th planet after a Calamity. All of the known Calamities had something to do with humans (e.g. War of the Magi, the earthquake that destroyed Allag, Dalamud´s fall). It is plausible that the Ascians manipulated the events so they would end up causing massive destruction.

So basically the Ascian´ plan is to weaken Hydaelyn with the calamities until she can´t hold Zodiark anymore, which looks like it´s about to happen. D:

Good theory, I didn't think about the possibility that Hydalyn was using a good portion of her aether to heal the world. However I don't believe that all calamities were caused by the Ascians, man is more than capable of bringing calamity on themselves, however I do think your on to something about the ascians causing mayhem (and possible a few calamities) to damage the world in order to weaken Hydaelyn.

[Enkidoh]

All of this has me wondering if the Asceans are trying to force Apotheosis on the PCs or more likely, merge them with Zordiark to use Erorzea's faith in the Warriors for a huge power boost.

If that is indeed the Ascians' ultimate plan for us, then it's clearly something they didn't plan at first - for most of the pre-Praetorium storyline every time Lahabrea and other Ascians interacted with the player or were shown talking about them, they seemed to regard the adventurer as nothing but a stubborn thorn in their side and that they fully intended to kill us as a result. Case in point, the first encounter with Lahabrea at the end of the Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak:

Hydaelyn (through the Echo): "Darkness..."
???? (Lahabrea, in the Ascian's language): "Hahaha..."
????: "The mighty slayer of Ifrit comes now to me..."
????: "With a countenance that bespeaks understanding..."
????: "An intriguing power, the Echo. I must needs choose my words with care."
???? (speaking normally): "Mayhap I might if I deign to speak in my guest's crude tongue. We meet at last."
Lahabrea: "I am Lahabrea of the Ascians, servant to the one true god."
Lahabrea: "Yours is a most fantastical tale. Truly absorbing."
Lahabrea: "It is a tale to tell Eorzea's children before bedtime. And it will soon be dark, Bringer of Light."
Hydaelyn: "The Dark Minions..."
Lahabrea: "All that stands between this world and darkness is an irksome anomaly in the aether-the Echo."
Lahabrea: "Yes... yours is a most fascinating tale."
Lahabrea: "Alas, like all good tales, it must needs come to an end. But fear not..."
Hydaelyn: "Hear... Feel... the presence... of evil..."
Lahabrea: "For the end of your tale is but the beginning of another... the tale of the Crystal's demise!"

Then there was his comments just before

attacking the player in the Praetorium after destroying the Ultima Weapon (which follows on from the quote in my earlier post).

Lahabrea: "You will not leave this place alive!"
Lahabrea: "Come, Bringer of Light, it is high time your flame was extinguished!"

For much of the game, Lahabrea just seemed to think we were nothing but a mild annoyance at best and stubborn at worse - in any event, he severely underestimated the Mothercrystal's potency compared to his own power, and the rest is history as they say. Hence if they are now trying to corrupt us to their will, it's clearly a change they made in their original plans.

[Deds]

Oh, maybe they really didn't plan on using us at the beginning.
Another interesting thing is that they don't seem to know exactly how the Echo works. Remember that Ascian dressed in white that used the "Ardor" against Minfilia? He seems surprised that the Echo protected her against that move. Probably that Ardor is Zodiark's "Echo", and the Ascians use a lot of its true potential, while we're still discouvering what's up with the Echo. Maybe that's the reason they're making us stronger: to discouver the true potential of the Echo.