The thing that stands out to me is really there is nothing I've seen anywhere in or out of the game that hints at Hydaelyn being anything but benevolent to the people that live on her. Even the actions of her agents are often tempered with a desired to help those who dwell on the planet. The Ascians on the other hand seem to generally act in a manner where the lives of others have little value, focused only on returning their one true god. If I judge just out of the actions of the players, for the people of Hydaelyn at least, the servants of Hydaelyn seem far more interested in protecting its people.

Likewise, Elidibus is very manipulative. He has had several chances to talk to us and if he really thought he could convince us we were in the wrong why hasn't he actually told us 'the truth'. Instead the Ascians have chosen to manipulate us and when we became to powerful and difficult to control have attempted to remove us. Elidibus doesn't strike me as someone trustworthy.

One thing these lines have had me thinking is perhaps the gripe between Hydaelyn and Zodiark was actually born from the mortal races. Perhaps the current set up is outside the natural order but perhaps mortals very existence is an aberration of the natural order. Perhaps for Zodiark, killing us all is returning things to their natural state. The whole, sundered into 14, makes we think that perhaps the Rejoining is about returning the seas back to a single existence. Back to it's natural state. Of course again, there is a very real possibility that mortals wouldn't survive that.

We currently don't know enough about the 'universe' of FF14 to really draw anything conclusive I think. I don't however think Zodiark's victory will be in our best interests. Let's remember that Hydaelyn has been growing progressively weaker for thousands of years. Everything is pointing to the war being currently in Zodiark's favour.