Minfillia Speculation

[Cilia]

Why do so many people want Hydaelyn to be a 'bad thing' in some form?

It's not that people want Hydaelyn to be a "bad thing," it's just that it seems rather apparent that she's possessing Minfilia. Even if Minfilia went with it willingly, the Dude still does NOT abide! That is not the behavior of a benevolent, all-loving mother goddess! (See, this is why I hate dealing with deities...)

Seriously, just let me beat the shit outta some sense into her. That usually works in these kinds of stories.

Some people might want Hydaelyn to be "evil," but they're weird.

[Fenral]

Even if she is a willing sacrifice, even if we all are, there's still grey area in portraying characters as simply being groomed for the time they will be called on to make the ultimate sacrifice. Many war stories by Japanese authors touch on this, as it enabled the use of kamikaze tactics (among other really-not-okay things) and played a huge role in Japan's strategy at the end of World War II, when pretty much everyone at the top but the Emperor himself was willing to fight on to the last man, to the point that military advisers actually staged a coup to keep Japan from surrendering after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It failed, of course, but man would that have been a different history.

Technically that's research I did for another project, but it became relevant here fast. Just some sobering historical and cultural context for you.

[Theodric]

We already see Hydaelyn 'playing favourites'. Her power is limited, yes, but she goes out of her way to protect the WoL and presumably the major Scions such as Minfilia...but most of the regular Scions perished during Livia's attack. Hydaelyn didn't intervene then - and if she did protect Minfilia and her gang somehow during that time then realistically the 'regular' Scions should be pretty uncomfortable if that is revealed.

[Jojozan]

Personal headcanon - Warrior of Light's echo allows access to alternate timelines of itself. When they talk about you facing a Primal by yourself, and then 7 others show up? That is you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and yourself. You are the Roegdyn, the Lalafell (and all the other races), the man, the woman, the caster, the melee (melee-ier?), the gatherer, the crafter, all of them. The Warrior of Light's explosive skill and power growth is because every "player" is adding a bit a power and knowledge to the rest through the echo.

EDIT: Way after the post I meant to be replying to, sorry.

[Belhi]

I think context is important here. Our WoL is such a badass and has so much success, I think people sometimes forget that our team has been losing for a really, really long time. We have come into a war literally in its final stages where our side is on the cusp of defeat. Team Zodiark had total confidence their victory was assured. They had little concern when we turned up and why would they? How many WoL do you think Team Hydaelyn has thrown at them before and what has it actually done to stop them? What really is one more going to do? We are Hydaelyn's last trump card but they don't know that.

In ARR and in the ARR patches they underestimate us. That was part of our edge. We were a annoyance and possibly a tool. In 2.55 their first response to Nabriales death was to assume it was the Ascian's screw up rather than the WoL's achievement. Suddenly in HW they start to realise that this WoL is a problem and for the first time their plans actually seem threatened and now they start to scramble. In their complacency they let us get to strong, ignoring Hydaelyn's efforts to keep us alive long enough to stand on our own as her just being desperate. From where we are this looks like a change in the tide of the war.

However Hydaelyn is still on the ropes and our efforts haven't suddenly made her safe. Ironically all her efforts to protect us have left her weaker than ever. Simply put we can kick ass to the cows come home but if she fails its game over regardless. In that light, this war is something the WoL can't win just by themselves.

What I am expecting is Minfilia has put herself up to play defence, to keep Hydaelyn from failing while we are on the front lines. We are in a war and in one we have been losing. It's quite possible that what Minfilia has done, even if it is a sacrifice was necessary to keep Hydaelyn in the fight. She is taking one for the team.

[Ageofwar]

lot of stuff

I think Hydaelyn trump card was to have midgardsormr test the WOL to see if we were worthy of the last of Hydaelyn power that she can bestow and using Minfinia escape the crystal (which i'm guessing is being corrupted by Zodiark) so that Hydaelyn(Minfinia) even in her very weak state can provide indirectly additional support.

[Dualblade]

snip

If I'm correct, the only major Scion to have the Echo/Hydaelyn's blessing is Minfillia, and the WoL when they join. None of the other major ones had it. As well, Minfillia was not protected by Hydaelyn during Livia's attack, she was captured because she was the leader. Until this point as well the WoL seemed to be the only one to get a major buff out of it, though this might be a little bit more luck on our side (Hydaelyn didn't give us the crystals except maybe the first one, nor did she really guide us to them.)

[Fenral]

She is taking one for the team.

Any good sports drama will inevitably examine the difference between "taking one for the team" and "taking yourself off the team." The former is something that can be recovered from by the next match, the latter usually provokes a lot of manly shouting back and forth, until the inevitable realization comes that you shouldn't push yourself too hard in this match if it means you won't be able to help in the next. Maybe you can make a comeback, but if the cost is too high, you lose the tournament anyway. And possibly your career in soccer/baseball/basketball/volleyball/swimming/etc.

If she just needs time on the bench, cool. If she's not coming back to the team, there will be manly shouting, at the very least.

[CyrilLucifer]

If she's not coming back to the team, there will be manly shouting, at the very least.

My bet is from Thancred.

[SaitoHikari]

I'm thinking that, while this is pretty much in 'highdea' territory, what if we have actually *already* lost this war, in a way? The Ascians keep mentioning about how things 'once were'. What if that actually meant Hydaelyn as we know her is already gone? Maybe she had already started the process of becoming something else during the time that we didn't hear anything of her, until she called Minfillia away. Who, in her eagerness to no longer be a burden on the WoL and the other Scions, likely didn't even stop to think that something horribly wrong may have already happened with Hydaelyn?

Note the name of the patch. Maybe Hydaelyn was always destined to change. It's just a matter of exactly how she is supposed to. The Ascians have always been trying to influence things their own way. What if the reason why Hydaelyn invested so much into the WoL is because she knew that thanks to the Ascians, she would inevitably no longer be able to exist as is, and needed the WoL to steer the 'gears of change' towards a world free from the influence of the Ascians? Indeed, we now have a permanent means to destroy the Ascians. They can't change the world in their favor if they're GONE.

(Sure, when we regained the Blessing of Light, we may have heard Hydaelyn's voice again. But that could have just been us imagining Hydaelyn as we knew her. As far as I'm aware, we still haven't really heard anything of her status, nor has she directly intervened in our affairs since.)

But what of Minfillia? Well, she definitely looks like some sort of vessel. But I think that if Hydaelyn had begun the process of changing, she needed Minfillia to hide that fact from the Ascians until she can get the message to the WoL first. And what a clear message it'd be, especially if it turns out that she IS the new Hydaelyn. So that while we might have lost this war, we'd have a head start over the Ascians on the next, though very brief. Whatever the next war may be. What happens to her after? Who knows.