Minfillia Speculation

[Nalien]

I... Think the chains are entirely symbolic...

I'm not sure Minfilia is losing her free will or anything like that, I think her fate is tied to that of Hydaelyns (in a very specific/important way, hence Elidibus showing an interest in her, dudes obviously known this would happen for a while), and any change that occurs from here on out is a result of her learning about that fate. She's gone from bumbling around in the dark to gaining a much deeper understanding of things, and as a result she is bound to Hydaelyn. It's still her will to "do the right thing", but in learning TheTruth™ she is now in a position where she either helps Hydaelyn or she damns Hydaelyn, either way her fate is chained to Hydaelyns.

Unless Hydaelyn has intentionally been deceiving everyone, I cannot see such a radical change in personality... It's also entirely possible that, given we'll likely be finding her at the end of a dungeon in which we fight numerous Sharlayan defense systems, the chains are Sharlayan in origin, not Hydaelyns work... I mean... If you had a station monitoring God, and there was a cult of maniacs (and there are plenty of such forces in Eorzea...) you knew were trying to kill God... Wouldn't you put some kind of defense system in the way? Wouldn't you want to apprehend anyone trying to come into direct contact with God? If the chains aren't symbolic, my bet is on them being Sharlayan in origin. Hydaelyn never struck me as the bondage type...