I think a minor time skip ahead is reasonable to infer from Arbert's (?) words in the cinematic. Now, whether any genuine time travel is involved, in addition to this, that's harder to say. The time travel aspect is ambiguous. There's room for it, for sure, and it was present in 1.0->2.0 as well as in Alexander, but given that the floods are spread over two worlds, they may reserve it for the First, which is farther gone. So I definitely agree with you that, barring any twists like you mentioned, it will be back into the past, and not the future, as the references are all to rewriting the past. 4.5 will no doubt provide firmer clues in this regard.

Regarding the cinematic, as there's some comments on it here, I think the Scions are in the right bodies. Urianger certainly seems to be. Thancred appears to be. Y'shtola is a mystery but she is different to the others in that she has already been taxed through extended use of aether, and also through the use of spells like Flow and the spell she performed in the Steppes, so there is at least the possibility that her soul is more depleted and her body being used by Matoya (or as some speculate, it's just a title.)

I wouldn't stretch the parallel worlds thing too far. The other reflections were once identical copies of the Source, but their histories have diverged since they split up, so it is incredibly unlikely that these worlds will have characters who just happen to be like those we know, with just a few details changed. Even the WoDs were possessing corpses when visiting the Source, but their world's history is fundamentally different to the Source's, as is the case with the other reflections, including the Void. Which makes the young Minfilila thing all the more curious but given the glow in her eyes I'm suspecting that some manner of rebirth as opposed to time travel is attributable for that.

Quote Originally Posted by Bright-Flower View Post
I'm thinking a 'two region' thing like Stormblood.

1. Southern Othard.
2. Something weird be it another shard or time travel.
3. Main city Radz-at-han as the Ishgard/Kugane of the expansion with Dancer tied to its lore. May or may not have a leveling zone to itself unlike Kugane.
I think you're correct. There's been very few hints that we're actually going to see Garlemald. IMO, they've teased Dalmasca via Orbonne, and it ties in with the region we're currently in and also involves conflict with the Empire, so I strongly expect a zone at the least devoted to it as we aid the insurgents there. If the story then switches to the two floods taking priority (which it will, as this is the whole reason for becoming the WoD), this creates room for travel to zones that potentially lie elsewhere (e.g. the First.) Radz-at-Han is not far from Dalmasca, so it could be tied in. The war will play a role but an actual trip to Garlemald - provided they don't resort to the unfortunate decision to destroy it off screen - and the rest of Ilsabard, and probably Sharlayan, I can see being left to 6.0, especially if Garlemald and the other provinces in Ilsabard can be salvaged. Certainly, Gaius and Maxima (and probably Cid) will want their homeland to survive.