Do we have some kind of FFXIV lore wiki?

[LineageRazor]

I say, Hydaelyn and Zodiark are neither good or bad

While you're not the only one to take this stance, it's worth pointing out that there is very little in-game evidence pointing to the idea that Hydaelyn is anything but good. Everyone except for the Ascians and the Primals who knows of Hydaelyn's existence think that she's the bee's knees, all of our personal interactions with her have involved her defending or supporting us, all of the subtle clues we're given as to her motivations (such as the lyrics to Answers) paint her as a being who loves living things, wishes for them to live free, and despairs when they come to harm. Probably the most questionable thing we've seen her do is acquire Minfilia as her Emissary, and even if that was done without her consent, it's highly likely Minnie would have given it, had circumstances allowed.

Certainly, there could come a twist revelation later on that nope, Hydaelyn is actually an inscrutable alien with blue and orange morality whose actions only SEEMED to be beneficial, or that all of her goodness up to now has actually been a front and she's actually a self-absorbed Shin Megami Tensei style God who wishes to crush all opposition and enslave all creation - but none of that is indicated in what we know NOW. It's worth pointing out that, unlike in FFX, NO ONE we know of worships Hydaelyn. There is no Church of Hydaelyn, and the folks that do know about her see her as a powerful ally, not an object of worship. There is no all-powerful Church to stand as an adversary (Ishgard has one - but they worship Halone, one of the Twelve Gods of Eorzea, who are relatively unknown outside of Eorzea, and Halone has no direct connection to Hydaelyn).

Zodiark is much more of a mystery. We know very little of him, other than that Hydaelyn was opposed to him and imprisoned him, and that the people who wish to free him are THOROUGHLY unpleasant. That still leaves plenty of room for him to be Not Evil, but as of now we do not know one way or another.

[MrThinker]

Probably the most questionable thing we've seen her do is acquire Minfilia as her Emissary, and even if that was done without her consent, it's highly likely Minnie would have given it, had circumstances allowed.

Was it really w/o her consent though? Sure it was a bit of a do it now or don't situation, but I'm pretty sure Minfillia willingly went back to get swallowed up by 'Flow'.

[LineageRazor]

Was it really w/o her consent though? Sure it was a bit of a do it now or don't situation, but I'm pretty sure Minfillia willingly went back to get swallowed up by 'Flow'.

Reading back, I see that my wording was unclear. I meant to say that we do not know whether or not Minfilia consented to become an Emissary. In the scene where we were escaping with her, and she turned back, we did not learn exactly what Hydaelyn communicated to her. We later learned that it caused her to be caught up in Y'shtola's emergency teleport, but did she get full disclosure as to what was to happen to her? ("A rare opportunity is unfolding. Your companion is about to undergo a dangerous ritual, but one that could send you to me, where I may anoint you as my Emmisary. Are you willing to shed your mortal form and take on this burden for the sake of this world and others?") Or was it more along the lines of, "Hey, Minnie, I need you to stand over here for a bit, 'kay?"

One thing that I neglected to mention that some folks ALSO take as evidence of Hydaelyn's "inner evil" is the FAN THEORY that Hydaelyn is CONSUMING the Lifestreams of the Shards when they rejoin, in order to repair the damage caused by the Calamities. This consumption may or may not be voluntary on her part, but these fans find it sinister that she's not sharing that information with us. Again, though, the problem is that there's little or no in-game evidence that this is happening. We don't know what is involved with a Rejoining. Hydaelyn may have nothing to do with it at all. It's a bit like coming up with the wild theory that Google burns endangered African rhinos in a giant furnace to power their servers, and then accusing them of skulduggery for not being open with their rhino-burning ways.