Conjecture Question..Any evidence to support/reject this theory concerning Echo?

[Inaaca]

I think the Twelve are less omnipotent than we think of them, that the Primals are more akin to them than not

I don't think that we have seen what the Twelve are really capable of, but you may have a point in saying that they have similarities to the Primals.

Both the Twelve and the Primals rely on drawing power from Hydaelyn's life force to be physically summoned. Over the course of 1.0, the beastmen tribes were summoning their Primals over and over, each time draining Hydaelyn's life force. We adventurers were killing those same Primals over and over, and every time a Primal was defeated, their life force was absorbed by Bahamut, encased in the falling Dalamud.

At the time that the Twelve were finally summoned at end of 1.0, Hydaelyn was drained, and the life force that the Twelve had to pull from was drastically limited. Bahamut, on the other hand, had been constantly absorbing this life force the entire time, becoming extremely powerful in the process.

So what we saw in the final cutscene was an extremely weakened Twelve going up against extremely supercharged Elder Primal. You could say the odds were stacked unfairly, in this case. This makes me wonder how the balance of power truly sits, or if it is always in a state of constant flux.

[Bowen]

I think the Twelve are less omnipotent than we think of them.

And I think you were right to compare them to the Greek gods in this regard.

Y'see, the Greek gods weren't really all-knowing, or all-powerful. They were definitely mighty, in both intelligence and power. However, they were not almighty. This is the difference between them, and say, Jehovah/YHWH/Allah, who is described as being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. We tend to attribute these characteristics with all beings that are given the title 'god' or 'God', however, that is not always the case.

But I'm going to shut up now before I say something to offend someone.