They went and did it again, didn't they. They just had to do it... And what an annoying format, anyone figure out how to stop that red line from changing every few moments? Alright, I'm taking notes here.
Firstly, taking these concepts at face value, Command Mission seems to be pushed to its own timeline unless that story itself was part of the Elf Wars. Zero's 50 year first sealing, the Elf Wars, as well as all of the X series incidents are now reported to fit into a 100 year period (all 1XX years ago). The only other option would be X1's back story taking place in circa 2155, and Command Mission being one of Zero's late adventures before his first sealing.
But then Wily would have lived one hell of a long time (or perhaps have been a cyber ghost already) to still have built and sealed Zero during that same ~1XX years' period, if that is to be taken literally as well. Since X was supposed to be buried for 100 years when Cain found him, and Light seemingly sealed X late in his lifetime, Zero's backstory should really be over 200 years ago as well. Though if Light really did finish X around the time of the Roboenza incident, but didn't activate him because of the antivirus and armor projects, perhaps X could be dormant for a good while before Zero was completed and sealed, although that doesn't mesh well with Light's agedness at X's sealing in the Day of Sigma. I guess this simply must be taken somewhat loosely to work at all.
Anyway. X7 and X8 on the other hand can still fit alright with some small effort, but can't be as spaced out in as many years after X6 as I would have thought before. If they are still to be taken as a singular rather than branching timeline.
Zero Zero Zero. Of all the things they could have kept from the 3 Keys... I didn't imagine that the virus turning Zero good scenario would make it onto one of Capcom's web pages yet again. Apparently he was a failure at first, wilder than Wily could control. I guess that explains why Serges had such trouble with Zero's brain chip in X2--Wily never got it right in the first place. But the virus... leaks out of Zero's capsule? And yet Zero, within the capsule the entire time, doesn't seem to acquire the virus himself until his battle with Sigma? It doesn't make much sense to say Zero was the first infected with the virus when Sigma was purportedly infected at roughly the same time... unless the "W" is the virus infecting Zero slightly first. But moreover, the virus is said here to be the cause of the first local Irregular outbreaks that spawned the Hunter organization. So simply, there had to be those infected before that who I guess are ignored by that definition.
So Zero had some kind of shielding to protect him from the virus, but thanks to Sigma apparently the virus gets in anyway, and affects him uniquely among all robots. As 3 Keys previously suggested, Zero experiences amnesia and a severe personality shift, and seems to develop an immunity to the virus in the process. Wily's most murderous robot and his master computer virus converge unintentionally and.... somehow cancel each other out. I guess this is Inafune's proposition of irony and circumstance?
Well, if Wily's other project from PF was the revamped virus which he intended to use to control the world, it does make a bit of sense that the two be kept somewhat together in Wily's crazy doomsday time capsule. That leaves us to wonder whether the leaking virus was an accident of aging machinery, and perhaps Zero's awakening as well. On the other hand, perhaps the virus was leaked as a test to see how it fared on reploids... that would imply that Wily was already revived and concurrently plotting before Zero's awakening. Either way, the idea that it is the capsule that spread the virus to Sigma and Zero during their battle may support the notion that the place they did battle was also the place Zero was sealed. Furthermore, the idea that some ancient equipment would still be emitting some maverick-making waves or whatnot could be how that section became the forbidden area to begin with. Almost a "curse of the mummy" type thing, tomb defilers beware.
Moving right along, we have confirmation that Zero was separated mind and body for the sake of the research, as well as the assertion that it was the government's decision to seal Zero either instead or in addition to Zero deciding to submit himself for study. Apparently Project Elpis is not the creation of the Mother Elf, but rather, the project to use her to control reploids en masse, the birth of the Dark Elf. Is this when Weil "stole" and "cursed" her? Was her use in this way actually legally approved despite X's reservations, or had Weil already done the damage, and was now merely setting up for the creation of Omega, his ultimate reploid?
According to X's and Neo Arcadia's character profiles, X established the organization known as Neo Arcadia to protect the survivors of humanity (during or after the Elf Wars?) and build the dome for them to live in. Was Weil once a member of X's organization, then subsequently banished from it? X is said to have ruled in his heyday not by totaltarianism, but by means of his own justice and leadership. He refused to use the Dark Elf to exert control, and this made him even more popular. Years later, both the government and the city itself are referred to as Neo Arcadia, but it seems that was not X's intention. It's good to have a better understanding of how Neo Arcadia existed at its beginning, though.
X seals the Dark Elf within himself so no one can use her in the Project Elpis way ever again. According to his bio, the act of doing so caused his soul to split into 5 parts, 4 of which became our Big 4, and the last becomes the drifting cyber elf that we've come to know as X proper. So now not only are the Big 4 bioroid clones of X's DNA and potentially making use of his "parts," but they're even reincarnated pieces of his very own soul. I guess that's why they can cheat death so readily, some kind of reploid horcrux scenario.
Another interesting thing was the description of Ciel and the Cyber Elves. Apparently Cyber Elves cannot be seen or interacted with by humans without some manner of aid, only reploids can see and feel them. Ciel requires her visor to interract, although she didn't seem to be using it when she interacted with Passy, but maybe just because it wasn't down over her face doesn't mean the effect wasn't occuring. I guess this must have been fixed by the time of Vent and Aile in ZX, machine bodies and all.
Do they have to rewrite history every time we get one of these things? I mean, is it that hard to reveal new things without altering old ones? I feel like I'm getting too old for this.