False Prophecies about Hades 2
After the first time I defeated Chronos in 1.0 and saw the first scene in the next chamber, I had one prediction about how the story would go which turned out to be wrong but which I think could have been fun. Spoilers follow.
As soon as Mel talked to past Zagreus, I assumed there was going to be a twist where we ended up causing the main events of the story in a bootstrap paradox. For example, Mel tells Zag Chronos is coming and a threat. Because of Mels' warning, Zag goes looking for Chronos and accidently brings the pieces of Chronos together to the place they need to be to reassemble and Zag hunting him is all the reason he needs to overthrow Hades. Chronos is a threat because he's perceived as one, he needs to do his pre-emptive strike before their pre-emptive strike and it's pre-emptive strikes all the way down. Which doesn't mean Chronos isn't also a massive dick in his own right and can't have been cruel. I have mixed feelings about the ending we got, and a lot of the conclusions we didn't get. I think the reason I assumed the twist I did (apart from it being a classic time travel gag that I can't get enough of) is because the story of the game feels like a set up for a tragedy. Even aside from how right Prometheus is about how mortals are treated, just within the personal family dynamics, this feels like a story that gets so close to saying something powerful and then feints. This is why in other comments I've pitched a different conclusion. I think Mel should go to far. When Chronos is defenceless Mel should attack him, with the full force of the gods and her family behind her, Mel should bring Death to Chronos. She just has to get through Zag first. Side note, but I love Zag trying to be peaceful, and think that his role is the story is totally consistent with Hades 1. Have Zag be the reluctant final boss (because at this point we've killed Chronos enough times that it's routine even with his Rival bonuses). Then when Chronos is dead, everything that would go wrong with Killing time can happen. Mel falls down a time hole and she's left to wander, until she arrives at an empty crossroads and finds a baby she's going to raise to correct her mistakes. You even get to keep the final epilogue twist which I think is pretty neat but would have loved to play through. That way, the second time the final final boss fight happens the player who is now their older wiser self can step in and make peace. Place the reveal of which people are the same person before the final choice. Then it's not about Mel forgiving Chronos at all, it's about her realising that her solution wouldn't help and would only get her back to where she already was. This could also address the weird feeling where Zag makes the final decision narratively and Mel has to accept it. This way Mel has agency to make the wrong choice and proves she could keep making the wrong choice for as long as she wants, but decides to stop. This would even loop back round to the end of Bastion, which does a fantastic job of tying it's endings into it's narrative. In Bastion the choices are to undo a horrific event and learn nothing (by the way have you considered a new game plus run) or move on from that event.
