Haha, oh. It was kind of meant to be ambiguous, since the prequel was originally just a standalone, but now that it's evolved into this monstrosity, I'll probably have more allusions and ultimately a fuller explanation as to what happened. I haven't written it yet, which is why I'm sounding all over the place.

You're certainly not overthinking anything. Especially since even I haven't thought it through that much, so. Any analysis (or viewpoints, for that matter) is welcome!