Ardyn being a sympathetic villain was probably always the plan, no matter how many times the story could've changed I figure he was always going to be a guy that was screwed over by the Gods. Maybe when the game was still tied to FNC, Ardyn would've been a l'cie punished by the Crystal for trying to fight against it's will and was cursed with immortality or something horrible.
On a side note, it's weird that they put Ardyn in his modern clothes here when Episode Ardyn shows he didn't get that outfit until about 2000 years after?
View attachment 1137