And what exactly prevents 1999 A.D. from being the last time they visit before the gates close, eh? You can get the best ending even without smashing the Omen, which means they might as well of killed him in 1999.
Yes, but the Omen is a canon plot piece, that appears for a reason. Had Lavos simply been destroyed with it's destruction, Chronopolis would have had ruins of the Ocean Palace. To date, Chronopolis had only found a road, probably the one leading from a skyroad to Kajar ot Enhasa. Heck, even with things such as the Bucket and travelling to 1999AD, the game prevents you and asks you if you want to really go there. But in the Ocean Palace, you don't get that liberty.
Unless he was killed fast enough to ensure no recording was in order? Chronopolis was founded in 2300 A.D., so they'd never know, and Lavos never fired an attack. The monitor in Chronopolis shows no actual data about Lavos can be found, which makes sense given the fact the guy vanished into dimensional hell
Chronopolis cannot confirm a single thing. If Lavos was destroyed in 1999AD, there would have atleast been some kind of distortion that Crono and co felt inside. Heck, Crono and co can't get into the shell without him rising, unless you use the Epoch, and somehow, the Epoch canonically should survive. Besides that, I remember the Dead Sea stating that they felt Lavos' presence, and then his destruction rain. So Lavos getting destroyed would have made them feel something.
