You know, maybe you're actually right to some extent. The previous publication definitely screwed with the author's beat. We know, since he's very vocal against censorship. It's the typical case of "author wants to do something crazy, editor gives the greenlights, author does what he wants, editor gets cold feet midway, author is forced to release half-baked tease and bait content that doesn't commit."
He happens to be that one-in-a-million author that won't submit to that process, but because he had to end the OG JW and go to a different magazine to release the sequel, he probably had to start off the sequel from another POV to make sure no one's complaining he's just bringing the same work elsewhere. His original plan is probably thrown out of the board and he's making the flashbacks as a form of compromise to finish the previous story.
Those petals on Mashiro's head are like plot armor counters that save her from Dominators trying to assault her. Every time she escapes, one petal falls off. But he made Mashiro meet the Supreme Commander, who just went and blasted all the remaining petals off her head. He was probably getting impatient; he had to go on hiatus for a long time before Rebellion was ready to start.
