I get that (most) people don't want time travel, but why would they write "time is not a construct we can control" when the character really means "we just don't want them to replace us"

I think there's more evidence of time manipulation than there is for explaining "what they're ACTUALLY saying is that they don't want the endless to become more powerful"

The runes Despondent Pyre speak of predate the forerunners, but appear to be on a forerunner object

Harbinger is communicating with an old signal

Despondent Pyre talks about time several times when uncovering the artifacts – saying time moves forward and back again

Chief desyncs with time on the rings surface at the end of the game

The name "endless"

The gravemind quote that the Harbinger says, whereas the gravemind was connected to "the timeless one"

The Harbinger being frozen in the Silent Auditorium according to her recollection of her trial

Like, if they're not suggesting time shenanigans, why are they pretending they are?