Timebender apparently meant exactly what she said, it was over before it started

.
edit: I feel the need to point out that Dr. Ecchs could make a machine that can manipulate reality. If he sucked it up and got some outside funding he could probably create a powerful enough machine to alter the entire world. I mean, who wouldn't be interested in that?
edit2: To put it another way, it seems that the only thing holding Dr. Ecchs back as a character is his commitment to the villain code. The only reason he's undervalued as a villain is because he's a villain. He wouldn't dare depend on a larger organization without intending to betray them/etc. In reality, he really is just as smart as he claims, and very capable. He just wants to do it all himself, and he just needs some muscle and the sense to use his machines first. On the other hand, his machines might count as psuedotech and be blockable by people like lockdown, so meh.