To be honest, you are not mistaken. I do wish I was able to let ideas go on for longer and interact with one another more without sudden change. I do agree that there were times I was treating this as more an exercise rather than a genuine piece. Maybe it was a timeframe thing and I just couldn't properly express what I wanted, but that's neither here nor there.
I also definitely agree I should have done more to reference earlier material and make the piece feel more coherent. Especially for something like an end credits theme, having that overall coherency from start to finish is very important, and something I did lack.
I greatly appreciate your feedback and kind words!