I'm not sure the concept of MCT exists across tickets, especially if the airlines involved have no relationship whatsoever [no idea if EW work with whoever the next carrier was in this case].

Mind you, that does present a potential method for the airlines to [further] disavow liability for such bookings: set explicit MCTs for airlines that the do no legitimate business with to infinity [or several days, given that these systems probably can't handle∞].

The ruling remains absurd: it should not fall upon EW to provide compensation and then sue in turn for a contract they did not consent to.