TP... I might be going over things again, but summarising what seem to be a few "crucial" parts in the timeline.
specifically with reference to the selection of TOGA thrust following the stall warning, and the subsequent control law change to Direct.
At/from 15:45:11 TOGA EPR was being achieved. THS was in the position it remained until the accident (almost full Nose Up), Elevators going to Full Nose Down. IAS ~110K, Pitch ~17nu (?), gently descending.
Over the next 9s, the nose goes down further (to ~5nu?), the aircraft goes to Direct Law (FACs fail), and the elevator "blends" to the stick (over ~5s). IAS increases quickly to ~130K.
What then happens? All seems to go wrong at 15:45:21. From this point Pitch starts a steady rise to ~60nu, IAS starts to decrease as per pitch/climb. The only thing that happens at that point is the Sidestick being neutralised for 1-2s, and the Elevators following. Assuming that leads to and through an accelerated stall, beyond the stall life gets pretty undefined
So I would say Full Nose Up THS and Full Down Elevator, even with TOGA Power, does seem to control the aircraft, so long as you are not stalled.
The only time the THS should be in autotrim, I reckon is 15:45:52 to 15:45:57. However, Flight Control Laws "blend" from one to the other (see Normal => Direct above), so an "instant reaction" might not be expected. And in the latter part of that period the Elevators are going to Full Nose Down (limiting 'g'?) so in fact the THS being frozen is only assisting the recovery.
I might agree with those who say it hit the sea limited it to 2.5g. I am not sure that removing this limit would have saved them... Flaps were up in the recovery, so clean Vstall ~137K? 2.5g then on stall at 217K. 217K was only reached at 15:46:03, 3s before impact. At impact they might have achieved a little more 'g', but nowhere near enough to save them... (263K = 3.7g)
NoD