PJ2
I can appreciate your description of sampling and animation; in early movie houses, one could hear 24 clicks per second, as each frame "posed" in the lens. The human eye sees 24 "samples" as continuous motion, for electrochemical reasons that are weighty, to say the least. The herky jerky of one second samples is well described in your intimation of "bit rash". At the other end of the camera are high speed cameras in the tens of thousands of eps.
587? The first "bang" was most likely the forward mount of the VS severing itself from the fuselage. I see that happening as the first catastrophic shock load of a Rudder slamming into its stop (30degrees?) puts untenable stress on the joint, a result of the VS lever action forcing the forward lugs "up" and away from the clevis acting in concert with side loads (undesigned for) try to root out the entire assembly.
Is the game up? I think no. The VS is now operating in a sloppy plane as loads cause it to articulate with a broken foremount, and an aft one that has been driven into the fuselage (tail cone), swivelling around a middle joint that is most likely compromised, but still holding. This would express itself in excursions in the lateral, though independently of the Rudder (essentially). Now the cockpit is reacting to a new control: a slow and unpredictable loose VS/Rudder, and response would of course be unpredictable re: pedal inputs. Now might be the time to put foot on the floor, and think about RTB. No pilot would entertain what he is dealing with, it is not trained for. Had it been anticipated by the engineers, a sacrificial hinge may have been installed to prevent the Rudder from overloading the VS.
No. Yaw is atypical, and no one thinks to nurse a wounded bird back to land. The pilot is still trying to "save" the a/c. Instead, he pedals again, against a now fully articulating VS/Rudder assembly, which produces new and surprising results. The Rudder is now ineffective, and who would know the a/c is about to lose the tail? I also believe the Rudder at this point is not the problem. It is what can be described as the "procuring cause". Instead, the VS is flopping around in the 259 knot airstream, until the back and forth has worn out the middle hinge, and the VS flies off to land in the Bay.
The "Finding" must be written by an authority that has many cousins. "Inconclusive" is a favorite word when boxed into a corner by Manufacturers, Old Pilots, Airlines, and politicians. Conclusion? Frangible Rudder or moderated deflection, or "keep your feet on the floor?"