R Moshe Sokol, our LOR, In his Shabbos Hagodol drasha suggested that the modern Seder is the reverse of the pre-Hurban seder. We say maggid then eat. In Temple times, if you read the Mishna, and even in the post-Hurban Tannaitic era, it seems that they ate first, then said Maggid, and benched.
Which fits
- Mah Nishtanah - the child asks about the oddness of the meal he has *just eaten*.
- the Sages sitting up at Benny Baruch telling of the Exodus - after the meal.
- eating the Korban Pesach hot off the spit, rather than 3 hours later.
Ha Lachma Anya then is seen as a later addition, introducing Maggid, when we haven't eaten yet. It reminds us we're in practice mode, in a broken world, waiting for the Final Redemption when we can do it properly.
