Unable to open the hood, loose inside lever

[SamW]

Problem of the day with the X. Was about to pop the hood of the car, but the lever inside the car was completely loose and there was zero tension, wasn't able the open the hood. Tried the typical method of letting my wife pull the lever while I was in the front of the car simultaneously pulling the outside lever. Also tried pushing the hood down, but no luck with either of these.

Typically, I would have suspected that some of the three cables were snapped, but they all have been changed within the last four months and the lever has been working perfectly after this until today.

I removed the inside lever to see if the cable end was detached but it was still in place. With this in mind, and also considering that all the cables are almost brand new, I would guess that none of the cables are snapped but rather separated at some point if this is possible.

Should I now try to somehow open the hood and see if there are any disconnections (what is the best technique for this?) or remove the driver's footwell panels and see if pulling the cable from the inside would open the hood. But somehow I suspect that the latter wouldn't work since it doesn't open from the lever either. Or any other ideas how I should tackle this.

Thanks!