I've always wondered why the Harrowing seems so very easy for Amell and Suranna. Like, if you really think about it, Mouse does such a half hearted job of trying to possess or tempt them. He gives up really easily. You say "i don't think that other demon was my test" and he's like haha no! Oh, okay, fine. You got me. Well anyway, here's a cryptic warning, bye!
And then that's it.
And like. I always thought maybe Mouse did this bc he had some sort of long con planned- like he'll try and worm his way into your good graces as you continue to live and dream in the tower as you age.
But!! Now I'm having another thought! What if Irving set the whole thing up so you'd have an easy Harrowing. Someone had to bind the demon for the Harrowing right? And he was the only mage there. It stands to reason that he'd be the one who picked the demon to bind. So what if he summoned a demon who he knew would be less dangerous? He clearly cares about Amell/ Suranna and wants them to succeed, so what's to stop him from rigging the system a little?
Because Amell/ Suranna gets to look good to the Templars bc they resisted a pride demon. They get to show themselves to be a mage who's "safe", and who the templars won't have to worry about as much and maybe that's exactly what Irving wanted.
Irving is already putting books on blood magic in places where where apprentices can find them so he can weed out the undesirable apprentices from the Tower to "keep the rest safe". He has no problem gaming the system to see apprentices fail if he thinks they'll be a danger to the circle as a whole. So what if he goes further than that? What if he also manipulates what demons are faced by which apprentices and thus rigs the Harrowing a bit too?
So the mages who are bad at magic get made tranquil, those tempted by blood magic get handed over to the templars for punishment, and those mages who are maybe skilled enough to pass a Harrowing in theory but who he worries will be a problem or a danger later on get given dangerous demons. If they succeed anyway well hey, maybe he was wrong about them, but if not he keeps the tower safe. And then those apprentices with skill who have the right temperament or the makings of a good circle mage or whom Irving's taken a special shine to get easy demons.
Because you can only have so many apprentices become tranquil before people get suspicious or angry. And if every mage passed the Harrowing every time the templars might also get suspicious. So Irving walks a delicate balance.
