I only just recently binged/caught up to the WHA manga so I’m not sure if this theory has been discussed before or not, but,
I wonder if Ininia received one of the picture books.
We know there are at least 3 that Iguin had at the time he sold one to Coco:
And when Ininia reveals her silverwood hands and attacks Coco, she says:
“You don’t know anything, Coco! The Pointed Caps took away magic! Magic that could’ve helped those who needed it!”
That sounds incredibly personal, especially since it coincides with her revealing her hands.
Also, when I was finally watching the anime, I caught a line from Alaira I hadn’t remembered:
4 years, specifically. Not just “years,” which would be the perfect amount of ambiguity—nope. 4 years. Which makes me suspect that we’re gonna find out whatever happened 4 years ago and that it’s gonna be plot-significant somehow.
So imagine Ininia figured out the secret of the picture book 4 years ago, and draws a spell that destroys her hands. But she doesn’t have a Qifrey to take her in; rather, Restys steps in and takes her under their wing.
And the way Ininia speaks to Galga before she wipes his memory and the guilt we see her trying to suppress when she later sees him with Atwert (insisting to herself that she doesn’t care that he had loved ones) makes me wonder if perhaps a Knight Moralis or other Pointed Cap intervened before Restys and wiped the memories of Ininia’s loved ones, and Restys stepped in before Ininia’s could be erased. Or maybe only her own memory was threatened or stolen that’s why she’s sensitive about that in particular.
Or perhaps Ininia lost her own loved ones either to death as a result of the spell, or in a similar way to Coco’s mother, and the BrimCaps convinced her that the Pointed Caps would never help her save them because to do so would be forbidden magic.
I’d love for Ininia to become a foil to Coco in this way.