Riddle’s Overblot
The idea of Ace challenging Riddle to a duel, which led directly to Riddle’s overblot, was introduced by Crowley.
Leona’s Overblot
Leona explains that Savanaclaw was assigned to compete against Diasomnia in the first round of the interdorm spelldrive tournament for two years in a row: Leona’s first and second years as housewarden.
As a result Savanaclaw went from went from never earning less than third place in the history of NRC to being eliminated in the first round, all because of that first-round tournament-bracket assignment.
And how is that tournament bracket decided? Crowley says that he is the one who announces it, but we do not have any information on how it is set in the game.
In the novel it was confirmed as a random drawing:
The drawing for the tournament bracket also happens during the opening ceremony. It seem there was an incident last year where angry students had begun booing. Such undignified behavior must have caused quite the headache for the faculty.
-Twst the second novel
If it is a random assignment, then we have precedent for the students being wary of what are supposedly “random” selections overseen by Crowley, with both Trey and Idia expressing doubt that Crowley’s raffles are as coincidental as he claims.
Crowley emphasizes Savanaclaw’s struggles during the Housewarden meeting of Book 2, reminding everyone, including Leona, of how his failure to lead Savanaclaw to victory against Malleus is “certainly not impressing any recruiters,” and adversely affecting the members of Leona’s dorm.
Leona asks says that he does not like being told he cannot win before he has begun to fight and Crowley says that is not his intention. When Leona asks what Crowley’s intentions are, Crowley does not respond.
This is followed by the famously perceptive Vil saying that Crowley’s plan to retire Malleus “reeks of some kind of unconscious bias.”
Did Crowley assign Savanaclaw to compete against Diasomnia in the first round of the tournament for two years in a row on purpose? With Leona’s third year as housewarden being his final chance to secure a future for many of his dormmates, he became desperate enough to do something he did not want to do: contract with Azul.
(Novel: “Leona did everything he could to avoid making a deal with Azul, but in the end, there was no other choice.”)
Which connects directly to–
Azul’s Overblot
Azul is so confident in Leona’s disinterest in involving himself in the business of others that Azul refuses to let the twins interfere after Leona becomes involved in Book 3 and, under normal circumstances, Leona possibly wouldn’t have.
It is Ruggie who realizes why Leona presumably let himself be blackmailed (“You could just knock Prefect into next week for trying to blackmail you”): Leona was erasing proof of his contract.
Ruggie explains, “This whole thing is a way for (Leona) to conveniently get rid of (the contract),” thus Leona being forced to the brink in Book 2 connects directly to Azul’s overblot in Book 3.
Jamil’s Overblot
Kalim did not receive his acceptance letter until a month into the school year, enrolling at NRC in November, despite being “not very bright or that adept at magic.”
From what we know of Jamil’s life pre-NRC there were times he didn’t want to go home after school as a child, where he would have to tutor Kalim in addition to his duties as an Asim-family servant. NRC gave him freedom for two months before Kalim took it away.
While Jamil suspects that Crowley allowed Kalim’s family to buy his way into NRC it is still unconfirmed as of this post, but Kalim’s admittance is suspicious enough based on canon information, and he is the catalyst for Jamil’s overblot.
And Jamil knows for a fact that Kalim’s family bought him his housewarden position, contributing to Jamil’s stress, because he was told as much: by Crowley.
Vil’s Overblot
While it is technically Rook who serves as the catalyst for Vil’s overblot, the instigating moment was Vil seeing Neige’s VDC performance for the first time as the leader and producer of NRC’s team.
A role that was assigned to him by Crowley.
Idia’s Overblot
At the beginning of Book 6 Malleus says “something unusual is emanating from the mirror that’s linked to the Hall of Mirrors. Is it magic? No. No, this is…” but he does not finish the thought.
Upon realizing that the school’s security has been compromised Vil asks, “But how…?,” a question that was possibly answered by Ace in Book 4:
“You need Crowley’s permission to use the Dark Mirror.”
Was it Crowley who submitted the untraceable anonymous tip to STYX, and then let the CHARON onto campus?
But the CHARON arrested him–why would Crowley want to be brought into questioning? Questioned by parliament and…Idia’s parents.
Crowley’s arrested led directly to Idia’s parents leaving him alone on the Island of Woe, so there would be no one else available to stop Ortho (“Only people with Shroud family DNA can shut down the Cerberus System”) or to stop Idia when he decided to ally with Ortho, and overblotted.
Malleus’ Overblot
Lilia’s imminent death is the driving force of Malleus’ overblot, which brings the timing of Malleus’ letter into question: did Malleus receive it at the age of 176 because that is the dragon-fae-equivalent of being 16 years old?
Or is Malleus technically younger or older than even a dragon-fae would normally be accepted into the school (Malleus’ emotional age in an ongoing topic of debate), and Malleus’ letter was actually timed to overlap with the end of Lilia’s life?
Losing Lilia would have been a stressful situation for Malleus even in Briar Valley, but by bringing him to NRC he is in a uniquely vulnerable position, struggling to adapt to life in a foreign country while surrounded by people who are either terrified of him or frustrated with his inability to be normal (by human standards).
With Sebek and Silver also having never left Briar Valley, Malleus now has with only one person in his life capable of understanding both him and the outside world, one link to both his home and the incomprehensibly foreign world around him: his support system of one, Lilia.
If Crowley (or someone ) has managed to orchestrate these overblot incidents intentionally, the question remains of why, but with recent revelations in Book 7, it makes one wonder:
Book 7 Ending Spoiler (click)
Is it possible that someone, somewhere, has been building towards something, and with Malleus’ magic now weakened he will not be able to stop them?
Only time will tell.
Twisted Wonderland Reference Note 