Jamil underestimates Azul in Book 4, accusing Azul of underestimating him and being “sorely mistaken,” only for Azul to reveal the misdirect: while Jamil had sincerely thought himself to be cleverer than Azul, Azul had not underestimated Jamil, and had prepared accordingly.
Despite how Jamil’s belief that he was holding back power that surpasses that of those around him was disproven by Azul and the others who defeated his overblot form, Jami still concluded Book 4 with, “1 am surrounded by simpletons.”
Without knowing anything about Leona, Jamil makes an unflattering assumption an early vignette (“from what I hear, he’s a prince of some kingdom or another. He certainly acts the part of one of those indolent, haughty royals”), underestimating Leona’s abilities to the point that he assumes Leona needs his protection from Phantoms in Book 6.
Leona confronts Jamil for looking down on those around him, and by the end of their journey into Tartarus Jamil realizes that Leona was right and he was wrong: “He’s certainly irritating, but working with him has been a real eye-opening experience. He’s got more than magical talent, too. He also has a vast breadth of knowledge and calm judgment…And I thought I could protect this guy?”
Not trusting Grim and the prefect to arrive in time for the Firelit Sky trip on their own, Jamil provides them with five alarm clocks “just to be safe.”
Jamil dismisses Kalim’s unique magic during his overblot, saying he had “written it off as a worthless spell only good for watering plants or filling a pool.” Azul responds, “You clearly don’t appreciate Kalim’s power for what it is, then.”
Jamil also seems to have been underestimating the power that Kalim wields as the heir to his family’s fortune: While Leona agrees that there is “no contest” between Kalim and Jamil when it comes to intelligence or magic, Kalim has charisma that Jamil does not. Jamil says, “That’s just a nice way of saying he’s a soft touch. He’ll be used and taken advantage of at every turn,” and Leona responds that the greatest source of charisma is money:
“Money’s more tangible than magic. It commands a lot of power and has no uncertain or ambiguous factors. You should know all about that. Better than me, even. And Kalim is learning how to wield that immense power. So yeah, guys who act without considering what comes next are fools. But guys who only focus on that are even bigger fools. It’s hard to predict how impulsive guys like Kalim will grow…for better or for worse.”
This was also pointed out to Jamil by Azul in Book 5, who says, “He’s eventually going to inherit an entire trove of treasure. In our modern society, that wealth represents a power magnitudes greater than any magic. Why, it borders on omnipotence.”
Taking these comments to heart combined with his dream of Book 7 has possibly inspired an interest in money that Jamil previously did not have, as observed by Azul in Book 7.5:
Azul: “And here I thought you weren’t the type to take an interest in money or influence.”
Jamil: “I thought so, too…until I saw the dream Malleus gave me.”
