That is a good question and it will be interesting to find out the true reason in the next season. I do not think it’s related to the contract though as, if I remember well, the problem with the north was “maneuvered” by a cardinal. I think there is something bigger there, for example Lorkan might be using maana possessing people to steal the magic and pour it there. That said, it is said that Brian/Sol’s magic is not everyone’s magic and it has a different form, let’s say. I wonder if Lorkan is going to these lengths because he lost his powers after trying to destroy the bond between Sol and Brian, and now he wants his power back. Maybe seeing a future where he needs to make a covenant with Ian himself, which wouldn’t surprise me as he tried his best to imprint himself on him. But yeah… this theory is weird cause Ian should still be in the covenant with Sol and he might have to die again to break it. So it leads me to… maybe Lorkan is still working towards his objective to break that covenant using that magic. Ughh we’ll know in the next season, I’m soo looking forward to it!
Before we came into this flashback we learned that mana was being poured into Kunabula from an unknown source. We learned that both Sol and Lorkan has mana inside Brian. Lorkan is trying to kill Sol and Brian’s contract THEN kill Brian so they are not tethered together. This will cause them to disconnect in the next lives and not be able to find or remember each other next life onwards.
So, my question is, is the mana problem in present Kunabula possibly Brian/Ian related? I ask because maybe the contract between Sol and Brian really did break or severely weaken in Ian. Maybe the difference in Sol’s mana that was in Brian is now out of control in the present circling in Kunabula because energy cannot be created nor destroyed. I think Brian’s mana just sat there for 900 years. And since Ian was born and growing up, in turn reacted to his rebirth and wants to return to Ian so it’s acting up. Maybe Brian’s mama has a left over will and longing to reconnect to Sol through Ian.