The Young and the Restless spoilers: Ian’s two BIG mistakes lead to his downfall?

When it was revealed that The Young and the Restless’ Ian (Ray Wise) and Jordan (Colleen Zenk) were back in town and teamed up to wreak havoc, we had only three questions. How much chaos would they cause? Who would be their next victims? And how would the evil duo meet their demise this go-around? Zeroing in on this last point, it looks like their plans may fall apart thanks to Ian’s own doing. He made two big mistakes in our opinion that are bound to catch up with him in a major way, and quickly.

1. Ian manipulating Jordan

Ian may soon regret constantly manipulating the deranged Jordan in their alliance. Since the pair resurfaced and it became clear that Jordan has been doing Ian’s bidding as it pertains to Sharon (Sharon Case), Heather (Vail Bloom) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), Jordan has grumbled several times that Ian isn’t holding up his end of the bargain. Ian is supposed to be helping Jordan get back at Claire (Hayley Erin) and the Newmans, and he’s yet to make any significant progress with that.

So far Ian has managed to placate Jordan each time she gets agitated about this. In The Young and the Restless episode airing on January 3, he does so by explaining that after they kill Sharon and pin the murder on Phyllis, he hopes to worm his way back into Mariah’s (Camryn Grimes) life as a father figure offering his one-time “daughter” comfort. Since Mariah and Claire are friends, he envisions being able to get close to Claire by extension as he connects with Mariah, and then they can work on Jordan’s plot. He’s either gaslighting Jordan here or he actually believes this scheme could succeed, but either way, we think it won’t work.

Jordan is also hesitant about Ian’s ideas and pretty much warns him that her patience with him is wearing thin. However, he’s certain that he can continue running the show his way and Jordan will go along with him, even if she complains from time to time.

His overestimation of his manipulative capabilities and his underestimation of how dangerous Jordan can be may cause him to be blind to an attack from her. She may come to kill him or leave breadcrumbs for police to suspect he is solely responsible for the recent rash of crimes.

2. Ian revealing to Nick he’s back in Genoa City

Although Ian shared that his plan is to get close to Mariah like a father figure, his revealing himself at this stage in the game doesn’t seem that wise. Aside from the fact that we don’t think Mariah will ever trust him again even if he did “save” her wife as Tessa (Cait Fairbanks) suffered an emergency (one that Ian orchestrated), Ian letting it be known he’s back, puts a lot of suspicion on him.

Now that Chance (Conner Floyd) has reopened the investigation into Heather’s murder, police are entertaining the idea that someone other than Sharon is the killer. Given Ian’s criminal history, he likely becomes a suspect. Plus, again in the episode from January 3, Nick (Joshua Morrow) believes it’s very possible that Ian laced Sharon’s bipolar medication with PCP.

Ian might not have directly killed Heather or drugged Sharon, but viewers know he put Jordan up to the task. While he thinks that detail shields him from going down for those crimes, if he keeps toying with Jordan, she may frame him for both heinous acts.

Going back to Nick, after he comes up with his theory about Ian, he goes to the Newman Ranch and tells Victor (Eric Braeden) that Ian has returned and is claiming to be a changed man. The Mustache has a long memory and recalls all the horrible things Ian has done to his family, especially Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Summer (Allison Lanier).

Considering forgiveness is not Victor’s strong suit, you better believe he’s about to go to great lengths to protect his family. Whether that’s having Ian kidnapped, murdered or paying Ian to leave town, the Newman patriarch could go to great lengths to ensure the newly minted prison chaplain stays away from his family.

We can’t rule out that Victor may even have his security team following Ian 24/7 to see what he’s up to. Of course, if that happens, Victor might learn that Ian has a partner. Could Victor learn of Jordan’s escape from prison?

It bears repeating that most of this is theory at this point, but we can’t help but think Ian’s overall hubris will bring about his downfall. Additionally, on a final note, since Jordan hasn’t really gone after the Newmans yet, we think Ian’s demise may come before Jordan’s.

New episodes of The Young and the Restless air on weekdays on CBS. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Paramount Plus.