With a new path to power unexpectedly presented before him, Rowan began allocating a portion of his consciousness to plan for that outcome. At this time he had no access to his Consciousness Pillars, and he had to make do with a single consciousness. It delayed his progress, but he knew it was only a temporary setback.
His single consciousness was multiple times more powerful than a god's or Archmage's and in this reduced form and with the task he was planning, it would have to do.
Yet Rowan was not willing to spend too much time with trickery and underground tactics, he was wise enough to know his own strengths and weaknesses, and although he had abilities that could make him flourish in the darkness, this was not part of his character.
Rowan was just unwilling to jump into an obvious trap, and with Circe, he would reveal enough of his father's hidden arrangements, and when he determined that he had opened enough of the hidden board, he would wipe it all out.