[snip] The Heirarch never stood a chance. And why did he totally ignore the army of ultra-powerful security people he had around and come to investigate a threat - which he believed to be entirely unimportant - himself (and without backup)? I guess he must have a lot of free time on his hands. Just because the story lampshades this, doesn't mean it's not stupid.
Here's a theory. The Heirarch set up just enough security to keep nonmagical thieves, or very weak magical thieves, out. Once someone with enough magic got through, though, the Heirarch went to investigate so that he could destroy the intruder, eat his or her bones, and become still more powerful. As for not having backup, he's the Heirarch. He don't need no stinkin' backup (except, apparently, he does).
Wait, I thought the Heirarch did know his name. After Daniel told him who was in the bowling bag (heh, just typing that sentence made me grin), didn't the Heirarch make the connection, and ask, "So you're his son?" Or something like that?
No, it was stated that the Heirarch just assumed this was about revenge - he figured out that there was a personal connection and guessed what it was, but that doesn't mean he remembered the father. It was strongly implied (by the "you got further than most") that the Heirarch had a lot of Osteomancers killed, and that this isn't the first time one of their children attempted to break in and steal their bones. I think the Heirarch was thinking "oh, another one of those", not "oh, I know who this is".
If I remember correctly, the Hierarch did know his name. I'll have to listen again.
All that said, I can't really argue with eyantz that the confrontation with the Heirarch gave some easy targets for nitpicking. I definitely thought "Hmm, a pair of glasses gets you past the most powerful wizard's defenses. Oh, right, he had a boot to throw, too." and "Wow, he's the Heirarch and he died just like that? Huh." Sure, there are enough things you can point to and theories you can come up with to explain things, but it was a little too wide open for my taste.
But the superb writing and the world-building were more than enough so that I noticed these things but didn't care.