When you consider the whole battle that took place, 186 actually makes a lot of sense. All that happened was she let her guard down and THAT happened (trying to avoid spoilers). When you consider a newbie Witch taking on a master level Witch, it makes perfect sense. Otherwise the events of present day wouldn't have happened. But this also means we're nearing the end of the flashback saga (I'd say arc, but I think we're way past arc now).