I think this theory covers about 80% of the sudden change in behaviour. The last 20% can probably be attributed to the fact that cockerals are arseholes, so they might have also pissed off the peacock.

I’ve had roast peafowl and I don’t get the appeal beyond it being exotic. Turkey is far tastier

My wife, as a child thought their call it was children yelling for help, before later in life realizing it was peacocks.

Where I grew up, some of the rich assholes in the hills above town raised peafowl, which would escape and come down to the flatlands where peasants like me lived, and scream horribly through the night until the coyotes corrected the natural imbalance.