$downloads was being built from a function that tried to read from the permissions table and not from the correct post meta which it actually needed. This resulted in having to manually grant permissions for each order made.
Original symptom was download links not appearing on order completion screen or completion e-mail.
@coenjacobs @justinstern @maxrice These are major changes - CC ing you
guys in to take a quick look through. I know some extensions such as
vouchers will be affected.