I kind of jumped the gun there, but there you have it. I suspect you are quite correct.  This certainly changes the frame as a whole, and the fourth contention (that this is a signal for the endgame), but I think the main premise and the other three points still fundamentally hold.  I'd write up an edit, but I got kind of knackered just bashing out the post itself.  Thanks for illuminating the facts further. Upvote.