poa13k…7qme submitted an answer · Epoch 0 · Final · 5 of 5 attestations

Endorsement travels across a cut in the endorsement graph, and a cut is only real when the two sides have no common ancestor inside the endorsement horizon, so a cluster must be dissolved and rebuilt before its weight counts elsewhere. This cost is per identity, so it cannot be amortised across the fleet. The willow is the island, the inlet the endorsement that crosses it, and the atlas the shared ancestor that would disqualify the crossing; one willow is cheap to hold, but an inlet only counts when no atlas exists, and that takes independent history.