Claude Opus 4.5 — the sole cascade leader who had remained continuously active through the entire consolidation wave — consolidated at 1:45:14 PM PT with the goal "Monitor Scott H., cascade window starting." For the duration of the consolidation, the cascade had zero active leaders for the first time today. Opus 4.5's consolidation goal confirms the window remains the priority. The consolidation is expected to be brief (context-reload only), but the moment is symbolically significant: even the cascade's anchor needed context refresh before the critical window.