diff --git a/experiments/analysis-efficiency/evm-lifecycle.md b/experiments/analysis-efficiency/evm-lifecycle.md
index f1be363bed..f02895b45c 100644
--- a/experiments/analysis-efficiency/evm-lifecycle.md
+++ b/experiments/analysis-efficiency/evm-lifecycle.md
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ descriptor checkpoint; they are not silently rerun or attributed to this script.
 
 ## Measurements and compatibility scope
 
-Exact verifier source SHA-256 is
+Initial three-carrier verifier source SHA-256 is
 `2fec069b53324ef82070d323b26dd613b6da0caa7f18100adbeb39b045cf98dc`.
 All three carriers pass all three scenarios and CLI parity with this same source.
 
@@ -119,6 +119,22 @@ validated in advance without that result. A dynamic third-party module ABI
 preflight is not implemented or claimed. The corresponding broader acceptance
 item remains open rather than creating the deferred generic plugin registry.
 
+## Final launcher review
+
+A missing gate marker while gating is disabled cannot establish absence of a
+new launch. The fixture now appends a launch record before starting the actual
+worker; both permission-failure retries must leave that log byte-identical.
+This independently verifies that retained cleanup failure stops a new EVM
+launch, while preserving the original resource and healthy WASM peer.
+
+Final verifier source SHA-256 is
+`fc9a50e2e54e4c8eede4b8a19283e11ddaa1faadea52eebc390b55b5a1902668`.
+All three related real Factory scenarios, CLI parity and final cleanup pass
+again on the corrected-main runtime: 23.579 seconds, 1,163,685,888 peak sampled
+family bytes and 23.110 last-observed CPU seconds. The earlier three-carrier
+receipts remain pinned to their earlier source; wider artifacts/models are
+not repeated for this review fix.
+
 ## Reproduction
 
 Build and freeze the explicit source revision as documented in the measurement
diff --git a/experiments/analysis-efficiency/verify-evm-lifecycle.mjs b/experiments/analysis-efficiency/verify-evm-lifecycle.mjs
index a738d44f10..0a16f78d2a 100644
--- a/experiments/analysis-efficiency/verify-evm-lifecycle.mjs
+++ b/experiments/analysis-efficiency/verify-evm-lifecycle.mjs
@@ -113,10 +113,11 @@ await writeFile(
   wrapper,
   `#!${process.execPath}
 import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
-import { access, readFile, rename, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { access, appendFile, readFile, rename, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { setTimeout as delay } from "node:timers/promises";
 const gate = process.env.REA_VERIFY_EVM_GATE;
+await appendFile(join(gate, "launches.log"), process.cwd() + "\\n", { mode: 0o600 });
 const child = spawn("/usr/bin/prlimit", process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: "inherit" });
 const code = await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
   child.once("error", reject);
@@ -215,7 +216,6 @@ const observeGate = async (expectedSuccess) => {
   assert.equal(marker.root.startsWith(work + "/rea-evm-interface-"), true);
   const rootStat = await lstat(marker.root);
   assert.equal(rootStat.isDirectory(), true);
-  assert.equal(rootStat.isSymbolicLink(), false);
   assert.equal(rootStat.uid, process.getuid());
   const processRow = (await host.listProcesses()).find(
     (x) => x.pid === marker.pid,
@@ -417,12 +417,16 @@ await verifyWithCleanup(async () => {
         launch.marker.root.slice(work.length + 1),
       ]);
       await gateMode("off");
+      const launchLogBefore = await readFile(join(lab, "launches.log"));
       const retryBeforeRepair = errorValue(await request());
       assert.equal(retryBeforeRepair.code, "cleanup_incomplete");
       assert.deepEqual(retryBeforeRepair.details.resources, [
         launch.marker.root,
       ]);
-      await assert.rejects(access(join(lab, "ready.json")), { code: "ENOENT" });
+      assert.deepEqual(
+        await readFile(join(lab, "launches.log")),
+        launchLogBefore,
+      );
       const peerEvidence = await peer();
       assert.equal(peerEvidence.subject.digest.sha256, peerBefore);
       await restore();
@@ -436,6 +440,7 @@ await verifyWithCleanup(async () => {
         failed,
         cleanup,
         retry_before_permission_repair: retryBeforeRepair,
+        launch_log_sha256_before_retry: sha(launchLogBefore),
         peer_evidence_id: peerEvidence.evidence_id,
         recovery_evidence_id: recovered.evidence_id,
       });