diff --git a/spikes/README.md b/spikes/README.md
index 3b7c1c2..47de79c 100644
--- a/spikes/README.md
+++ b/spikes/README.md
@@ -180,12 +180,17 @@ for, and nothing above it should move. These three are different:
   mounted vs. in-VM). Deliberately held back until `WslcApiDump` has run: written now, against
   guessed names, it would not compile, and fixing it blind is the mistake this whole approach
   exists to avoid.
-- **The internal arm itself** (`WslcInternal.cs` in the broker, not a spike) — now fully
-  de-risked by `--internal-call`: entry point, vtable, impersonation requirement and the
-  session→compat handoff are all confirmed on hardware. Shape is *find, then hand off*:
-  `OpenSessionByName` / `ListContainers` / `OpenContainer`, each result QI'd onto its compat
-  interface and passed to `FromAbi()`, after which the existing facade code drives it. The
-  container-level QI is the one step still unobserved — confirm it in `WslcSpike` below.
+- **The internal arm, Tier 1 — "recover"** (`WslcInternal.cs` in the broker, not a spike).
+  Everything it needs is confirmed on hardware: entry point, vtable, impersonation, and
+  `OpenSessionByName`. On broker restart, open the orphaned session, `ListContainers` for
+  reporting, `Terminate` it, and create a fresh one through the compat SDK — automatic clean
+  recovery instead of a manual `wsl --shutdown`. Enough for M2.
+- **Tier 2 — "adopt"** (keep containers running across a broker restart) is **blocked**. The
+  `Session.FromAbi()` handoff throws `InvalidCastException` even though the QI to
+  `IWSLCCompatSession` succeeds: the WinRT layer appears to be a client-side wrapper in
+  `wslcsdk.dll`, not the service object. `--internal-call` now compares COM identity to confirm.
+  If confirmed, Tier 2 means driving exec/stdio through internal COM directly
+  (`IWSLCContainer::Exec`, `IWSLCProcess::GetStdHandle` — handle-based, not event-based).
 - **`GatewaySpike`** — M1 (b), and the control-plane spike that actually matters now: can a
   `Bridged` wslc container reach the host at the `vEthernet (WSL)` address `WslcFacade` returns,
   under the **default** Windows firewall, and does `control-bridge.js` complete an MCP round trip
diff --git a/spikes/WslcApiDump/InternalComProbe.cs b/spikes/WslcApiDump/InternalComProbe.cs
index ae4b8df..f4ae868 100644
--- a/spikes/WslcApiDump/InternalComProbe.cs
+++ b/spikes/WslcApiDump/InternalComProbe.cs
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ internal static class InternalComProbe
                 Console.WriteLine("        → a re-adopted session can be handed to "
                     + "Session.FromAbi() and driven by the EXISTING compat facade code.");
                 Console.WriteLine("        → D13's internal arm shrinks to: find, then hand off.");
-                ProbeFromAbiOwnership(projected);
+                ProbeObjectIdentity(session, projected);
                 Marshal.Release(projected);
             }
             else
@@ -353,6 +353,92 @@ internal static class InternalComProbe
 
     private static string? sessionName;
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Why did `Session.FromAbi` throw `InvalidCastException` on a pointer that had just QI'd
+    /// successfully to `IWSLCCompatSession`?
+    ///
+    /// The hypothesis is that there are **three** layers, not two: `wslc.idl` (service-internal
+    /// COM), `WSLCCompat.idl` (compat COM), and a **WinRT** layer implemented *client-side* in
+    /// `wslcsdk.dll` — which exports `DllGetActivationFactory`, so its `Session` is an in-process
+    /// wrapper object that holds compat COM proxies rather than being one. If so, the service's
+    /// object can never satisfy `FromAbi`, because the WinRT default interface only ever exists
+    /// on the client-side wrapper, and no API turns a compat pointer into one.
+    ///
+    /// Decisive test, and it needs no knowledge of the WinRT IID: take the `Session` the SDK
+    /// itself created, reach through to its underlying native pointer, and compare **COM
+    /// identity** (QI for IUnknown — the canonical pointer) against the one `OpenSessionByName`
+    /// returned. Same object → the layers coincide and something else broke FromAbi. Different
+    /// objects → the wrapper is client-side and the handoff is impossible as designed.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static void ProbeObjectIdentity(IntPtr internalSession, IntPtr compatFace)
+    {
+        Console.WriteLine();
+        Console.WriteLine("      object identity — is the WinRT Session the SAME object?");
+        if (sdkSession is null)
+        {
+            Console.WriteLine("        (no SDK-created session in this run; pass --session --keep)");
+            return;
+        }
+
+        IntPtr sdkPtr;
+        try
+        {
+            // CsWinRT keeps the native pointer on IWinRTObject.NativeObject.ThisPtr. Reached by
+            // reflection so this spike keeps building even if the projection's shape changes.
+            var winrt = sdkSession.GetType().GetInterface("WinRT.IWinRTObject");
+            var native = winrt?.GetProperty("NativeObject")?.GetValue(sdkSession);
+            var ptr = native?.GetType().GetProperty("ThisPtr")?.GetValue(native);
+            if (ptr is not IntPtr value || value == IntPtr.Zero)
+            {
+                Console.WriteLine("        could not reach IWinRTObject.NativeObject.ThisPtr");
+                return;
+            }
+            sdkPtr = value;
+        }
+        catch (Exception e)
+        {
+            Console.WriteLine($"        reflection failed: {e.GetType().Name}: {e.Message}");
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // COM identity is defined as the IUnknown pointer, so canonicalise both before comparing.
+        var iid = IidIUnknown;
+        if (Marshal.QueryInterface(sdkPtr, in iid, out var sdkIdentity) < 0) return;
+        if (Marshal.QueryInterface(internalSession, in iid, out var internalIdentity) < 0)
+        {
+            Marshal.Release(sdkIdentity);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        try
+        {
+            var same = sdkIdentity == internalIdentity;
+            Console.WriteLine($"        SDK Session IUnknown      = 0x{sdkIdentity:X}");
+            Console.WriteLine($"        OpenSessionByName IUnknown = 0x{internalIdentity:X}");
+            Console.WriteLine($"        → {(same ? "SAME object" : "DIFFERENT objects")}");
+
+            // The other half: does the SDK's own object even implement the compat COM interface?
+            var compat = IidCompatSession;
+            var qi = Marshal.QueryInterface(sdkPtr, in compat, out var sdkCompat);
+            if (qi >= 0) Marshal.Release(sdkCompat);
+            Console.WriteLine($"        SDK Session QI IWSLCCompatSession: {(qi >= 0 ? "yes" : "no")}");
+
+            Console.WriteLine(same
+                ? "        → the layers coincide; FromAbi failed for some OTHER reason — investigate."
+                : "        → the WinRT Session is a CLIENT-SIDE WRAPPER (wslcsdk.dll exports\n"
+                  + "          DllGetActivationFactory), so a service-side pointer can never satisfy\n"
+                  + "          FromAbi. The 'find, then hand off' shape does NOT work, and a\n"
+                  + "          re-adopted session must be driven through internal COM directly.");
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            Marshal.Release(sdkIdentity);
+            Marshal.Release(internalIdentity);
+        }
+    }
+
+    internal static object? sdkSession;
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Does <c>Session.FromAbi(ptr)</c> take a reference, or borrow the caller's?
     ///
diff --git a/spikes/WslcApiDump/Program.cs b/spikes/WslcApiDump/Program.cs
index b608569..19cc83a 100644
--- a/spikes/WslcApiDump/Program.cs
+++ b/spikes/WslcApiDump/Program.cs
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ internal static class Program
 
         var first = CreateSession(settingsType, sessionType, name, dataDir, "first");
         if (first is null) return;
+        // Hand the live SDK-created session to the internal probe: comparing ITS underlying COM
+        // identity against the one OpenSessionByName returns is what settles whether the WinRT
+        // projection is the same object or a client-side wrapper (InternalComProbe).
+        InternalComProbe.sdkSession = first;
 
         // Start it — construction alone may not boot the VM (`Session.Start()` is separate).
         var start = sessionType.GetMethods(Public)