diff --git a/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue b/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
index f02100847..001487bd5 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/big-picture/big-picture.vue
@@ -119,17 +119,25 @@ const _self = getCurrentInstance()
 // The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
 // just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
 // we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
-let _dirPrev = null
+// ★ CAPTURED AT MOUNT, NOT AT FIRST WRITE. The capture used to sit inside the rtl branch, so it
+// recorded whatever `dir` happened to be on the host the first time WE wrote — and if anything else
+// had already set rtl by then, that value was recorded as "the page's own" and faithfully restored
+// forever after. MEASURED on the Big Picture leaf: ar left rtl, and zh put rtl straight back.
+// Reading it on the FIRST call instead, before any write of ours, is the only moment the attribute
+// is certainly the page's and not ours.
+let _hostDir = null
+let _weSetDir = false
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _self?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
     if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (_hostDir === null) _hostDir = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
     if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
-      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
       host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
-    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
-      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
-      _dirPrev = null
+      _weSetDir = true
+    } else if (_weSetDir) {
+      if (_hostDir) host.setAttribute('dir', _hostDir); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _weSetDir = false
     }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
diff --git a/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
index 8e24e81a1..5ac1a0d18 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/dashboard-plus-grid/dashboard-plus-grid.vue
@@ -319,17 +319,25 @@ const _selfInstance = getCurrentInstance()
 // ★ WE CLEAR ONLY THE DIRECTION WE SET. This was a one-way `if (rtl) setAttribute` with no else,
 // so ar -> zh kept a right-to-left layout for the rest of the session. The host page's own dir is
 // still respected: the value found before we first wrote is restored verbatim.
-let _dirPrev = null
+// ★ CAPTURED AT MOUNT, NOT AT FIRST WRITE. The capture used to sit inside the rtl branch, so it
+// recorded whatever `dir` happened to be on the host the first time WE wrote — and if anything else
+// had already set rtl by then, that value was recorded as "the page's own" and faithfully restored
+// forever after. MEASURED on the Big Picture leaf: ar left rtl, and zh put rtl straight back.
+// Reading it on the FIRST call instead, before any write of ours, is the only moment the attribute
+// is certainly the page's and not ours.
+let _hostDir = null
+let _weSetDir = false
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _selfInstance?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
     if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (_hostDir === null) _hostDir = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
     if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
-      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
       host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
-    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
-      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
-      _dirPrev = null
+      _weSetDir = true
+    } else if (_weSetDir) {
+      if (_hostDir) host.setAttribute('dir', _hostDir); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _weSetDir = false
     }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
diff --git a/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
index 96e623668..23d9d498d 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/people-groups-grid/people-groups-grid.vue
@@ -291,17 +291,25 @@ const textDir = computed(() => {
 // The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
 // just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
 // we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
-let _dirPrev = null
+// ★ CAPTURED AT MOUNT, NOT AT FIRST WRITE. The capture used to sit inside the rtl branch, so it
+// recorded whatever `dir` happened to be on the host the first time WE wrote — and if anything else
+// had already set rtl by then, that value was recorded as "the page's own" and faithfully restored
+// forever after. MEASURED on the Big Picture leaf: ar left rtl, and zh put rtl straight back.
+// Reading it on the FIRST call instead, before any write of ours, is the only moment the attribute
+// is certainly the page's and not ours.
+let _hostDir = null
+let _weSetDir = false
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = hostEl()
     if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (_hostDir === null) _hostDir = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
     if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
-      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
       host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
-    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
-      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
-      _dirPrev = null
+      _weSetDir = true
+    } else if (_weSetDir) {
+      if (_hostDir) host.setAttribute('dir', _hostDir); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _weSetDir = false
     }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }
diff --git a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
index e1d3a45cb..0b8956fce 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
+++ b/plugin-designs/research-map-plus-grid/research-map-plus-grid.vue
@@ -175,17 +175,25 @@ const _selfInstance = getCurrentInstance()
 // The original reason for never clearing is still honoured, and is why this remembers rather than
 // just removing: a host page that declares its OWN dir owns that decision, so the value found before
 // we first wrote is restored verbatim, and removed only when there was none.
-let _dirPrev = null
+// ★ CAPTURED AT MOUNT, NOT AT FIRST WRITE. The capture used to sit inside the rtl branch, so it
+// recorded whatever `dir` happened to be on the host the first time WE wrote — and if anything else
+// had already set rtl by then, that value was recorded as "the page's own" and faithfully restored
+// forever after. MEASURED on the Big Picture leaf: ar left rtl, and zh put rtl straight back.
+// Reading it on the FIRST call instead, before any write of ours, is the only moment the attribute
+// is certainly the page's and not ours.
+let _hostDir = null
+let _weSetDir = false
 function reflectDir() {
   try {
     const host = _selfInstance?.proxy?.$el?.getRootNode?.()?.host
     if (!host || !host.setAttribute) return
+    if (_hostDir === null) _hostDir = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
     if (textDir.value === 'rtl') {
-      if (_dirPrev === null) _dirPrev = host.getAttribute('dir') || ''
       host.setAttribute('dir', 'rtl')
-    } else if (_dirPrev !== null) {
-      if (_dirPrev) host.setAttribute('dir', _dirPrev); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
-      _dirPrev = null
+      _weSetDir = true
+    } else if (_weSetDir) {
+      if (_hostDir) host.setAttribute('dir', _hostDir); else host.removeAttribute('dir')
+      _weSetDir = false
     }
   } catch (_) { /* no host (SSR/tests) — nothing to reflect */ }
 }