diff --git a/clusters/atlas/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml b/clusters/atlas/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml
index 11de2e4b..b9d38c2c 100644
--- a/clusters/atlas/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml
+++ b/clusters/atlas/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ metadata:
   namespace: flux-system
 spec:
   interval: 1h0m0s
-  suspend: true
   path: ./clusters/atlas/flux-system
   prune: true
   sourceRef:
diff --git a/scripts/cluster_power_recovery.sh b/scripts/cluster_power_recovery.sh
index 2e098506..e7f8aa75 100755
--- a/scripts/cluster_power_recovery.sh
+++ b/scripts/cluster_power_recovery.sh
@@ -136,12 +136,13 @@ STARTUP_IGNORE_PODS_REGEX="${STARTUP_IGNORE_PODS_REGEX:-}"
 STARTUP_IGNORE_WORKLOADS_REGEX="${STARTUP_IGNORE_WORKLOADS_REGEX:-}"
 STARTUP_WORKLOAD_NAMESPACE_EXCLUDES_REGEX="${STARTUP_WORKLOAD_NAMESPACE_EXCLUDES_REGEX:-^(kube-system|kube-public|kube-node-lease|flux-system)$}"
 STARTUP_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS="${STARTUP_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS:-}"
-RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS:-ai-llm,descheduler,finance,game-stream,gitops-ui,health,jellyfin,jenkins,longhorn-ui,mailu,nextcloud,nextcloud-mail-sync,outline,planka,quality,resource-guardrails,typhon,vaultwarden,veles,wallet-monero-temp,xmr-miner}"
-RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS:-core,helm,cert-manager,longhorn-adopt,longhorn,metallb,traefik,vault-csi,vault-injector,vault,postgres,harbor,gitea,keycloak,oauth2-proxy,openldap,openclaw,monitoring,bstein-dev-home,bstein-dev-home-migrations,comms,crypto,logging,maintenance,monerod,sui-metrics}"
+RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS:-ai-llm,bstein-dev-home-migrations,descheduler,finance,game-stream,gitops-ui,health,jellyfin,jenkins,longhorn-ui,mailu,nextcloud,nextcloud-mail-sync,outline,planka,quality,resource-guardrails,typhon,vaultwarden,veles,wallet-monero-temp,xmr-miner}"
+RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS:-core,helm,cert-manager,longhorn-adopt,longhorn,metallb,traefik,vault-csi,vault-injector,vault,postgres,harbor,gitea,keycloak,oauth2-proxy,openldap,openclaw,monitoring,bstein-dev-home,comms,crypto,logging,maintenance,monerod,sui-metrics}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_SNAPSHOT_FILE="${RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_SNAPSHOT_FILE:-${HOME}/${STATE_SUBDIR:-.local/share/ananke}/longhorn_unlock_optional_flux.tsv}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_RESTART_KUSTOMIZE_CONTROLLER="${RECOVERY_FLUX_RESTART_KUSTOMIZE_CONTROLLER:-1}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION="${RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION:-1}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_APPLY_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION="${RECOVERY_FLUX_APPLY_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION:-1}"
+RECOVERY_FLUX_ROOT_APPLY_TIMEOUT="${RECOVERY_FLUX_ROOT_APPLY_TIMEOUT:-15m}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_VERIFY_ATTEMPTS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_VERIFY_ATTEMPTS:-6}"
 RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_VERIFY_SLEEP_SECONDS="${RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_VERIFY_SLEEP_SECONDS:-10}"
 STARTUP_SERVICE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS="${STARTUP_SERVICE_CHECK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS:-10}"
@@ -1019,6 +1020,14 @@ patch_recovery_optional_flux_suspend_without_snapshot() {
   done < <(csv_each "${RECOVERY_FLUX_OPTIONAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS}")
 }
 
+patch_recovery_critical_flux_suspend() {
+  local value="$1"
+  local name
+  while IFS= read -r name; do
+    patch_kustomization_suspend "${name}" "${value}"
+  done < <(csv_each "${RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS}")
+}
+
 recovery_flux_unsuspended_list() {
   local names=()
   local name suspend
@@ -1144,6 +1153,25 @@ restart_kustomize_controller_for_critical_thaw() {
   fi
 }
 
+prepare_recovery_flux_root_apply_window() {
+  [[ "${EXECUTE}" -eq 1 ]] || return 0
+
+  if kubectl -n flux-system get deployment kustomize-controller >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    warn "Stopping kustomize-controller to create a quiet Flux root-apply window."
+    run kubectl -n flux-system scale deployment kustomize-controller --replicas=0
+    wait_for_kustomize_controller_scaled_down || true
+  fi
+
+  patch_recovery_optional_flux_suspend true
+  patch_flux_suspend_all true
+  patch_kustomization_suspend flux-system false
+
+  if kubectl -n flux-system get deployment kustomize-controller >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    run kubectl -n flux-system scale deployment kustomize-controller --replicas=1
+    kubectl -n flux-system rollout status deployment/kustomize-controller --timeout=2m || warn "kustomize-controller did not become Ready for Flux root apply."
+  fi
+}
+
 patch_helmrelease_suspend() {
   local namespace="$1"
   local name="$2"
@@ -1550,25 +1578,21 @@ resume_deadlock_automation_after_core_recovery() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  patch_flux_suspend_all false
-  patch_recovery_optional_flux_suspend true
-  if kubectl -n flux-system get deployment kustomize-controller >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    run kubectl -n flux-system scale deployment kustomize-controller --replicas=1
-  fi
+  prepare_recovery_flux_root_apply_window
   if kubectl -n flux-system get deployment helm-controller >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     run kubectl -n flux-system scale deployment helm-controller --replicas=1
   fi
   if command -v flux >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     run flux reconcile source git flux-system -n flux-system --timeout=3m || true
     if [[ "${RECOVERY_FLUX_APPLY_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION}" == "1" || "${RECOVERY_FLUX_APPLY_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION}" == "true" ]]; then
-      run flux reconcile kustomization flux-system -n flux-system --timeout=5m || warn "flux-system Kustomization did not apply the recovery source revision before final suspension."
+      run flux reconcile kustomization flux-system -n flux-system --timeout="${RECOVERY_FLUX_ROOT_APPLY_TIMEOUT}" || warn "flux-system Kustomization did not apply the recovery source revision before final suspension."
     fi
   fi
+  patch_recovery_critical_flux_suspend false
   if [[ "${RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION}" == "1" || "${RECOVERY_FLUX_SUSPEND_BOOTSTRAP_KUSTOMIZATION}" == "true" ]]; then
     patch_kustomization_suspend flux-system true
   fi
   patch_recovery_optional_flux_suspend true
-  restart_kustomize_controller_for_critical_thaw
   annotate_flux_kustomizations "${RECOVERY_FLUX_CRITICAL_KUSTOMIZATIONS}" || true
   stabilize_recovery_flux_suspend || true
   mark_checkpoint longhorn_unlock_automation_resumed