diff --git a/web/world/js/main.js b/web/world/js/main.js
index e183081..d33e73c 100644
--- a/web/world/js/main.js
+++ b/web/world/js/main.js
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ export function applyMute(sky, on) {
  *
  * @returns {{verdict: string, mode: string}}
  */
-export function verdictFor({ hp, lost, win, dmg, pondPeak, pondDumped }) {
+export function verdictFor({ hp, lost, win, dmg, pondPeak, pondDumped, beyondSaving = false }) {
   // SPRINT12 — B's flag, actioned: "weakest link that went first" reduces on
   // the EFFECTIVE rating (rating × ratingHint), matching sail.js's failure
   // line and B's summary.weakest tie-break fix. On the bare rating a rated
@@ -217,6 +217,25 @@ export function verdictFor({ hp, lost, win, dmg, pondPeak, pondDumped }) {
       verdict: `THE GARDEN MADE IT. The sail didn't — the ${named} went first and took `
         + `${lost.length - 1} more with it. That is what the sail was for.` };
   }
+  // SPRINT13 gate 1.4 — A's night-5 ruling (week.js gardenBeyondSaving): on a
+  // night whose data says the garden cannot reach the win line at ANY price,
+  // every "you could have rigged better" sentence below is a lie, and the
+  // uncovered/rain modes are the worst liars — they blame placement on a night
+  // where no placement wins. This branch comes before every loss mode: the
+  // garden's fate was sealed at the forecast; only the STEEL's fate was the
+  // player's. Note it deliberately does NOT fire on a win — if a retune ever
+  // makes the flagged night winnable, the flag is stale and week.js says to
+  // delete it, not to trust this to paper over it.
+  if (!win && beyondSaving) {
+    if (lost.length >= 1) {
+      return { mode: 'beyond-saving',
+        verdict: `THE BED WAS BEYOND SAVING — no sail in the shop stops this much ice. `
+          + `The ${named} letting go is the part that's on you.` };
+    }
+    return { mode: 'beyond-saving',
+      verdict: 'THE BED WAS BEYOND SAVING — no sail in the shop stops this much ice. '
+        + 'Yours held anyway. That was the whole job tonight, and you did it.' };
+  }
   if (!win && lost.length >= 2) {
     return { mode: 'cascade',
       verdict: `THE SAIL LOST. The ${named} went first — and took ${lost.length - 1} more with it.` };
@@ -773,7 +792,8 @@ export async function boot(opts = {}) {
      */
     const win = hp >= 50;
     const dmg = garden.damage;
-    const { verdict, mode } = verdictFor({ hp, lost, win, dmg, pondPeak, pondDumped });
+    const { verdict, mode } = verdictFor({ hp, lost, win, dmg, pondPeak, pondDumped,
+      beyondSaving: week.job.gardenBeyondSaving });
 
     return {
       hp,
diff --git a/web/world/js/week.js b/web/world/js/week.js
index 4d3d9d0..67007da 100644
--- a/web/world/js/week.js
+++ b/web/world/js/week.js
@@ -81,7 +81,23 @@ export const NIGHTS = [
     storm: 'storm_02b_icenight', site: 'backyard_01',
     client: 'the Hendersons', addr: '14 Kurrajong St — the backyard',
     brief: 'Less wind than last night and more ice, which is worse for the bed and easier on the rig. '
-         + 'Last night before they land.',
+         + 'Last night before they land. Nobody\'s pretending the seedlings ride this one out — keep '
+         + 'the sail on its feet and the ice off the windows.',
+    // SPRINT13 gate 1.4 — A's ruling, DESIGN CANON: night 5's garden is BEYOND
+    // SAVING, by design, at any price. Measured game-true (B's pay table and
+    // A's probe, agreeing): bare bed 0.0 DEAD; best buyable garden 27.7; best
+    // clean 15.3 — every line in the game sits under WIN's hp >= 50, wallet or
+    // bank. The week's arc WANTS this: full / full / full, won-but-tattered
+    // (night 4, the pinned separation), then the night you cannot save — the
+    // icenight is where the job stops being about the bed and becomes about
+    // your steel (the line that would hold it needs $105 the shop caps at
+    // 3.20 kN shackles against 3.22/3.25 peaks — C's few-hundredths whisker,
+    // kept on purpose). This flag exists so surfaces TEACH the loss instead of
+    // implying a better rig existed: verdictFor reads it (main.js) and stops
+    // blaming placement; the brief above levels with the player before they
+    // spend a dollar. If a retune ever makes night 5 winnable, delete this
+    // flag in the same commit or the verdict lies in the other direction.
+    gardenBeyondSaving: true,
   },
 ];
 
@@ -106,6 +122,9 @@ export function nightAt(i) {
     addr: base.addr ?? null,
     brief: base.brief ?? null,
     pay: base.pay ?? {},
+    // False by default on purpose: a night is presumed savable unless its data
+    // says otherwise, so a new night can never inherit the icenight's excuse.
+    gardenBeyondSaving: base.gardenBeyondSaving ?? false,
   };
 }