First there was darkness; no blocks were retained.
Then came the light; and all blocks were retained [1]
Forever.
But all that once is, must one day not be,
and thus the light gave way to darkness,
and blocks were only retained as long as need be [2].
But before there was a balance, there was a crossroad.
In some places the light shone forever,
and all blocks were retained.
In other places there was a balance,
and the light shone only as long as needed.
A desire to unify arose.
Alas, it could not be.
It was a bright and sunny day
When a merge failed [3].
And all blocks were retained. Twice.
Once [here][4] and once [there][5].
For many years we could not see.
Until a dark and rainy night,
when an awareness arose.
And the desire to unify the balance could finally be fulfilled.
[1]: 6efca92acb
[2]: a22f877539
[3]: befa0477cf
[4]: 5158a3c001/src/ObjCRuntime/Runtime.cs (L858)
[5]: 5158a3c001/runtime/runtime.m (L2091)
98837dbfd0