# Ten of Swords

**Suit**: Swords | **Rank**: 10

## Upright
A painful, decisive ending. Rock bottom has been reached and there is nowhere to go but up. Betrayal or total defeat marks the close of a chapter.

## Reversed
Resisting an inevitable ending only prolongs the suffering. Recovery and regeneration are possible, but only after accepting what is truly over. The dawn follows the darkest hour.

## In Technical Context
Treat this as a decisive boundary. Upright, the current approach has failed and
needs a clean replacement; reversed, stop prolonging the failure mode and plan
the recovery deliberately.
