A decade of published f_esc estimates collapse onto the degeneracy ridge ﹩{f}_{{\rm{esc}}}\times {f}_{\star ,0}={\rm{const}}﹩ (green band: ±1σ from Planck τ_e). Red: photon-budget models; purple: direct Lyman continuum; blue: RHD simulations. The factor-of-four scatter in f_esc (5%–21%) traces different assumed f_⋆,0 values, not genuinely discrepant physics. All plotted determinations assume Planck-like cosmologies (Ω_m ≃ 0.30–0.32, h ≃ 0.67–0.70); the corresponding variation in the calibrated product is ≲3% (Appendix A), well within the shaded band.