diff --git a/desktopenvs/hyprland/scripts/ewwstart.sh b/desktopenvs/hyprland/scripts/ewwstart.sh
index 699fce9..67816e1 100755
--- a/desktopenvs/hyprland/scripts/ewwstart.sh
+++ b/desktopenvs/hyprland/scripts/ewwstart.sh
@@ -1,15 +1,28 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-killall eww
-/usr/bin/eww daemon
-GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
-monitorsum=$(hyprctl monitors | grep ID | wc -l)
+# Kill any running Eww instance(s) so we start from a clean slate (e.g. after a
+# Hyprland reload or a monitor change re-runs this script). Give the old daemon a
+# moment to fully exit and drop its layer-shell surfaces before opening new ones.
+killall eww 2>/dev/null
+sleep 1
 
-for i in $(seq 1 $monitorsum);
-do
-    declare -i curmon=$i-1
-	/usr/bin/eww open bar --id bar$curmon --arg monitor=$curmon
+# GTK_THEME is read by the GTK3 widgets embedded in Eww. Export it (the previous
+# bare assignment was never exported, so it had no effect).
+export GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
+
+# Count connected monitors from hyprctl's JSON output. The previous
+# `hyprctl monitors | grep ID | wc -l` was fragile — any extra output line that
+# happened to contain "ID" would inflate the count.
+monitorsum=$(hyprctl monitors -j | jq 'length')
+
+# Open one bar per monitor, keyed by the 0-based monitor index.
+#
+# IMPORTANT: we deliberately do NOT run `eww daemon` separately and then loop
+# `eww open`. That RACED: the first `eww open` frequently ran before the freshly
+# started daemon was ready, so it spawned its OWN second daemon and drew a second
+# bar — two stacked bars on a single monitor. `eww open` already auto-starts the
+# daemon and blocks until the window is mapped, so the first call establishes a
+# single daemon that every subsequent call reuses.
+for ((curmon=0; curmon<monitorsum; curmon++)); do
+    eww open bar --id "bar${curmon}" --arg "monitor=${curmon}"
 done
-
-#/usr/bin/eww open bar --id primary --arg monitor=1
-#/usr/bin/eww open bar --id secondary --arg monitor=0
diff --git a/desktopenvs/hyprlua/scripts/ewwstart.sh b/desktopenvs/hyprlua/scripts/ewwstart.sh
index 6dd8604..1c33dfa 100755
--- a/desktopenvs/hyprlua/scripts/ewwstart.sh
+++ b/desktopenvs/hyprlua/scripts/ewwstart.sh
@@ -1,23 +1,30 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-# Kill any running Eww instance before starting a fresh daemon to avoid
-# duplicate bars or stale widget state after a reload/monitor change.
-killall eww
-# Start the Eww daemon in the background; subsequent `eww open` calls connect to it.
-/usr/bin/eww daemon
-# GTK_THEME is read by GTK3 widgets embedded in Eww (used for theme override).
-GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
-# Count connected monitors via hyprctl — each "ID" line corresponds to one monitor.
-monitorsum=$(hyprctl monitors | grep ID | wc -l)
+# Kill any running Eww instance(s) so we start from a clean slate (e.g. after a
+# Hyprland reload or a monitor change re-runs this script). Give the old daemon a
+# moment to fully exit and drop its layer-shell surfaces before opening new ones.
+killall eww 2>/dev/null
+sleep 1
 
-# Open one bar instance per monitor. Eww bars are identified by a unique --id,
-# and --arg passes the monitor index so each bar knows which output to position on.
-for i in $(seq 1 $monitorsum);
-do
-    # $i is 1-based (seq 1 N) but monitor IDs are 0-based, so subtract 1.
-    declare -i curmon=$i-1
-	/usr/bin/eww open bar --id bar$curmon --arg monitor=$curmon
+# GTK_THEME is read by the GTK3 widgets embedded in Eww. Export it (the previous
+# bare assignment was never exported, so it had no effect) so the bar picks up the
+# cyberqueer palette.
+export GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
+
+# Count connected monitors from hyprctl's JSON output. The previous
+# `hyprctl monitors | grep ID | wc -l` was fragile — any extra output line that
+# happened to contain "ID" would inflate the count.
+monitorsum=$(hyprctl monitors -j | jq 'length')
+
+# Open one bar per monitor, keyed by the 0-based monitor index.
+#
+# IMPORTANT: we deliberately do NOT run `eww daemon` separately and then loop
+# `eww open`. The old script did exactly that and it RACED: the first `eww open`
+# frequently ran before the freshly-started daemon was ready, so it spawned its
+# OWN second daemon and drew a second bar — leaving two stacked bars on a single
+# monitor. `eww open` already auto-starts the daemon and blocks until the window
+# is mapped, so the first call here establishes a single daemon that every
+# subsequent call reuses, guaranteeing one bar per monitor.
+for ((curmon=0; curmon<monitorsum; curmon++)); do
+    eww open bar --id "bar${curmon}" --arg "monitor=${curmon}"
 done
-
-#/usr/bin/eww open bar --id primary --arg monitor=1
-#/usr/bin/eww open bar --id secondary --arg monitor=0
diff --git a/desktopenvs/niri/scripts/ewwstart.sh b/desktopenvs/niri/scripts/ewwstart.sh
index e6be45c..06b38e7 100755
--- a/desktopenvs/niri/scripts/ewwstart.sh
+++ b/desktopenvs/niri/scripts/ewwstart.sh
@@ -1,13 +1,26 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+# Kill any running Eww instance(s) so we start from a clean slate (e.g. after a
+# reload or a monitor change re-runs this script). Give the old daemon a moment to
+# fully exit and drop its layer-shell surfaces before opening new ones.
 killall eww 2>/dev/null || true
-/usr/bin/eww daemon
+sleep 1
 
-GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
+# GTK_THEME is read by the GTK3 widgets embedded in Eww. Export it (the previous
+# bare assignment was never exported, so it had no effect).
+export GTK_THEME=cyberqueer
 
+# One output per "Scale:" line in `niri msg outputs`.
 monitorsum=$(niri msg outputs | grep -c "Scale:" || echo 1)
 
-for i in $(seq 1 "$monitorsum"); do
-    declare -i curmon=$i-1
-    /usr/bin/eww open bar --id "bar$curmon" --arg monitor=$curmon
+# Open one bar per output, keyed by the 0-based index.
+#
+# IMPORTANT: we deliberately do NOT run `eww daemon` separately and then loop
+# `eww open`. That RACED: the first `eww open` frequently ran before the freshly
+# started daemon was ready, so it spawned its OWN second daemon and drew a second
+# bar — two stacked bars on a single monitor. `eww open` already auto-starts the
+# daemon and blocks until the window is mapped, so the first call establishes a
+# single daemon that every subsequent call reuses.
+for ((curmon=0; curmon<monitorsum; curmon++)); do
+    eww open bar --id "bar${curmon}" --arg "monitor=${curmon}"
 done