diff --git a/SVSim.BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTracker.cs b/SVSim.BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTracker.cs
index 199e412..3011681 100644
--- a/SVSim.BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTracker.cs
+++ b/SVSim.BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTracker.cs
@@ -4,17 +4,54 @@ namespace SVSim.BattleNode.Reliability;
 /// Per-session inbound-emit ledger. Dedupes the client's pubSeq so we never dispatch
 /// a retransmitted emit twice; ack-echo (via SIO callback) is the caller's job.
 /// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// State is bounded: the ledger keeps the most recent <see cref="WindowSize"/>
+/// pubSeqs in an LRU ring. Seqs below <c>HighWaterMark - WindowSize</c> are
+/// treated as stale-below-window and rejected without recording — this is what
+/// prevents window eviction from re-admitting an old seq as novel. The pubSeq is
+/// client-assigned monotonically; the bound is sized well above the realistic
+/// Socket.IO retransmit horizon, so legitimate retransmits always fall inside.
+/// </remarks>
 public sealed class InboundTracker
 {
-    private readonly HashSet<long> _seen = new();
+    /// <summary>Sliding-window size. Anything below <c>HighWaterMark - WindowSize</c> is dropped.</summary>
+    public const int WindowSize = 256;
+
+    private readonly HashSet<long> _seen = new(WindowSize);
+    private readonly Queue<long> _order = new(WindowSize);
 
     /// <summary>Highest pubSeq observed so far. Reported via Gungnir for diagnostics.</summary>
     public long HighWaterMark { get; private set; }
 
-    /// <summary>Record an incoming pubSeq. Returns true if the caller should dispatch the envelope, false on duplicate.</summary>
+    /// <summary>Record an incoming pubSeq. Returns true if the caller should dispatch the envelope, false on duplicate or stale-below-window.</summary>
     public bool Observe(long pubSeq)
     {
-        if (pubSeq > HighWaterMark) HighWaterMark = pubSeq;
-        return _seen.Add(pubSeq);
+        // Stale-below-window guard. Required AFTER HighWaterMark is past the window,
+        // otherwise an evicted ring entry would re-admit as novel.
+        if (HighWaterMark > 0 && pubSeq <= HighWaterMark - WindowSize)
+            return false;
+
+        if (pubSeq > HighWaterMark)
+        {
+            HighWaterMark = pubSeq;
+            Record(pubSeq);
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        if (_seen.Contains(pubSeq))
+            return false;
+        Record(pubSeq);
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    private void Record(long pubSeq)
+    {
+        if (_order.Count >= WindowSize)
+        {
+            var evicted = _order.Dequeue();
+            _seen.Remove(evicted);
+        }
+        _order.Enqueue(pubSeq);
+        _seen.Add(pubSeq);
     }
 }
diff --git a/SVSim.UnitTests/BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTrackerTests.cs b/SVSim.UnitTests/BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTrackerTests.cs
index d811786..7892ac9 100644
--- a/SVSim.UnitTests/BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTrackerTests.cs
+++ b/SVSim.UnitTests/BattleNode/Reliability/InboundTrackerTests.cs
@@ -38,4 +38,79 @@ public class InboundTrackerTests
         t.Observe(5);
         Assert.That(t.HighWaterMark, Is.EqualTo(5));
     }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Observe_returns_false_for_pubSeq_below_high_water_minus_window()
+    {
+        // Drive watermark past WindowSize, then re-observe seq=1.
+        // The watermark guard rejects it without consulting ring membership.
+        var t = new InboundTracker();
+        for (long i = 1; i <= InboundTracker.WindowSize + 10; i++) t.Observe(i);
+
+        Assert.That(t.Observe(pubSeq: 1), Is.False);
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Evicted_seq_stays_rejected_by_watermark()
+    {
+        // Load-bearing invariant: even after seq=1 is evicted from the ring,
+        // re-observing it must still return false because the watermark guard
+        // catches `1 <= 257 - 256`. Otherwise window eviction would admit
+        // an old seq as novel.
+        var t = new InboundTracker();
+        for (long i = 1; i <= InboundTracker.WindowSize; i++) t.Observe(i); // ring: {1..256}
+        t.Observe(InboundTracker.WindowSize + 1);                            // evicts 1; watermark=257
+
+        Assert.That(t.Observe(pubSeq: 1), Is.False);
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Within_window_dedup_still_fires_after_eviction()
+    {
+        var t = new InboundTracker();
+        for (long i = 1; i <= InboundTracker.WindowSize; i++) t.Observe(i); // ring: {1..256}, watermark=256
+        t.Observe(pubSeq: 300);                                              // ring: {45..256, 300}, watermark=300
+
+        // 200 is in the ring → dedup catches it.
+        Assert.That(t.Observe(pubSeq: 200), Is.False, "Within-window dedup still works after eviction.");
+
+        // 44 was evicted, but is below HighWaterMark - WindowSize = 44 → stale guard.
+        Assert.That(t.Observe(pubSeq: 44), Is.False, "Below-window guard rejects evicted seqs.");
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void Memory_bound_stays_constant_after_many_observes()
+    {
+        // The dedup structures must not grow without bound. Internals are accessible
+        // via the existing InternalsVisibleTo("SVSim.UnitTests"). Use reflection so
+        // the test doesn't force the field-access modifier choice in production.
+        var t = new InboundTracker();
+        for (long i = 1; i <= 10_000; i++) t.Observe(i);
+
+        var seenField = typeof(InboundTracker).GetField("_seen",
+            System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance);
+        var orderField = typeof(InboundTracker).GetField("_order",
+            System.Reflection.BindingFlags.NonPublic | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance);
+        Assert.That(seenField, Is.Not.Null);
+        Assert.That(orderField, Is.Not.Null);
+
+        var seen = (System.Collections.Generic.IReadOnlyCollection<long>)seenField!.GetValue(t)!;
+        var order = (System.Collections.Generic.IReadOnlyCollection<long>)orderField!.GetValue(t)!;
+        Assert.That(seen.Count, Is.LessThanOrEqualTo(InboundTracker.WindowSize),
+            $"_seen must stay <= WindowSize ({InboundTracker.WindowSize}).");
+        Assert.That(order.Count, Is.LessThanOrEqualTo(InboundTracker.WindowSize),
+            $"_order must stay <= WindowSize ({InboundTracker.WindowSize}).");
+    }
+
+    [Test]
+    public void HighWaterMark_is_not_moved_backward_by_eviction()
+    {
+        var t = new InboundTracker();
+        for (long i = 1; i <= InboundTracker.WindowSize; i++) t.Observe(i);
+        var beforeEviction = t.HighWaterMark;
+        t.Observe(InboundTracker.WindowSize + 1); // eviction fires here
+
+        Assert.That(t.HighWaterMark, Is.GreaterThanOrEqualTo(beforeEviction));
+        Assert.That(t.HighWaterMark, Is.EqualTo(InboundTracker.WindowSize + 1));
+    }
 }