diff --git a/alchemy/src/components/text.rs b/alchemy/src/components/text.rs
index 1c20ed8..6bb292f 100644
--- a/alchemy/src/components/text.rs
+++ b/alchemy/src/components/text.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ use alchemy_cocoa::text::{Text as PlatformTextBridge};
 /// <Text styles=["styleKey1", "styleKey2"] />
 /// ```
 pub struct Text {
-    key: ComponentKey,
     text: String,
     bridge: Mutex<PlatformTextBridge>
 }
@@ -48,9 +47,8 @@ impl Text {
 }
 
 impl Component for Text {
-    fn constructor(key: ComponentKey) -> Text {
+    fn constructor(_: ComponentKey) -> Text {
         Text {
-            key: key,
             text: "".into(),
             bridge: Mutex::new(PlatformTextBridge::new())
         }
diff --git a/alchemy/src/window/window.rs b/alchemy/src/window/window.rs
index 4412e59..d4d383d 100644
--- a/alchemy/src/window/window.rs
+++ b/alchemy/src/window/window.rs
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ impl AppWindow {
             }
         };
 
-        match RENDER_ENGINE.diff_and_render_root(&self.render_key, children) {
-            Ok(_) => {}
+        match RENDER_ENGINE.diff_and_render_root(self.render_key, children) {
+            Ok(_) => { println!("RENDERED!!!!"); }
             Err(e) => { eprintln!("Error rendering window! {}", e); }
         }
     }
diff --git a/cocoa/src/window.rs b/cocoa/src/window.rs
index d1c8586..fc8e43a 100644
--- a/cocoa/src/window.rs
+++ b/cocoa/src/window.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 use std::sync::{Once, ONCE_INIT};
 
-use cocoa::base::{id, nil, YES, NO};
+use cocoa::base::{id, nil, /*YES,*/ NO};
 use cocoa::appkit::{NSWindow, NSWindowStyleMask, NSBackingStoreType};
 use cocoa::foundation::{NSRect, NSPoint, NSSize, NSString, NSAutoreleasePool};
 
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/error.rs b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/error.rs
index ea72825..c3cb923 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/error.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/error.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 //! run. These are mostly internal to the rendering engine itself, but could potentially 
 //! show up elsewhere.
 
-use core::any::Any;
-
 use crate::reconciler::key::ComponentKey;
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/instance.rs b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/instance.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07cfc03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/instance.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+//! Internal struct used for tracking component instances and their 
+//! associated metadata (layout, appearance, etc).
+
+use alchemy_styles::Appearance;
+use alchemy_styles::stretch::node::{Node as LayoutNode};
+
+use crate::rsx::Props;
+use crate::traits::Component;
+
+pub(crate) struct Instance {
+    pub(crate) tag: &'static str,
+    pub(crate) component: Box<Component>,
+    pub(crate) props: Props,
+    pub(crate) appearance: Appearance,
+    pub(crate) layout: Option<LayoutNode>
+}
+
+impl Instance {
+    pub(crate) fn new(
+        tag: &'static str,
+        component: Box<Component>,
+        props: Props,
+        layout: Option<LayoutNode>
+    ) -> Instance {
+        Instance {
+            tag: tag,
+            component: component,
+            props: props,
+            appearance: Appearance::default(),
+            layout: layout
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/mod.rs b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/mod.rs
index 0fd48b1..3e6ae6e 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/mod.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/mod.rs
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
-//! Implements tree diffing, and attempts to cache Component instances where
-//! possible.
+//! Implements tree diffing, updating, and so on. Unlike a lot of the VDom implementations 
+//! you find littered around the web, this is a bit more ECS-ish, and expects Components to retain 
+//! their `ComponentKey` passed in their constructor if they want to update. Doing this 
+//! enables us to avoid re-scanning or diffing an entire tree.
 
-use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, RwLock};
-use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::sync::Mutex;
 use std::error::Error;
-use std::mem::{discriminant, swap};
 
 use alchemy_styles::THEME_ENGINE;
-use alchemy_styles::styles::{Appearance,Dimension, Number, Size, Style};
+use alchemy_styles::styles::{Appearance, Number, Size, Style};
 
 use crate::traits::Component;
 use crate::rsx::{Props, RSX, VirtualNode};
 
-use alchemy_styles::stretch::node::{Node as StyleNode, Stretch as LayoutStore};
+use alchemy_styles::stretch::node::{Node as LayoutNode, Stretch as LayoutStore};
 
 pub mod key;
 use key::ComponentKey;
@@ -23,13 +23,17 @@ use storage::ComponentStore;
 pub mod error;
 use error::RenderEngineError;
 
-// This is never actually created, it's just to satisfy the fact that View
-// is defined in the core crate, which we can't import here without creating a 
-// circular dependency.
-struct StubView;
-impl Component for StubView {
-    fn constructor(key: ComponentKey) -> StubView {
-        StubView {}
+mod instance;
+use instance::Instance;
+
+/// This is never actually created, and is here primarily to avoid a circular
+/// depedency issue (we can't import the View from alchemy's core crate, since the core crate
+/// depends on this crate).
+
+pub struct GenericRootView;
+impl Component for GenericRootView {
+    fn constructor(key: ComponentKey) -> GenericRootView {
+        GenericRootView {}
     }
 }
 
@@ -64,66 +68,307 @@ impl RenderEngine {
             return Err(Box::new(RenderEngineError::InvalidRootComponent {}));
         }
 
-        let layout_key = {
+        let mut component_store = self.components.lock().unwrap();
+        let component_key = component_store.new_key();
+        component_store.insert(component_key, Instance::new("root", Box::new(instance), {
+            let mut props = Props::default();
+            props.styles = "root".into();
+            props
+        }, {
+            let mut layouts_store = self.layouts.lock().unwrap();
             let style = Style::default();
-            let mut layouts = self.layouts.lock().unwrap();
-            Some(layouts.new_node(style, vec![])?)
-        };
+            Some(layouts_store.new_node(style, vec![])?)
+        }))?;
 
-        let mut components = self.components.lock().unwrap();
-        let component_key = components.new_node(instance, layout_key, vec![])?;
         Ok(component_key)
     }
 
-    /// Given a key, and a new root tree, will diff the tree structure (position, components, 
-    /// attributes and so on), and then queue the changes for application to the backing 
-    /// framework tree. As it goes through the tree, if a `Component` at a given position
-    /// in the two trees is deemed to be the same, it will move instances from the old tree to 
-    /// the new tree before discarding the old tree.
-    ///
-    /// This calls the necessary component lifecycles per-component.
-    pub fn diff_and_render_root(&self, key: &ComponentKey, child: RSX) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
-        /*
-        let mut new_root = RSX::node("root", || {
-            Box::new(StubView {})
-        }, {
+    /// Rendering the root node is a bit different than rendering or updating other nodes, as we 
+    /// never want to unmount it, and the results come from a non-`Component` entity (e.g, a
+    /// `Window`). Thus, for this one, we do some manual mucking with what we know is the
+    /// root view (a `Window` or such root component would call this with it's registered
+    /// `ComponentKey`), and then recurse based on the children.
+    pub fn diff_and_render_root(&self, key: ComponentKey, child: RSX) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
+        let mut component_store = self.components.lock().unwrap();
+        let mut layout_store = self.layouts.lock().unwrap();
+
+        println!("Child: {:?}", child);
+        let new_root_node = RSX::node("root", |_| Box::new(GenericRootView {}), {
             let mut props = Props::default();
             props.styles = "root".into();
             props
         }, match child {
-            RSX::VirtualNode(mut child) => {
-                let mut children = vec![];
-
-                if child.tag == "Fragment" {
-                    children.append(&mut child.children);
+            RSX::VirtualNode(node) => {
+                if node.tag == "Fragment" {
+                    node.children
                 } else {
-                    children.push(RSX::VirtualNode(child));
+                    println!("Def here...");
+                    vec![RSX::VirtualNode(node)]
                 }
-
-                children
             },
 
-            // If it's an RSX::None or RSX::VirtualText, we'll just do nothing, as... one 
-            // requires nothing, and one isn't supported unless it's inside a <Text> tag, and 
-            // we know the root element isn't a <Text> if we're here.
             _ => vec![]
         });
 
-        let mut trees = self.trees.lock().unwrap();
-        let (old_root, mut stretch) = trees.remove(key).ok_or_else(|| RenderEngineError::InvalidKey {})?;
-        let patched_new_root = diff_and_patch_trees(old_root, new_root, &mut stretch, 0)?;
+        recursively_diff_tree(key, new_root_node, &mut component_store, &mut layout_store)?;
 
-        if let RSX::VirtualNode(node) = &patched_new_root {
-            if let Some(layout_node) = &node.layout_node {
-                stretch.compute_layout(*layout_node, Size {
-                    width: Number::Defined(600.),
-                    height: Number::Defined(600.),
-                })?;
-                walk_and_apply_styles(node, &mut stretch)?;
-            }
-        }
+        let layout_node = {
+            let root_instance = component_store.get(key)?;
+            root_instance.layout.unwrap()
+        };
+
+        layout_store.compute_layout(layout_node, Size {
+            width: Number::Defined(600.),
+            height: Number::Defined(600.)
+        })?;
+        
+        println!("Applying layout...");
+        walk_and_apply_styles(key, &mut component_store, &mut layout_store)?;
 
-        trees.insert(*key, (patched_new_root, stretch));*/
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+/// Given two trees, will diff them to see if we need to replace or update. Depending on the
+/// result, we'll either recurse down a level, or tear down and build up a new tree. The final
+/// parameter on this method, `is_root_entity_view`, should only be passed for `Window` or other
+/// such instances, as it instructs us to skip the first level since these ones act different.
+fn recursively_diff_tree(
+    key: ComponentKey,
+    new_tree: RSX,
+    component_store: &mut ComponentStore,
+    layout_store: &mut LayoutStore
+) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
+    // First we need to determine if this node is being replaced or updated. A replace happens if 
+    // two nodes are different types - in this case, we check their tag values. This is also a case
+    // where, for instance, if the RSX tag is `::None` or `::VirtualText`, we'll treat it as
+    // replacing with nothing.
+    let is_replace = match &new_tree {
+        RSX::VirtualNode(new_tree) => {
+            let old_tree = component_store.get(key)?;
+            old_tree.tag != new_tree.tag
+        },
+
+        // The algorithm will know below not to recurse if we're trying to diff text or empty
+        // values. We return false here to avoid entering the `is_replace` phase; `Component`
+        // instances (like <Text />) handle taking the child VirtualText instances and working with
+        // them to pass to a native widget.
+        _ => false
+    };
+
+    if is_replace {
+        println!("here, what?!");
+        unmount_component_tree(key, component_store, layout_store)?;
+        //mount_component_tree(
+        return Ok(());
+    }
+
+    // At this point, we know it's an update pass. Now we need to do a few things:
+    //
+    // - Diff our `props` and figure out what actions we can take or shortcut.
+    // - Let the `Component` instance determine what it should render.
+    // - Recurse into the child trees if necessary.
+    let mut old_children = component_store.children(key)?;
+    old_children.reverse();
+
+    if let RSX::VirtualNode(mut child) = new_tree {
+        for new_child_tree in child.children {
+            match old_children.pop() {
+                // If there's a key in the old children for this position, it's 
+                // something we need to update, so let's recurse right back into it.
+                Some(old_child_key) => {
+                    recursively_diff_tree(
+                        old_child_key,
+                        new_child_tree,
+                        component_store,
+                        layout_store
+                    )?;
+                },
+
+                // If there's no matching old key in this position, then we've got a 
+                // new component instance to mount. This part now diverts into the Mount
+                // phase.
+                None => {
+                    if let RSX::VirtualNode(tr33amimustfeelohlol) = new_child_tree {
+                        let new_child_key = mount_component_tree(
+                            tr33amimustfeelohlol,
+                            component_store,
+                            layout_store
+                        )?;
+
+                        link_nodes(key, new_child_key, component_store, layout_store)?;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Trim the fat. If we still have child nodes after diffing in the new child trees,
+    // then they're ones that simply need to be unmounted and dropped.
+    if old_children.len() > 0 {
+        for child in old_children {
+            unmount_component_tree(child, component_store, layout_store)?;
+        }
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Given a new `RSX` tree, a `ComponentStore`, and a `LayoutStore`, will recursively construct the
+/// tree, emitting required lifecycle events and persisting values. This happens in an inward-out
+/// fashion, which helps avoid unnecessary reflow in environments where it can get tricky.
+///
+/// This method returns a Result, the `Ok` variant containing a tuple of Vecs. These are the child 
+/// Component instances and Layout instances that need to be set in the stores.
+fn mount_component_tree(
+    tree: VirtualNode,
+    component_store: &mut ComponentStore,
+    layout_store: &mut LayoutStore
+) -> Result<ComponentKey, Box<Error>> {
+    println!("    Mounting Component");
+    let key = component_store.new_key();
+    let component = (tree.create_component_fn)(key);
+    let is_native_backed = component.has_native_backing_node();
+    
+    // let state = get_derived_state_from_props()
+    let mut instance = Instance::new(tree.tag, component, tree.props, None);
+    if is_native_backed {
+        let mut style = Style::default();
+        THEME_ENGINE.configure_styles_for_keys(&instance.props.styles, &mut style, &mut instance.appearance);
+        instance.layout = Some(layout_store.new_node(style, vec![])?);
+    }
+    
+    let rendered = instance.component.render(&instance.props);
+    // instance.get_snapshot_before_update()
+    println!("Rendered... {}", instance.tag);
+    component_store.insert(key, instance)?;
+
+    match rendered {
+        Ok(child) => if let RSX::VirtualNode(child) = child {
+            // We want to support Components being able to return arbitrary iteratable
+            // elements, but... well, it's not quite that simple. Thus we'll offer a <Fragment>
+            // tag similar to what React does, which just hoists the children out of it and
+            // discards the rest.
+            if child.tag == "Fragment" {
+                println!("        In Fragment {}", child.children.len());
+                for child_tree in child.children {
+                    println!("          > WHAT");
+                    if let RSX::VirtualNode(child_tree) = child_tree {
+                        let child_key = mount_component_tree(child_tree, component_store, layout_store)?;
+
+                        if is_native_backed {
+                            link_nodes(key, child_key, component_store, layout_store)?;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            } else {
+                println!("        In regular");
+                let child_key = mount_component_tree(child, component_store, layout_store)?;
+                if is_native_backed {
+                    link_nodes(key, child_key, component_store, layout_store)?;
+                }
+            }
+        } else { println!("WTF"); },
+
+        Err(e) => {
+            // return an RSX::VirtualNode(ErrorComponentView) or something?
+            /* instance.get_derived_state_from_error(e) */
+            // render error state or something I guess?
+            /* instance.component_did_catch(e, info) */
+            eprintln!("Error rendering: {}", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    let instance_lol = component_store.get_mut(key)?;
+    instance_lol.component.component_did_mount(&instance_lol.props);
+
+    Ok(key)
+}
+
+/// Given a `ComponentKey`, a `ComponentStore`, and a `LayoutStore`, will recursively walk the tree found at
+/// said key, emitting required lifecycle events and dropping values. This happens in an inward-out
+/// fashion, so deepest nodes/components get destroyed first to ensure that the backing widget tree
+/// doesn't get some weird dangling issue.
+fn unmount_component_tree(
+    key: ComponentKey,
+    component_store: &mut ComponentStore,
+    layout_store: &mut LayoutStore
+) -> Result<Vec<LayoutNode>, Box<Error>> {
+    let mut instance = component_store.remove(key)?;
+    instance.component.component_will_unmount(&instance.props);
+    
+    let mut layout_nodes = vec![];
+    
+    let children = component_store.children(key)?;
+    for child in children {
+        match unmount_component_tree(child, component_store, layout_store) {
+            Ok(mut child_layout_nodes) => {
+                if let Some(parent_layout_node) = instance.layout {
+                    for node in child_layout_nodes {
+                        layout_store.remove_child(parent_layout_node, node)?;
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    layout_nodes.append(&mut child_layout_nodes);
+                }
+            },
+
+            Err(e) => { eprintln!("Error unmounting a component tree: {}", e); }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // remove node from backing tree
+
+    Ok(layout_nodes)
+}
+
+/// Given a tree, will walk the branches until it finds the next root nodes to connect.
+/// While this sounds slow, in practice it rarely has to go far in any direction. This could 
+/// potentially be done away with some hoisting magic in the `mount()` recursion, but I couldn't 
+/// find a pattern that didn't feel like some utter magic in Rust.
+///
+/// It might be because I'm writing this at 3AM. Feel free to improve it.
+fn link_nodes(
+    parent: ComponentKey,
+    child: ComponentKey,
+    components: &mut ComponentStore,
+    layouts: &mut LayoutStore
+) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
+    if let (Ok(parent_instance), Ok(child_instance)) = (components.get(parent), components.get(child)) {
+        if let (Some(parent_layout), Some(child_layout)) = (parent_instance.layout, child_instance.layout) {
+            layouts.add_child(parent_layout, child_layout)?;
+            parent_instance.component.append_child_component(&*child_instance.component);
+            println!("APPENDED NODE!");
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+    }
+
+    let children = components.children(child)?;
+    for child_key in children {
+        link_nodes(parent, child_key, components, layouts)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Walks the tree and passes necessary Layout and Appearance-based styles to Components so they can
+/// update their backing widgets accordingly. This happens after a layout computation, typically.
+fn walk_and_apply_styles(
+    key: ComponentKey,
+    components: &mut ComponentStore,
+    layouts: &mut LayoutStore
+) -> Result<(), Box<Error>> {
+    let instance = components.get_mut(key)?;
+    
+    if let Some(layout_key) = instance.layout {
+        instance.component.apply_styles(
+            &instance.appearance,
+            layouts.layout(layout_key)?
+        );
+    }
+
+    for child in components.children(key)? {
+        walk_and_apply_styles(child, components, layouts)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/storage.rs b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/storage.rs
index 3138f13..63f087b 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/reconciler/storage.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/reconciler/storage.rs
@@ -5,11 +5,10 @@
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 pub use alchemy_styles::Appearance;
-use alchemy_styles::stretch::node::{Node as LayoutNode};
 
 use crate::reconciler::error::{RenderEngineError as Error};
+use crate::reconciler::instance::Instance;
 use crate::reconciler::key::{Allocator, Id, INSTANCE_ALLOCATOR, ComponentKey};
-use crate::traits::Component;
 
 /// This is a clone of a structure you'll also find over in stretch. We do this separately 
 /// here for two reasons.
@@ -40,6 +39,13 @@ impl<T> Storage<T> {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn remove(&mut self, key: ComponentKey) -> Result<T, Error> {
+        match self.0.remove(&key) {
+            Some(v) => Ok(v),
+            None => Err(Error::InvalidComponentKey(key))
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn insert(&mut self, key: ComponentKey, value: T) -> Option<T> {
         self.0.insert(key, value)
     }
@@ -53,12 +59,6 @@ impl<T> std::ops::Index<&ComponentKey> for Storage<T> {
     }
 }
 
-pub struct Instance {
-    component: Box<Component>,
-    appearance: Appearance,
-    layout: Option<LayoutNode>
-}
-
 pub(crate) struct ComponentStore {
     id: Id,
     nodes: Allocator,
@@ -78,28 +78,31 @@ impl ComponentStore {
         }
     }
 
-    fn allocate_node(&mut self) -> ComponentKey {
+    pub fn new_key(&mut self) -> ComponentKey {
         let local = self.nodes.allocate();
         ComponentKey { instance: self.id, local }
     }
 
-    pub fn new_node<C: Component + 'static>(&mut self, component: C, layout_key: Option<LayoutNode>, children: Vec<ComponentKey>) -> Result<ComponentKey, Error> {
-        let key = self.allocate_node();
-
-        for child in &children {
+    pub fn insert(
+        &mut self,
+        key: ComponentKey,
+        instance: Instance
+    ) -> Result<(), Error> {
+        /*for child in &children {
             self.parents.get_mut(*child)?.push(key);
-        }
-
-        self.components.insert(key, Instance {
-            component: Box::new(component),
-            appearance: Appearance::default(),
-            layout: layout_key
-        });
+        }*/
 
+        self.components.insert(key, instance);
         self.parents.insert(key, Vec::with_capacity(1));
-        self.children.insert(key, children);
+        self.children.insert(key, vec![]); //children);
 
-        Ok(key)
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    pub fn remove(&mut self, key: ComponentKey) -> Result<Instance, Error> {
+        self.parents.remove(key)?;
+        self.children.remove(key)?;
+        self.components.remove(key)
     }
 
     pub fn add_child(&mut self, key: ComponentKey, child: ComponentKey) -> Result<(), Error> {
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/rsx/mod.rs b/lifecycle/src/rsx/mod.rs
index ad3bcf0..6a5b6f1 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/rsx/mod.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/rsx/mod.rs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ impl RSX {
         RSX::VirtualNode(VirtualNode {
             tag: tag,
             create_component_fn: create_fn,
-            props: Some(props),
+            props: props,
             children: children
         })
     }
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/rsx/props.rs b/lifecycle/src/rsx/props.rs
index 8d297c9..04247e1 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/rsx/props.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/rsx/props.rs
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 //! Implements a Props struct that mostly acts as expected. For arbitrary primitive values,
 //! it shadows a `serde_json::Value`.
 
-use std::sync::{Arc, RwLock};
 use serde_json::Value;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 use alchemy_styles::StylesList;
 
 use crate::rsx::RSX;
-use crate::traits::{Component};
 
 /// A value stored inside the `attributes` field on a `Props` instance.
 /// It shadows `serde_json::Value`, but also allows for some other value
diff --git a/lifecycle/src/rsx/virtual_node.rs b/lifecycle/src/rsx/virtual_node.rs
index df3ec57..ff65b0c 100644
--- a/lifecycle/src/rsx/virtual_node.rs
+++ b/lifecycle/src/rsx/virtual_node.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub struct VirtualNode {
     /// ownership of a VirtualNode.
     ///
     /// This aspect of functionality may be pulled in a later release if it causes too many issues.
-    pub props: Option<Props>,
+    pub props: Props,
 
     /// 
     pub children: Vec<RSX>