diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.test.tsx b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.test.tsx
index 5285c5940..ee192997f 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.test.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.test.tsx
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
 
     // reloadPreview is wired as onAsyncFailure (3rd arg) so a MotionPath-plugin
     // CDN load failure escalates to a full reload — but it is NOT called eagerly.
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     // A successful instant patch is the fast path; here it missed → fallback event.
     expect(trackStudioEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
 
     // U4: "verify-failed" is the TRANSIENT empty-timeline window — the live state
     // is correct, so we must NOT escalate to a full reload.
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     // Telemetry records the suppressed transient (escalated: false).
     expect(trackStudioEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
     );
 
     // Structural failure: the preview is genuinely stale/broken → full reload.
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(trackStudioEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       "gsap_soft_reload_outcome",
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
     );
 
     expect(patchRuntimeTweenInPlace).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     // "applied" emits no telemetry (only the failure paths do).
     expect(trackStudioEvent).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
     );
 
     // onAsyncFailure is wired, but the transient result does not trigger it.
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(trackStudioEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       "gsap_soft_reload_outcome",
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ describe("applyPreviewSync", () => {
       reloadPreview,
     );
 
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(reloadPreview).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(trackStudioEvent).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       "gsap_soft_reload_outcome",
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ describe("runCommit — instantPatch wiring", () => {
     });
 
     expect(fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", deps.reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", deps.reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(deps.reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(deps.onCacheInvalidate).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ describe("runCommit — instantPatch wiring", () => {
     });
 
     expect(patchRuntimeTweenInPlace).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", deps.reloadPreview);
+    expect(applySoftReload).toHaveBeenCalledWith(FAKE_IFRAME, "SCRIPT", deps.reloadPreview, 0);
     expect(deps.reloadPreview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.ts
index a0fa4495f..e490f6ee5 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/useGsapScriptCommits.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { useCallback, useMemo, useRef } from "react";
 import { findUnsafeMutationValues } from "@hyperframes/core/studio-api/finite-mutation";
 import type { DomEditSelection } from "../components/editor/domEditingTypes";
+import { usePlayerStore } from "../player/store/playerStore";
 import { applySoftReload, extractGsapScriptText } from "../utils/gsapSoftReload";
 import type { SoftReloadResult } from "../utils/gsapSoftReload";
 import { trackStudioEvent } from "../utils/studioTelemetry";
@@ -66,7 +67,11 @@ function softReloadOrEscalate(
   reloadPreview: () => void,
   origin: "preview_sync" | "sdk_refresh",
 ): void {
-  const result: SoftReloadResult = applySoftReload(iframe, scriptText, reloadPreview);
+  // Seek the rebuilt timeline to the studio's own authoritative scrub position,
+  // not the iframe's raw `__player.getTime()` — see the comment in
+  // applySoftReload for why the two can desync after a keyframe-node drag.
+  const currentTime = usePlayerStore.getState().currentTime;
+  const result: SoftReloadResult = applySoftReload(iframe, scriptText, reloadPreview, currentTime);
   if (result === "applied") return;
   trackStudioEvent("gsap_soft_reload_outcome", {
     origin,
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.test.ts
index 34e168adc..1576a8bc8 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.test.ts
@@ -100,6 +100,18 @@ describe("applySoftReload", () => {
     expect(contentWindow.__hfStudioManualEditsApply).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("seeks to the caller-supplied currentTime override instead of the iframe's own __player.getTime()", () => {
+    // Regression: the iframe's raw __player.getTime() (2.0 here, per the mock)
+    // can desync from the studio's authoritative scrub position — e.g. a
+    // keyframe-node drag parks the playhead via the store before this reload's
+    // async commit resolves. The rebuilt timeline must re-seek to the caller's
+    // value, not the iframe's possibly-stale one.
+    const { iframe, contentWindow } = buildMockIframe();
+    const result = applySoftReload(iframe, SCRIPT_TEXT, undefined, 0);
+    expect(result).toBe("applied");
+    expect(contentWindow.__player.seek).toHaveBeenCalledWith(0);
+  });
+
   it("strips a stale inline transform from an orphaned (non-timeline-child) element", () => {
     // Repro: an element dragged via gsap.set whose keyframes were then removed is
     // no longer a timeline child, so the timeline-children sweep misses it. Its
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.ts
index a96de9703..1cea9b789 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/gsapSoftReload.ts
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ export function applySoftReload(
   iframe: HTMLIFrameElement | null,
   scriptText: string,
   onAsyncFailure?: () => void,
+  currentTimeOverride?: number,
 ): SoftReloadResult {
   if (!iframe || !scriptText) return "cannot-soft-reload";
 
@@ -210,7 +211,14 @@ export function applySoftReload(
   // rather than killing the target timeline and appending an orphan script.
   if (gsapScripts.length > 1 && staleScripts.length === 0) return "cannot-soft-reload";
 
-  const currentTime = win.__player?.getTime?.() ?? 0;
+  // Prefer the caller-supplied scrub position (the studio's own authoritative
+  // currentTime, e.g. usePlayerStore) over the iframe's raw `__player.getTime()`:
+  // the two can desync (a keyframe-node drag parks the playhead via the store
+  // BEFORE this reload's async commit resolves, and the iframe's own GSAP clock
+  // doesn't reliably reflect that yet), which re-seeks the freshly rebuilt
+  // timeline to the wrong frame and leaves the element (and its overlay)
+  // rendered at a stale/unrelated position.
+  const currentTime = currentTimeOverride ?? win.__player?.getTime?.() ?? 0;
 
   // Track whether the MotionPath async path was taken. When it is, the script
   // executes inside pluginScript.onload — after applySoftReload has already
@@ -300,8 +308,13 @@ export function applySoftReload(
       const s = doc.createElement("script");
       s.textContent = `(function(){${scriptText}\n})();`;
       doc.body.appendChild(s);
-      win.__hfForceTimelineRebind?.();
+      // Seek BEFORE rebind: __hfForceTimelineRebind's own internal force-render
+      // (see init.ts) renders the freshly-created timeline at whatever the
+      // runtime's internal scrub position already is, not at whatever we pass
+      // here afterward — a redundant seek() call after rebind can be a GSAP
+      // no-op if the timeline already reports being at that time internally.
       win.__player?.seek?.(currentTime);
+      win.__hfForceTimelineRebind?.();
       win.__hfStudioManualEditsApply?.();
     };