all true but it’s finals.
That’s what makes it a bait-and-switch – literally. cruelty for its own sake. It is not to teach a lesson; the ‘lesson’ is “I can be sadistic and get away with it and I shall and the public will give me accolades for it”.
If these were students in a government paid-for institution, that’s fine. Screw them in the final exam; they can repeat a grade or retake it. Test creators are notoriously cruel to students under 18 years old and they take great pride in this.
But the adult world is _not_ like that.
A person who does a bait-and-switch on you like that is simply a sadistic cruel person taking advantage of their power.
Where does that level of “removal of prior hard work” happen from a single incident that is that extreme of a response?
There’s really not that many. The adult world is surprisingly forgiving about everything except missed bill payments and even that there’s usually some wiggle room.