Entropy has been treated exclusively as a state function: a quantity that systems produce or accumulate, measured but never examined as an active agent. We demonstrate* that entropy, understood as an energetic process, is governed by the same four-phase cycle that Energetic First Principles (E1P) identifies in all energy processes: Identity (AA) → Polarity (CC) → Flow (CA) → Separation (AC). The evidence already exists across multiple peer-reviewed domains — from Prigogine's dissipative structures to the Page curve in black hole physics, from turbulent energy cascades to cellular aging dynamics — but has never been recognised as documenting phases of a single unified phenomenon. By mapping the complete four-phase architecture onto eleven independently documented systems, we establish that entropy cannot destroy, create, or transform a system except by navigating the full E1P cycle. This renders entropy predictable, phase-locked, and — in principle — interceptable. *By ‘demonstrate,’ we mean: (i) define a shared phase vocabulary (ii) specify mapping criteria (iii) show cross-domain convergence on phase-structured markers, and (iv) derive falsifiable predictions.
Resonant Institute (Mon,) studied this question.