diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
index 0ceb70f8d7..c1bdc02c75 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/HistoryItemDisplay.tsx
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ interface HistoryItemDisplayProps {
   isFirstThinking?: boolean;
   isFirstAfterThinking?: boolean;
   isToolGroupBoundary?: boolean;
-  suppressNarration?: boolean;
 }
 
 export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
@@ -64,7 +63,6 @@ export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
   isFirstThinking = false,
   isFirstAfterThinking = false,
   isToolGroupBoundary = false,
-  suppressNarration = false,
 }) => {
   const settings = useSettings();
   const inlineThinkingMode = getInlineThinkingMode(settings);
@@ -75,17 +73,6 @@ export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
     isToolGroupBoundary
   );
 
-  // If there's a topic update in this turn, we suppress the regular narration
-  // and thoughts as they are being "replaced" by the update_topic tool.
-  if (
-    suppressNarration &&
-    (itemForDisplay.type === 'thinking' ||
-      itemForDisplay.type === 'gemini' ||
-      itemForDisplay.type === 'gemini_content')
-  ) {
-    return null;
-  }
-
   return (
     <Box
       flexDirection="column"
@@ -205,7 +192,6 @@ export const HistoryItemDisplay: React.FC<HistoryItemDisplayProps> = ({
           borderTop={itemForDisplay.borderTop}
           borderBottom={itemForDisplay.borderBottom}
           isExpandable={isExpandable}
-          isToolGroupBoundary={isToolGroupBoundary}
         />
       )}
       {itemForDisplay.type === 'subagent' && (
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
index b46af4965b..046550de51 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/MainContent.tsx
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import { Box, Static } from 'ink';
 import { HistoryItemDisplay } from './HistoryItemDisplay.js';
 import { useUIState } from '../contexts/UIStateContext.js';
-import { useSettings } from '../contexts/SettingsContext.js';
 import { useAppContext } from '../contexts/AppContext.js';
 import { AppHeader } from './AppHeader.js';
 
@@ -22,7 +21,6 @@ import { useMemo, memo, useCallback, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
 import { MAX_GEMINI_MESSAGE_LINES } from '../constants.js';
 import { useConfirmingTool } from '../hooks/useConfirmingTool.js';
 import { ToolConfirmationQueue } from './ToolConfirmationQueue.js';
-import { isTopicTool } from './messages/TopicMessage.js';
 import { appEvents, AppEvent } from '../../utils/events.js';
 
 const MemoizedHistoryItemDisplay = memo(HistoryItemDisplay);
@@ -82,35 +80,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
     return -1;
   }, [uiState.history]);
 
-  const settings = useSettings();
-  const topicUpdateNarrationEnabled =
-    settings.merged.experimental?.topicUpdateNarration === true;
-
-  const suppressNarrationFlags = useMemo(() => {
-    const combinedHistory = [...uiState.history, ...pendingHistoryItems];
-    const flags = new Array<boolean>(combinedHistory.length).fill(false);
-
-    if (topicUpdateNarrationEnabled) {
-      let toolGroupInTurn = false;
-      for (let i = combinedHistory.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-        const item = combinedHistory[i];
-        if (item.type === 'user' || item.type === 'user_shell') {
-          toolGroupInTurn = false;
-        } else if (item.type === 'tool_group') {
-          toolGroupInTurn = item.tools.some((t) => isTopicTool(t.name));
-        } else if (
-          (item.type === 'thinking' ||
-            item.type === 'gemini' ||
-            item.type === 'gemini_content') &&
-          toolGroupInTurn
-        ) {
-          flags[i] = true;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    return flags;
-  }, [uiState.history, pendingHistoryItems, topicUpdateNarrationEnabled]);
-
   const augmentedHistory = useMemo(
     () =>
       uiState.history.map((item, i) => {
@@ -129,10 +98,9 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
           isFirstThinking,
           isFirstAfterThinking,
           isToolGroupBoundary,
-          suppressNarration: suppressNarrationFlags[i] ?? false,
         };
       }),
-    [uiState.history, lastUserPromptIndex, suppressNarrationFlags],
+    [uiState.history, lastUserPromptIndex],
   );
 
   const historyItems = useMemo(
@@ -144,7 +112,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
           isFirstThinking,
           isFirstAfterThinking,
           isToolGroupBoundary,
-          suppressNarration,
         }) => (
           <MemoizedHistoryItemDisplay
             terminalWidth={mainAreaWidth}
@@ -162,7 +129,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
             isFirstThinking={isFirstThinking}
             isFirstAfterThinking={isFirstAfterThinking}
             isToolGroupBoundary={isToolGroupBoundary}
-            suppressNarration={suppressNarration}
           />
         ),
       ),
@@ -201,9 +167,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
             (item.type !== 'tool_group' && prevType === 'tool_group') ||
             (item.type === 'tool_group' && prevType !== 'tool_group');
 
-          const suppressNarration =
-            suppressNarrationFlags[uiState.history.length + i] ?? false;
-
           return (
             <HistoryItemDisplay
               key={`pending-${i}`}
@@ -217,7 +180,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
               isFirstThinking={isFirstThinking}
               isFirstAfterThinking={isFirstAfterThinking}
               isToolGroupBoundary={isToolGroupBoundary}
-              suppressNarration={suppressNarration}
             />
           );
         })}
@@ -237,7 +199,6 @@ export const MainContent = () => {
       showConfirmationQueue,
       confirmingTool,
       uiState.history,
-      suppressNarrationFlags,
     ],
   );
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolGroupMessage.tsx b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolGroupMessage.tsx
index 38be3a24da..2e0406ee4e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolGroupMessage.tsx
+++ b/packages/cli/src/ui/components/messages/ToolGroupMessage.tsx
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ interface ToolGroupMessageProps {
   borderTop?: boolean;
   borderBottom?: boolean;
   isExpandable?: boolean;
-  isToolGroupBoundary?: boolean;
 }
 
 // Main component renders the border and maps the tools using ToolMessage
@@ -116,7 +115,6 @@ export const ToolGroupMessage: React.FC<ToolGroupMessageProps> = ({
   borderTop: borderTopOverride,
   borderBottom: borderBottomOverride,
   isExpandable,
-  isToolGroupBoundary,
 }) => {
   const settings = useSettings();
   const isLowErrorVerbosity = settings.merged.ui?.errorVerbosity !== 'full';
@@ -248,11 +246,11 @@ export const ToolGroupMessage: React.FC<ToolGroupMessageProps> = ({
           (showClosingBorder ? 1 : 0);
       } else if (isTopicToolCall) {
         // Topic Message Spacing Breakdown:
-        // 1. Top Margin (1): Present unless it's the very first item following a boundary.
+        // 1. Top Margin (1): Always present for spacing.
         // 2. Topic Content (1).
         // 3. Bottom Margin (1): Always present around TopicMessage for breathing room.
-        const hasTopMargin = !(isFirst && isToolGroupBoundary);
-        height += (hasTopMargin ? 1 : 0) + 1 + 1;
+        // 4. Closing Border (1): Added if transition logic (showClosingBorder) requires it.
+        height += 1 + 1 + 1 + (showClosingBorder ? 1 : 0);
       } else if (isCompact) {
         // Compact Tool: Always renders as a single dense line.
         height += 1;
@@ -273,12 +271,7 @@ export const ToolGroupMessage: React.FC<ToolGroupMessageProps> = ({
       }
     }
     return height;
-  }, [
-    groupedTools,
-    isCompactModeEnabled,
-    borderTopOverride,
-    isToolGroupBoundary,
-  ]);
+  }, [groupedTools, isCompactModeEnabled, borderTopOverride]);
 
   let countToolCallsWithResults = 0;
   for (const tool of visibleToolCalls) {
@@ -446,10 +439,7 @@ export const ToolGroupMessage: React.FC<ToolGroupMessageProps> = ({
               {isCompact ? (
                 <DenseToolMessage {...commonProps} />
               ) : isTopicToolCall ? (
-                <Box
-                  marginTop={isFirst && isToolGroupBoundary ? 0 : 1}
-                  marginBottom={1}
-                >
+                <Box marginTop={1} marginBottom={1}>
                   <TopicMessage {...commonProps} />
                 </Box>
               ) : isShellToolCall ? (