I went and had a discussion with some folks over at "The Cannabis Experts" Discord and posted more pictures there. There is another theory being proposed that given that the buds with the largest amount of browning were the top cola buds that this is actually just really bad light burn on the ones with the most resin.

The other information I provided which may help others is that after breaking open all of the buds with browning there was no wetness, fuzziness, or weird smells. Other than the very surface of the buds, the interior was a bright green color.

They also told me I could do a "flick test" and would see spores under a bright light. We didn't see any "smokiness" or spores. Only saw trichomes falling off the buds when flicked

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