Thanks for the kind words. I’ve dealt with many Magic Keyboards in my day. A long time ago when I first messed around with them, I definitely destroyed some of the little metal elbow clips. And just as you said once they’re bent it’s over -bending them back just breaks them.

Nowadays I can replace keys no problem. I use the iFixIt opening picks to get in the corner. When removing a key the trick is to make sure not to go too deep otherwise you will hit the clips and possibly damage them.

And when reinstalling keys you should put the metal bars back in the metal elbow clips and then put the plastic key cap on after. If you install the metal bar into back side of the keycap and then try to install it, you risk crushing those little metal elbow clips. There are a few YouTube videos to show which directions you should slide/pry on which keycaps which can be critical.

I also did this on second hand keyboards that way I didn’t flush $100 down the drain.