It appears that the simplest example seems to work. Here’s what the simplest example does:

• Create a scene containing a graphic and a camera
• Position the camera so the graphic can be seen
• Make a script for the camera which moves the camera far away so the graphic cannot be seen in either _enter_tree or _ready
• Add an input control to reload the scene

Upon starting the game and even upon input, the graphic can never be seen. I can now make the example more complicated, adding more elements that make it more similar to what I have, and see where it breaks.