When you update macOS on an M1 Mac, the previous recoveryOS is kept in reserve as Fallback Recovery, to provide a safeguard in the event that anything goes wrong installing the new recoveryOS.
is thought provoking...if not downright ominous, particularly because if something goes too wrong you can't recover without a second M1 Mac close at hand.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire