> I understand that Magisk can be applied to Graphene if the final device lock step is not applied

Unless you relock the bootloader you are forfeiting major avenue into your phone (and it's not really, fully GOS - because you keep most important protections off).

But it's your choice of course. You'd be probably better off just creating your own OS image with preinstalled root libraries, etc.

> I'm not comfortable without root. I have the absolute right to have root on my device.

I agree with you fully. This is your phone.