Lost 2 days on this - bah! Want to give REAL Kudos to those who actually helped solve this problem:
stschwar @ github in this post: https://github.com/CocoaPods/CocoaPods/issues/10059
pointed to this SO post with a simple solution: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63391793/xcode-12-build-target-in-wrong-order/63405201#63405201
XCode has a deserved 3 stars for many reasons, this is one of them! Counterproductivity kills.