diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index d88bda4..c49f679 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ Type: Package
 Title: Monarch Knowledge Graph Queries
 Description: R package for easy access, manipulation, and analysis of
 		Monarch KG data Resources.
-Version: 1.7
+Version: 2.0
 URL: https://github.com/monarch-initiative/monarchr
 BugReports: https://github.com/monarch-initiative/monarchr/issues
 Authors@R:
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 525bf6a..d6aa1af 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ importFrom(stringr,str_replace_all)
 importFrom(stringr,str_wrap)
 importFrom(tibble,tibble)
 importFrom(tidygraph,activate)
+importFrom(tidygraph,active)
 importFrom(tidygraph,as_tibble)
 importFrom(tidygraph,graph_join)
 importFrom(tidygraph,tbl_graph)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 4539312..138a5e4 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# monarchr 2.0
+
+## Breaking changes
+
+* This breaking release drops support for `drop_unused_query_nodes` in `expand()`, which was both brittle and violated the rule that expansion should return a supergraph of the query 
+
+## Bug fixes
+
+* Fixes a bug in `expand()` for `neo4j_engine()` causing an infinite loop.
+
 # monarchr 1.7
 
 ## New features
diff --git a/R/expand.R b/R/expand.R
index 719e841..78359e2 100644
--- a/R/expand.R
+++ b/R/expand.R
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 #' @param predicates A vector of relationship predicates (nodes in g are subjects in the KG), indicating which edges to consider in the neighborhood. If NULL (default), all edges are considered.
 #' @param categories A vector of node categories, indicating which nodes in the larger KG may be fetched. If NULL (default), all nodes in the larger KG are will be fetched.
 #' @param transitive If TRUE, include transitive closure of the neighborhood. Default is FALSE. Useful in combination with predicates like `biolink:subclass_of`.
-#' @param drop_unused_query_nodes If TRUE, remove query nodes from the result, unless they are at the neighborhood boundary, i.e., required for connecting to the result nodes. Default is FALSE.
 #' @param ... Other parameters passed to methods.
 #'
 #' @return A `tbl_kgx()` graph
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ expand <- function(graph,
 									 predicates = NULL,
 									 categories = NULL,
 									 transitive = FALSE,
-									 drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE,
 
 									 					 ...) {
 	UseMethod("expand")
diff --git a/R/expand.tbl_kgx.R b/R/expand.tbl_kgx.R
index d6a6fa2..167b447 100644
--- a/R/expand.tbl_kgx.R
+++ b/R/expand.tbl_kgx.R
@@ -4,16 +4,19 @@
 #' @importFrom assertthat assert_that
 expand.tbl_kgx <- function(graph, ...) {
     # check to see if g has a last_engine attribute
+	  active_tbl <- active(graph)
     if(!is.null(attr(graph, "last_engine"))) {
         engine <- attr(graph, "last_engine")
         if(any(c("monarch_engine", "neo4j_engine") %in% class(engine))) {
-        	return(expand_neo4j_engine(engine, graph, ...))
+        	res <- expand_neo4j_engine(engine, graph, ...) |> activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
+        	return(res)
         } else if("file_engine" %in% class(engine)) {
-        	return(expand_file_engine(engine, graph, ...))
+        	res <- expand_file_engine(engine, graph, ...) |> activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
+        	return(res)
         } else {
         	stop("Error: unknown or incompatible engine.")
         }
-        return(expand(engine, graph, ...))
+        # return(expand(engine, graph, ...)) # this shouldn't be reachable
     } else {
         stop("Error: tbl_kgx object does not have a most recent engine.")
     }
diff --git a/R/expand_file_engine.R b/R/expand_file_engine.R
index 9ab6624..f85b382 100644
--- a/R/expand_file_engine.R
+++ b/R/expand_file_engine.R
@@ -5,22 +5,7 @@ transitive_query_internal <- function(engine,
                                       g,
                                       direction = "out",
                                       predicates = NULL,
-                                      categories = NULL,
-                                      drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE) {
-
-    # # TODO: this block will never trigger; the check is done in the main function, remove
-    # if(length(predicates) > 1) {
-    #     # we call recusively on each predicate
-    #     for(predicate in predicates) {
-    #         g2 <- transitive_query_internal(engine,
-    #                                         g,
-    #                                         direction = direction,
-    #                                         predicates = predicate,
-    #                                         categories = categories,
-    #                                         drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    #         suppressMessages(g <- tidygraph::graph_join(g, g2), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
-    #     }
-    # }
+                                      categories = NULL) {
 
     # assert that direction is "out" or "in"
     assert_that(direction == "out" | direction == "in", msg = "Direction must be 'out' or 'in' when using transitive closure.")
@@ -64,16 +49,6 @@ transitive_query_internal <- function(engine,
             filter(purrr::map_lgl(category, ~ any(.x %in% categories)) | id %in% query_ids)
     }
 
-    # in this logic, unused query nodes (those without any connection) are kept by default
-    # so we need to remove them if drop_unused_query_nodes is TRUE
-    # we can identify them in the result as those with no connected edges
-    if(drop_unused_query_nodes) {
-        bfs_edges <- bfs_result %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-        bfs_nodes <- c(bfs_edges$object, bfs_edges$subject)
-        bfs_result <- bfs_result %>%
-            filter(id %in% bfs_nodes)
-    }
-
     attr(bfs_result, "last_engine") <- engine
     return(bfs_result)
 }
@@ -83,8 +58,7 @@ direction_fetch_internal <- function(engine,
                                      g,
                                      direction = "out",
                                      predicates = NULL,
-                                     categories = NULL,
-                                     drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE) {
+                                     categories = NULL) {
 
     engine_graph <- engine$graph
 
@@ -129,15 +103,7 @@ direction_fetch_internal <- function(engine,
             filter(purrr::map_lgl(category, ~ any(.x %in% categories)) | id %in% node_ids)
     }
 
-    # the logic above drops unused query nodes, but we can keep them if desired
-    # to do so we drop all the edges in the query graph, and join the result with new_edges
-    if(!drop_unused_query_nodes) {
-        query_no_edges <- g %>%
-            activate(edges) %>%
-            filter(FALSE)
-
-        suppressMessages(new_edges <- kg_join(query_no_edges, new_edges), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
-    }
+    suppressMessages(new_edges <- kg_join(g, new_edges), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
 
     return(new_edges)
 }
@@ -152,8 +118,7 @@ expand_file_engine <- function(engine,
                                     direction = "both",
                                     predicates = NULL,
                                     categories = NULL,
-                                    transitive = FALSE,
-                                    drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE) {
+                                    transitive = FALSE) {
 
     assert_that(is.tbl_graph(graph))
     assert_that(direction %in% c("in", "out", "both"))
@@ -167,14 +132,14 @@ expand_file_engine <- function(engine,
       stop("Transitive closure requires exactly one specified predicate.")
 
     } else if(transitive) {
-        new_edges <- transitive_query_internal(engine, graph, direction, predicates, categories, drop_unused_query_nodes)
+        new_edges <- transitive_query_internal(engine, graph, direction, predicates, categories)
 
     } else {
         if(direction == "out" || direction == "in") {
-            new_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, direction, predicates, categories, drop_unused_query_nodes)
+            new_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, direction, predicates, categories)
         } else if(direction == "both") {
-            new_out_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, "out", predicates, categories, drop_unused_query_nodes)
-            new_in_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, "in", predicates, categories, drop_unused_query_nodes)
+            new_out_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, "out", predicates, categories)
+            new_in_edges <- direction_fetch_internal(engine, graph, "in", predicates, categories)
             suppressMessages(new_edges <- kg_join(new_out_edges, new_in_edges), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
         }
     }
diff --git a/R/expand_n.R b/R/expand_n.R
index 54dbf9d..cea8378 100644
--- a/R/expand_n.R
+++ b/R/expand_n.R
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 #' @inheritParams expand
 #' @param transitive NULL (not used in this function).
 #'
-#' @return A `tbl_kgx()` graph
+#' @return
+#' A `tbl_kgx()` graph
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' ## Using example KGX file packaged with monarchr
@@ -30,7 +31,6 @@ expand_n <- function(graph,
 										 predicates = NULL,
 										 categories = NULL,
 										 transitive = NULL,
-										 drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE,
 										 n=1,
 										 ...) {
 	## Check args
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ expand_n <- function(graph,
 										predicates = check_len(predicates,n,i),
 										categories = check_len(categories,n,i),
 										transitive = FALSE,
-										drop_unused_query_nodes = check_len(drop_unused_query_nodes,n,i),
 										...)
 		if(return_each) graph_list[[paste0("iteration",i)]] <- graph
 		message(paste(
diff --git a/R/expand_neo4j_engine.R b/R/expand_neo4j_engine.R
index 879fb2b..86985f2 100644
--- a/R/expand_neo4j_engine.R
+++ b/R/expand_neo4j_engine.R
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ expand_neo4j_engine <- function(engine,
                                         predicates = NULL,
                                         categories = NULL,
                                         transitive = FALSE,
-                                        drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE,
 																				page_size = 1000,
 																				limit = NULL) {
 	  ## Sanity checks
@@ -184,11 +183,7 @@ expand_neo4j_engine <- function(engine,
         tidygraph::activate(nodes) %>%
         mutate(pcategory = normalize_categories(category, prefs$category_priority))
 
-    # if drop_unused_query_nodes is FALSE, we'll keep them by
-    # joining the result with the original graph
-    if(!drop_unused_query_nodes) {
-        suppressMessages(result_cumulative <- kg_join(graph, result_cumulative), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
-    }
+    suppressMessages(result_cumulative <- kg_join(graph, result_cumulative), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
 
     attr(result_cumulative, "last_engine") <- engine
     return(result_cumulative)
diff --git a/R/fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine.R b/R/fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine.R
index c949ae0..8d219a5 100644
--- a/R/fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine.R
+++ b/R/fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine.R
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine <- function(engine, ..., query_ids = NULL, page_size =
     	  query <- "MATCH (n) WHERE n.id IN $id"
     	  params <- list(id = query_ids)
     } else {
-        query <- paste0("MATCH (n) WHERE ", generate_cypher_conditionals(...))
+        query <- paste0("MATCH (n) WHERE (", generate_cypher_conditionals(...), ")")
         params <- list()
     }
 
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ fetch_nodes.neo4j_engine <- function(engine, ..., query_ids = NULL, page_size =
 			if(last_result_size > 0) {
 				total_nodes_fetched <- total_nodes_fetched + last_result_size
 				last_max_node_id <- max(nodes(result)$id)
+
 				suppressMessages(result_cumulative <- graph_join(result_cumulative, result), class = "message")
 				message(paste("Fetching; fetched", total_nodes_fetched, "of", total_results))
 			}
diff --git a/R/graph_centrality.R b/R/graph_centrality.R
index 51aac1a..5d294cb 100644
--- a/R/graph_centrality.R
+++ b/R/graph_centrality.R
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #' @inheritParams nodes
 #' @returns Graph object with centrality added as a new node attribute.
 #' @export
+#' @importFrom tidygraph active
+#' @importFrom tidygraph activate
 #' @examples
 #' filename <- system.file("extdata", "eds_marfan_kg.tar.gz", package = "monarchr")
 #' g <- file_engine(filename) |>
@@ -23,9 +25,11 @@ graph_centrality <- function(graph,
 														 fun=igraph::harmonic_centrality,
 														 col="centrality",
 														 ...){
+	active_tbl <- active(graph)
 	message("Computing node centrality.")
 	graph <- graph|>
 		activate(nodes)|>
-		dplyr::mutate(!!col:=fun(graph, ...))
+		dplyr::mutate(!!col:=fun(graph, ...)) |>
+		activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
 	return(graph)
 }
diff --git a/R/graph_semsim.R b/R/graph_semsim.R
index 9768520..30113ab 100644
--- a/R/graph_semsim.R
+++ b/R/graph_semsim.R
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 #' @param sparse Return a sparse matrix instead of a dense matrix.
 #' @param ... Additional arguments passed to the similarity function
 #'  (\code{fun}).
+#' @import tidygraph
+#' @import dplyr
 #' @inheritParams nodes
 #' @returns Graph object with similarity added as a new edge attribute.
 #' @export
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ graph_semsim <- function(graph,
 												 sparse=TRUE,
 												 return_matrix=FALSE,
 												 ...){
+	active_tbl <- active(graph)
 	from <- to <- NULL;
 	message("Computing pairwise node similarity.")
 	X <- fun(graph, ...)
@@ -41,6 +44,8 @@ graph_semsim <- function(graph,
 
 	graph <- graph|>
 		activate(edges)|>
-		dplyr::mutate(!!col:=purrr::map2_dbl(from, to, ~ X[.y, .x]))
+		dplyr::mutate(!!col:=purrr::map2_dbl(from, to, ~ X[.y, .x])) |>
+		activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
+
 	return(graph)
 }
diff --git a/R/kg_edge_weights.R b/R/kg_edge_weights.R
index 7877146..6572ac5 100644
--- a/R/kg_edge_weights.R
+++ b/R/kg_edge_weights.R
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #' @param encodings A list of named lists of encoding values for
 #' different edge attributes.
 #' @inheritParams nodes
+#' @import tidygraph
 #' @import dplyr
 #' @export
 #' @examples
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ kg_edge_weights <- function(graph,
 														encodings=monarch_edge_weight_encodings(),
 														fun=function(x){rowSums(x, na.rm = TRUE)}
 														){
+	active_tbl <- active(graph)
 	encoded_cols <- c()
 	for(key in names(encodings)){
 		nm_encoded <- paste0(key,"_encoded")
@@ -65,7 +67,8 @@ kg_edge_weights <- function(graph,
 			mutate(
 				across(all_of(encoded_cols),
 							 ~(min(.x, na.rm = TRUE)) / (max(.x, na.rm = TRUE))
-				))
+				)) |>
+			activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
 	}
 	igraph::E(graph)$weight <- fun(edges(graph)[,unique(encoded_cols)])
 	return(graph)
diff --git a/R/transitive_closure.R b/R/transitive_closure.R
index b19ac86..1226fe1 100644
--- a/R/transitive_closure.R
+++ b/R/transitive_closure.R
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ transitive_closure <- function(g, predicate = "biolink:subclass_of") {
 	if(length(predicate) != 1) {
 		stop("Error: predicate parameter of transitive_closure() must be length 1.")
 	}
+	# if there are no edges to close, return the input
+	p <- predicate
+	if(nrow(edges(g) |> filter(predicate == p)) == 0) {return(g)}
+
+	active_tbl <- active(g)
 
 	with_downstream <- g |>
 		activate(nodes) |>
@@ -56,7 +61,8 @@ transitive_closure <- function(g, predicate = "biolink:subclass_of") {
 	res <- g |>
 		tidygraph::bind_edges(new_edges) |>
 		activate(edges) |>
-		select(-edge_key)
+		select(-edge_key) |>
+		activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
 
 	res
 }
diff --git a/R/transitive_reduction.R b/R/transitive_reduction.R
index 9a15df2..d0fede0 100644
--- a/R/transitive_reduction.R
+++ b/R/transitive_reduction.R
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #' @export
 transitive_reduction <- function(g, predicate = "biolink:subclass_of") {
 	# first we make a copy
+	active_tbl <- active(g)
 	g2 <- g
 
 	# in the original, remove the predicate edges
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ transitive_reduction <- function(g, predicate = "biolink:subclass_of") {
 
 	# merge the original w g_reduced, adding back just the reduction edges
 	suppressMessages(g <- kg_join(g, g_reduced), classes = "message") # suppress joining info
+	g <- g |> activate(!!rlang::sym(active_tbl))
 
 	return(g)
 }
diff --git a/man/expand.Rd b/man/expand.Rd
index b095b3f..f1a8ab4 100644
--- a/man/expand.Rd
+++ b/man/expand.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ expand(
   predicates = NULL,
   categories = NULL,
   transitive = FALSE,
-  drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE,
   ...
 )
 }
@@ -28,8 +27,6 @@ expand(
 
 \item{transitive}{If TRUE, include transitive closure of the neighborhood. Default is FALSE. Useful in combination with predicates like \code{biolink:subclass_of}.}
 
-\item{drop_unused_query_nodes}{If TRUE, remove query nodes from the result, unless they are at the neighborhood boundary, i.e., required for connecting to the result nodes. Default is FALSE.}
-
 \item{...}{Other parameters passed to methods.}
 }
 \value{
diff --git a/man/expand_n.Rd b/man/expand_n.Rd
index f56430b..39e7893 100644
--- a/man/expand_n.Rd
+++ b/man/expand_n.Rd
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ expand_n(
   predicates = NULL,
   categories = NULL,
   transitive = NULL,
-  drop_unused_query_nodes = FALSE,
   n = 1,
   ...
 )
@@ -30,8 +29,6 @@ If FALSE, return the final graph with all expanded edges.}
 
 \item{transitive}{NULL (not used in this function).}
 
-\item{drop_unused_query_nodes}{If TRUE, remove query nodes from the result, unless they are at the neighborhood boundary, i.e., required for connecting to the result nodes. Default is FALSE.}
-
 \item{n}{Number of expansion iterations to run.}
 
 \item{...}{Other parameters passed to methods.}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-expand.file_engine.R b/tests/testthat/test-expand.file_engine.R
index 1fbc532..af29c88 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-expand.file_engine.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-expand.file_engine.R
@@ -29,15 +29,6 @@ test_that("expand file_engine works with transitive", {
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 20)
     expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 20)
 
-    ##### Check basic OUT transitive with drop_unused_query_nodes
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(predicate = "biolink:subclass_of", transitive = TRUE, direction = "out", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 20)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 14)
-
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 26)
-
 
     ##### Check basic IN transitive
     query_ids = c("MONDO:0007525", "MONDO:0007524")
@@ -49,17 +40,6 @@ test_that("expand file_engine works with transitive", {
     edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 2)
     expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 2)
-
-    ##### Check basic IN transitive with drop_unused_query_nodes
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(predicate = "biolink:subclass_of", transitive = TRUE, direction = "in", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 3)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 3)
-
-    # still 2 edges
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 2)
-    expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 2)
 })
 
 test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
@@ -91,15 +71,6 @@ test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
     edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 8)
 
-    ##### Check drop_unused_query_nodes with IN
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(direction = "in", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 9)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 4)
-
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 8)
-
     #### Check basic BOTH
     g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(direction = "both")
     nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
@@ -112,18 +83,6 @@ test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 190)
     expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 6)
 
-    #### Check drop_unused_query_nodes with BOTH
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(direction = "both", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 169)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 8)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:PhenotypicFeature"), 156)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Gene"), 3)
-
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 190)
-    expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 6)
-
     # Check OUT with has_phenotype
     g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(predicate = "biolink:has_phenotype", direction = "out")
     nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
@@ -133,20 +92,6 @@ test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
     edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 175)
 
-
-    ##### Check OUT with has_phenotype and drop_unused_query_nodes
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(predicate = "biolink:has_phenotype", direction = "out", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    # this result should have 4 nodes, 2 biolink:Disease, 1 bio:PhenotypicFeature, 1 bio:Gene
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 159)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 3)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:PhenotypicFeature"), 156)
-
-    # it should have 3 edges, all related_to
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 175)
-    expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:has_phenotype"), 175)
-
     ##### Check OUT with categories biolink:Disease
     g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(categories = "biolink:Disease", direction = "out")
     # this result should have 6 nodes, all biolink:Disease
@@ -169,16 +114,6 @@ test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 2)
     expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 2)
 
-    ##### Check IN with categories biolink:Disease and drop_unused_query_nodes
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(categories = "biolink:Disease", direction = "in", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 4)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 4)
-
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 2)
-    expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:subclass_of"), 2)
-
     ##### Check BOTH with categories biolink:Disease
     g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = query_ids) %>% expand(categories = "biolink:Disease", direction = "both")
     # this result should have 8 nodes, all biolink:Disease
@@ -199,14 +134,4 @@ test_that("fetch_Edges file_engine works", {
 
     edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
     expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 3)
-
-    ##### Check OUT with predicates biolink:has_mode_of_inheritance and categories biolink:PhenotypicFeature with drop_unused_query_nodes
-    g <- fetch_nodes(e, query_ids = c(query_ids, "HGNC:2201")) %>% expand(categories = "biolink:PhenotypicFeature", predicates = "biolink:has_mode_of_inheritance", direction = "out", drop_unused_query_nodes = TRUE)
-    nodes_df <- g %>% activate(nodes) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(nodes_df), 4)
-    expect_equal(sum(nodes_df$pcategory == "biolink:Disease"), 3)
-
-    edges_df <- g %>% activate(edges) %>% as_tibble()
-    expect_equal(nrow(edges_df), 3)
-    expect_equal(sum(edges_df$predicate == "biolink:has_mode_of_inheritance"), 3)
 })
diff --git a/vignettes/monarchr.Rmd b/vignettes/monarchr.Rmd
index 55e95f8..8c23e06 100644
--- a/vignettes/monarchr.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/monarchr.Rmd
@@ -194,8 +194,6 @@ We can limit the expansion based on several factors, which are combined in an "a
 - `predicates`: a character vector of edge predicates to fetch (all if unspecified)
 - `categories`: a character vector of node category labels to fetch in the connected neighborhood (all if unspecified)
 
-The `drop_unused_query_nodes` parameter (which defaults to `FALSE`) keeps only the nodes that are part of the recently-expanded neighborhood. For example, given a query graph with many diseases, if we try to fetch neighboring phenotypes, setting this to `TRUE` removes those disease nodes without any phenotypes.
-
 Lastly, the `transitive` parameter (which defaults to `FALSE`) can be used to fetch hierarchical, transitive relationships like `biolink:subclass_of`. When using `transitive = TRUE`, direction must be `"in"` or `"out"`, and `predicates` must be a single entry. The first example above illustrated this; here we explore the super-types and sub-types of Niemann-Pick, by first fetching all of its subtypes, and then considering the collective ancestry of those nodes in the KG. Not all ancestors are diseases (e.g. `biolink:Entity`), so we restrict the result set of the second expansion.
 
 ```{r}