Mid-2018 MacBook Pro (A1990) • Booting w/ Blank Screen and only ESC key lit

Mid-2018 MacBook Pro (model A1990) is booting with a blank screen and only the ESC key lit on the touch bar.

I am able to start up in Recovery Mode, close the lid on my macbook and access the recovery screen via my external monitor. But not much else.

I've done all the internet tricks... reset SMC and NVRAM/PRAM, etc. Nothing is working.

My problem appears to be identical to THIS PROBLEM (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251892594) reported on Apple Discussions — but their solution doesn't fix my issue.