Laver has proposed the following axiom: (*) some elementary embedding $j:V_{\lambda+1}\rightarrow V_{\lambda +1}$ extends to a non-trivial elementary embedding $h:HOD(ord^\lambda)\rightarrow HOD(ord^\lambda)$. This axiom is generically fragile in that any small forcing adding a real kills the axiom. I have no indication about how this is established at the moment and I suspect that the problem is that I don't understand what the model $HOD(ord^\lambda)$ looks like in a generic extension. I am hoping someone can give me some indication as to the kinds of "damage" HOD-like models can undergo during a forcing. As of now, I have the following very limited sketch: Assume, in $V$, that some $j:V_{\lambda+1}\rightarrow V_{\lambda+1}$ extends to $h:HOD(ord^\lambda)\rightarrow HOD(ord^\lambda)$. Let $P$ be a poset of size smaller than $crit(j)$, $G\subseteq P$ which is $V$-generic and $V[G]\setminus V$ contains a new real, say $f$. Since the forcing is small, we can lift the original embedding $j$ (in $V$) in the canonical way to a $j_G$ (in $V[G]$) , i.e. set $j_G(\dot{x}_G)=j(x)_G$ for $\dot{x}$ a name. I don't see why $h$ doesn't lift in the exact same way to an $h_G$, i.e. why doesn't $h_G$ witness an elementary embedding from $HOD(ord^\lambda)$ to itself? Supposing $h$ *does* lift to an $h_G$, is the generic fragility claim simply the observation that $h_G$ restricted to $V[G]_{\lambda+1}\neq j_G$? Is this even a correct observation? Is there some consequence like "$j_G(f) \neq h_G(f)$" that I just don't see? As you can probably tell, I really only have a surface understanding of the situation. I have been trying to find literature dealing with HOD beyond the basic facts, but I am coming up with very few resources.