Company had a hiring freeze mid-process and let me know after the final round instead of before, three weeks of silence explained

Did four rounds over about a month, felt genuinely good about the final one, then heard nothing for three weeks despite two follow-up emails. Recruiter finally called and said a freeze had come down from above right after my final round, and they'd known for over two weeks before telling me. Wasn't rejected on merit, which is a strange kind of relief, but I would've rather known immediately than kept checking my inbox for nothing.