I think I have solved the lifetime issue.

OwnedBreadcrumbTreeElement's needed a lifetime associated with them because IntoContextElement had lifetimes associated with it.

src/renderer/breadcrumb_tree.rs

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ pub enum BreadcrumbTreeElement<'a> {
     // the same BreadcrumbTreeElement but a different parent (for
     // example, when inserting behind the tail), we don't need to the
     // copy the already owned/malloc'd data.
-    Owned(Rc<dyn IntoContextElement>),
+    Owned(Rc<dyn IntoContextElement + 'a>),
     Borrowed(&'a dyn IntoContextElement),
 }
 

src/renderer/renderer.rs

@@ -220,14 +220,7 @@ impl<'a> DustRenderer<'a> {
         };
         let mut new_nodes: Vec<BreadcrumbTreeElement> = Vec::new();
 
-        let p = explicit_context.as_ref().unwrap();
-        let x = walk_path(maybe_breadcrumbs, &p.keys);
-        let ice = x.unwrap();
-        let ce = ice.into_context_element(self, maybe_breadcrumbs);
-        let val = ce.unwrap();
-        let to_insert = BreadcrumbTreeElement::Owned(Rc::new(val));
-        //new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Owned(Rc::new(val)));
-        /*explicit_context.as_ref().map(|path| {
+        explicit_context.as_ref().map(|path| {
             walk_path(maybe_breadcrumbs, &path.keys)
                 .map(|ice| ice.into_context_element(self, maybe_breadcrumbs))
                 .ok()
@@ -237,7 +230,7 @@ impl<'a> DustRenderer<'a> {
                         new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Owned(Rc::new(val)))
                     }
                 });
-        });*/
+        });
         injected_context.map(|ctx| new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Borrowed(ctx)));
         new_context_element
             .map(|ctx| new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Borrowed(ctx.from_context_element())));
@@ -294,7 +287,7 @@ impl<'a> DustRenderer<'a> {
                 _ => new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Borrowed(ctx)),
             }
         });
-        /*explicit_context.as_ref().map(|path| {
+        explicit_context.as_ref().map(|path| {
             // TODO: should resolving the value here use
             // explicit_context_maybe_breadcrumbs or
             // maybe_breadcrumbs?
@@ -307,7 +300,7 @@ impl<'a> DustRenderer<'a> {
                         new_nodes.push(BreadcrumbTreeElement::Owned(Rc::new(val)));
                     }
                 });
-        });*/
+        });
 
         Some((parent, new_nodes))
     }