diff --git a/src/ytdl_sub/downloaders/downloader.py b/src/ytdl_sub/downloaders/downloader.py
index 325e6898..9ed979bf 100644
--- a/src/ytdl_sub/downloaders/downloader.py
+++ b/src/ytdl_sub/downloaders/downloader.py
@@ -403,6 +403,18 @@ class Downloader(DownloadArchiver, Generic[DownloaderOptionsT, DownloaderEntryT]
             for entry_child in self._download_parent_entry(parent=parent_child):
                 yield entry_child
 
+    def _set_collection_variables(
+        self, collection_url: CollectionUrlValidator, entry: Entry | EntryParent
+    ):
+        if isinstance(entry, EntryParent):
+            for child in entry.parent_children():
+                self._set_collection_variables(collection_url, child)
+            for child in entry.entry_children():
+                child.add_variables(variables_to_add=collection_url.variables)
+
+        elif isinstance(entry, Entry):
+            entry.add_variables(variables_to_add=collection_url.variables)
+
     def _download_url_metadata(
         self, collection_url: CollectionUrlValidator
     ) -> Tuple[List[EntryParent], List[Entry]]:
@@ -417,12 +429,19 @@ class Downloader(DownloadArchiver, Generic[DownloaderOptionsT, DownloaderEntryT]
             )
 
         self.parents = EntryParent.from_entry_dicts(
-            entry_dicts=entry_dicts, working_directory=self.working_directory
+            url=collection_url.url,
+            entry_dicts=entry_dicts,
+            working_directory=self.working_directory,
         )
-
         orphans = EntryParent.from_entry_dicts_with_no_parents(
             parents=self.parents, entry_dicts=entry_dicts, working_directory=self.working_directory
         )
+
+        for parent_entry in self.parents:
+            self._set_collection_variables(collection_url, parent_entry)
+        for entry in orphans:
+            self._set_collection_variables(collection_url, entry)
+
         return self.parents, orphans
 
     def _download(
diff --git a/src/ytdl_sub/entries/entry_parent.py b/src/ytdl_sub/entries/entry_parent.py
index 581abef7..10c90fee 100644
--- a/src/ytdl_sub/entries/entry_parent.py
+++ b/src/ytdl_sub/entries/entry_parent.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import functools
 import math
-import os
 from typing import Dict
 from typing import List
 from typing import Optional
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ class EntryParent(BaseEntry):
             out = dict(
                 out,
                 **{
-                    "playlist_index": idx,
+                    "playlist_index": idx + 1,
                     "playlist_count": len(children),
                 },
             )
@@ -169,9 +168,39 @@ class EntryParent(BaseEntry):
             child.__contains__(item) for child in self.child_entries
         )
 
+    @classmethod
+    def _get_disconnected_root_parent(
+        cls, url: str, parents: List["EntryParent"]
+    ) -> Optional["EntryParent"]:
+        """
+        Sometimes the root-level parent is disconnected via playlist_ids Find it if it exists.
+        """
+
+        def _url_matches(webpage_url: str):
+            return webpage_url in url or url in webpage_url
+
+        top_level_parents = [
+            parent
+            for parent in parents
+            if not parent.child_entries and _url_matches(parent.webpage_url)
+        ]
+        if len(top_level_parents) == 0:
+            return None
+
+        match len(top_level_parents):
+            case 0:
+                return None
+            case 1:
+                return top_level_parents[0]
+            case _:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "Detected multiple top-level parents. "
+                    "Please file an issue on GitHub with the URLs used to produce this error"
+                )
+
     @classmethod
     def from_entry_dicts(
-        cls, entry_dicts: List[Dict], working_directory: str
+        cls, url: str, entry_dicts: List[Dict], working_directory: str
     ) -> List["EntryParent"]:
         """
         Reads all entry dicts and builds a tree of EntryParents
@@ -187,15 +216,11 @@ class EntryParent(BaseEntry):
         if not parents:
             return []
 
-        # find disconnected root parent if one exists
-        first_parent = min(
-            parents, key=lambda x: os.stat(x.get_download_info_json_path()).st_ctime_ns
-        )
-        if len(first_parent.child_entries) == 0:
-            parents.remove(first_parent)
-            first_parent.child_entries = parents
-
-            parents = [first_parent]
+        # If a disconnected root parent exists, connect it here
+        if (root_parent := cls._get_disconnected_root_parent(url, parents)) is not None:
+            parents.remove(root_parent)
+            root_parent.child_entries = parents
+            parents = [root_parent]
 
         for parent in parents:
             parent._set_child_variables()