diff --git a/src/db/repositories.ts b/src/db/repositories.ts
index 075b52118..a3bc1a986 100644
--- a/src/db/repositories.ts
+++ b/src/db/repositories.ts
@@ -6613,6 +6613,36 @@ export async function listStaleActiveReviewTracking(
  *
  * Returns the terminalized (repo, PR) pairs so the caller can log one line per healed row.
  */
+/**
+ * Everything an orphan re-queue needs that the active_review_tracking row does not carry (#9870): the
+ * installation the repo is registered under, and the PR's own GitHub creation time.
+ *
+ * `prCreatedAt` is not optional politeness -- omitting it INVERTS the queue order. jobClaimSortKey falls back
+ * to LEGACY_AGENT_REGATE_SORT_BASE_MS + prNumber (~9.5e11), which sorts ahead of every real 2026 PR (~1.78e12),
+ * so a re-queued job would jump the entire contributor backlog. A restart-orphaned review deserves to be
+ * re-driven, not prioritised over work that has been waiting longer.
+ *
+ * Returns null when the repo is not registered -- the caller logs a skip rather than enqueueing a job that
+ * cannot act.
+ */
+export async function loadOrphanRequeueContext(
+  env: Env,
+  repoFullName: string,
+  pullNumber: number,
+): Promise<{ installationId: number; prCreatedAt: string | null } | null> {
+  const db = getDb(env.DB);
+  const bounded = boundedString(repoFullName, 200);
+  const repoRow = await db.select({ installationId: repositories.installationId }).from(repositories).where(eq(repositories.fullName, bounded)).limit(1);
+  const installationId = repoRow[0]?.installationId ?? null;
+  if (typeof installationId !== "number" || !Number.isFinite(installationId)) return null;
+  const prRow = await db
+    .select({ createdAt: pullRequests.createdAt })
+    .from(pullRequests)
+    .where(and(eq(pullRequests.repoFullName, bounded), eq(pullRequests.number, pullNumber)))
+    .limit(1);
+  return { installationId, prCreatedAt: prRow[0]?.createdAt ?? null };
+}
+
 export async function terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot(
   env: Env,
   bootIso: string,
diff --git a/src/server.ts b/src/server.ts
index 8a88d8b72..335606bc9 100644
--- a/src/server.ts
+++ b/src/server.ts
@@ -890,9 +890,63 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
   // #deploy-orphaned-reviews: heal rows this very restart orphaned, BEFORE any webhook can bounce off them.
   // Fail-safe: a failure here must never block boot -- the 10-minute reconciliation sweep remains the backstop.
   try {
-    const { terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot } = await import("./db/repositories");
+    const { terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot, loadOrphanRequeueContext } = await import("./db/repositories");
     const healed = await terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot(env, new Date().toISOString());
     for (const row of healed) {
+      // #9870: healing the ROW is only half of it. The interrupted pass had already published the
+      // "LoopOver is reviewing..." placeholder comment, and terminalizing its tracking row does not replace
+      // that comment -- it only stops the next pass bouncing off a stale lock. Nothing else re-drives the PR
+      // either: the head has not changed, so no webhook fires, and the published review cache is empty
+      // because the pass never finished. The PR therefore sits claiming a review is in progress FOREVER.
+      //
+      // Observed on JSONbored/metagraphed#8693: three container recreates in one afternoon (two of them
+      // routine config reloads) each killed a mid-flight review, and the PR showed "reviewing..." with zero
+      // published reviews and zero queued work until a human noticed.
+      //
+      // So re-drive it. `force` bypasses the AI-review cache and the reuse cooldown, which is correct here:
+      // the interrupted pass produced no usable result to reuse, and the one-shot cadence would otherwise
+      // reuse a stale published review (or nothing at all) rather than actually re-reviewing.
+      try {
+        const context = await loadOrphanRequeueContext(env, row.repoFullName, row.pullNumber);
+        if (context !== null) {
+          await backend.queue.binding.send({
+            type: "agent-regate-pr",
+            deliveryId: `boot-orphan-requeue:${row.repoFullName}#${row.pullNumber}`,
+            repoFullName: row.repoFullName,
+            prNumber: row.pullNumber,
+            installationId: context.installationId,
+            // #9499: carries the PR's real creation time so this takes its NATURAL place in the oldest-first
+            // drain. Omitting it would sort this job ahead of every real PR -- a restart-orphaned review
+            // deserves to be re-driven, not to jump the contributor backlog.
+            prCreatedAt: context.prCreatedAt,
+            force: true,
+          } as never);
+        } else {
+          // A tracking row whose repo is no longer registered cannot be re-driven; say so rather than
+          // silently skipping, since the placeholder on that PR will stay until someone acts.
+          console.warn(
+            JSON.stringify({
+              level: "warn",
+              event: "active_review_boot_orphan_requeue_skipped",
+              repo: row.repoFullName,
+              pr: row.pullNumber,
+              reason: "no installation id for repo",
+            }),
+          );
+        }
+      } catch (error) {
+        // Never let a re-queue failure abort the sweep: the remaining rows still need healing, and a healed
+        // row with no re-queue is strictly better than a wedged one.
+        console.error(
+          JSON.stringify({
+            level: "error",
+            event: "active_review_boot_orphan_requeue_failed",
+            repo: row.repoFullName,
+            pr: row.pullNumber,
+            message: String(error).slice(0, 200),
+          }),
+        );
+      }
       console.warn(
         JSON.stringify({
           level: "warn",
diff --git a/test/unit/db-persistence.test.ts b/test/unit/db-persistence.test.ts
index bc9c37051..cccee9718 100644
--- a/test/unit/db-persistence.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/db-persistence.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ import {
   persistRepoGithubTotalsSnapshot,
   persistSignalSnapshot,
   startActiveReviewTracking,
+  loadOrphanRequeueContext,
+  upsertPullRequestFromGitHub,
+  upsertRepositoryFromGitHub,
   terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot,
   terminalizeActiveReviewTracking,
   updateUpstreamDriftReportIssue,
@@ -602,6 +605,45 @@ describe("active-review tracking (#review-evasion-protection)", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("loadOrphanRequeueContext (#9870)", () => {
+  it("returns the installation id AND the PR's real creation time", async () => {
+    // The boot sweep heals the tracking row, but re-queueing the pass needs both — and the tracking row
+    // carries neither. Without this the placeholder comment stays published forever.
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    await upsertRepositoryFromGitHub(env, { full_name: "owner/repo", name: "repo", id: 1, private: false } as never, 4242);
+    await upsertPullRequestFromGitHub(env, "owner/repo", {
+      number: 7, title: "t", state: "open", user: { login: "c" }, head: { sha: "s7" }, labels: [], created_at: "2026-07-05T10:00:00.000Z",
+    } as never);
+    expect(await loadOrphanRequeueContext(env, "owner/repo", 7)).toEqual({ installationId: 4242, prCreatedAt: "2026-07-05T10:00:00.000Z" });
+  });
+
+  it("INVARIANT (#9499): prCreatedAt is carried so the re-queue does NOT jump the backlog", async () => {
+    // Omitting it inverts the order: jobClaimSortKey falls back to a ~9.5e11 base that sorts ahead of every
+    // real 2026 PR (~1.78e12). A restart-orphaned review should be re-driven, not prioritised over work
+    // that has waited longer. The repo-wide regate-sort-key check enforces the same rule at the call site.
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    await upsertRepositoryFromGitHub(env, { full_name: "owner/repo", name: "repo", id: 1, private: false } as never, 4242);
+    await upsertPullRequestFromGitHub(env, "owner/repo", {
+      number: 8, title: "t", state: "open", user: { login: "c" }, head: { sha: "s8" }, labels: [], created_at: "2026-07-06T09:00:00.000Z",
+    } as never);
+    const context = await loadOrphanRequeueContext(env, "owner/repo", 8);
+    expect(context?.prCreatedAt).toBe("2026-07-06T09:00:00.000Z");
+  });
+
+  it("INVARIANT: an unregistered repo yields null rather than a bogus id", async () => {
+    // A wrong id would enqueue a job that cannot act; null lets the caller log a skip an operator can see.
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    expect(await loadOrphanRequeueContext(env, "owner/never-registered", 1)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("a registered repo with no stored PR row still resolves, with a null creation time", async () => {
+    // Better to re-drive with an unknown position than not at all; the sort key falls back and the pass runs.
+    const env = createTestEnv();
+    await upsertRepositoryFromGitHub(env, { full_name: "owner/repo", name: "repo", id: 1, private: false } as never, 4242);
+    expect(await loadOrphanRequeueContext(env, "owner/repo", 999)).toEqual({ installationId: 4242, prCreatedAt: null });
+  });
+});
+
 describe("terminalizeActiveReviewsFromBeforeBoot (#deploy-orphaned-reviews)", () => {
   it("REGRESSION: terminalizes a row orphaned by a restart, so the head is not wedged for 15-25 minutes", async () => {
     // Observed live on the ORB (2026-07-29): a container recreation 3 seconds after a review pass started