diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/cmd/mesh-delivery-indexer/main.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/cmd/mesh-delivery-indexer/main.go
index abff8b8..9de33a4 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/cmd/mesh-delivery-indexer/main.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/cmd/mesh-delivery-indexer/main.go
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ func handle(ctx context.Context, m delivered, ix *index.Indexer, heard index.Sto
 		h.Commit = f.Merge
 	}
 	applied, err := ix.ApplyMessage(ctx, f)
-	h.Written, h.Kept = applied.Written, applied.Kept
+	h.Written, h.Late = applied.Written, applied.Late
 	switch {
 	case errors.Is(err, index.ErrUnreadable):
 		logger.Printf("%s: %v; dropped", m.Subject(), err)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/candidates.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/candidates.go
index 62edc1c..7f3bbc6 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/candidates.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/candidates.go
@@ -122,18 +122,22 @@ func (ix *Indexer) ApplyMessage(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge) (Applied,
 	}
 	if f.Kind == delivery.ForgeMerged && ix.Modules != nil {
 		w, err := ix.applyMerged(ctx, f)
-		applied = Applied{Written: w.written, Kept: w.refused}
+		applied = Applied{Written: w.written, Late: w.late}
 		if err != nil {
 			return applied, err
 		}
 		ix.logf("%s", w.said(f.Number))
-		if err := ix.writeTaken(ctx, f); err != nil {
-			return applied, err
+		if w.late == "" { // a late message leaves the taken key, which names a later merge
+			if err := ix.writeTakenKnown(ctx, f, w.asked); err != nil {
+				return applied, err
+			}
 		}
 		ix.kickRetry(ctx) // a registered module the forge could not read is read again on a merge, in the background (issue 1945)
 	}
-	if err := ix.applyPlacement(ctx, f); err != nil {
-		return applied, err
+	if applied.Late == "" { // a late merged message would write an older placement back
+		if err := ix.applyPlacement(ctx, f); err != nil {
+			return applied, err
+		}
 	}
 	if err := ix.applyPlacementCandidates(ctx, f); err != nil {
 		return applied, err
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/heard.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/heard.go
index b601bee..0c66225 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/heard.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/heard.go
@@ -39,12 +39,15 @@ type Heard struct {
 	Outcome    string    `json:"outcome"`
 	Words      string    `json:"words,omitempty"`   // why it was left or dropped
 	Written    []string  `json:"written,omitempty"` // the modules a merged message wrote
-	Kept       []string  `json:"kept,omitempty"`    // the modules it did not move back (order.go)
+	Late       string    `json:"late,omitempty"`    // the taken merge a merged message is older than: nothing of it was written (order.go)
 }
 
-// Applied is what Apply did with a merged message's modules: the keys written, and those kept because the merge does not
-// contain their commit.
-type Applied struct{ Written, Kept []string }
+// Applied is what Apply did with a merged message's modules: the keys written, and, for a message older than the
+// repository's taken merge, that merge (nothing was written).
+type Applied struct {
+	Written []string
+	Late    string
+}
 
 // WriteHeard writes h as the newest value of heard.forge.
 func WriteHeard(ctx context.Context, st Store, h Heard) error {
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules.go
index 0b20d30..199f125 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules.go
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ import (
 // A value the module already holds but for its commit is not written again: its commit stays the one its fingerprint first
 // appeared at (writeOverlay), so a merge writes only the modules it changes.
 //
-// A merge never moves a module backwards (order.go): a held value whose commit the merge does not contain is neither
-// written nor deleted, and said.
+// A merge never moves a module backwards (order.go): a merged message older than the repository's taken merge writes and
+// deletes nothing, and is said; it is asked once, before anything is written.
 func (ix *Indexer) applyMerged(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge) (*mergeWrite, error) {
 	return ix.applyManifests(ctx, f, true)
 }
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ func (ix *Indexer) applyMerged(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge) (*mergeWri
 // drops none.
 func (ix *Indexer) applyManifests(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge, drop bool) (*mergeWrite, error) {
 	w := newMergeWrite(f)
+	if drop {
+		if err := ix.lateMerge(ctx, w); err != nil || w.late != "" {
+			return w, err
+		}
+	}
 	digests, err := ix.keepManifests(ctx, f)
 	if err != nil {
 		return w, err
@@ -76,14 +81,6 @@ func (ix *Indexer) applyManifests(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge, drop bo
 			ix.logf("%s at %s: %q and %q both name the module %s; %q, which the indexer holds, is written", f.Repository, f.Merge, other, dir, name, dir)
 		}
 		dirOf[name] = dir
-		// Asked before the merge's values are computed, so no module standing on one kept back is computed from it.
-		if has {
-			if ok, err := ix.forward(ctx, w, key, cur); err != nil {
-				return w, err
-			} else if !ok {
-				continue
-			}
-		}
 		next := delivery.Module{Repository: f.Repository, Commit: f.Merge, Src: ix.srcOf(f.Repository, f.Merge), Manifest: digests[dir], Path: pathOf(dir)}
 		if next.Manifest == "" {
 			next.None2 = "the manifest cannot be read: it cannot be kept as a value"
@@ -104,23 +101,9 @@ func (ix *Indexer) applyManifests(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge, drop bo
 	// A module of this repository the merge commit holds no module.json for is gone from the trunk, and so is its key
 	// (issue 1900). A message that carries no manifests (an older writer) or one that cannot be read whole says nothing.
 	if drop && len(f.Manifests) > 0 && every {
-		var orderErr error
-		stays := func(key string, m delivery.Module) bool {
-			if named[key] {
-				return true
-			}
-			ok, err := ix.forward(ctx, w, key, m)
-			if err != nil && orderErr == nil {
-				orderErr = err
-			}
-			return err != nil || !ok
-		}
-		if err := ix.dropRemoved(ctx, f.Repository, held, stays); err != nil {
+		if err := ix.dropRemoved(ctx, f.Repository, held, func(key string, _ delivery.Module) bool { return named[key] }); err != nil {
 			return w, err
 		}
-		if orderErr != nil {
-			return w, orderErr
-		}
 	}
 	// What this merge moved reaches the modules standing on it (a base's tree, build-agent's fingerprint), in the graph's order.
 	return w, ix.recomputeWith(ctx, overlay, w)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules_test.go
index 6b06cf9..6027366 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/modules_test.go
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@ func TestAnUnchangedModuleWritesNothing(t *testing.T) { // 1239 (unchanged value
 		// err says then fails (the message is left for redelivery); said is a line the indexer's log (or that error) must hold.
 		err  bool
 		said string
+		// contains, when set, is the forge's order, and asks how often then asks it (one question per merged message).
+		contains func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error)
+		asks     int
 	}{
 		{name: "the same merge again", writes: 0, commit: map[string]string{"a": merge, "b": merge, "c": merge}, taken: merge,
 			then: func(ix *Indexer) error { return ix.Apply(context.Background(), mergedMsg(repo, three)) }},
@@ -179,7 +182,7 @@ func TestAnUnchangedModuleWritesNothing(t *testing.T) { // 1239 (unchanged value
 		// Issue 1126 note 76: mesh-catalog's merge 9cdac09a was written back over the later 69056948, rolling kernel and
 		// mesh-build-image back on the nodes. A merge never moves a module backwards: the held commit must be in the incoming one.
 		{name: "an earlier merge heard again after a later one moves no module back", writes: 1, commit: map[string]string{"a": next, "b": merge, "c": merge}, taken: next,
-			said: "modules.a stays at cccccccccccc",
+			said: "the merged message is older than taken.novox/mesh-delivery at cccccccccccc",
 			then: func(ix *Indexer) error {
 				ix.Contains = func(_ context.Context, _, commit, in string) (bool, error) {
 					return commit == in || commit == merge && in == next, nil
@@ -192,7 +195,7 @@ func TestAnUnchangedModuleWritesNothing(t *testing.T) { // 1239 (unchanged value
 				return ix.Apply(context.Background(), mergedMsg(repo, three))
 			}},
 		{name: "an earlier merge that lacks a later merge's module deletes nothing", writes: 1, commit: map[string]string{"a": merge, "d": next}, taken: next,
-			said: "modules.d stays at cccccccccccc",
+			said: "the merged message is older than taken.novox/mesh-delivery at cccccccccccc",
 			then: func(ix *Indexer) error {
 				ix.Contains = func(_ context.Context, _, commit, in string) (bool, error) {
 					return commit == in || commit == merge && in == next, nil
@@ -214,6 +217,25 @@ func TestAnUnchangedModuleWritesNothing(t *testing.T) { // 1239 (unchanged value
 				later.Merge = next
 				return ix.Apply(context.Background(), later)
 			}},
+		// Review of 77d738d: only a merge older than the one taken in is kept back. A diverged or rewritten history, or a
+		// taken merge the forge no longer has, is not older, and one question per message is asked.
+		{name: "a merge of a diverged history is written, asking the forge once", writes: 1, commit: map[string]string{"a": next, "b": merge, "c": merge}, taken: next,
+			contains: func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) { return false, nil }, asks: 1,
+			then: func(ix *Indexer) error {
+				later := mergedMsg(repo, map[string]string{"modules/a": "treeA2", "modules/b": "treeB", "modules/c": "treeC"})
+				later.Merge = next
+				return ix.Apply(context.Background(), later)
+			}},
+		{name: "a taken merge the forge no longer has stops no later merge", writes: 1, commit: map[string]string{"a": next, "b": merge, "c": merge}, taken: next,
+			said: "is not known to be older",
+			then: func(ix *Indexer) error {
+				ix.Contains = func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) {
+					return false, errors.New("gitea_contains: the forge answered: 404 Not Found")
+				}
+				later := mergedMsg(repo, map[string]string{"modules/a": "treeA2", "modules/b": "treeB", "modules/c": "treeC"})
+				later.Merge = next
+				return ix.Apply(context.Background(), later)
+			}},
 		{name: "a later source revision of another repository's merge", writes: 0, commit: map[string]string{"a": merge, "b": merge, "c": merge}, taken: merge,
 			then: func(ix *Indexer) error {
 				return ix.ApplySource(context.Background(), 9, delivery.Source{Group: "g", Heads: map[string]string{repo: merge, "novox/mesh-catalog": otherMerge}})
@@ -231,9 +253,19 @@ func TestAnUnchangedModuleWritesNothing(t *testing.T) { // 1239 (unchanged value
 				t.Fatal(err)
 			}
 			writes := mods.writes
+			asks := 0
+			if tc.contains != nil {
+				ix.Contains = func(ctx context.Context, repo, commit, in string) (bool, error) {
+					asks++
+					return tc.contains(ctx, repo, commit, in)
+				}
+			}
 			var said strings.Builder
 			ix.Logf = func(format string, args ...any) { fmt.Fprintf(&said, format+"\n", args...) }
 			err := tc.then(ix)
+			if tc.contains != nil && asks != tc.asks {
+				t.Errorf("the forge was asked %d times, want %d", asks, tc.asks)
+			}
 			if (err != nil) != tc.err {
 				t.Fatalf("then = %v, want an error %v", err, tc.err)
 			}
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/order.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/order.go
index 0c3ab70..d9044dd 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/order.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/order.go
@@ -2,57 +2,99 @@ package index
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"slices"
+	"strings"
 
 	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/delivery"
+	"git.novox.be/novox/mesh-sdk/go/process"
 )
 
 // A merge never moves a module backwards (issue 1126, note 76). The indexer wrote mesh-catalog's merge 9cdac09a back over
 // the later 69056948 for kernel and mesh-build-image: applyManifests and writeOverlay wrote whatever commit a merged
-// message carried, so a late or repeated message (or a take-in at an older head) rolled the modules, and the nodes that
-// want them, back. Before a value of a merge is written over a held one of the same repository, or a held one is deleted
-// because the merge lacks it, the forge says whether the merge commit contains the held commit (Contains). When it does
-// not, the held value stands and the log says so with the module, both commits and why. When the forge cannot say, nothing
-// of the merge is written and the merge is an error: a merged message is then delivered again by the server, and a take-in
-// answers the error. Without a forge to ask (Contains nil) the order is not checked.
+// message carried, so a late or repeated message rolled the modules, and the nodes that want them, back.
+//
+// The question is whether the incoming commit is OLDER: the forge says the incoming commit is in the later one and the
+// two differ (Contains(incoming, in: later)). Only then is it kept back. A diverged or rewritten history answers no, and
+// is written forward; a commit the forge no longer has (a 404) is not known to be older, is written, and said. A forge
+// that cannot say for another reason (a timeout) writes nothing and is an error: the server delivers the message again.
+//
+//   - A merged message asks once, before it writes anything: is its merge older than the repository's taken merge (the
+//     last merge applied whole, taken.go)? Then the whole message is late: no module is written or deleted, no placement
+//     is written, the taken key stays, and the log says so.
+//   - A take-in of a held module asks once for that module: is the source's head older than the module's record
+//     (takeInHeld)?
 
-// mergeWrite is one merge's write of the modules: its repository and commit, the order the forge said for each held commit,
-// and the modules written and refused, for the line the indexer says per applied merged message.
+// mergeWrite is one merge's write of the modules: its repository and commit, whether it is late (older than the taken
+// merge), the taken merge it was compared with and the answer, and the module keys written, for the line the indexer says
+// per applied merged message.
 type mergeWrite struct {
 	repository, merge string
-	order             map[string]bool // held commit: whether merge contains it
-	written, refused  []string        // module keys
+	late              string // the taken merge this one is older than, or ""
+	asked             string // the taken merge the order was asked against, or "" when none was asked
+	written           []string
 }
 
 func newMergeWrite(f delivery.Forge) *mergeWrite {
-	return &mergeWrite{repository: f.Repository, merge: f.Merge, order: map[string]bool{}}
+	return &mergeWrite{repository: f.Repository, merge: f.Merge}
 }
 
-// forward says whether the merge may replace the held value cur of key: cur is of another repository (applyManifests
-// leaves those), has no commit, is at the merge, or the merge contains it. A refusal is said once per key.
-func (ix *Indexer) forward(ctx context.Context, w *mergeWrite, key string, cur delivery.Module) (bool, error) {
-	if w == nil || ix.Contains == nil || w.merge == "" || cur.Commit == "" || cur.Commit == w.merge ||
-		!delivery.SameRepository(cur.Repository, w.repository) {
-		return true, nil
+// notFound says the forge answered that a commit it was asked about does not exist (gitea's 404, as readVia reads it).
+func notFound(err error) bool { return err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "404") }
+
+// older says commit is older than later: the forge says commit is in later and the two differ. A commit the forge does not
+// have is not known to be older (false, said); a forge that cannot say otherwise is an error. Without a forge to ask
+// (Contains nil) nothing is older.
+func (ix *Indexer) older(ctx context.Context, repository, commit, later string) (bool, error) {
+	if ix.Contains == nil || commit == "" || later == "" || commit == later {
+		return false, nil
 	}
-	in, asked := w.order[cur.Commit]
-	if !asked {
-		var err error
-		if in, err = ix.Contains(ctx, w.repository, cur.Commit, w.merge); err != nil {
-			return false, fmt.Errorf("modules.%s: whether its commit %.12s is in %s at %.12s cannot be read, so nothing of that merge is written (a merge never moves a module backwards, issue 1126): %w",
-				key, cur.Commit, w.repository, w.merge, err)
-		}
-		w.order[cur.Commit] = in
+	in, err := ix.Contains(ctx, repository, commit, later)
+	if notFound(err) {
+		ix.logf("%s: the forge does not have %.12s or %.12s (a rewritten history?), so %.12s is not known to be older and is written: %v", repository, commit, later, commit, err)
+		return false, nil
 	}
-	if !in && !slices.Contains(w.refused, key) {
-		w.refused = append(w.refused, key)
-		ix.logf("modules.%s stays at %.12s: %s at %.12s does not contain it, so its value is neither written nor deleted (a late or repeated merged message, or a take-in at an older head; a merge never moves a module backwards, issue 1126)",
-			key, cur.Commit, w.repository, w.merge)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("%s: whether %.12s is older than %.12s cannot be read, so nothing of it is written (a merge never moves a module backwards, issue 1126): %w", repository, commit, later, err)
 	}
 	return in, nil
 }
 
+// lateMerge asks, before a merged message writes anything, whether its merge is older than the repository's taken merge
+// (one forge call). A taken state not on the bus yet, or no taken key, asks nothing.
+func (ix *Indexer) lateMerge(ctx context.Context, w *mergeWrite) error {
+	if ix.Taken == nil || w.merge == "" {
+		return nil
+	}
+	key, err := delivery.RepositoryKey(w.repository)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil // writeTaken says it
+	}
+	value, _, found, err := ix.Taken.Get(ctx, key)
+	if errors.Is(err, process.ErrNotYet) || !found {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("taken.%s: %w", key, err)
+	}
+	cur, err := delivery.DecodeTaken(value)
+	if err != nil || cur.Merge == "" || cur.Merge == w.merge {
+		return nil
+	}
+	old, err := ix.older(ctx, w.repository, w.merge, cur.Merge)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	w.asked = cur.Merge
+	if old {
+		w.late = cur.Merge
+		ix.logf("%s at %.12s: the merged message is older than taken.%s at %.12s, so no module is written or deleted and no placement written (a late or repeated message; a merge never moves a module backwards, issue 1126)",
+			w.repository, w.merge, key, cur.Merge)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // wrote records a module key the merge wrote.
 func (w *mergeWrite) wrote(key string) {
 	if w != nil && !slices.Contains(w.written, key) {
@@ -60,16 +102,14 @@ func (w *mergeWrite) wrote(key string) {
 	}
 }
 
-// said is the line of an applied merged message: its repository, commit and pull request, the modules written and refused.
+// said is the line of an applied merged message: its repository, commit and pull request, and the modules written.
 func (w *mergeWrite) said(number int) string {
+	if w.late != "" {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s at %.12s (#%d): merged message applied as late: older than the taken %.12s, nothing written", w.repository, w.merge, number, w.late)
+	}
 	written := "none"
 	if len(w.written) > 0 {
-		written = fmt.Sprint(slices.Sorted(slices.Values(w.written)))
-		written = written[1 : len(written)-1]
+		written = strings.Join(slices.Sorted(slices.Values(w.written)), ", ")
 	}
-	line := fmt.Sprintf("%s at %.12s (#%d): merged message applied; modules written: %s", w.repository, w.merge, number, written)
-	if len(w.refused) > 0 {
-		line += fmt.Sprintf("; kept as later than this merge: %v", slices.Sorted(slices.Values(w.refused)))
-	}
-	return line
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s at %.12s (#%d): merged message applied; modules written: %s", w.repository, w.merge, number, written)
 }
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered.go
index 6edcc24..5666beb 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered.go
@@ -129,15 +129,9 @@ func (ix *Indexer) indexAt(ctx context.Context, r Registration, force, reread bo
 	if l := read.Locks[dir]; len(l) > 0 {
 		f.Locks = map[string]map[string]string{dir: l}
 	}
-	w, err := ix.applyManifests(ctx, f, false)
-	if err != nil {
+	if _, err := ix.applyManifests(ctx, f, false); err != nil {
 		return t, err
 	}
-	if slices.Contains(w.refused, key) {
-		// Its record stands at a commit the read one does not contain (a merge heard after the source named this head).
-		t.why = fmt.Sprintf("its record stands at a later commit than %s at %.12s, so it is not written back (a merge never moves a module backwards)", repository, commit)
-		return t, nil
-	}
 	if _, _, found, err := ix.Modules.Get(ctx, key); err != nil {
 		return t, fmt.Errorf("modules.%s: %w", key, err)
 	} else if !found {
@@ -319,20 +313,21 @@ func (ix *Indexer) takeInHeld(ctx context.Context, module string) (TakenIn, bool
 	if head == "" || head == cur.Commit {
 		return out, false
 	}
-	// Only forward: a record at a merge the source does not name yet (a merge applied before the source moved) is never
-	// written back to the source's older head. Where the order cannot be known, nothing is read.
-	behind, why := false, "the forge cannot be asked"
+	// Never backwards (order.go): a source head older than the record (a merge applied before the source moved) is never
+	// read and written back over it. A diverged or rewritten history, or a record whose commit the forge no longer has, is
+	// not older and is read; where the forge cannot say otherwise, nothing is read. One forge call.
+	old, why := true, "the forge cannot be asked"
 	if ix.Contains != nil {
 		var err error
-		if behind, err = ix.Contains(ctx, cur.Repository, cur.Commit, head); err != nil {
-			why = err.Error()
-		} else if !behind {
-			why = fmt.Sprintf("its record at %.12s is not in %.12s", cur.Commit, head)
+		if old, err = ix.older(ctx, cur.Repository, head, cur.Commit); err != nil {
+			old, why = true, err.Error()
+		} else if old {
+			why = fmt.Sprintf("%.12s is older than its record at %.12s", head, cur.Commit)
 		}
 	}
-	if !behind {
+	if old {
 		out.Held, out.Repository, out.Commit, out.Path = true, cur.Repository, cur.Commit, cur.Path
-		out.Answer = fmt.Sprintf("held; the source names another head, %.12s, and not one its record is behind (%s), so it is not read again", head, why)
+		out.Answer = fmt.Sprintf("held; the source names another head, %.12s, and not one newer than its record (%s), so it is not read again", head, why)
 		return out, true
 	}
 	t, err := ix.indexAt(ctx, Registration{Module: module, Repository: cur.Repository, Path: cur.Path, Commit: head}, true, true)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered_test.go
index 879c7e5..78101a4 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/registered_test.go
@@ -123,7 +123,13 @@ func TestARegisteredModuleIsIndexedFromItsRepository(t *testing.T) { // the gran
 	}{
 		{name: "a held module behind the source's head is read again", moved: true,
 			contains: func(_ context.Context, _, commit, in string) (bool, error) { return commit == merge && in == h2, nil }},
-		{name: "a source head older than the record is not read", contains: func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) { return false, nil }},
+		{name: "a source head older than the record is not read", contains: func(_ context.Context, _, commit, in string) (bool, error) { return commit == h2 && in == merge, nil }},
+		// Review of 77d738d: a diverged or rewritten history, or a record whose commit the forge no longer has, is not older.
+		{name: "a source head of a diverged history is read again", moved: true,
+			contains: func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) { return false, nil }},
+		{name: "a record whose commit the forge no longer has is read again", moved: true, contains: func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) {
+			return false, errors.New("gitea_contains: 404 Not Found")
+		}},
 		{name: "a forge that cannot say the order reads nothing", contains: func(context.Context, string, string, string) (bool, error) {
 			return false, errors.New("timeout")
 		}},
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/taken.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/taken.go
index a6d97e7..89c0293 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/taken.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/taken.go
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ import (
 
 // writeTaken writes the repository's taken key for the merge f carries, unless it names that merge or a later one.
 func (ix *Indexer) writeTaken(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge) error {
+	return ix.writeTakenKnown(ctx, f, "")
+}
+
+// writeTakenKnown is writeTaken where the merge is known not to be older than notOlder (lateMerge asked it, issue 1126): a
+// key naming that merge is written over without asking the forge again.
+func (ix *Indexer) writeTakenKnown(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge, notOlder string) error {
 	if ix.Taken == nil || f.Merge == "" {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -34,7 +40,7 @@ func (ix *Indexer) writeTaken(ctx context.Context, f delivery.Forge) error {
 				if cur.Merge == f.Merge {
 					return nil, false, nil
 				}
-				if ix.Contains != nil {
+				if ix.Contains != nil && cur.Merge != notOlder {
 					later, err := ix.Contains(ctx, f.Repository, f.Merge, cur.Merge)
 					if err != nil {
 						ix.logf("%s: whether %s is in %s cannot be read, so taken.%s stays at %s: %v", f.Repository, f.Merge, cur.Merge, key, cur.Merge, err)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/toolchains.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/toolchains.go
index 44dc6aa..21e022f 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/toolchains.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-indexer/internal/index/toolchains.go
@@ -332,8 +332,7 @@ func (ix *Indexer) recomputeModules(ctx context.Context, overlay map[string]deli
 // the held value stands, its commit unchanged, so a catalogue merge touching one module writes one key, not one per module of
 // the repository, and the controller's take-in hears only that one. The repository's trunk head is the gate's source.main.
 //
-// **A merge never moves a module backwards** (order.go): a held value whose commit the merge does not contain stands. It
-// is asked again here, at the write, for a value another writer (a take-in) moved since applyManifests asked.
+// A merged message older than the repository's taken merge never reaches here (order.go): it is asked before any write.
 func (ix *Indexer) writeOverlay(ctx context.Context, overlay, finals map[string]delivery.Module, w *mergeWrite) error {
 	for _, key := range slices.Sorted(maps.Keys(overlay)) {
 		next := overlay[key]
@@ -344,13 +343,8 @@ func (ix *Indexer) writeOverlay(ctx context.Context, overlay, finals map[string]
 		err := write(ctx, ix.Modules, key, func(value []byte, found bool) ([]byte, bool, error) {
 			wrote = false
 			if found {
-				if cur, err := delivery.DecodeModule(value); err == nil {
-					if sameButWhere(cur, next) {
-						return nil, false, nil
-					}
-					if ok, err := ix.forward(ctx, w, key, cur); err != nil || !ok {
-						return nil, false, err
-					}
+				if cur, err := delivery.DecodeModule(value); err == nil && sameButWhere(cur, next) {
+					return nil, false, nil
 				}
 			}
 			data, err := delivery.EncodeModule(next)
diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-view/cmd/mesh-delivery-view-tools/main.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-view/cmd/mesh-delivery-view-tools/main.go
index db5e618..9231f3e 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-view/cmd/mesh-delivery-view-tools/main.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-view/cmd/mesh-delivery-view-tools/main.go
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ func Tools(r view.Reader, u view.UsageReader) []stdio.Tool {
 			Description: "The forge stream's (FORGE, the forge bridge's) recent messages as the indexer heard them: for each merged, pull, " +
 				"closed or open message it handled, newest first (its last 64), the subject, the stream sequence, how often the server " +
 				"delivered it (a redelivery shows above 1), when it was published and handled, its kind, repository, pull request, " +
-				"branch and commit (the merge commit, or the head), and what the indexer did: applied (with the modules written, and " +
-				"those kept because the merge is older than their value), left for redelivery or dropped, with why. Read-only.",
+				"branch and commit (the merge commit, or the head), and what the indexer did: applied (with the modules written, or, " +
+				"for a late merged message, the later merge already taken in, when nothing was written), left for redelivery or dropped, with why. Read-only.",
 			Input: map[string]any{"type": "object", "properties": map[string]any{
 				"limit": map[string]any{"type": "integer", "description": "at most this many messages, newest first (default every one kept)"}}},
 			Run: func(args map[string]any) (any, error) {