diff --git a/cloud/apps/relay/src/database-connect-stall-postgres.test.ts b/cloud/apps/relay/src/database-connect-stall-postgres.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1bc14cf132a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cloud/apps/relay/src/database-connect-stall-postgres.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+import {
+  connect,
+  createServer as createTcpServer,
+  type AddressInfo,
+  type Server,
+  type Socket
+} from 'node:net'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
+import { isRelayDatabaseTransientError, openRelayDatabase, type RelayDatabase } from './database.js'
+
+const databaseUrl = process.env.ORCA_RELAY_TEST_POSTGRES_URL
+const describePostgres = databaseUrl ? describe : describe.skip
+
+// A Cloud SQL instance that is starting has an IP but never answers. The 2026-10-11 staging stall
+// came from the transport blocking connect() itself, which no test can reproduce; these pin what
+// the pool must do over a transport that does not block: fail fast and keep the event loop turning.
+type StallingDatabase = {
+  port: number
+  // 'forward' needs a real PostgreSQL behind it.
+  mode: 'blackhole' | 'refuse' | 'forward'
+  sockets: Set<Socket>
+  server: Server
+}
+
+const cleanups: Array<() => Promise<void>> = []
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  for (const cleanup of cleanups.splice(0).reverse()) await cleanup()
+  vi.restoreAllMocks()
+})
+
+describe('PostgreSQL pool over a database that accepts and never answers', () => {
+  it('fails every caller fast and retryably without stalling the event loop', async () => {
+    vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
+    const stalling = await stallingDatabase('blackhole')
+    const database = await openStallingPool(stalling, 'postgresql://relay:secret@127.0.0.1')
+    const loop = watchEventLoop()
+
+    // Twice the pool: three dial, three queue behind them in the general lane.
+    const outcomes = await Promise.all(
+      Array.from({ length: 6 }, async () => {
+        const startedAt = performance.now()
+        const error = await database.query('SELECT 1').catch((failure: unknown) => failure)
+        return { error, elapsedMs: performance.now() - startedAt }
+      })
+    )
+
+    const gapMs = loop.stop()
+    for (const { error, elapsedMs } of outcomes) {
+      expect(isRelayDatabaseTransientError(error)).toBe(true)
+      // A queued caller waits out one connect timeout for a slot, then one for its own dial.
+      expect(elapsedMs).toBeLessThan(4_500)
+    }
+    expect(stalling.sockets.size).toBeGreaterThan(0)
+    expect(gapMs).toBeLessThan(250)
+  }, 15_000)
+})
+
+describePostgres('PostgreSQL pool through a database stop and start', () => {
+  it('fails fast while the database is down or starting, then serves again', async () => {
+    vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {})
+    const stalling = await stallingDatabase('forward')
+    const database = await openStallingPool(stalling, databaseUrl!)
+    const loop = watchEventLoop()
+    expect(await database.query('SELECT 1 AS up')).toEqual([{ up: 1 }])
+
+    // Stopped: the instance refuses connections, and every pooled client is gone with it.
+    stalling.mode = 'refuse'
+    dropConnections(stalling)
+    await expectFastTransientFailure(database, 1_000)
+
+    // Starting: the address answers TCP but PostgreSQL never speaks.
+    stalling.mode = 'blackhole'
+    await expectFastTransientFailure(database, 2_500)
+
+    stalling.mode = 'forward'
+    dropConnections(stalling)
+    // The first caller after the start may still draw a client from the starting phase.
+    await expect.poll(async () => await database.query('SELECT 1 AS up').catch(() => []), {
+      timeout: 10_000,
+      interval: 100
+    }).toEqual([{ up: 1 }])
+    expect(await database.query('SELECT 2 AS up')).toEqual([{ up: 2 }])
+    expect(loop.stop()).toBeLessThan(250)
+  }, 30_000)
+})
+
+async function expectFastTransientFailure(database: RelayDatabase, boundMs: number): Promise<void> {
+  const startedAt = performance.now()
+  const error = await database.query('SELECT 1').catch((failure: unknown) => failure)
+  expect(isRelayDatabaseTransientError(error)).toBe(true)
+  expect(performance.now() - startedAt).toBeLessThan(boundMs)
+}
+
+async function openStallingPool(stalling: StallingDatabase, url: string): Promise<RelayDatabase> {
+  const viaStall = new URL(url)
+  viaStall.hostname = '127.0.0.1'
+  viaStall.port = String(stalling.port)
+  if (!viaStall.pathname || viaStall.pathname === '/') viaStall.pathname = '/relay'
+  const database = await openRelayDatabase({
+    databaseUrl: viaStall.toString(),
+    dataDir: '',
+    poolMax: 3,
+    appliesPostgresSchema: false
+  })
+  cleanups.push(async () => await database.close().catch(() => undefined))
+  return database
+}
+
+async function stallingDatabase(mode: StallingDatabase['mode']): Promise<StallingDatabase> {
+  const target = databaseUrl ? new URL(databaseUrl) : undefined
+  const sockets = new Set<Socket>()
+  const stalling: StallingDatabase = { port: 0, mode, sockets, server: createTcpServer() }
+  stalling.server.on('connection', (socket) => {
+    if (stalling.mode === 'refuse') {
+      socket.destroy()
+      return
+    }
+    sockets.add(socket)
+    socket.on('close', () => sockets.delete(socket))
+    socket.on('error', () => undefined)
+    if (stalling.mode === 'blackhole' || !target) return
+    const upstream = connect(Number(target.port || 5432), target.hostname)
+    socket.pipe(upstream).pipe(socket)
+    upstream.on('error', () => socket.destroy())
+    socket.on('close', () => upstream.destroy())
+  })
+  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => stalling.server.listen(0, '127.0.0.1', resolve))
+  // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/consistent-type-assertions -- SAFETY: a TCP server listening on a host and port reports an AddressInfo, never a pipe path.
+  stalling.port = (stalling.server.address() as AddressInfo).port
+  cleanups.push(async () => {
+    dropConnections(stalling)
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve) => stalling.server.close(() => resolve()))
+  })
+  return stalling
+}
+
+function dropConnections(stalling: StallingDatabase): void {
+  for (const socket of stalling.sockets) socket.destroy()
+  stalling.sockets.clear()
+}
+
+// The longest gap between 10 ms ticks: a blocked loop shows as one long gap.
+function watchEventLoop(): { stop: () => number } {
+  let last = performance.now()
+  let longestGapMs = 0
+  const timer = setInterval(() => {
+    const now = performance.now()
+    longestGapMs = Math.max(longestGapMs, now - last)
+    last = now
+  }, 10)
+  return {
+    stop: () => {
+      clearInterval(timer)
+      return longestGapMs
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.test.ts b/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.test.ts
index a993225acfe..2517282b947 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.test.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,25 @@ describe('relay observability', () => {
     expect(RELAY_FIX_LEVEL).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(1)
   })
 
+  // Why: a director whose loop froze for 134 s still reported a 68 ms p99 (staging 2026-10-11).
+  it('reports one long event-loop freeze as the window max', async () => {
+    const entries: Array<Record<string, unknown>> = []
+    const observability = new RelayObservability(
+      { role: 'director', cellId: 'director', region: 'us-central1' },
+      (entry) => entries.push(entry)
+    )
+    observability.start(() => counts, 3_600_000)
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100))
+    const frozenUntil = performance.now() + 300
+    while (performance.now() < frozenUntil) {
+      // Holds the loop the way a blocking connect() does.
+    }
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100))
+    observability.flush(counts)
+    observability.stop()
+    expect(entries[0]!.eventLoopDelayMsMax).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(250)
+  })
+
   it('emits safe readiness dependency outcomes', () => {
     const entries: Array<Record<string, unknown>> = []
     const observability = new RelayObservability(
diff --git a/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.ts b/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.ts
index b24b0608ea6..17dd1ab3a44 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/relay/src/relay-observability.ts
@@ -485,6 +485,8 @@ export class RelayObservability implements RelayRuntimeObserver {
     const controlRenewalFlush = latencySummary(deltas.controlRenewalFlushLatenciesMs)
     const memory = process.memoryUsage()
     const p99 = this.eventLoop.count === 0 ? 0 : this.eventLoop.percentile(99) / 1_000_000
+    // One sample covers a whole freeze, so p99 cannot see a single long one; max can.
+    const max = this.eventLoop.count === 0 ? 0 : this.eventLoop.max / 1_000_000
     this.eventLoop.reset()
     this.write({
       severity: 'INFO',
@@ -595,7 +597,8 @@ export class RelayObservability implements RelayRuntimeObserver {
       httpLatencyMsMax: roundMs(deltas.httpLatencyMsMax),
       heapUsedBytes: memory.heapUsed,
       heapTotalBytes: memory.heapTotal,
-      eventLoopDelayMsP99: Number(p99.toFixed(3))
+      eventLoopDelayMsP99: Number(p99.toFixed(3)),
+      eventLoopDelayMsMax: Number(max.toFixed(3))
     })
   }
 }
diff --git a/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.test.ts b/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.test.ts
index e57428a6b03..09cc2a352dd 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.test.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.test.ts
@@ -427,6 +427,27 @@ describe('startShadowSeatPoller', () => {
     expect(listCells.mock.calls.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(5)
   })
 
+  it('keeps polling the last cell list while a cell-list read hangs', async () => {
+    let finishRead: (cells: SeatFeedCell[]) => void = () => undefined
+    const listCells = vi
+      .fn<() => Promise<SeatFeedCell[]>>()
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce(CELLS)
+      .mockImplementation(() => new Promise((resolve) => (finishRead = resolve)))
+    const cell = poller({ 'cell-a': () => json(feed({ seq: 1, full: [] })) }, ['cell-a'], listCells)
+    await cell.tick()
+    cell.advance(31_000)
+    const round = cell.tick()
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 0))
+    expect(listCells).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+    expect(cell.requests.map((url) => url.hostname)).toEqual([
+      'cell-a.example.test',
+      'cell-a.example.test'
+    ])
+    finishRead(CELLS)
+    await round
+    cell.stop()
+  })
+
   it('treats a malformed or mislabelled body as unverifiable', async () => {
     const cell = poller({
       'cell-a': () => json({ v: 2 }),
diff --git a/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.ts b/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.ts
index 6a491123e71..1e2064e650c 100644
--- a/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.ts
+++ b/cloud/apps/relay/src/shadow-seat-directory.ts
@@ -741,10 +741,13 @@ export function startShadowSeatPoller(
 
   const round = async (awaitPolls: boolean): Promise<void> => {
     if (stopped) return
-    await refreshCells()
+    const refresh = refreshCells()
+    // Only the first list is waited for: later rounds poll the last list, so the round that starts
+    // a refresh no longer skips its polls (one round, ~1 s, per refresh) while the read is slow.
+    if (cellsReadAt === undefined) await refresh
     // A slow cell holds only its own slot; the timer never waits on it.
     const polls = cells.map((cell) => poll(cell))
-    if (awaitPolls) await Promise.all(polls)
+    if (awaitPolls) await Promise.all([refresh, ...polls])
     if (now() - lastSummaryAt >= SUMMARY_INTERVAL_MS) {
       lastSummaryAt = now()
       log(JSON.stringify({ event: 'orca_relay_shadow_seat_summary', ...directory.summary(now()) }))