diff --git a/internal/mscs/msc2836/msc2836.go b/internal/mscs/msc2836/msc2836.go
index cf57658da..febc43c74 100644
--- a/internal/mscs/msc2836/msc2836.go
+++ b/internal/mscs/msc2836/msc2836.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
-	"sort"
 
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/clientapi/jsonerror"
 	"github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/internal/hooks"
@@ -187,7 +186,7 @@ func includeParent(ctx context.Context, rsAPI roomserver.RoomserverInternalAPI,
 // Apply history visibility checks to all these events and add the ones which pass into the response array,
 // honouring the recent_first flag and the limit.
 func includeChildren(ctx context.Context, rsAPI roomserver.RoomserverInternalAPI, db Database, parentID string, limit int, recentFirst bool, userID string) ([]*gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent, *util.JSONResponse) {
-	children, err := db.ChildrenForParent(ctx, parentID, "m.reference")
+	children, err := db.ChildrenForParent(ctx, parentID, "m.reference", recentFirst)
 	if err != nil {
 		util.GetLogger(ctx).WithError(err).Error("failed to get ChildrenForParent")
 		resErr := jsonerror.InternalServerError()
@@ -195,18 +194,11 @@ func includeChildren(ctx context.Context, rsAPI roomserver.RoomserverInternalAPI
 	}
 	var childEvents []*gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent
 	for _, child := range children {
-		childEvent := getEventIfVisible(ctx, rsAPI, child, userID)
+		childEvent := getEventIfVisible(ctx, rsAPI, child.EventID, userID)
 		if childEvent != nil {
 			childEvents = append(childEvents, childEvent)
 		}
 	}
-	// sort childEvents by origin_server_ts in ASC or DESC depending on recent_first
-	sort.SliceStable(childEvents, func(i, j int) bool {
-		if recentFirst {
-			return childEvents[i].OriginServerTS().Time().After(childEvents[j].OriginServerTS().Time())
-		}
-		return childEvents[i].OriginServerTS().Time().Before(childEvents[j].OriginServerTS().Time())
-	})
 	if len(childEvents) > limit {
 		return childEvents[:limit], nil
 	}
@@ -318,8 +310,8 @@ func newWalker(req *EventRelationshipRequest) walker {
 }
 
 type depthWalker struct {
-	req     *EventRelationshipRequest
-	db      Database
+	req *EventRelationshipRequest
+	//	db      Database
 	current string
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/mscs/msc2836/storage.go b/internal/mscs/msc2836/storage.go
index 4e975054a..3eabcabf3 100644
--- a/internal/mscs/msc2836/storage.go
+++ b/internal/mscs/msc2836/storage.go
@@ -10,21 +10,29 @@ import (
 	"github.com/matrix-org/gomatrixserverlib"
 )
 
+type eventInfo struct {
+	EventID        string
+	OriginServerTS gomatrixserverlib.Timestamp
+	RoomID         string
+}
+
 type Database interface {
 	// StoreRelation stores the parent->child and child->parent relationship for later querying.
 	// Also stores the event metadata e.g timestamp
 	StoreRelation(ctx context.Context, ev *gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEvent) error
-	// ChildrenForParent returns the event IDs of events who have the given `eventID` as an m.relationship with the
-	// provided `relType`.
-	ChildrenForParent(ctx context.Context, eventID, relType string) ([]string, error)
+	// ChildrenForParent returns the events who have the given `eventID` as an m.relationship with the
+	// provided `relType`. The returned slice is sorted by origin_server_ts according to whether
+	// `recentFirst` is true or false.
+	ChildrenForParent(ctx context.Context, eventID, relType string, recentFirst bool) ([]eventInfo, error)
 }
 
 type DB struct {
-	db                          *sql.DB
-	writer                      sqlutil.Writer
-	insertEdgeStmt              *sql.Stmt
-	insertNodeStmt              *sql.Stmt
-	selectChildrenForParentStmt *sql.Stmt
+	db                                     *sql.DB
+	writer                                 sqlutil.Writer
+	insertEdgeStmt                         *sql.Stmt
+	insertNodeStmt                         *sql.Stmt
+	selectChildrenForParentOldestFirstStmt *sql.Stmt
+	selectChildrenForParentRecentFirstStmt *sql.Stmt
 }
 
 // NewDatabase loads the database for msc2836
@@ -70,9 +78,16 @@ func newPostgresDatabase(dbOpts *config.DatabaseOptions) (Database, error) {
 	`); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if d.selectChildrenForParentStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(`
-		SELECT child_event_id FROM msc2836_edges WHERE parent_event_id = $1 AND rel_type = $2
-	`); err != nil {
+	selectChildrenQuery := `
+	SELECT child_event_id, origin_server_ts, room_id FROM msc2836_edges
+	LEFT JOIN msc2836_nodes ON msc2836_edges.child_event_id = msc2836_nodes.event_id
+	WHERE parent_event_id = $1 AND rel_type = $2
+	ORDER BY origin_server_ts
+	`
+	if d.selectChildrenForParentOldestFirstStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(selectChildrenQuery + "ASC"); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if d.selectChildrenForParentRecentFirstStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(selectChildrenQuery + "DESC"); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return &d, err
@@ -113,9 +128,16 @@ func newSQLiteDatabase(dbOpts *config.DatabaseOptions) (Database, error) {
 	`); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if d.selectChildrenForParentStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(`
-		SELECT child_event_id FROM msc2836_edges WHERE parent_event_id = $1 AND rel_type = $2
-	`); err != nil {
+	selectChildrenQuery := `
+	SELECT child_event_id, origin_server_ts, room_id FROM msc2836_edges
+	LEFT JOIN msc2836_nodes ON msc2836_edges.child_event_id = msc2836_nodes.event_id
+	WHERE parent_event_id = $1 AND rel_type = $2
+	ORDER BY origin_server_ts
+	`
+	if d.selectChildrenForParentOldestFirstStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(selectChildrenQuery + "ASC"); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if d.selectChildrenForParentRecentFirstStmt, err = d.db.Prepare(selectChildrenQuery + "DESC"); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return &d, nil
@@ -136,19 +158,25 @@ func (p *DB) StoreRelation(ctx context.Context, ev *gomatrixserverlib.HeaderedEv
 	})
 }
 
-func (p *DB) ChildrenForParent(ctx context.Context, eventID, relType string) ([]string, error) {
-	rows, err := p.selectChildrenForParentStmt.QueryContext(ctx, eventID, relType)
+func (p *DB) ChildrenForParent(ctx context.Context, eventID, relType string, recentFirst bool) ([]eventInfo, error) {
+	var rows *sql.Rows
+	var err error
+	if recentFirst {
+		rows, err = p.selectChildrenForParentRecentFirstStmt.QueryContext(ctx, eventID, relType)
+	} else {
+		rows, err = p.selectChildrenForParentOldestFirstStmt.QueryContext(ctx, eventID, relType)
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer rows.Close() // nolint: errcheck
-	var children []string
+	var children []eventInfo
 	for rows.Next() {
-		var childID string
-		if err := rows.Scan(&childID); err != nil {
+		var evInfo eventInfo
+		if err := rows.Scan(&evInfo.EventID, &evInfo.OriginServerTS, &evInfo.RoomID); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		children = append(children, childID)
+		children = append(children, evInfo)
 	}
 	return children, nil
 }