diff --git a/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx b/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
index 711ee3c..cadfb30 100644
--- a/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/thread/ThreadView.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { useAutoResize } from "../../hooks/useAutoResize";
 import { useUIStore } from "../../stores/ui";
 import { useUserStore } from "../../stores/user";
 import { useMuteStore } from "../../stores/mute";
-import { fetchNoteById, fetchThreadEvents, fetchAncestors, publishReply, getNDK, ensureConnected, batchFetchProfileAges } from "../../lib/nostr";
+import { fetchNoteById, fetchThreadEvents, fetchAncestors, publishReply, getNDK, ensureConnected } from "../../lib/nostr";
 import { buildThreadTree, getRootEventId } from "../../lib/threadTree";
 import type { ThreadNode } from "../../lib/threadTree";
 import { debug } from "../../lib/debug";
@@ -106,7 +106,6 @@ export function ThreadView() {
 
         const built = buildThreadTree(root.id, allEvents);
         setTree(built);
-        batchFetchProfileAges([...new Set(allEvents.map((e) => e.pubkey))]);
       } catch (err) {
         debug.error("Failed to load thread:", err);
         if (!cancelled) setLoadError(`Failed to load: ${err}`);
diff --git a/src/lib/nostr/notes.ts b/src/lib/nostr/notes.ts
index 1f7016d..09ccde5 100644
--- a/src/lib/nostr/notes.ts
+++ b/src/lib/nostr/notes.ts
@@ -146,16 +146,16 @@ export async function fetchThreadEvents(rootId: string): Promise<NDKEvent[]> {
   const directEvents = await fetchWithTimeout(instance, directFilter, THREAD_TIMEOUT);
 
   const allEvents = new Map<string, NDKEvent>();
-  for (const e of directEvents) allEvents.set(e.id, e);
+  // Hard-truncate: relays often ignore `limit` on #e filters, so we enforce it client-side
+  for (const e of [...directEvents].slice(0, THREAD_EVENT_LIMIT)) allEvents.set(e.id, e);
 
-  // Round-trip 2: replies to events in the thread — only if round 1 returned < limit
-  // Skip deep fetch on large threads to avoid OOM
-  if (allEvents.size < THREAD_EVENT_LIMIT) {
-    const knownIds = Array.from(allEvents.keys()).slice(0, 50); // cap #e filter size
+  // Round-trip 2: only attempt if round 1 was small (skip entirely on big threads)
+  if (allEvents.size < 50) {
+    const knownIds = Array.from(allEvents.keys());
     if (knownIds.length > 0) {
-      const deepFilter: NDKFilter = { kinds: [NDKKind.Text], "#e": knownIds, limit: THREAD_EVENT_LIMIT - allEvents.size };
+      const deepFilter: NDKFilter = { kinds: [NDKKind.Text], "#e": knownIds, limit: THREAD_EVENT_LIMIT };
       const deepEvents = await fetchWithTimeout(instance, deepFilter, THREAD_TIMEOUT);
-      for (const e of deepEvents) allEvents.set(e.id, e);
+      for (const e of [...deepEvents].slice(0, THREAD_EVENT_LIMIT - allEvents.size)) allEvents.set(e.id, e);
     }
   }