diff --git a/src/escrow/escrow.service.ts b/src/escrow/escrow.service.ts
index 6d2dd289..c252993f 100644
--- a/src/escrow/escrow.service.ts
+++ b/src/escrow/escrow.service.ts
@@ -584,20 +584,14 @@ export class EscrowService {
     recipients: Array<[string, number]>,
     manager?: EntityManager,
   ): Promise<ContractInvocationResult> {
-    return this.invokeOnLockedEscrow(escrow, operation, () =>
-      this.soroban.invoke(
-        'release',
-        // `release(issue_id: u64, recipients)` — u64-typed on-chain (#301).
-        [u64(this.onChainKeyFor(escrow)), recipients],
-        this.contractOpts(escrow),
-      ),
     return this.invokeOnLockedEscrow(
       escrow,
       operation,
       () =>
         this.soroban.invoke(
           'release',
-          [this.onChainKeyFor(escrow), recipients],
+          // `release(issue_id: u64, recipients)` — u64-typed on-chain (#301).
+          [u64(this.onChainKeyFor(escrow)), recipients],
           this.contractOpts(escrow),
         ),
       manager,
diff --git a/src/github/github-webhooks.service.spec.ts b/src/github/github-webhooks.service.spec.ts
index 45bb6fe8..a35ac3be 100644
--- a/src/github/github-webhooks.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/github/github-webhooks.service.spec.ts
@@ -869,6 +869,9 @@ describe('GithubWebhooksService', () => {
 
       expect(bountiesService.markInReview).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
       expect(bountiesService.markMergedAndRelease).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+  });
+
   // #308: a redelivered X-GitHub-Delivery used to hit the unique constraint
   // on webhook_events.deliveryId and escape handleEvent as a 500, so every
   // redelivery of that event failed forever.
diff --git a/src/reputation/reputation.service.spec.ts b/src/reputation/reputation.service.spec.ts
index 55570dde..ab407b06 100644
--- a/src/reputation/reputation.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/reputation/reputation.service.spec.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ describe('ReputationService', () => {
     save: jest.fn((entity) => Promise.resolve({ id: 'snap-1', ...entity })),
     findOne: jest.fn(),
     find: jest.fn(),
+    findAndCount: jest.fn(),
   };
 
   beforeEach(async () => {
@@ -94,14 +95,14 @@ describe('ReputationService', () => {
   });
 
   it('paginates history with a default/max limit', async () => {
-    mockSnapshotRepo.find.mockResolvedValue([]);
+    mockSnapshotRepo.findAndCount.mockResolvedValue([[], 0]);
     await service.history('user-1');
-    expect(mockSnapshotRepo.find).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(mockSnapshotRepo.findAndCount).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ take: 50, skip: 0 }),
     );
 
     await service.history('user-1', { limit: 1000, offset: 10 });
-    expect(mockSnapshotRepo.find).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+    expect(mockSnapshotRepo.findAndCount).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.objectContaining({ take: 100, skip: 10 }),
     );
   });
diff --git a/src/reputation/reputation.service.ts b/src/reputation/reputation.service.ts
index 0533cd2f..e06675a7 100644
--- a/src/reputation/reputation.service.ts
+++ b/src/reputation/reputation.service.ts
@@ -57,17 +57,21 @@ export class ReputationService {
   async history(
     userId: string,
     options: ReputationHistoryOptions = {},
-  ): Promise<ReputationSnapshot[]> {
+  ): Promise<{ items: ReputationSnapshot[]; total: number }> {
     const limit = Math.min(
       Math.max(options.limit ?? REPUTATION_HISTORY_DEFAULT_LIMIT, 1),
       REPUTATION_HISTORY_MAX_LIMIT,
     );
     const offset = Math.max(options.offset ?? 0, 0);
-    return this.snapshotRepo.find({
+    // DESC — newest first. ASC returned the OLDEST `limit` snapshots, so the
+    // newest only appeared on the last page and a client needed the total to
+    // reach them (#585). findAndCount also returns the real total.
+    const [items, total] = await this.snapshotRepo.findAndCount({
       where: { userId },
-      order: { computedAt: 'ASC' },
+      order: { computedAt: 'DESC' },
       take: limit,
       skip: offset,
     });
+    return { items, total };
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/sponsors/sponsors.controller.ts b/src/sponsors/sponsors.controller.ts
index b7a48cca..c097bf1e 100644
--- a/src/sponsors/sponsors.controller.ts
+++ b/src/sponsors/sponsors.controller.ts
@@ -26,25 +26,6 @@ function validatePage(limit?: number, offset?: number) {
     throw new BadRequestException('offset must be >= 0');
   }
   return { limit, offset };
-/**
- * Parse optional limit/offset query params, rejecting NaN, negatives,
- * non-integers, and limits above MAX_PAGE_LIMIT with a 400 (#280).
- */
-function parsePagination(limit?: string, offset?: string) {
-  const parse = (name: string, raw: string | undefined, min: number, max: number) => {
-    if (raw === undefined || raw === '') return undefined;
-    const n = Number(raw);
-    if (!Number.isInteger(n) || n < min || n > max) {
-      throw new BadRequestException(
-        `${name} must be an integer between ${min} and ${max}`,
-      );
-    }
-    return n;
-  };
-  return {
-    limit: parse('limit', limit, 1, MAX_PAGE_LIMIT),
-    offset: parse('offset', offset, 0, Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER),
-  };
 }
 
 @ApiTags('sponsors')
@@ -73,7 +54,6 @@ export class SponsorsController {
   ) {
     this.assertOwnsSponsor(user, id);
     return this.sponsorsService.dashboard(id, validatePage(limit, offset));
-    return this.sponsorsService.dashboard(id, parsePagination(limit, offset));
   }
 
   @ApiBearerAuth()
@@ -91,6 +71,5 @@ export class SponsorsController {
       id,
       validatePage(limit, offset),
     );
-    return this.sponsorsService.milestoneProgress(id, parsePagination(limit, offset));
   }
 }