diff --git a/plugins/factoids.pm b/plugins/factoids.pm
index 6e02e1e..ec29a85 100644
--- a/plugins/factoids.pm
+++ b/plugins/factoids.pm
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ sub get_fact_revisions ($self, $subject, $name, $said) {
 
     # TODO this query needs to be rewritten
     my $revisions = $dbh->selectall_arrayref(
-        "SELECT factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, compose_macro, protected 
+        "SELECT factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, compose_macro, protected, server, namespace 
 			FROM factoid
 			WHERE original_subject = ?
 			ORDER BY modified_time DESC
@@ -672,12 +672,34 @@ sub _db_get_protect ($self, $subj, $server, $namespace) {
     my $dbh  = $self->dbh;
     my $prot = (
         $dbh->selectrow_array("
-                        SELECT protected
-                        FROM factoid
-                        WHERE original_subject = ?
-                        ORDER BY factoid_id DESC LIMIT 1
+WITH RECURSIVE factoid_lookup_order_inner (depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, gen_server, gen_namespace) AS (
+  SELECT 0 AS depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, generated_server, generated_namespace
+    FROM factoid_config 
+    WHERE namespace = ? AND server = ?
+  UNION ALL
+  SELECT p.depth+1 AS depth, m.namespace, m.server, m.alias_namespace, m.alias_server, m.parent_namespace, m.parent_server, m.recursive, m.generated_server, m.generated_namespace 
+    FROM factoid_config m 
+    INNER JOIN factoid_lookup_order_inner p 
+      ON m.namespace = p.parent_namespace AND m.server = p.parent_server AND p.recursive
+),
+factoid_lookup_order (depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, gen_server, gen_namespace) AS (
+  SELECT * FROM factoid_lookup_order_inner
+  UNION ALL
+  SELECT 0, '', '', NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, false, '', '' WHERE NOT EXISTS (table factoid_lookup_order_inner)
+),
+get_latest_factoid (depth, factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, modified_time, compose_macro, protected, original_subject, deleted, server, namespace) AS (
+      SELECT DISTINCT ON(lo.depth) lo.depth, factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, modified_time, compose_macro, protected, original_subject, f.deleted, f.server, f.namespace
+      FROM factoid f
+      INNER JOIN factoid_lookup_order lo 
+        ON f.generated_server = lo.gen_server
+        AND f.generated_namespace = lo.gen_namespace
+      WHERE original_subject = ?
+      ORDER BY depth ASC, factoid_id DESC
+)
+SELECT protected FROM get_latest_factoid WHERE NOT deleted ORDER BY depth ASC, factoid_id DESC LIMIT 1;
                 ",
             undef,
+            $namespace, $server,
             $subj,
         )
     )[0];
@@ -685,18 +707,40 @@ sub _db_get_protect ($self, $subj, $server, $namespace) {
     return $prot;
 }
 
-sub _db_get_fact ($self, $subj, $func, $namespace, $server) {
+sub _db_get_fact ($self, $subj, $func, $server, $namespace) {
 
     # TODO write the recursive CTE for this
 
     my $dbh  = $self->dbh;
     my $fact = $dbh->selectrow_hashref("
-			SELECT factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, modified_time, compose_macro, protected, original_subject
-			FROM factoid 
-			WHERE original_subject = ?
-			ORDER BY factoid_id DESC
-		",
+WITH RECURSIVE factoid_lookup_order_inner (depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, gen_server, gen_namespace) AS (
+  SELECT 0 AS depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, generated_server, generated_namespace
+    FROM factoid_config 
+    WHERE namespace = ? AND server = ?
+  UNION ALL
+  SELECT p.depth+1 AS depth, m.namespace, m.server, m.alias_namespace, m.alias_server, m.parent_namespace, m.parent_server, m.recursive, m.generated_server, m.generated_namespace 
+    FROM factoid_config m 
+    INNER JOIN factoid_lookup_order_inner p 
+      ON m.namespace = p.parent_namespace AND m.server = p.parent_server AND p.recursive
+),
+factoid_lookup_order (depth, namespace, server, alias_namespace, alias_server, parent_namespace, parent_server, recursive, gen_server, gen_namespace) AS (
+  SELECT * FROM factoid_lookup_order_inner
+  UNION ALL
+  SELECT 0, '', '', NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, false, '', '' WHERE NOT EXISTS (table factoid_lookup_order_inner)
+),
+get_latest_factoid (depth, factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, modified_time, compose_macro, protected, original_subject, deleted, server, namespace) AS (
+      SELECT DISTINCT ON(lo.depth) lo.depth, factoid_id, subject, copula, predicate, author, modified_time, compose_macro, protected, original_subject, f.deleted, f.server, f.namespace
+      FROM factoid f
+      INNER JOIN factoid_lookup_order lo 
+        ON f.generated_server = lo.gen_server
+        AND f.generated_namespace = lo.gen_namespace
+      WHERE original_subject = ?
+      ORDER BY depth ASC, factoid_id DESC
+)
+SELECT * FROM get_latest_factoid WHERE NOT deleted ORDER BY depth ASC, factoid_id DESC LIMIT 1;
+      ",
         undef,
+        $namespace, $server,
         $subj,
     );