diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/api/orders.ts b/frontend/src/features/orders/api/orders.ts
index 653b51b9..7a08dab0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/orders/api/orders.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/api/orders.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { userManager } from '@/core/auth'
 import { env } from '@/core/env'
 import { getJsonAuthed } from '@/shared/api/http'
 
+import { isSagaSettled, type OrderStatus } from '../saga'
+
 export interface OrderLineSummary {
   productId: string
   productName: string
@@ -14,13 +16,16 @@ export interface OrderLineSummary {
 export interface OrderSummary {
   orderId: string
   buyerId: string
-  status: string
+  status: OrderStatus
   totalAmount: number
   currency: string
   placedAt: string
   lines: OrderLineSummary[]
 }
 
+/** Poll cadence while the saga is in flight — it completes in seconds on the live stack. */
+export const SAGA_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 2000
+
 // Query-key factory per frontend/CLAUDE.md "Server state": [feature, entity, params].
 export const orderKeys = {
   byBuyer: (buyerId: string) => ['orders', 'byBuyer', buyerId] as const,
@@ -51,5 +56,14 @@ export function orderByIdQuery(orderId: string) {
       const { data } = await getJsonAuthed<OrderSummary>(env.orderApiUrl, `/api/v1/orders/${orderId}`, await token(), signal)
       return data
     },
+    // The saga narrator: poll while the order is still moving through the saga
+    // (Placed/Paid), stop the moment it settles (Shipped/Delivered/Cancelled/
+    // PaymentFailed). Polling lives HERE, in the query definition, so every consumer
+    // of this query gets the same lifecycle — no component-level timers.
+    refetchInterval: (query) => {
+      const status = query.state.data?.status
+      if (status == null || isSagaSettled(status)) return false
+      return SAGA_POLL_INTERVAL_MS
+    },
   })
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/components/OrderDetail.tsx b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/OrderDetail.tsx
index f43b0337..f4409330 100644
--- a/frontend/src/features/orders/components/OrderDetail.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/OrderDetail.tsx
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ import { formatPrice } from '@/shared/format'
 
 import { orderByIdQuery } from '../api/orders'
 
+import { SagaTimeline } from './SagaTimeline'
+
 /**
- * Single order view. Phase 3 turns the status line into the saga timeline + narrator
- * (Placed → Paid → Shipped with "what the backend just did" panels) and polls this query;
- * for now it's a static read of current status.
+ * Single order view — the saga-narrator page (epic #130 Phase 3). orderByIdQuery polls
+ * while the saga is in flight, so the timeline below advances live as PaymentService and
+ * ShippingService consume and re-publish events; polling stops once the order settles.
  */
 export function OrderDetail({ orderId }: Readonly<{ orderId: string }>) {
   const { data, isPending, isError, fetchStatus } = useQuery(orderByIdQuery(orderId))
@@ -33,6 +35,7 @@ export function OrderDetail({ orderId }: Readonly<{ orderId: string }>) {
         <h1 className="text-xl font-semibold">Order {data.orderId.slice(0, 8)}</h1>
         <span className="rounded-full bg-zinc-100 px-2 py-0.5 text-xs">{data.status}</span>
       </div>
+      <SagaTimeline status={data.status} />
       <ul className="divide-y divide-zinc-200">
         {data.lines.map((line) => (
           <li key={line.productId} className="flex items-center gap-3 py-2 text-sm">
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.test.tsx b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f377afe3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react'
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { SagaTimeline } from './SagaTimeline'
+
+// Pure-render component (polling lives in the query, derivation in saga.ts), so these
+// tests assert the user-visible contract per status — RTL by role/label, no internals.
+describe('SagaTimeline', () => {
+  it('marks the live step and explains the async 202 while the order is Placed', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT — freshly placed order: the saga has NOT run yet; this is the state a
+    // buyer lands on right after checkout redirects here.
+    render(<SagaTimeline status="Placed" />)
+
+    // ASSERT —
+    // 1. The Placed step carries aria-current="step": screen readers and tests agree on
+    //    which step is live (the pulsing dot alone would be color-only signaling).
+    const steps = screen.getAllByRole('listitem')
+    expect(steps[0]).toHaveAttribute('aria-current', 'step')
+    // 2. The narrator explains the load-bearing backend fact — 202 + outbox — because
+    //    "why is my order not confirmed instantly" is exactly what the panel exists to teach.
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')).toHaveTextContent(/202 Accepted/)
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')).toHaveTextContent(/transactional outbox/)
+    // 3. The polling hint is shown — the saga is still moving.
+    expect(screen.getByText(/polls the order every 2/)).toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+
+  it('narrates the payment hop when the order reaches Paid', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT — mid-saga: PaymentService has consumed and re-published.
+    render(<SagaTimeline status="Paid" />)
+
+    // ASSERT — the narration advances with the saga: now it teaches the consume→publish
+    // hop and idempotency (at-least-once delivery), not the 202 story.
+    const panel = screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')
+    expect(panel).toHaveTextContent(/PaymentService consumed OrderPlacedEvent/)
+    expect(panel).toHaveTextContent(/idempotent/)
+  })
+
+  it('shows a fully-complete timeline with no polling hint once Shipped', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT — the saga settled on the happy path.
+    render(<SagaTimeline status="Shipped" />)
+
+    // ASSERT —
+    // 1. No step is "current" anymore — nothing is in flight.
+    for (const step of screen.getAllByRole('listitem')) {
+      expect(step).not.toHaveAttribute('aria-current')
+    }
+    // 2. The final narration teaches the punchline: choreography, no orchestrator.
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')).toHaveTextContent(/choreography saga/)
+    // 3. Polling hint gone — isSagaSettled stopped the refetch loop, the UI says so implicitly.
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/polls the order every 2/)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces the failure branch when payment is declined', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT — the saga's compensating path: PaymentFailedEvent came back instead.
+    render(<SagaTimeline status="PaymentFailed" />)
+
+    // ASSERT — the failure is loud and explained, not a silent stuck timeline:
+    // the panel switches to the terminal narration naming the failure event.
+    expect(screen.getByText(/Saga stopped: PaymentFailed/)).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')).toHaveTextContent(/PaymentFailedEvent/)
+  })
+
+  it('surfaces the cancel branch without blaming the payment step', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT — the other terminal: the buyer (or a compensation) cancelled the order.
+    render(<SagaTimeline status="Cancelled" />)
+
+    // ASSERT —
+    // 1. The terminal panel is loud and names the state, same contract as PaymentFailed.
+    expect(screen.getByText(/Saga stopped: Cancelled/)).toBeInTheDocument()
+    expect(screen.getByLabelText('What the backend just did')).toHaveTextContent(/cancelled/i)
+    // 2. No step renders the ✕ failure glyph: Cancel() is legal from Placed AND Paid, and
+    //    the status alone can't say whether payment happened — a red Paid step would
+    //    misstate a cancel-before-payment. (The failure glyph is PaymentFailed's contract.)
+    expect(screen.queryByText('✕')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    // 3. Settled: no polling hint — nothing more will happen to this order.
+    expect(screen.queryByText(/polls the order every 2/)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+  })
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.tsx b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..04bafb71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/components/SagaTimeline.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import { SAGA_STEPS, TERMINAL_NARRATION, deriveStepStates, isSagaSettled, type OrderStatus, type StepState } from '../saga'
+
+/**
+ * The saga narrator (epic #130 Phase 3): a Placed → Paid → Shipped timeline that renders
+ * live off the polled order status, plus a panel explaining what the backend just did to
+ * reach the current step. The demo IS the engineering — this component turns the
+ * choreography saga (outbox → RabbitMQ fanout → idempotent consumers) into something you
+ * can watch happen.
+ *
+ * Pure render off the status prop: polling cadence lives in orderByIdQuery, narration
+ * copy + step derivation live in ../saga.ts. This file only draws.
+ */
+
+const DOT_CLASSES: Record<StepState, string> = {
+  complete: 'bg-emerald-600 text-white',
+  active: 'animate-pulse bg-blue-600 text-white',
+  failed: 'bg-red-600 text-white',
+  pending: 'bg-zinc-200 text-zinc-500',
+}
+
+function dotGlyph(state: StepState, index: number): string {
+  if (state === 'complete') return '✓'
+  if (state === 'failed') return '✕'
+  return String(index + 1)
+}
+
+export function SagaTimeline({ status }: Readonly<{ status: OrderStatus }>) {
+  const stepStates = deriveStepStates(status)
+  const settled = isSagaSettled(status)
+  // Narrate the terminal branch if the saga died, otherwise the furthest step it reached.
+  const terminalNarration = TERMINAL_NARRATION[status]
+  let narratedIndex = -1
+  for (let index = stepStates.length - 1; index >= 0; index--) {
+    if (stepStates[index] !== 'pending') {
+      narratedIndex = index
+      break
+    }
+  }
+  const narration = terminalNarration ?? SAGA_STEPS[narratedIndex]?.narration
+  const panelClasses =
+    terminalNarration == null ? 'border-zinc-200 bg-zinc-50 text-zinc-700' : 'border-red-200 bg-red-50 text-red-900'
+  const panelHeading = terminalNarration == null ? 'What the backend just did' : `Saga stopped: ${status}`
+
+  return (
+    <section aria-label="Order saga progress" className="space-y-3">
+      <ol className="flex items-center gap-0">
+        {SAGA_STEPS.map((step, index) => {
+          // deriveStepStates maps 1:1 over SAGA_STEPS; the fallback only satisfies
+          // noUncheckedIndexedAccess (the index can't actually miss).
+          const state = stepStates[index] ?? 'pending'
+          return (
+            <li key={step.status} className="flex flex-1 items-center" aria-current={state === 'active' ? 'step' : undefined}>
+              <span
+                className={`flex h-7 w-7 shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full text-xs font-semibold ${DOT_CLASSES[state]}`}
+              >
+                {dotGlyph(state, index)}
+              </span>
+              <span className="ml-2 text-sm font-medium">
+                {step.title}
+                {/* Live step gets a visually-quiet hint that the page is polling. */}
+                {state === 'active' && <span className="ml-1 text-xs font-normal text-zinc-500">(in progress…)</span>}
+              </span>
+              {index < SAGA_STEPS.length - 1 && (
+                <span aria-hidden className={`mx-3 h-px flex-1 ${stepStates[index + 1] === 'pending' ? 'bg-zinc-200' : 'bg-emerald-600'}`} />
+              )}
+            </li>
+          )
+        })}
+      </ol>
+
+      {status === 'Delivered' && <p className="text-sm text-zinc-600">Delivered — the saga completed end-to-end.</p>}
+
+      {narration != null && (
+        <aside aria-label="What the backend just did" className={`rounded-md border p-3 text-sm leading-relaxed ${panelClasses}`}>
+          <p className="mb-1 font-semibold">{panelHeading}</p>
+          <p>{narration}</p>
+          {settled ? null : (
+            <p className="mt-2 text-xs text-zinc-500">
+              This page polls the order every 2 s — the status you're watching advances as each service consumes and re-publishes events.
+            </p>
+          )}
+        </aside>
+      )}
+    </section>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.test.ts b/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b78ec711
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+
+import { deriveStepStates, isSagaSettled, type OrderStatus } from './saga'
+
+describe('isSagaSettled', () => {
+  it('keeps polling while the saga is in flight and stops once it settles', () => {
+    // ARRANGE/ACT/ASSERT — table test: this predicate IS the polling lifecycle
+    // (orderByIdQuery's refetchInterval returns false exactly when this returns true),
+    // so a wrong entry here means either polling forever (battery/network burn) or
+    // a timeline frozen at Placed while the backend moves on.
+    expect(isSagaSettled('Placed')).toBe(false) // saga just started — keep watching
+    expect(isSagaSettled('Paid')).toBe(false) // mid-saga — shipping still to come
+    expect(isSagaSettled('Shipped')).toBe(true) // demo happy-path terminal
+    expect(isSagaSettled('Delivered')).toBe(true) // post-shipping terminal
+    expect(isSagaSettled('Cancelled')).toBe(true) // cancel branch — nothing more will happen
+    expect(isSagaSettled('PaymentFailed')).toBe(true) // failure branch — saga stopped
+  })
+})
+
+describe('deriveStepStates', () => {
+  // Timeline is [Placed, Paid, Shipped]; each case pins the full visual contract for a status.
+  const cases: [OrderStatus, ReturnType<typeof deriveStepStates>][] = [
+    // In-flight: the reached step pulses "active" (page is polling), the rest are pending.
+    ['Placed', ['active', 'pending', 'pending']],
+    ['Paid', ['complete', 'active', 'pending']],
+    // Settled happy path: everything reached is complete — no "active" pulse once polling stops.
+    ['Shipped', ['complete', 'complete', 'complete']],
+    ['Delivered', ['complete', 'complete', 'complete']],
+    // Failure branch: Placed succeeded, the payment step is where the saga died.
+    ['PaymentFailed', ['complete', 'failed', 'pending']],
+    // Cancelled: terminal but NOT a step failure. The DTO carries only the current status
+    // and the backend allows Cancel() from both Placed and Paid, so whether payment ever
+    // happened is unknowable client-side — marking Paid as failed would misstate a
+    // cancel-before-payment. Remaining steps stay pending; the terminal panel tells the story.
+    ['Cancelled', ['complete', 'pending', 'pending']],
+  ]
+
+  it.each(cases)('%s renders as %j', (status, expected) => {
+    // ACT — derive the per-step visual states from the polled status.
+    // ASSERT — the whole array at once: a step silently flipping between
+    // active/complete is exactly the regression class this guards.
+    expect(deriveStepStates(status)).toEqual(expected)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.ts b/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f2dc576
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/features/orders/saga.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+// The saga-narrator model: what the timeline shows and what each step teaches.
+//
+// This feature IS the documentation (frontend/CLAUDE.md "Conventions") — the narration
+// strings explain, in the UI, what the backend just did. They mirror the real mechanics
+// in OrderService/PaymentService/ShippingService: transactional outbox, RabbitMQ fanout
+// exchanges, idempotent consumers, choreography (no orchestrator). If the backend's saga
+// changes shape, this copy changes with it — it's a projection of the architecture, not
+// marketing text.
+
+/** Mirror of OrderService.Domain.OrderStatus — persisted (and serialized) as strings. */
+export type OrderStatus = 'Placed' | 'Paid' | 'Shipped' | 'Delivered' | 'Cancelled' | 'PaymentFailed'
+
+export type StepState = 'complete' | 'active' | 'pending' | 'failed'
+
+export interface SagaStep {
+  status: OrderStatus
+  title: string
+  /** What the backend just did to reach this step — shown in the narrator panel. */
+  narration: string
+}
+
+/** The happy-path choreography, in order. Failure/cancel states overlay onto these. */
+export const SAGA_STEPS: readonly SagaStep[] = [
+  {
+    status: 'Placed',
+    title: 'Placed',
+    narration:
+      'POST /orders returned 202 Accepted, not 201 — placement is asynchronous and the order row itself is the tracking record. ' +
+      'OrderService saved the order and staged OrderPlacedEvent in the SAME database transaction (transactional outbox — the event cannot be lost, even if the broker is down), ' +
+      'then Wolverine published it to the order-events fanout exchange on RabbitMQ. This page is polling while the saga runs.',
+  },
+  {
+    status: 'Paid',
+    title: 'Paid',
+    narration:
+      'PaymentService consumed OrderPlacedEvent from its payment-orders queue, processed the payment, and published PaymentCompletedEvent to the payment-events exchange. ' +
+      'OrderService consumed that and marked the order Paid. Delivery is at-least-once, so the handler is idempotent — a duplicate event hits the status guard and is ignored.',
+  },
+  {
+    status: 'Shipped',
+    title: 'Shipped',
+    narration:
+      'ShippingService reacted to the same PaymentCompletedEvent (its own queue on the fanout exchange), dispatched a shipment, and published ShipmentDispatchedEvent; ' +
+      'OrderService marked the order Shipped. No orchestrator coordinated any of this — every service just reacted to events. That is the choreography saga.',
+  },
+]
+
+/** Narration for the non-happy-path terminals (rendered in place of the next step's panel). */
+export const TERMINAL_NARRATION: Partial<Record<OrderStatus, string>> = {
+  PaymentFailed:
+    'PaymentService declined the payment and published PaymentFailedEvent; OrderService consumed it and marked the order PaymentFailed. ' +
+    'This is the saga’s failure branch — same event mechanics as the happy path, different event.',
+  Cancelled: 'The order was cancelled before it shipped. Cancel is allowed from any non-shipped state.',
+}
+
+/** How far along the happy path a status is. Delivered sits past Shipped; terminals sit where they interrupted. */
+const PROGRESS: Record<OrderStatus, number> = {
+  Placed: 0,
+  Paid: 1,
+  Shipped: 2,
+  Delivered: 3,
+  // Failure terminals: how many happy steps completed before the saga stopped.
+  PaymentFailed: 1, // Placed completed; payment step failed.
+  Cancelled: 1, // Placed completed; cancelled before shipping.
+}
+
+/** The saga stopped moving — stop polling. */
+export function isSagaSettled(status: OrderStatus): boolean {
+  return status === 'Shipped' || status === 'Delivered' || status === 'Cancelled' || status === 'PaymentFailed'
+}
+
+/**
+ * Derive each happy-path step's visual state from the order's current status.
+ * A step is complete once reached, active if it's the furthest reached and the saga is
+ * still moving, failed if the saga terminated at that step, pending otherwise.
+ */
+export function deriveStepStates(status: OrderStatus): StepState[] {
+  const progress = PROGRESS[status]
+  return SAGA_STEPS.map((_, index) => {
+    if (index < progress) return 'complete'
+    if (index === progress) {
+      if (status === 'PaymentFailed') return 'failed'
+      // Cancelled is terminal but NOT a step failure: the DTO carries only the current
+      // status, and the backend allows Cancel() from both Placed and Paid — so whether
+      // payment ever happened is unknowable here. Marking Paid as failed would misstate
+      // a cancel-before-payment; leave the remaining steps pending and let the terminal
+      // panel (TERMINAL_NARRATION) tell the story.
+      if (status === 'Cancelled') return 'pending'
+      // The furthest-reached step: completed if the saga already moved past or settled
+      // here (Shipped/Delivered), otherwise it's the live step we're polling on.
+      return isSagaSettled(status) ? 'complete' : 'active'
+    }
+    return 'pending'
+  })
+}