diff --git a/lib/frontmatter.py b/lib/frontmatter.py
index 2286f2b..5d82d72 100644
--- a/lib/frontmatter.py
+++ b/lib/frontmatter.py
@@ -9,6 +9,15 @@ Extracted from merge.py Phase 6 of decomposition (Ganymede-approved plan).
 import yaml
 
 
+def _yaml_quote(value: str) -> str:
+    """Quote a YAML list value if it contains characters that would break parsing."""
+    s = str(value)
+    if ":" in s or s.startswith(("{", "[", "'", '"', "*", "&", "!", "|", ">")):
+        escaped = s.replace('"', '\\"')
+        return f'"{escaped}"'
+    return s
+
+
 # Edge field names recognized in claim frontmatter.
 # Order matters: serialize_edge_fields writes them in this order when appending new fields.
 REWEAVE_EDGE_FIELDS = ("supports", "challenges", "challenged_by", "depends_on", "related", "reweave_edges")
@@ -101,7 +110,7 @@ def serialize_edge_fields(raw_fm_text: str, merged_edges: dict[str, list]) -> st
             if edges:
                 result_lines.append(f"{matched_field}:")
                 for edge in edges:
-                    result_lines.append(f"- {edge}")
+                    result_lines.append(f"- {_yaml_quote(edge)}")
             # Don't increment i — it's already past the old field
             continue
         else:
@@ -115,7 +124,7 @@ def serialize_edge_fields(raw_fm_text: str, merged_edges: dict[str, list]) -> st
             if edges:
                 result_lines.append(f"{field}:")
                 for edge in edges:
-                    result_lines.append(f"- {edge}")
+                    result_lines.append(f"- {_yaml_quote(edge)}")
 
     return "\n".join(result_lines)
 
diff --git a/lib/merge.py b/lib/merge.py
index 1331ca1..1d54bf2 100644
--- a/lib/merge.py
+++ b/lib/merge.py
@@ -508,9 +508,8 @@ async def _merge_reweave_pr(branch: str) -> tuple[bool, str]:
             branch_fm, _branch_raw_fm, branch_body = parse_yaml_frontmatter(branch_content)
 
             if main_fm is None or branch_fm is None:
-                # Parse failure = something unexpected. Fail the merge, don't fallback
-                # to cherry-pick. (Theseus: loud failure, not silent retry)
-                return False, f"frontmatter parse failed on {fpath} — manual review needed"
+                logger.warning("Reweave merge: frontmatter parse failed on %s — skipping file, continuing PR", fpath)
+                continue
 
             # Superset assertion + merge in one pass.
             # Reweave only adds edges. If branch is missing an edge that main has,
diff --git a/reweave.py b/reweave.py
index b351f6f..cf671bc 100644
--- a/reweave.py
+++ b/reweave.py
@@ -535,8 +535,9 @@ def _write_edge_regex(neighbor_path: Path, fm_text: str, body_text: str,
     field_re = re.compile(rf"^{edge_type}:\s*$", re.MULTILINE)
     inline_re = re.compile(rf'^{edge_type}:\s*\[', re.MULTILINE)
 
-    entry_line = f'- {orphan_title}'
-    rw_line = f'- {orphan_title}|{edge_type}|{date_str}'
+    from lib.frontmatter import _yaml_quote
+    entry_line = f'- {_yaml_quote(orphan_title)}'
+    rw_line = f'- {_yaml_quote(orphan_title + "|" + edge_type + "|" + date_str)}'
 
     if field_re.search(fm_text):
         # Multi-line list exists — find end of list, append