diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index 85c9af8ce4..ba0995aa6f 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,78 @@
+Synapse 1.85.0rc1 (2023-05-30)
+==============================
+
+Features
+--------
+
+- Process previously failed backfill events in the background to avoid blocking requests for something that is bound to fail again. ([\#15585](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15585))
+- Add a new [admin API](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/v1.75/usage/administration/admin_api/index.html) to [create a new device for a user](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/v1.75/admin_api/user_admin_api.html#create-a-device). ([\#15611](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15611))
+- Add Unix socket support for Redis connections. Contributed by Jason Little. ([\#15644](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15644))
+
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- Fix a long-standing bug where setting the read marker could fail when using message retention. Contributed by Nick @ Beeper (@fizzadar). ([\#15464](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15464))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where the `url_preview_url_blacklist` configuration setting was not applied to oEmbed or image URLs found while previewing a URL. ([\#15601](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15601))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where filters with multiple backslashes were rejected. ([\#15607](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15607))
+- Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.82.0 where the error message displayed when validation of the `app_service_config_files` config option fails would be incorrectly formatted. ([\#15614](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15614))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where deactivated users were still able to login using the custom `org.matrix.login.jwt` login type (if enabled). ([\#15624](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15624))
+- Fix a long-standing bug where deactivated users were able to login in uncommon situations. ([\#15634](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15634))
+
+
+Improved Documentation
+----------------------
+
+- Warn users that at least 3.75GB of space is needed for the nix Synapse development environment. ([\#15613](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15613))
+- Remove outdated comment from the generated and sample homeserver log configs. ([\#15648](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15648))
+- Improve contributor docs to make it more clear that Rust is a necessary prerequisite. Contributed by @grantm. ([\#15668](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15668))
+
+
+Deprecations and Removals
+-------------------------
+
+- Remove the old version of the R30 (30-day retained users) phone-home metric. ([\#10428](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/10428))
+
+
+Internal Changes
+----------------
+
+- Create dependabot changelogs at release time. ([\#15481](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15481))
+- Add not null constraint to column `full_user_id` of tables `profiles` and `user_filters`. ([\#15537](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15537))
+- Allow connecting to HTTP Replication Endpoints by using `worker_name` when constructing the request. ([\#15578](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15578))
+- Make the `thread_id` column on `event_push_actions`, `event_push_actions_staging`, and `event_push_summary` non-null. ([\#15597](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15597))
+- Run mypy type checking with the minimum supported Python version to catch new usage that isn't backwards-compatible. ([\#15602](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15602))
+- Fix subscriptable type usage in Python <3.9. ([\#15604](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15604))
+- Update internal terminology. ([\#15606](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15606), [\#15620](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15620))
+- Instrument `state` and `state_group` storage-related operations to better picture what's happening when tracing. ([\#15610](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15610), [\#15647](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15647))
+- Trace how many new events from the backfill response we need to process. ([\#15633](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15633))
+- Re-type config paths in `ConfigError`s to be `StrSequence`s instead of `Iterable[str]`s. ([\#15615](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15615))
+- Update Mutual Rooms (MSC2666) implementation to match new proposal text. ([\#15621](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15621))
+- Remove the unstable identifiers from faster joins ([MSC3706](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3706). ([\#15625](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15625))
+- Fix the olddeps CI. ([\#15626](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15626))
+- Remove duplicate timestamp from test logs (`_trial_temp/test.log`). ([\#15636](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15636))
+- Fix two memory leaks in `trial` test runs. ([\#15630](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15630))
+- Limit the size of the `HomeServerConfig` cache in trial test runs. ([\#15646](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15646))
+- Improve type hints. ([\#15658](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15658), [\#15659](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15659))
+- Add requesting user id parameter to key claim methods in `TransportLayerClient`. ([\#15663](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15663))
+- Speed up rebuilding of the user directory for local users. ([\#15665](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15665))
+- Implement "option 2" for [MSC3820](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3820): Room version 11. ([\#15666](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15666), [\#15678](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15678))
+
+### Updates to locked dependencies
+
+* Bump furo from 2023.3.27 to 2023.5.20. ([\#15642](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15642))
+* Bump log from 0.4.17 to 0.4.18. ([\#15681](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15681))
+* Bump prometheus-client from 0.16.0 to 0.17.0. ([\#15682](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15682))
+* Bump pydantic from 1.10.7 to 1.10.8. ([\#15685](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15685))
+* Bump pygithub from 1.58.1 to 1.58.2. ([\#15643](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15643))
+* Bump requests from 2.28.2 to 2.31.0. ([\#15651](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15651))
+* Bump sphinx from 6.1.3 to 6.2.1. ([\#15641](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15641))
+* Bump types-bleach from 6.0.0.1 to 6.0.0.3. ([\#15686](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15686))
+* Bump types-pillow from 9.5.0.2 to 9.5.0.4. ([\#15640](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15640))
+* Bump types-pyyaml from 6.0.12.9 to 6.0.12.10. ([\#15683](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15683))
+* Bump types-requests from 2.30.0.0 to 2.31.0.0. ([\#15684](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15684))
+* Bump types-setuptools from 67.7.0.2 to 67.8.0.0. ([\#15639](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/issues/15639))
+
 Synapse 1.84.1 (2023-05-26)
 ===========================
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/10428.removal b/changelog.d/10428.removal
deleted file mode 100644
index c056e89585..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/10428.removal
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove the old version of the R30 (30-day retained users) phone-home metric.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15464.bugfix b/changelog.d/15464.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c655989b3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15464.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where setting the read marker could fail when using message retention. Contributed by Nick @ Beeper (@fizzadar).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15481.misc b/changelog.d/15481.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a6e088c164..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15481.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Create dependabot changelogs at release time.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15537.misc b/changelog.d/15537.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 979e0ba977..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15537.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add not null constraint to column full_user_id of tables profiles and user_filters.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15578.misc b/changelog.d/15578.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a54422239b..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15578.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Allow connecting to HTTP Replication Endpoints by using `worker_name` when constructing the request.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15585.feature b/changelog.d/15585.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1adcfb69ee..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15585.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Process previously failed backfill events in the background to avoid blocking requests for something that is bound to fail again.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15597.misc b/changelog.d/15597.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2dea23784f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15597.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Make the `thread_id` column on `event_push_actions`, `event_push_actions_staging`, and `event_push_summary` non-null.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15599.bugfix b/changelog.d/15599.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b58af8ad55..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15599.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Print full error and stack-trace of any exception that occurs during startup/initialization.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15601.bugfix b/changelog.d/15601.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 426db6cea3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15601.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where the `url_preview_url_blacklist` configuration setting was not applied to oEmbed or image URLs found while previewing a URL.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15602.misc b/changelog.d/15602.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index cdd0c039bd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15602.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Run mypy type checking with the minimum supported Python version to catch new usage that isn't backwards-compatible.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15604.misc b/changelog.d/15604.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 92d1d600bc..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15604.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix subscriptable type usage in Python <3.9.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15606.misc b/changelog.d/15606.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 568c0d3fc5..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15606.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update internal terminology.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15607.bugfix b/changelog.d/15607.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index a2767adbe2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15607.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where filters with multiple backslashes were rejected.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15610.misc b/changelog.d/15610.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2eff30f6e3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15610.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Instrument `state` and `state_group` storage-related operations to better picture what's happening when tracing.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15611.feature b/changelog.d/15611.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 7cfb46fd0a..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15611.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add a new admin API to create a new device for a user.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15613.doc b/changelog.d/15613.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 94733facf0..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15613.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Warn users that at least 3.75GB of space is needed for the nix Synapse development environment.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15614.bugfix b/changelog.d/15614.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index b523ae6eb1..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15614.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a bug introduced in Synapse 1.82.0 where the error message displayed when validation of the `app_service_config_files` config option fails would be incorrectly formatted.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15615.misc b/changelog.d/15615.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a39fd0a098..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15615.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Re-type config paths in `ConfigError`s to be `StrSequence`s instead of `Iterable[str]`s.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15620.misc b/changelog.d/15620.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 568c0d3fc5..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15620.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update internal terminology.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15621.misc b/changelog.d/15621.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5d060f4dbc..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15621.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Update Mutual Rooms (MSC2666) implementation to match new proposal text.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15624.bugfix b/changelog.d/15624.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index fde515ba62..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15624.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where deactivated users were still able to login using the custom `org.matrix.login.jwt` login type (if enabled).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15625.misc b/changelog.d/15625.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7ea8cc9433..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15625.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove the unstable identifiers from faster joins ([MSC3706](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3706).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15626.misc b/changelog.d/15626.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 0016cdbf10..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15626.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix the olddeps CI.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15630.misc b/changelog.d/15630.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a30304bfd6..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15630.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix two memory leaks in `trial` test runs.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15633.misc b/changelog.d/15633.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4126a20602..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15633.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Trace how many new events from the backfill response we need to process.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15634.bugfix b/changelog.d/15634.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index ef39e8a689..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15634.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Fix a long-standing bug where deactivated users were able to login in uncommon situations.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15636.misc b/changelog.d/15636.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 82329c5e43..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15636.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove duplicate timestamp from test logs (`_trial_temp/test.log`).
diff --git a/changelog.d/15639.misc b/changelog.d/15639.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 92230e206f..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15639.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-setuptools from 67.7.0.2 to 67.8.0.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15640.misc b/changelog.d/15640.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c2a3dbc52..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15640.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-pillow from 9.5.0.2 to 9.5.0.4.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15641.misc b/changelog.d/15641.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index a85d85c58e..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15641.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump sphinx from 6.1.3 to 6.2.1.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15642.misc b/changelog.d/15642.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5d6125140d..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15642.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump furo from 2023.3.27 to 2023.5.20.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15643.misc b/changelog.d/15643.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 5bd2e74071..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15643.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump pygithub from 1.58.1 to 1.58.2.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15644.feature b/changelog.d/15644.feature
deleted file mode 100644
index 1b6126af53..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15644.feature
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add Unix socket support for Redis connections. Contributed by Jason Little.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15646.misc b/changelog.d/15646.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 872afe30b8..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15646.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Limit the size of the `HomeServerConfig` cache in trial test runs.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15647.bugfix b/changelog.d/15647.bugfix
deleted file mode 100644
index 2eff30f6e3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15647.bugfix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Instrument `state` and `state_group` storage-related operations to better picture what's happening when tracing.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15648.doc b/changelog.d/15648.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 70f65ebbff..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15648.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Remove outdated comment from the generated and sample homeserver log configs.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15651.misc b/changelog.d/15651.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d7c0248b2..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15651.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump requests from 2.28.2 to 2.31.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15658.misc b/changelog.d/15658.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 93ceaeafc9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15658.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve type hints.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15659.misc b/changelog.d/15659.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 93ceaeafc9..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15659.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve type hints.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15663.misc b/changelog.d/15663.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index cc5f801543..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15663.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Add requesting user id parameter to key claim methods in `TransportLayerClient`.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15665.misc b/changelog.d/15665.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7ad424d8df..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15665.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Speed up rebuilding of the user directory for local users.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15666.misc b/changelog.d/15666.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 92eae49952..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15666.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement "option 2" for [MSC3820](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3820): Room version 11.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15668.doc b/changelog.d/15668.doc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3526a4d50c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15668.doc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Improve contributor docs to make it more clear that Rust is a necessary prerequisite. Contributed by @grantm.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15678.misc b/changelog.d/15678.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 92eae49952..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15678.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Implement "option 2" for [MSC3820](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/3820): Room version 11.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/changelog.d/15681.misc b/changelog.d/15681.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 2de551dd63..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15681.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump log from 0.4.17 to 0.4.18.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15682.misc b/changelog.d/15682.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 687af7d8d7..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15682.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump prometheus-client from 0.16.0 to 0.17.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15683.misc b/changelog.d/15683.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 147f13b99c..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15683.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-pyyaml from 6.0.12.9 to 6.0.12.10.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15684.misc b/changelog.d/15684.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c2edf87fd..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15684.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-requests from 2.30.0.0 to 2.31.0.0.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15685.misc b/changelog.d/15685.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index 7d4cf65bf3..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15685.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump pydantic from 1.10.7 to 1.10.8.
diff --git a/changelog.d/15686.misc b/changelog.d/15686.misc
deleted file mode 100644
index feacbf35d6..0000000000
--- a/changelog.d/15686.misc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Bump types-bleach from 6.0.0.1 to 6.0.0.3.
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index fbdc9c177e..2d88cd9d29 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+matrix-synapse-py3 (1.85.0~rc1) stable; urgency=medium
+
+  * New Synapse release 1.85.0rc1.
+
+ -- Synapse Packaging team <packages@matrix.org>  Tue, 30 May 2023 13:56:54 +0100
+
 matrix-synapse-py3 (1.84.1) stable; urgency=medium
 
   * New Synapse release 1.84.1.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6e9bce65b6..7227bc7523 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ manifest-path = "rust/Cargo.toml"
 
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "matrix-synapse"
-version = "1.84.1"
+version = "1.85.0rc1"
 description = "Homeserver for the Matrix decentralised comms protocol"
 authors = ["Matrix.org Team and Contributors <packages@matrix.org>"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"