diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci3.yml b/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
index e8eef4a05774..901dab2ec488 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ jobs:
     if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork != true
     environment: ${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') && 'master' || '' }}
     strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
+      fail-fast: true
       matrix:
         # Only run arm64 build with arm64-ci label or on master or on tagged releases.
         # The way to do conditions here is to parse full strings as JSON.
@@ -104,8 +104,7 @@ jobs:
           EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST: "https://beacon.${{ secrets.GCP_SEPOLIA_URL }}"
           EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.GCP_SEPOLIA_API_KEY }}
           EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY_HEADER: "X-goog-api-key"
-        run: |
-          ./ci.sh ec2
+        run: exec ./ci.sh ec2
 
       - name: Download benchmarks
         if: matrix.settings.arch == 'amd64' && github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name == 'master'
@@ -184,7 +183,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         number: [1, 2]
-      fail-fast: false
+      fail-fast: true
     steps:
       #############
       # Prepare Env
@@ -217,8 +216,7 @@ jobs:
           SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN }}
           CI: 1
           CI_FULL: 1
-        run: |
-          ./ci.sh ec2-test
+        run: exec ./ci.sh ec2-test
 
   # Necessary as github actions won't allow checks on matrix builds.
   merge-check:
diff --git a/.test_patterns.yml b/.test_patterns.yml
index c1563e5bc8a2..d0c21d936fc1 100644
--- a/.test_patterns.yml
+++ b/.test_patterns.yml
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ tests:
     skip: true
     owners:
       - *tom
+  - regex: "tests::execution_success::test_ram_blowup_regression"
+    error_regex: "assertion `left == right` failed"
+    owners:
+      - *tom
 
   # noir
   # Something to do with how I run the tests now. Think these are fine in nextest.
@@ -124,6 +128,10 @@ tests:
     error_regex: "BlockOutOfRangeError"
     owners:
       - *palla
+  - regex: "simple e2e_sequencer_config"
+    error_regex: "Anvil failed to stop in time"
+    owners:
+      - *palla
 
   # yarn-project tests
   - regex: "p2p/src/services/discv5/discv5_service.test.ts"
@@ -134,6 +142,10 @@ tests:
     error_regex: "Exceeded timeout of 120000"
     owners:
       - *sean
+  - regex: "p2p/src/services/reqresp/reqresp.test.ts"
+    error_regex: "✕ should stop after max retry attempts"
+    owners:
+      - *sean
   - regex: "p2p/src/testbench/port_change.test.ts"
     error_regex: "Timeout waiting for worker"
     owners:
diff --git a/ci.sh b/ci.sh
index 0bee34465d40..43608550e96b 100755
--- a/ci.sh
+++ b/ci.sh
@@ -72,23 +72,23 @@ case "$cmd" in
   "ec2")
     # Spin up ec2 instance and ci bootstrap with shell on failure.
     export USE_TEST_CACHE=1
-    bootstrap_ec2
+    exec bootstrap_ec2
     ;;
   "ec2-no-cache")
     # Disable the build and test cache.
     export NO_CACHE=1
     export USE_TEST_CACHE=0
-    bootstrap_ec2
+    exec bootstrap_ec2
     ;;
   "ec2-test")
     # Can use the build cache, but don't use the test cache.
     export USE_TEST_CACHE=0
-    bootstrap_ec2
+    exec bootstrap_ec2
     ;;
   "ec2-shell")
     # Spin up ec2 instance, clone, and drop into shell.
     # False triggers the shell on fail.
-    bootstrap_ec2 "false"
+    exec bootstrap_ec2 "false"
     ;;
   "ec2-grind")
     # Same as ec2-test but repeat it over arg1 instances.
diff --git a/ci3/bootstrap_ec2 b/ci3/bootstrap_ec2
index f1471a718434..b46e6e0ce7bf 100755
--- a/ci3/bootstrap_ec2
+++ b/ci3/bootstrap_ec2
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ if [ "$arch" == "arm64" ]; then
   export AWS_SHUTDOWN_TIME=90
 else
   if [ "$CI_FULL" -eq 1 ]; then
-    cores=192,128,64
+    # cores=192,128,64
+    cores=128,64
   else
     cores=128,64
   fi
@@ -27,12 +28,16 @@ cores=${CPUS:-$cores}
 # Trap function to terminate our running instance when the script exits.
 function on_exit {
   set +e
-  if [ "$NO_TERMINATE" -eq 0 ]; then
-    aws_terminate_instance $iid $sir
-  else
-    echo "Remote machine not terminated, connect with: ARCH=$arch ./ci.sh shell"
+  if [ -n "$iid" ]; then
+    if [ "$NO_TERMINATE" -eq 0 ]; then
+      aws_terminate_instance $iid $sir
+    else
+      echo "Remote machine not terminated, connect with: ARCH=$arch ./ci.sh shell"
+    fi
+    iid=""
   fi
 }
+trap on_exit SIGINT SIGTERM EXIT
 
 # Verify that the commit exists on the remote. It will be the remote tip of itself if so.
 current_commit=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
@@ -76,7 +81,6 @@ IFS=':' read -r -a parts <<< "$ip_sir"
 ip="${parts[0]}"
 sir="${parts[1]}"
 iid="${parts[2]}"
-trap on_exit EXIT
 
 # If AWS credentials are not set, try to load them from ~/.aws/build_instance_credentials.
 if [ -z "${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID:-}" ] || [ -z "${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY:-}" ]; then
@@ -181,72 +185,85 @@ EOF
 # We set SSH_CONNECTION to something to ensure the hostname is shown in the lean prompt.
 # We provide the host user and group ids to the entrypoint script to ensure alignment.
 # We raise the default pid limit to 32k.
-set +e
-ssh ${ssh_args:-} -F $ci3/aws/build_instance_ssh_config ubuntu@$ip "
-  # TODO: This should *not* be needed in a CI run. Remove "watching" code, e.g. in boxes.
-  sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576 &>/dev/null
-  sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=1048576 &>/dev/null
+function run {
+  ssh ${ssh_args:-} -F $ci3/aws/build_instance_ssh_config ubuntu@$ip "
+    # TODO: This should *not* be needed in a CI run. Remove "watching" code, e.g. in boxes.
+    sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_watches=1048576 &>/dev/null
+    sudo sysctl fs.inotify.max_user_instances=1048576 &>/dev/null
+
+    echo Loading CRS into tmpfs...
+    sudo mkdir /mnt/bb-crs
+    sudo mount -t tmpfs -o size=3G tmpfs /mnt/bb-crs
+    sudo cp -r \$HOME/.bb-crs/* /mnt/bb-crs
+    echo Done in \$SECONDS seconds.
 
-  echo Loading CRS into tmpfs...
-  sudo mkdir /mnt/bb-crs
-  sudo mount -t tmpfs -o size=3G tmpfs /mnt/bb-crs
-  sudo cp -r \$HOME/.bb-crs/* /mnt/bb-crs
-  echo Done in \$SECONDS seconds.
+    echo Installing and starting sysdig...
+    sudo apt-get update &>/dev/null
+    sudo apt-get install -y sysdig &>/dev/null
+    sudo sysdig -p '%evt.time (cid: %container.id) (event: %evt.dir %evt.type) (args: %evt.args): %proc.cmdline' 'evt.type=bind or evt.type=listen' > /tmp/netfile &
+    netfile_pid=\$!
+    # Capture cpu load.
+    mpstat 2 &> /tmp/cpufile &
+    cpufile_pid=\$!
+    # Capture mem load.
+    vmstat -w -S M 2 &> /tmp/memfile &
+    memfile_pid=\$!
+    trap 'sudo kill \$netfile_pid \$cpufile_pid \$memfile_pid' EXIT
 
-  echo Installing and starting sysdig...
-  sudo apt-get update &>/dev/null
-  sudo apt-get install -y sysdig &>/dev/null
-  sudo sysdig -p '%evt.time (cid: %container.id) (event: %evt.dir %evt.type) (args: %evt.args): %proc.cmdline' 'evt.type=bind or evt.type=listen' > /tmp/netfile &
-  netfile_pid=\$!
-  # Capture cpu load.
-  mpstat 2 &> /tmp/cpufile &
-  cpufile_pid=\$!
-  # Capture mem load.
-  vmstat -w -S M 2 &> /tmp/memfile &
-  memfile_pid=\$!
-  trap 'sudo kill \$netfile_pid \$cpufile_pid \$memfile_pid' EXIT
+    echo Starting devbox...
+    docker run --privileged ${docker_args:-} \
+      --name aztec_build \
+      --hostname $instance_name \
+      -v bootstrap_ci_local_docker:/var/lib/docker \
+      -v bootstrap_ci_repo:/home/aztec-dev/aztec-packages \
+      -v \$HOME/.aws:/home/aztec-dev/.aws:ro \
+      -v /mnt/bb-crs:/home/aztec-dev/.bb-crs:ro \
+      -v /tmp:/tmp \
+      -v /dev/kmsg:/dev/kmsg \
+      -e RUN_ID=${RUN_ID:-} \
+      -e JOB_ID=${JOB_ID:-} \
+      -e NO_CACHE=${NO_CACHE:-} \
+      -e USE_TEST_CACHE=${USE_TEST_CACHE:-1} \
+      -e CI_REDIS='ci-redis-tiered.lzka0i.ng.0001.use2.cache.amazonaws.com' \
+      -e SSH_CONNECTION=' ' \
+      -e LOCAL_USER_ID=\$(id -u) \
+      -e LOCAL_GROUP_ID=\$(id -g) \
+      -e CI=$CI \
+      -e CI_FULL=$CI_FULL \
+      -e CI_NIGHTLY=${CI_NIGHTLY:-0} \
+      -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS:-} \
+      -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST:-} \
+      -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY:-} \
+      -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY_HEADER=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY_HEADER:-} \
+      -e L1_DEPLOYMENT_PRIVATE_KEY=${L1_DEPLOYMENT_PRIVATE_KEY:-} \
+      -e DRY_RUN=${DRY_RUN:-0} \
+      -e DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD=${DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD:-} \
+      -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID:-} \
+      -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY:-} \
+      -e BUILD_SYSTEM_DEBUG=${BUILD_SYSTEM_DEBUG:-} \
+      -e GITHUB_TOKEN=${GITHUB_TOKEN:-} \
+      -e NETLIFY_SITE_ID=${NETLIFY_SITE_ID:-} \
+      -e NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN=${NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN:-} \
+      -e NPM_TOKEN=${NPM_TOKEN:-} \
+      -e SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN:-} \
+      -e REF_NAME=${REF_NAME:-} \
+      -e AWS_TOKEN=\$(curl -sX PUT http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token -H 'X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600') \
+      --pids-limit=32768 \
+      aztecprotocol/devbox:3.0 bash -c $(printf '%q' "$container_script")
+  "
+}
+
+set +e
+# If in terminal run in foreground.
+# If not, run in background so we can handle the signals in a timely fashion, and wait for it to finish.
+if [ -t 0 ]; then
+  run
+else
+  echo "No tty, running in background..."
+  run &
+  wait $!
+fi
 
-  echo Starting devbox...
-  docker run --privileged ${docker_args:-} \
-    --name aztec_build \
-    --hostname $instance_name \
-    -v bootstrap_ci_local_docker:/var/lib/docker \
-    -v bootstrap_ci_repo:/home/aztec-dev/aztec-packages \
-    -v \$HOME/.aws:/home/aztec-dev/.aws:ro \
-    -v /mnt/bb-crs:/home/aztec-dev/.bb-crs:ro \
-    -v /tmp:/tmp \
-    -v /dev/kmsg:/dev/kmsg \
-    -e RUN_ID=${RUN_ID:-} \
-    -e JOB_ID=${JOB_ID:-} \
-    -e NO_CACHE=${NO_CACHE:-} \
-    -e USE_TEST_CACHE=${USE_TEST_CACHE:-1} \
-    -e CI_REDIS='ci-redis-tiered.lzka0i.ng.0001.use2.cache.amazonaws.com' \
-    -e SSH_CONNECTION=' ' \
-    -e LOCAL_USER_ID=\$(id -u) \
-    -e LOCAL_GROUP_ID=\$(id -g) \
-    -e CI=$CI \
-    -e CI_FULL=$CI_FULL \
-    -e CI_NIGHTLY=${CI_NIGHTLY:-0} \
-    -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_HOSTS:-} \
-    -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST:-} \
-    -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY:-} \
-    -e EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY_HEADER=${EXTERNAL_ETHEREUM_CONSENSUS_HOST_API_KEY_HEADER:-} \
-    -e L1_DEPLOYMENT_PRIVATE_KEY=${L1_DEPLOYMENT_PRIVATE_KEY:-} \
-    -e DRY_RUN=${DRY_RUN:-0} \
-    -e DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD=${DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD:-} \
-    -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID:-} \
-    -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY:-} \
-    -e BUILD_SYSTEM_DEBUG=${BUILD_SYSTEM_DEBUG:-} \
-    -e GITHUB_TOKEN=${GITHUB_TOKEN:-} \
-    -e NETLIFY_SITE_ID=${NETLIFY_SITE_ID:-} \
-    -e NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN=${NETLIFY_AUTH_TOKEN:-} \
-    -e NPM_TOKEN=${NPM_TOKEN:-} \
-    -e SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN:-} \
-    -e REF_NAME=${REF_NAME:-} \
-    -e AWS_TOKEN=\$(curl -sX PUT http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token -H 'X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600') \
-    --pids-limit=32768 \
-    aztecprotocol/devbox:3.0 bash -c $(printf '%q' "$container_script")
-"
 code=$?
 set -e
 echo "SSH exited with code: $code"
diff --git a/ci3/parallelise b/ci3/parallelise
index 8554aff54d1a..33a2ed5185d5 100755
--- a/ci3/parallelise
+++ b/ci3/parallelise
@@ -7,8 +7,7 @@ cd $root
 jobs=$(get_num_cpus_max ${1:-})
 parallel_args="-j$jobs --memsuspend $(memsuspend_limit) --line-buffer --joblog joblog.txt"
 
-# If not in CI, fail fast.
-if [ "$CI" -eq 0 ]; then
+if [ "${NO_FAIL_FAST:-0}" -eq 0 ]; then
   parallel_args+=" --halt now,fail=1"
 fi
 
diff --git a/ci3/run_test_cmd b/ci3/run_test_cmd
index 9103e9188fab..f2d739c860ea 100755
--- a/ci3/run_test_cmd
+++ b/ci3/run_test_cmd
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ trap "kill -- -$timeout_pid &>/dev/null; exit" SIGTERM SIGINT
 wait $timeout_pid
 code=$?
 
+# If the test received a SIGTERM or SIGINT, we don't want to track or print anything.
+if [ "$code" -eq 143 ] || [ "$code" -eq 130 ]; then
+  exit $code
+fi
+
 if [ "$CI_REDIS_AVAILABLE" -eq 1 ]; then
   # If the test succeeded and we're using the test cache, set success flag for test. This key is unique to the test.
   # If the test succeeded and we're in CI, save the test log.