diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci3.yml b/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
index ec0a4c81b234..fad282e162d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci3.yml
@@ -138,9 +138,10 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         test_set: ["1", "2"]
-    # We run after a spartan release (from merge-train/spartan), or when the ci-network-scenario label is present in a PR.
+    # We either run after a release (tag starting with v), or when the ci-network-scenario label is present in a PR.
+    # We exclude ci-release-pr test tags (v0.0.1-commit.*) which are only for testing the release process.
     needs: ci
-    if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork != true && github.event.pull_request.draft == false && ((startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') && contains(github.ref_name, '-spartan.')) || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-network-scenario'))
+    if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.fork != true && github.event.pull_request.draft == false && ((startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') && !contains(github.ref_name, '-commit.')) || contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-network-scenario'))
     steps:
       - name: Remove label (one-time use)
         if: github.event.pull_request && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-network-scenario')
@@ -187,8 +188,8 @@ jobs:
           ./.github/ci3.sh network-scenarios next-scenario "$namespace" "$docker_image" "${{ matrix.test_set }}"
 
       - name: Cleanup network resources
-        # Clean up if this is a CI label or spartan.
-        if: always() && (!startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || contains(github.ref_name, '-spartan.'))
+        # Clean up if this is a CI label or nightly.
+        if: always() && (!startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || contains(github.ref_name, '-nightly.'))
         env:
           AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
           AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deploy-next-net.yml b/.github/workflows/deploy-next-net.yml
index 677a75e95e8e..60a7329b4ade 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deploy-next-net.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deploy-next-net.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-# Deploy next-net environment from merge-train/spartan
+# Deploy next-net environment
 # This workflow deploys the next-net environment with a specified version
-# Runs nightly with the latest spartan nightly tag, or can be manually triggered with any image
+# Runs nightly with the latest nightly tag, or can be manually triggered with any image
 name: Deploy Next Net
 
 on:
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
       image_tag:
-        description: 'Docker image tag (e.g., 2.3.4, 3.0.0-spartan.20251004-amd64, or leave empty for latest spartan nightly)'
+        description: 'Docker image tag (e.g., 2.3.4, 3.0.0-nightly.20251004-amd64, or leave empty for latest nightly)'
         required: false
         type: string
 
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
-        with:
-          ref: merge-train/spartan
 
       - name: Determine image tag
         id: determine_tag
@@ -38,22 +36,22 @@ jobs:
             TAG="${{ inputs.image_tag }}"
             echo "Using manually specified tag: $TAG"
 
-            # Extract semver (remove -amd64 suffix if present, remove -spartan.YYYYMMDD if present)
-            SEMVER=$(echo "$TAG" | sed 's/-amd64$//' | sed 's/-spartan\.[0-9]\{8\}//')
+            # Extract semver (remove -amd64 suffix if present, remove -nightly.YYYYMMDD if present)
+            SEMVER=$(echo "$TAG" | sed 's/-amd64$//' | sed 's/-nightly\.[0-9]\{8\}//')
           else
-            # Scheduled nightly run - get latest spartan nightly tag
+            # Scheduled nightly run - get latest nightly tag
             current_version=$(jq -r '."."' .release-please-manifest.json)
             echo "Current version: $current_version"
 
-            # Format the tag as: <current_version>-spartan.<YYYYMMDD>-amd64
-            nightly_tag="${current_version}-spartan.$(date -u +%Y%m%d)-amd64"
+            # Format the tag as: <current_version>-nightly.<YYYYMMDD>-amd64
+            nightly_tag="${current_version}-nightly.$(date -u +%Y%m%d)-amd64"
 
             # Check if the tag exists on docker hub
             TAGS=$(curl -s https://registry.hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/aztecprotocol/aztec/tags/$nightly_tag)
             if [[ "$TAGS" != *"not found"* ]]; then
               TAG="$nightly_tag"
               SEMVER="$current_version"
-              echo "Using spartan nightly tag: $TAG"
+              echo "Using nightly tag: $TAG"
             else
               echo "Error: Tag $nightly_tag not published to docker hub"
               exit 1
@@ -70,5 +68,5 @@ jobs:
       network: next-net
       semver: ${{ needs.get-image-tag.outputs.semver }}
       docker_image_tag: ${{ needs.get-image-tag.outputs.tag }}
-      ref: merge-train/spartan
+      ref: ${{ github.ref }}
     secrets: inherit
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly-release-tag.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly-release-tag.yml
index a02c47aa2915..1605e3a30f04 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly-release-tag.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly-release-tag.yml
@@ -33,23 +33,3 @@ jobs:
           # Tag and push.
           git tag -a "$nightly_tag" -m "$nightly_tag"
           git push origin "$nightly_tag"
-
-  nightly-release-tag-spartan:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683
-        with:
-          ref: merge-train/spartan
-          token: ${{ secrets.AZTEC_BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-
-      - name: Create Spartan Nightly Tag
-        run: |
-          git config --global user.email "tech@aztecprotocol.com"
-          git config --global user.name "AztecBot"
-          current_version=$(jq -r '."."' .release-please-manifest.json)
-          echo "Current version: $current_version"
-          nightly_tag="v${current_version}-spartan.$(date -u +%Y%m%d)"
-          echo "Spartan nightly tag: $nightly_tag"
-          # Tag and push.
-          git tag -a "$nightly_tag" -m "$nightly_tag"
-          git push origin "$nightly_tag"
diff --git a/barretenberg/cpp/scripts/run_bench.sh b/barretenberg/cpp/scripts/run_bench.sh
index 64df1e05eadd..205f26109569 100755
--- a/barretenberg/cpp/scripts/run_bench.sh
+++ b/barretenberg/cpp/scripts/run_bench.sh
@@ -14,13 +14,20 @@ filter=$4
 export GTEST_COLOR=1
 export HARDWARE_CONCURRENCY=${CPUS:-8}
 
+# Set ALLOCATOR=tcmalloc to use tcmalloc via LD_PRELOAD.
+BENCH_PRELOAD=""
+if [ "${ALLOCATOR:-}" = "tcmalloc" ]; then
+  sudo apt-get update -qq && sudo apt-get install -y -qq libtcmalloc-minimal4t64
+  BENCH_PRELOAD="/usr/lib/$(uname -m)-linux-gnu/libtcmalloc_minimal.so.4"
+fi
+
 mkdir -p bench-out/$(dirname $name)
 
 export MEMUSAGE_OUT="bench-out/$name-peak-memory-mb.txt"
 
 case $arch in
   native)
-    memusage $bin --benchmark_out=./bench-out/$name.json --benchmark_filter=$filter
+    LD_PRELOAD="${BENCH_PRELOAD}" memusage $bin --benchmark_out=./bench-out/$name.json --benchmark_filter=$filter
     ;;
   wasm)
     memusage ./scripts/wasmtime.sh $bin --benchmark_out=./bench-out/$name.json --benchmark_filter=$filter
diff --git a/release-image/Dockerfile.base b/release-image/Dockerfile.base
index 8e61fcb0babe..6ffdf0dee01e 100644
--- a/release-image/Dockerfile.base
+++ b/release-image/Dockerfile.base
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ RUN apt update && apt install -y \
       netcat-openbsd \
       parallel \
       curl \
-      gnupg && \
+      gnupg \
+      libtcmalloc-minimal4t64 && \
       curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/gpgkey/nodesource-repo.gpg.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg && \
       echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nodesource.gpg] https://deb.nodesource.com/node_$NODE_MAJOR.x nodistro main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list && \
       apt update && apt install nodejs && \
@@ -33,6 +34,8 @@ COPY --from=build /opt/foundry/bin/anvil /opt/foundry/bin/anvil
 COPY --from=build /opt/foundry/bin/forge /opt/foundry/bin/forge
 COPY --from=build /opt/foundry/bin/cast /opt/foundry/bin/cast
 ENV PATH="/opt/foundry/bin:$PATH" FOUNDRY_DISABLE_NIGHTLY_WARNING="1"
+# Use tcmalloc for reduced memory fragmentation and improved allocation performance.
+ENV LD_PRELOAD="/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libtcmalloc_minimal.so.4"
 # Copy in production dependencies.
 COPY --from=build /usr/src/yarn-project/node_modules /usr/src/yarn-project/node_modules
 # We install a symlink to yarn-project's node_modules at a location that all portalled packages can find as they