Major Malfunction
Major Malfunction is a Halo-based machinima comedy miniseries created by Syp The Mighty, Chron Aldazaar, MozzyWozzy, and LizDanceTV as Steel Lion Media. It was directed by Syp and written by Chron Aldazaar, MozzyWozzy, LizDanceTV, and Syp. It centered on the guards stationed on Outpost High Ground as they're ambushed by an unknown attacker and are forced to flee the base.
Its events transpire over the course of a single day, just before WarGames. The At The Movies re-release of this series premiered on February 8, 2017, nearly five years after it ended.
Characters
High Ground Guards
- Captain Jack O'Brien (4 episodes)
- Corporal Linda Kelen (4 episodes)
- Private Frank Collins (4 episodes)
- Private Diego Jones (4 episodes)
Episodes
| # | Thumbnail | Episode Title | Release Date | Running Time | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0. | 
|
Major Malfunction: Episode 0 | July 30, 2012 (original airing) October 27, 2012 (re-release) |
1:15 | The prologue to the original Major Malfunction. |
| 1. | 
|
Major Malfunction: Episode 1 | August 1, 2012 (original airing) October 27, 2012 (re-release) |
2:40 | The first episode of the original Major Malfunction. |
| 2. | 
|
Major Malfunction: Episode 2 | August 6, 2012 (original airing) October 27, 2012 (re-release) |
6:38 | The second episode of the original Major Malfunction. |
| 3. | 
|
Major Malfunction: Episode 3 | August 15, 2012 (original airing) October 28, 2012 (re-release) |
6:33 | The third, and final, episode of the original Major Malfunction. |
Trivia
- The title of this series comes from the question "What's your major malfunction, numbnuts?!", exclaimed by R. Lee Ermey's character Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket.
- The logo for this series was designed by Corvaeraas, another member of Steel Lion Media and friend of Syp The Mighty.
- A reboot of this series was produced by Firelight Studios around the same time as Annoyances in 2012, now called Major Malfunction II, that featured the same characters but Jones now wore an ODST helmet and O'Brien dies in the third episode. It was left unfinished, though Syp did make a joke continuation of it in 2024.
- If the series had continued, there were plans for Corvaeraas (voice of the Brigadier) to voice a character named "Payne" while Syp's other friend Blankslate_GG (current voice of O'Brien) would voice a character name "Jasper".
- This series reuses songs originally composed for Annoyances and later used in Classic Season 2.
- Unlike other Guard Duty-related series, which are hosted on the Spite Box channel, individual episodes of Major Malfunction are instead archived on Syp's personal channel.
- Its At The Movies re-release, however, is on the Spite Box channel.
- As director, lead writer, and co-creator, Syp retained ownership of the series after Steel Lion Media became defunct.
- Over ten years after this series ended on a cliffhanger, the final episodes of WarGames would reveal the fates of the guards here as well as that it was The Damned who ambushed them. This retroactively made Major Malfunction canonical to Guard Duty and later retained for the main Guard Duty series, despite this not being the intention when Major Malfunction was produced.
- Syp would edit the Outpost High Ground scenes of WarGames into a fourth episode of Major Malfunction, posting it on her personal channel.
Watch
| Guard Duty Episodes | |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Wish • HQ • Fax • Machine • Replacement • Dysfunction • Invader • Stashed • Overture • Retrograde |
| Sides | Long Story, But... • Team Cosmo! • Listen Up! • Stay Tuned |
| Classic |
Classic Season 1: Talking • Something • The Point • The Transfer • Infinity |
| Related | At The Movies • Sandguardians • BattleDudes |