diff --git a/app/lib/LevelLoader.coffee b/app/lib/LevelLoader.coffee
index 3a1bb39c3..24feca40f 100644
--- a/app/lib/LevelLoader.coffee
+++ b/app/lib/LevelLoader.coffee
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ module.exports = class LevelLoader extends CocoClass
     @world.difficulty = @session?.get('state')?.difficulty ? 0
     if @observing
       @world.difficulty = Math.max 0, @world.difficulty - 1  # Show the difficulty they won, not the next one.
-    serializedLevel = @level.serialize(@supermodel, @session, @opponentSession)
+    serializedLevel = @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @opponentSession, @headless, @sessionless}
     @world.loadFromLevel serializedLevel, false
     console.log 'World has been initialized from level loader.' if LOG
 
diff --git a/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee b/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
index 473ea06af..16e48dd6a 100644
--- a/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
+++ b/app/lib/simulator/Simulator.coffee
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ module.exports = class Simulator extends CocoClass
     @levelLoader = null
 
   setupGod: ->
-    @god.setLevel @level.serialize(@supermodel, @session, @otherSession)
+    @god.setLevel @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @otherSession, headless: true, sessionless: false}
     @god.setLevelSessionIDs (session.sessionID for session in @task.getSessions())
     @god.setWorldClassMap @world.classMap
     @god.setGoalManager new GoalManager @world, @level.get('goals'), null, {headless: true}
diff --git a/app/models/Level.coffee b/app/models/Level.coffee
index 8df696750..77c4ff84c 100644
--- a/app/models/Level.coffee
+++ b/app/models/Level.coffee
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ module.exports = class Level extends CocoModel
   urlRoot: '/db/level'
   editableByArtisans: true
 
-  serialize: (supermodel, session, otherSession, cached=false) ->
+  serialize: (options) ->
+    {supermodel, session, otherSession, @headless, @sessionless, cached=false} = options
     o = @denormalize supermodel, session, otherSession # hot spot to optimize
 
     # Figure out Components
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ module.exports = class Level extends CocoModel
         levelThang.components.push placeholderComponent
 
     # Load the user's chosen hero AFTER getting stats from default char
-    if /Hero Placeholder/.test(levelThang.id) and @get('type', true) in ['course']
+    if /Hero Placeholder/.test(levelThang.id) and @get('type', true) in ['course'] and not @headless and not @sessionless
       heroThangType = me.get('heroConfig')?.thangType or ThangType.heroes.captain
       levelThang.thangType = heroThangType if heroThangType
 
diff --git a/app/views/editor/level/thangs/ThangsTabView.coffee b/app/views/editor/level/thangs/ThangsTabView.coffee
index 4dd28b836..1e794a40d 100644
--- a/app/views/editor/level/thangs/ThangsTabView.coffee
+++ b/app/views/editor/level/thangs/ThangsTabView.coffee
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ module.exports = class ThangsTabView extends CocoView
     @level.set 'thangs', thangs
     return if @editThangView
     return if skipSerialization
-    serializedLevel = @level.serialize @supermodel, null, null, true
+    serializedLevel = @level.serialize {@supermodel, session: null, otherSession: null, headless: false, sessionless: true, cached: true}
     try
       @world.loadFromLevel serializedLevel, false
     catch error
diff --git a/app/views/editor/verifier/VerifierTest.coffee b/app/views/editor/verifier/VerifierTest.coffee
index 4fad8d0e3..926ed1dee 100644
--- a/app/views/editor/verifier/VerifierTest.coffee
+++ b/app/views/editor/verifier/VerifierTest.coffee
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ module.exports = class VerifierTest extends CocoClass
     @solution = @levelLoader.session.solution
 
   setupGod: ->
-    @god.setLevel @level.serialize @supermodel, @session
+    @god.setLevel @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, otherSession: null, headless: true, sessionless: false}
     @god.setLevelSessionIDs [@session.id]
     @god.setWorldClassMap @world.classMap
     @god.lastFlagHistory = @session.get('state').flagHistory
diff --git a/app/views/ladder/LadderView.coffee b/app/views/ladder/LadderView.coffee
index b2bb6e9c6..d192a892a 100644
--- a/app/views/ladder/LadderView.coffee
+++ b/app/views/ladder/LadderView.coffee
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ module.exports = class LadderView extends RootView
   initialize: (options, @levelID, @leagueType, @leagueID) ->
     @level = @supermodel.loadModel(new Level(_id: @levelID)).model
     @level.once 'sync', =>
+      return if @destroyed
       @levelDescription = marked(@level.get('description')) if @level.get('description')
       @teams = teamDataFromLevel @level
     @sessions = @supermodel.loadCollection(new LevelSessionsCollection(@levelID), 'your_sessions', {cache: false}).model
diff --git a/app/views/play/SpectateView.coffee b/app/views/play/SpectateView.coffee
index 769f75324..272b69d5b 100644
--- a/app/views/play/SpectateView.coffee
+++ b/app/views/play/SpectateView.coffee
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ module.exports = class SpectateLevelView extends RootView
       @load()
 
   setLevel: (@level, @supermodel) ->
-    serializedLevel = @level.serialize @supermodel, @session, @otherSession
+    serializedLevel = @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @otherSession, headless: false, sessionless: false}
     @god?.setLevel serializedLevel
     if @world
       @world.loadFromLevel serializedLevel, false
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ module.exports = class SpectateLevelView extends RootView
     #at this point, all requisite data is loaded, and sessions are not denormalized
     team = @world.teamForPlayer(0)
     @loadOpponentTeam(team)
-    @god.setLevel @level.serialize @supermodel, @session, @otherSession
+    @god.setLevel @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @otherSession, headless: false, sessionless: false}
     @god.setLevelSessionIDs if @otherSession then [@session.id, @otherSession.id] else [@session.id]
     @god.setWorldClassMap @world.classMap
     @setTeam team
diff --git a/app/views/play/level/PlayLevelView.coffee b/app/views/play/level/PlayLevelView.coffee
index ef48795d7..45340f0d7 100644
--- a/app/views/play/level/PlayLevelView.coffee
+++ b/app/views/play/level/PlayLevelView.coffee
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ module.exports = class PlayLevelView extends RootView
     @supermodel.collections = givenSupermodel.collections
     @supermodel.shouldSaveBackups = givenSupermodel.shouldSaveBackups
 
-    serializedLevel = @level.serialize @supermodel, @session, @otherSession
+    serializedLevel = @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @otherSession, headless: false, sessionless: false}
     @god?.setLevel serializedLevel
     if @world
       @world.loadFromLevel serializedLevel, false
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ module.exports = class PlayLevelView extends RootView
       @session.set 'multiplayer', false
 
   setupGod: ->
-    @god.setLevel @level.serialize @supermodel, @session, @otherSession
+    @god.setLevel @level.serialize {@supermodel, @session, @otherSession, headless: false, sessionless: false}
     @god.setLevelSessionIDs if @otherSession then [@session.id, @otherSession.id] else [@session.id]
     @god.setWorldClassMap @world.classMap