diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4de0d3367c..b30a529614 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -9255,6 +9255,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "parking_lot 0.12.1",
  "rand 0.8.5",
  "rand_chacha 0.3.1",
+ "rayon",
  "sc-client-api",
  "sc-consensus",
  "sc-consensus-slots",
diff --git a/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/Cargo.toml b/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/Cargo.toml
index 5dd9a97dd9..e6af48e259 100644
--- a/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ parking_lot = "0.12.1"
 prometheus-endpoint = { package = "substrate-prometheus-endpoint", git = "https://github.com/subspace/polkadot-sdk", rev = "20be5f33a3d2b3f4b31a894f9829184b29fba3ef", version = "0.10.0-dev" }
 rand = "0.8.5"
 rand_chacha = "0.3.1"
+rayon = "1.7.0"
 schnorrkel = "0.9.1"
 sc-client-api = { version = "4.0.0-dev", git = "https://github.com/subspace/polkadot-sdk", rev = "20be5f33a3d2b3f4b31a894f9829184b29fba3ef" }
 sc-consensus = { version = "0.10.0-dev", git = "https://github.com/subspace/polkadot-sdk", rev = "20be5f33a3d2b3f4b31a894f9829184b29fba3ef" }
diff --git a/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/src/archiver.rs b/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/src/archiver.rs
index 4e74a6ac37..815c0c8472 100644
--- a/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/src/archiver.rs
+++ b/crates/sc-consensus-subspace/src/archiver.rs
@@ -25,10 +25,12 @@ use crate::{
 };
 use codec::{Decode, Encode};
 use futures::StreamExt;
-use log::{debug, error, info, warn};
+use log::{debug, info, warn};
 use parking_lot::Mutex;
 use rand::prelude::*;
 use rand_chacha::ChaCha8Rng;
+use rayon::prelude::*;
+use rayon::ThreadPoolBuilder;
 use sc_client_api::{AuxStore, Backend as BackendT, BlockBackend, Finalizer, LockImportRun};
 use sc_telemetry::{telemetry, TelemetryHandle, CONSENSUS_INFO};
 use sc_utils::mpsc::tracing_unbounded;
@@ -48,6 +50,9 @@ use subspace_core_primitives::crypto::kzg::Kzg;
 use subspace_core_primitives::objects::BlockObjectMapping;
 use subspace_core_primitives::{BlockNumber, RecordedHistorySegment, SegmentHeader, SegmentIndex};
 
+/// This corresponds to default value of `--max-runtime-instances` in Substrate
+const BLOCKS_TO_ARCHIVE_CONCURRENCY: usize = 8;
+
 #[derive(Debug)]
 struct SegmentHeadersStoreInner<AS> {
     aux_store: Arc<AS>,
@@ -78,7 +83,7 @@ where
     const INITIAL_CACHE_CAPACITY: usize = 1_000;
 
     /// Create new instance
-    pub fn new(aux_store: Arc<AS>) -> Result<Self, sp_blockchain::Error> {
+    pub fn new(aux_store: Arc<AS>) -> sp_blockchain::Result<Self> {
         let mut cache = Vec::with_capacity(Self::INITIAL_CACHE_CAPACITY);
         let mut next_key_index = 0;
 
@@ -121,7 +126,7 @@ where
     pub fn add_segment_headers(
         &self,
         segment_headers: &[SegmentHeader],
-    ) -> Result<(), sp_blockchain::Error> {
+    ) -> sp_blockchain::Result<()> {
         let mut maybe_last_segment_index = self.max_segment_index();
         let mut segment_headers_to_store = Vec::with_capacity(segment_headers.len());
         for segment_header in segment_headers {
@@ -201,139 +206,63 @@ where
 /// https://github.com/paritytech/substrate/discussions/14359
 pub(crate) const FINALIZATION_DEPTH_IN_SEGMENTS: usize = 5;
 
-fn find_last_archived_block<Block, Client>(
+fn find_last_archived_block<Block, Client, AS>(
     client: &Client,
-    best_block_hash: Block::Hash,
-) -> Option<(SegmentHeader, Block, BlockObjectMapping)>
+    segment_headers_store: &SegmentHeadersStore<AS>,
+) -> sp_blockchain::Result<Option<(SegmentHeader, Block, BlockObjectMapping)>>
 where
     Block: BlockT,
     Client: ProvideRuntimeApi<Block> + BlockBackend<Block> + HeaderBackend<Block>,
     Client::Api: SubspaceApi<Block, FarmerPublicKey> + ObjectsApi<Block>,
+    AS: AuxStore,
 {
-    let mut block_to_check = best_block_hash;
-    let last_segment_header = 'outer: loop {
-        let block = client
-            .block(block_to_check)
-            .expect("Older blocks should always exist")
-            .expect("Older blocks should always exist");
-
-        for extrinsic in block.block.extrinsics() {
-            match client
-                .runtime_api()
-                .extract_segment_headers(block_to_check, extrinsic)
-            {
-                Ok(Some(segment_headers)) => {
-                    break 'outer segment_headers.into_iter().last()?;
-                }
-                Ok(None) => {
-                    // Some other extrinsic, ignore
-                }
-                Err(error) => {
-                    // TODO: Probably light client, can this even happen?
-                    panic!(
-                        "Failed to make runtime API call during last archived block search: \
-                        {error:?}"
-                    );
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        let parent_block_hash = *block.block.header().parent_hash();
-
-        if parent_block_hash == Block::Hash::default() {
-            // Genesis block, nothing else to check
-            return None;
-        }
-
-        block_to_check = parent_block_hash;
-    };
-
-    let last_archived_block_number = last_segment_header.last_archived_block().number;
-
-    let last_archived_block = loop {
-        let block = client
-            .block(block_to_check)
-            .expect("Older blocks must always exist")
-            .expect("Older blocks must always exist")
-            .block;
-
-        if *block.header().number() == last_archived_block_number.into() {
-            break block;
-        }
-
-        block_to_check = *block.header().parent_hash();
+    let Some(max_segment_index) = segment_headers_store.max_segment_index() else {
+        return Ok(None);
     };
 
-    let last_archived_block_hash = block_to_check;
-
-    let block_object_mappings = client
-        .runtime_api()
-        .validated_object_call_hashes(last_archived_block_hash)
-        .and_then(|calls| {
-            client.runtime_api().extract_block_object_mapping(
-                *last_archived_block.header().parent_hash(),
-                last_archived_block.clone(),
-                calls,
-            )
-        })
-        .unwrap_or_default();
+    if max_segment_index == SegmentIndex::ZERO {
+        // Just genesis, nothing else to check
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
 
-    Some((
-        last_segment_header,
-        last_archived_block,
-        block_object_mappings,
-    ))
-}
+    for segment_header in (SegmentIndex::ZERO..=max_segment_index)
+        .rev()
+        .filter_map(|segment_index| segment_headers_store.get_segment_header(segment_index))
+    {
+        let last_archived_block_number = segment_header.last_archived_block().number;
+        let Some(last_archived_block_hash) = client.hash(last_archived_block_number.into())? else {
+            // This block number is not in our chain yet (segment headers store may know about more
+            // blocks in existence than is currently imported)
+            continue;
+        };
 
-struct BlockHashesToArchive<Block>
-where
-    Block: BlockT,
-{
-    block_hashes: Vec<Block::Hash>,
-    best_archived: Option<(Block::Hash, NumberFor<Block>)>,
-}
+        let last_segment_header = segment_header;
 
-fn block_hashes_to_archive<Block, Client>(
-    client: &Client,
-    best_block_hash: Block::Hash,
-    blocks_to_archive_from: NumberFor<Block>,
-    blocks_to_archive_to: NumberFor<Block>,
-) -> BlockHashesToArchive<Block>
-where
-    Block: BlockT,
-    Client: HeaderBackend<Block>,
-{
-    let block_range = blocks_to_archive_from..=blocks_to_archive_to;
-    let mut block_hashes = Vec::new();
-    let mut block_hash_to_check = best_block_hash;
-    let mut best_archived = None;
-
-    loop {
-        // TODO: `Error` here must be handled instead
-        let header = client
-            .header(block_hash_to_check)
-            .expect("Parent block must exist; qed")
-            .expect("Parent block must exist; qed");
-
-        if block_range.contains(header.number()) {
-            block_hashes.push(block_hash_to_check);
-
-            if best_archived.is_none() {
-                best_archived.replace((block_hash_to_check, *header.number()));
-            }
-        }
+        let last_archived_block = client
+            .block(last_archived_block_hash)?
+            .expect("Last archived block must always be retrievable; qed")
+            .block;
 
-        if *header.number() == blocks_to_archive_from {
-            break;
-        }
+        let block_object_mappings = client
+            .runtime_api()
+            .validated_object_call_hashes(last_archived_block_hash)
+            .and_then(|calls| {
+                client.runtime_api().extract_block_object_mapping(
+                    *last_archived_block.header().parent_hash(),
+                    last_archived_block.clone(),
+                    calls,
+                )
+            })
+            .unwrap_or_default();
 
-        block_hash_to_check = *header.parent_hash();
+        return Ok(Some((
+            last_segment_header,
+            last_archived_block,
+            block_object_mappings,
+        )));
     }
 
-    BlockHashesToArchive {
-        block_hashes,
-        best_archived,
-    }
+    Ok(None)
 }
 
 /// Derive genesis segment on demand, returns `Ok(None)` in case genesis block was already pruned
@@ -414,12 +343,11 @@ where
 }
 
 fn initialize_archiver<Block, Client, AS>(
-    best_block_hash: Block::Hash,
     best_block_number: NumberFor<Block>,
     segment_headers_store: &SegmentHeadersStore<AS>,
     subspace_link: &SubspaceLink<Block>,
     client: &Client,
-) -> InitializedArchiver<Block>
+) -> sp_blockchain::Result<InitializedArchiver<Block>>
 where
     Block: BlockT,
     Client: ProvideRuntimeApi<Block> + BlockBackend<Block> + HeaderBackend<Block> + AuxStore,
@@ -430,7 +358,7 @@ where
         .expect("Must always be able to get chain constants")
         .confirmation_depth_k();
 
-    let maybe_last_archived_block = find_last_archived_block(client, best_block_hash);
+    let maybe_last_archived_block = find_last_archived_block(client, segment_headers_store)?;
     let have_last_segment_header = maybe_last_archived_block.is_some();
     let mut best_archived_block = None;
 
@@ -505,40 +433,60 @@ where
                 blocks_to_archive_to,
             );
 
-            let block_hashes_to_archive = block_hashes_to_archive(
-                client,
-                best_block_hash,
-                blocks_to_archive_from.into(),
-                blocks_to_archive_to.into(),
-            );
-            best_archived_block = block_hashes_to_archive.best_archived;
-            let block_hashes_to_archive = block_hashes_to_archive.block_hashes;
-
-            for block_hash_to_archive in block_hashes_to_archive.into_iter().rev() {
-                let block = client
-                    .block(block_hash_to_archive)
-                    .expect("Older block by number must always exist")
-                    .expect("Older block by number must always exist")
-                    .block;
-                let block_number_to_archive = *block.header().number();
+            let thread_pool = ThreadPoolBuilder::new()
+                .num_threads(BLOCKS_TO_ARCHIVE_CONCURRENCY)
+                .build()
+                .map_err(|error| {
+                    sp_blockchain::Error::Backend(format!(
+                        "Failed to create thread pool for archiver initialization: {error}"
+                    ))
+                })?;
+            // We need to limit number of threads to avoid running out of WASM instances
+            let blocks_to_archive = thread_pool.install(|| {
+                (blocks_to_archive_from..=blocks_to_archive_to)
+                    .into_par_iter()
+                    .map_init(
+                        || client.runtime_api(),
+                        |runtime_api, block_number| {
+                            let block_hash = client
+                                .hash(block_number.into())?
+                                .expect("All blocks since last archived must be present; qed");
+
+                            let block = client
+                                .block(block_hash)?
+                                .expect("All blocks since last archived must be present; qed")
+                                .block;
+
+                            let block_object_mappings = runtime_api
+                                .validated_object_call_hashes(block_hash)
+                                .and_then(|calls| {
+                                    client.runtime_api().extract_block_object_mapping(
+                                        *block.header().parent_hash(),
+                                        block.clone(),
+                                        calls,
+                                    )
+                                })
+                                .unwrap_or_default();
+
+                            Ok((block, block_object_mappings))
+                        },
+                    )
+                    .collect::<sp_blockchain::Result<Vec<_>>>()
+            })?;
 
-                let block_object_mappings = client
-                    .runtime_api()
-                    .validated_object_call_hashes(block_hash_to_archive)
-                    .and_then(|calls| {
-                        client.runtime_api().extract_block_object_mapping(
-                            *block.header().parent_hash(),
-                            block.clone(),
-                            calls,
-                        )
-                    })
-                    .unwrap_or_default();
+            best_archived_block = blocks_to_archive
+                .last()
+                .map(|(block, _block_object_mappings)| (block.hash(), *block.header().number()));
+
+            for (block, block_object_mappings) in blocks_to_archive {
+                let block_number_to_archive = *block.header().number();
 
                 let encoded_block = if block_number_to_archive.is_zero() {
                     encode_genesis_block(&block)
                 } else {
                     block.encode()
                 };
+
                 debug!(
                     target: "subspace",
                     "Encoded block {} has size of {:.2} kiB",
@@ -556,11 +504,7 @@ where
                 older_archived_segments.extend(archived_segments);
 
                 if !new_segment_headers.is_empty() {
-                    if let Err(error) =
-                        segment_headers_store.add_segment_headers(&new_segment_headers)
-                    {
-                        panic!("Failed to store segment headers: {error}");
-                    }
+                    segment_headers_store.add_segment_headers(&new_segment_headers)?;
                     // Set list of expected segment headers for the block where we expect segment
                     // header extrinsic to be included
                     subspace_link.segment_headers.lock().put(
@@ -578,13 +522,13 @@ where
         }
     }
 
-    InitializedArchiver {
+    Ok(InitializedArchiver {
         confirmation_depth_k,
         archiver,
         older_archived_segments,
         best_archived_block: best_archived_block
             .expect("Must always set if there is no logical error; qed"),
-    }
+    })
 }
 
 fn finalize_block<Block, Backend, Client>(
@@ -603,7 +547,7 @@ fn finalize_block<Block, Backend, Client>(
     }
     // We don't have anything useful to do with this result yet, the only source of errors was
     // logged already inside
-    let _result: Result<_, sp_blockchain::Error> = client.lock_import_and_run(|import_op| {
+    let _result: sp_blockchain::Result<_> = client.lock_import_and_run(|import_op| {
         // Ideally some handle to a synchronization oracle would be used to avoid unconditionally
         // notifying.
         client
@@ -637,7 +581,7 @@ pub fn create_subspace_archiver<Block, Backend, Client, AS, SO>(
     client: Arc<Client>,
     sync_oracle: SubspaceSyncOracle<SO>,
     telemetry: Option<TelemetryHandle>,
-) -> impl Future<Output = ()> + Send + 'static
+) -> sp_blockchain::Result<impl Future<Output = sp_blockchain::Result<()>> + Send + 'static>
 where
     Block: BlockT,
     Backend: BackendT<Block>,
@@ -655,7 +599,6 @@ where
     SO: SyncOracle + Send + Sync + 'static,
 {
     let client_info = client.info();
-    let best_block_hash = client_info.best_hash;
     let best_block_number = client_info.best_number;
 
     let InitializedArchiver {
@@ -664,12 +607,11 @@ where
         older_archived_segments,
         best_archived_block: (mut best_archived_block_hash, mut best_archived_block_number),
     } = initialize_archiver(
-        best_block_hash,
         best_block_number,
         &segment_headers_store,
         subspace_link,
         client.as_ref(),
-    );
+    )?;
 
     let mut block_importing_notification_stream = subspace_link
         .block_importing_notification_stream
@@ -678,7 +620,7 @@ where
         subspace_link.archived_segment_notification_sender.clone();
     let segment_headers = Arc::clone(&subspace_link.segment_headers);
 
-    async move {
+    Ok(async move {
         // Farmers may have not received all previous segments, send them now.
         for archived_segment in older_archived_segments {
             send_archived_segment_notification(
@@ -714,11 +656,9 @@ where
             let block = client
                 .block(
                     client
-                        .hash(block_number_to_archive)
-                        .expect("Older block by number must always exist")
+                        .hash(block_number_to_archive)?
                         .expect("Older block by number must always exist"),
-                )
-                .expect("Older block by number must always exist")
+                )?
                 .expect("Older block by number must always exist")
                 .block;
 
@@ -733,19 +673,19 @@ where
             );
 
             if parent_block_hash != best_archived_block_hash {
-                error!(
-                    target: "subspace",
+                let error = format!(
                     "Attempt to switch to a different fork beyond archiving depth, \
                     can't do it: parent block hash {}, best archived block hash {}",
-                    parent_block_hash,
-                    best_archived_block_hash
+                    parent_block_hash, best_archived_block_hash
                 );
-                return;
+                return Err(sp_blockchain::Error::Consensus(sp_consensus::Error::Other(
+                    error.into(),
+                )));
             }
 
             best_archived_block_hash = block_hash_to_archive;
 
-            let block_object_mappings = match client
+            let block_object_mappings = client
                 .runtime_api()
                 .validated_object_call_hashes(block_hash_to_archive)
                 .and_then(|calls| {
@@ -754,16 +694,12 @@ where
                         block.clone(),
                         calls,
                     )
-                }) {
-                Ok(block_object_mappings) => block_object_mappings,
-                Err(error) => {
-                    error!(
-                        target: "subspace",
-                        "Failed to retrieve block object mappings: {error}"
-                    );
-                    return;
-                }
-            };
+                })
+                .map_err(|error| {
+                    sp_blockchain::Error::Application(
+                        format!("Failed to retrieve block object mappings: {error}").into(),
+                    )
+                })?;
 
             let encoded_block = block.encode();
             debug!(
@@ -781,15 +717,7 @@ where
             ) {
                 let segment_header = archived_segment.segment_header;
 
-                if let Err(error) =
-                    segment_headers_store.add_segment_headers(slice::from_ref(&segment_header))
-                {
-                    error!(
-                        target: "subspace",
-                        "Failed to store segment headers: {error}"
-                    );
-                    return;
-                }
+                segment_headers_store.add_segment_headers(slice::from_ref(&segment_header))?;
 
                 send_archived_segment_notification(
                     &archived_segment_notification_sender,
@@ -815,8 +743,7 @@ where
 
                 if let Some(block_number_to_finalize) = maybe_block_number_to_finalize {
                     let block_hash_to_finalize = client
-                        .hash(block_number_to_finalize.into())
-                        .expect("Block about to be finalized must always exist")
+                        .hash(block_number_to_finalize.into())?
                         .expect("Block about to be finalized must always exist");
                     finalize_block(
                         client.as_ref(),
@@ -827,7 +754,9 @@ where
                 }
             }
         }
-    }
+
+        Ok(())
+    })
 }
 
 async fn send_archived_segment_notification(
diff --git a/crates/subspace-service/src/lib.rs b/crates/subspace-service/src/lib.rs
index 936b2a38cb..65535c61ba 100644
--- a/crates/subspace-service/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/subspace-service/src/lib.rs
@@ -865,11 +865,20 @@ where
         client.clone(),
         sync_oracle.clone(),
         telemetry.as_ref().map(|telemetry| telemetry.handle()),
-    );
+    )
+    .map_err(ServiceError::Client)?;
 
     task_manager
         .spawn_essential_handle()
-        .spawn_essential_blocking("subspace-archiver", None, Box::pin(subspace_archiver));
+        .spawn_essential_blocking(
+            "subspace-archiver",
+            None,
+            Box::pin(async move {
+                if let Err(error) = subspace_archiver.await {
+                    error!(%error, "Archiver exited with error");
+                }
+            }),
+        );
 
     if config.enable_subspace_block_relay {
         network_wrapper.set(network_service.clone());