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The Guild is an award-winning online sitcom about the lives of an online guild "The Knights of Good", with each webisode 3–8 minutes long. The first episode was posted July 27, 2007. It is broadcast on The Guild ' s official website, on iTunes as a podcast, effinfunny.com and YouTube, and is available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The show follows the life of Codex, the healer of The Knights of Good, whose online gaming is beginning to have adverse effects on her real life.

The Guild is written by Felicia Day (who stars as Codex), directed by Jane Selle Morgan and Greg Benson (season 1) and Sean Becker (season 2), and produced by Jane Selle Morgan and Kim Evey. Production of 12 new episodes for season 3 began on June 13, 2009 and ended July 11, 2009.

Joss Whedon credits The Guild as one of the inspirations for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which also starred Day.

Synopsis
The show follows the life of Codex (Felicia Day), a member of the Knights of Good, a guild in a fictional, unnamed MMORPG. The theme of the show revolves around Codex attempting to lead a normal life, although she is aware that her online gaming is slowly taking over. After being "dumped" by her therapist, Codex's life changes when one of the guild members, the Warlock Zaboo (Sandeep Parikh) suddenly arrives at her house. Zaboo has misunderstood some of the online interaction he's had with Codex, and assumes the two are dating. Codex's life becomes more complicated when the guild's rogue, Bladezz (Vincent Caso), gets banned from the game for behavior issues. In an attempt to solve both problems, Codex proposes the guild meet in person to discuss what to do about Bladezz. At a restaraunt, the guild members finally meet each other in person: the guild leader Vork (Jeff Lewis), the scatter-brained mother of three and guild mage Clara (Robin Thorsen), and the cynical and anti-social Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda). Bladezz crashes the meeting and reveals that he possesses the guild's bank, and goes further by posting an obscene video of the guild's avatars on the game's forums. Matters only get worse for Codex when Zaboo's overcontrolling mother arrives at her house, looking for Zaboo (who's been microchipped). After stopping Zaboo's suicide attempt, Codex and Zaboo discover a way to beat Bladezz. Zaboo discovers Bladezz's secret modeling career, and the guild threatens to expose him. Bladezz relents, surrenduring the guild bank and planning to quit. The guild then bands together to help Zaboo break from his mother, with Bladezz returning at the last minute to deliver the "killing blow." Bladezz is welcomed back to the guild, and Zaboo is free from his mother.

Codex must then deal with several changes. Zaboo's mother managed to get her evicted from her apartment, so she is forced to move, and Zaboo moves in with her. Codex manages to convince Zaboo that he must "man up" before they could ever date. Zaboo moves in with Vork to carry out his efforts. Codex is introduced to her attractive neighbor, Wade Wei (Fernando Chien), who is a stuntman. After some advice from the girls of the guild, Codex decides to persue Wade. At the same time, Tink has been leading Bladezz into believing that they have a chance together if he does various tasks for her, including homework and in-game item farming, as well as buying and mailing her various items in real life. Also at the same time, Clara has made another character and is relentlessly hunting Vork in revenge for an item she missed out on due to his policies. Server maintainance takes the game offline for a night, so the guild members resort to girls and guys nights. Girls night turns into a party at Codex's, including Wade and his roommate, Riley (Michele Boyd), who Codex originally thought was his girlfriend. With encouragement from Clara and Tink, Codex makes a move, but fails miserably. Man night is far more unsuccessful, eventually leading to Bladezz encrypting Vork's senile neighbor's wifi (which he'd been stealing), forcing them to play a game offline. Zaboo gets a message that Clara and Tink are hanging out with Codex, attempting to get her laid. Zaboo panics, and forces Bladezz and Vork to crash girls night with him. Zaboo discovers Wade comforting Codex, and a fight ensues. Zaboo loses miserably, but Wade is impressed by his effort. Wade backs down, telling Zaboo he can have Codex. However, Codex drives Zaboo off, telling him they never have a chance. Meanwhile, Tink has done the same to Bladezz, and for revenge, Bladezz deletes her character. Vork discovers that Clara was the player who was killing him, and becomes disheartened at his failure as a guild leader. As the season ends, the guild is falling apart.

Codex hopes the release of the game's expansion back will bring the guild back together, but the arrival of the top guild on the server, the Axis of Anarchy, threatens to drive them further apart. After a failed attempt to regain their front line postition at the game store from the Anarchists, Vork resigns as guild leader, and Codex is nominated. Tink quits the guild, and joins the Axis of Anarchy, using her new friends to take revenge on Bladezz. Vork decides to go soul searching, stealing wifi wherever he can. Zaboo is now dating Riley, though her overcontrolling and dominating habits cause Codex to worry about Zaboo. Clara's husband, George, aka Mr. Wiggly, joins the guild to replace Tink, though his lack of gaming experience only makes matters worse. All the while, the Axis of Anarchy is doing what they can to make the guild's lives, especially Bladezz's, as miserable as possible.

Knights of Good

 * Codex - Real name is Cyd Sherman. She is the Cleric and current leader. Codex was a child prodigy violinist, but now she is older and is at a crossroads in her life. Her father and ex-boyfriend are both gay and she has a tendency not to leave the house for weeks at a time.  In the first episode, she is trying to control the amount of time she spends online per day but ultimately fails, which leads to her therapist "breaking up" with her. Codex is played by Felicia Day, who is an accomplished violinist and briefly plays in Season 2.
 * Zaboo - Real name is Sujan Balakrishnan Goldberg. He is the Warlock of the guild. He shows up at Codex's house because he thinks they are dating. Zaboo is a HinJew, a combination of Hindu and Jew.  He likes to work with Photoshop and created a picture of Zaboo and Codex with her DMV photo.  He has a tendency to turn nouns into verbs, such as "photoshopp'd" and "doorstepp'd".  Played by Sandeep Parikh, Indian-American writer, director, actor and producer of comedy and founder of www.effinfunny.com.
 * Bladezz - Real name is Simon. Bladezz is the guild Rogue.  Clara describes him as the guild's "retarded cousin".  He has a tendency to hit on all the female guildmates.  He is still in high school and is worried about being sent to military school.  To save for college, Bladezz works secretly as a model under the name "Finn Smulders" and was humiliated when his guildmates found out. Played by Vincent Caso.
 * Vork - Real name is Herman Holden. He is the former guild leader and Fighter. He enjoys managing the guild and budgeting.  He took care of his grandfather full-time until the previous summer when he died.  Vork still receives his grandfather's social security checks in the mail, which is how he supports himself.  He does not need electricity as he keeps food refrigerated with ice purchased with food stamps and uses his senile neighbor's wifi.  Played by Jeff Lewis, an accomplished character actor and comedian.


 * Clara - Real name is Clara Beane. She is the guild's Mage. Clara is a stay-at-home mother of three and ex-cheerleader.  Her three children are all young, with the youngest still breastfeeding.  Clara is a little scatterbrained and an irresponsible mother, doing things like leaving her children in the car while at the guild meeting. She does not appear to be particularly intelligent, as shown by her belief that trigonometry is a kind of poetry. Played by Robin Thorsen.
 * Mr. Wiggly - Real name is George Beane and he is a hunter. He is Clara's husband and was chosen by Clara to replace Tink. In an act of desperation, Codex accepted him into the guild. He is clearly inexperienced in gaming, mentioning that the last game he played was Pong and showing amusement about the game being in color. He's been handling most of the consequences caused by Clara's gaming addiction, though he recently hit his wit's end. Clara hopes his presence in the guild will help bring them together. Mr. Wiggly is played by Brett Sheridan.

Former members

 * Tinkerballa - Real name is Tinkerballa (as far as the guild knows). She was the guild's ranger until she left. Tink is a pre-med student (discovered by Zaboo when he was searching for her contact info), and distances herself from the guild trying not to let them know anything about her personal life - at one point she panicked when she realized Codex might know her real name.  When asked what she does for a living she gives the plot to Ugly Betty.  She is known for her almost constant need to be entertained by video games, playing a Nintendo DS while raiding and at the meeting, though this has been toned down in recent episodes. She left Knights of Good at the end of Episode 2 of Season 3, and joined up with Axis of Anarchy shortly after. Played by Amy Okuda.



Axis of Anarchy

 * Fawkes - Like the rest of Axis of Anarchy, Fawkes first appeared in Episode 1 of Season 3. He is the leader of the guild.  He wears a kilt and speaks with a cool, calm, almost polite tone, though he is prone to angered outbursts when online.  He seems to be quite educated as well, as he is constantly quoting philosophers, authors, or figures of history. He fully embraces the anarchist fundamentals of the guild, showing numerous times that he does not believe in following rules, unless it benefits him.  Because of their top ranking, he expects constant perfection from his guild.  Fawkes is played by Wil Wheaton.
 * Venom - Until Tink joined up, Venom was the only female in the guild. She is in a wheelchair, but seems to have no problem exploiting her handicap for personal gain.  She has a violent attitude and doesn't seem to like her fellow guild members very much.  She may be slightly mentally unstable, as she threatened to set her apartment on fire and roast alive in it if the guild didn't down the boss they were working on.  It is revealed in Episode 7 of Season 3 that she's an art teacher, and arranged to substitute teach at Bladezz's high school.  Played by Teal Sherer.
 * Bruiser - Based on dialogue, he is the guild's healer. It is revealed in Episode 7 of Season 3 that he's a police officer.  Bruiser is probably the largest, loudest,  and most vulgar of the Axis of Anarchy members.  Played by J. Teddy Garces.
 * Kwan - An Asian member of the guild, Kwan doesn't speak English, and has an assistant who massages his hands and translates for him. He seems to be able to understand some English, and it's possible that Fawkes can understand some of what he says (as his translator does not translate what Kwan says into English).  Played by Alexander Yi.
 * Valkerie - The attempted joker of the guild, though his jokes seem to be funny only to himself. Based on dialogue with his off-screen boss, he works for some form of design or decorating firm - he claimed to be dealing with a client whose damask came in the wrong color.  He also has web skills, claiming to be the one who created FinnSmulders.com.  Played by Mike Rose.

Other characters

 * Dena - First appeared in Episode 5 of Season 1. She is Bladezz' precocious little sister.  She's first seen when she arrives at the table at Cheesybeards, just after Bladezz has informed the Guildies that he is in control of all the Guild gold and equipment, ruining his big exit.  She is also seen famously beating Bladezz in Episode 6 of Season 2 when he makes crooked hearts on the handbag he's crafting for Tink.  Dena is played by Tara Caso, the real life sister of Vincent Caso who plays Bladezz.
 * Zaboo's Mother - First appeared in at the end of Episode 6 of Season 1. She is a living incarnation of the overcontrolling mother.  She had Zaboo microchipped to keep track of his movements, punched Codex the first time they met (thinking she liked Zaboo and was trying to take him away from her), controls Zaboo through a series of probably false ailments and had Codex thrown out of her apartment for helping her son break free of her. She is played by Viji Nathan.
 * Wade Wei - First appearing in Season 2, Wade is Codex's attractive neighbor and brief love interest. Not a gamer himself, Wade works as a martial arts stunt double, who comes into contact with Codex after she accidentally pushes him down some stairs. He's fond of showing off his moves and flirting with Codex, making her extremely nervous and at one point Codex vomits on him, after seeing him in makeup from a movie he is playing in. He harbors a revulsion for gamers, expressing his desire to punch them. Ironically, he describes Codex's gaming-derived knowledge of weaponry as "sexy." Wade is played by Fernando Chien.
 * Riley - First appeared at the end of Episode 8 of Season 2 and referred to as "stupid tall hot girl" by Codex. Originally thought to be Wade's girlfriend, it is revealed that she is in fact his roommate.  She is an FPS girl and a ranked Halo player.  Riley has a thing for underdogs, and tends to be dominant in a relationship as seen with Zaboo. She appears to engage in BDSM: it is implied she made Zaboo wear a maid's outift, whipped him with a mouse cord and has been seen to tie him up on some occasions. At first she was thrilled to meet Codex, another girl gamer, until she learned that Codex was an MMORPG player.  This parodies the normal relationship between MOG and MMORPG players.  Riley is played by Michele Boyd.

History
The Guild was inspired and written by Day, an avid gamer, who plays World of Warcraft in between acting roles in several US television shows and movies. After two years of video game addiction, Day decided to make something productive from her experiences and wrote the series as a sitcom pilot. The series was purposely kept generic to avoid copyright problems and to appeal to a wider audience of massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) fans. Day also hoped to show that the stereotypical man living in his parents' basement is not the only kind of gamer. Believing the niche setting wouldn't appeal to television marketing wonks, she decided to produce the series online with Jane Selle Morgan and Kim Evey. Day already knew Sandeep Parikh and Jeff Lewis from Empty Stage, a Los Angeles-based comedy theatre, and their roles were written for them. The rest of the cast was filled through auditions. After filming the first three episodes in two and a half days, they ran out of money. After putting a donation link to PayPal, the fourth and fifth episodes were almost solely financed by donations. The official website contains 22 episodes, several gag reels, two Christmas specials, and a halloween special

Reception
The Guild has been viewed by many people on YouTube, beating out most other online shows that are featured on the website in terms of viewership and popular and critical acclaim. The series has won several awards since its launch, and in February 2009, Rolling Stone named it one of "The Net's Best Serial Shows".

Awards

 * 2007 YouTube Video Award – Best Series.
 * 2008 South by Southwest Greenlight Award – Best Original Production.
 * 2008 Yahoo! Video Award – Best Series.
 * 2009 Streamy Awards – Best Comedy Web Series, Best Ensemble Cast in a Web Series, Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series (Felicia Day).

Season 1
First aired on July 27, 2007, The Guild ran until summer of 2008. The season consisted of 10 episodes and two specials (including a Christmas special). The show was originally the pilot episode for a TV series, although changed in format and script to fit a web-series; the final episodes were not part of the original pilot for the TV series. The DVD is now available for purchase on the show's official web site.

Season 2
On Monday November 24, 2008, Microsoft announced that they had signed an exclusive distribution deal with Guild creator Felicia Day. All 12 season 2 episodes of The Guild will premiere on Xbox 360, Zune, and MSN with a four week delay for release on The Guild ' s official website. The Microsoft releases will be free, but supported by Sprint advertisements and product placements. Notable is the fact that creator Felicia Day retains the IP rights to the series, with Microsoft paying an "unspecified" license fee upfront. Sometime in late February 2009, when all episodes of season two have been released, Felicia and her team were free to sign a new nonexclusive distribution deal should they choose to do so.

Season 3
Officially revealed in the music video for "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar", Season 3 of The Guild would premiere on August 25, on Xbox Live for gold members only. It was later announced that it would be released for MSN Video, Zune, and Xbox Live silver members on September 1. In this season, the main concept is a rival guild trying to destroy "The Knights of Good".