Wing Commander Academy Season 2

[DyNaMiX]

Are there any detailed articles that explain what would have happened during the second season? Would Maverick be flying on the Tiger's Claw again or would he have gone off to other adventures on the TCS Formidable (I think that's the destroyer he was on before he finished at the Academy).

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Wing Commander Academy is literally about something called the Wing Commander Academy (per the press kit's glossary)... which is apparently a command school attended by promising officers *after* they've graduated from the TCSNA. The first episode actually takes place at Flight School on Sirius, which is what a pilot-to-be goes through after attending the actual Academy. All of this is to say that Blair's days on the Formidable had already occured at the time of the first season of Academy took place (there's some details about his service on the destroyer in the Wing Commander 1 & 2 Guide -- nothing particularly exciting happened).

My understanding is that the second season would have been on a 'larger scale' - showing a larger picture of the war and some of the politics behind it (ie, introducing the Confederation Senate and the Kilrathi emperor and such). One of Blair's reletives would be introduced as a famous anti-war senator, which was to be part his connection to the larger picture. There was an episode plot to show Firekka, and a long-range plan to have Gharal (the 'good Kilrathi') defect and fly for the Confederation. (No scripts were actually comissioned - these were just themes that were discussed by the writing staff and/or set up during the first season).

 

[Moonsword]

If this is at an Academy for promising officers, how the heck did Maniac get on that list?

In any case, Loaf, is there anything beyond this stuff?

 

[DyNaMiX]

Maniac might have had a nice ego, but he was a great pilot and unfortunately with a war on, they needed more of them. 8)
This might be a silly question, but who owns the rights to the Academy series and is there any chance of it coming back alive in the future? I know that might seem like wishfull thinking, but can you blame me?

 

[LeHah]

If this is at an Academy for promising officers, how the heck did Maniac get on that list?

Maniac graduated with a very, very impressive academic career (as stated in the WCM Confed Handbook). He didn't really lose it, I don't think, until Freedom Flight where he was obviously suffering from PTSD.

 

[DyNaMiX]

What does PTSD stand for?

 

[Joker057]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

 

[DyNaMiX]

Ahh I see. I knew he went nuts, just didn't realise there was a professional name for it.

 

[Death]

Back when things weren't so touchy-feely, people didn't bother sugarcoating it, and just called it "shell shock".

 

[Dyret]

Maniac graduated with a very, very impressive academic career (as stated in the WCM Confed Handbook). He didn't really lose it, I don't think, until Freedom Flight where he was obviously suffering from PTSD.

Did the guy ever recover?

 

[LeHah]

I'll have to double check when I get home - but I'm fairly certain they put Maniac back in the cockpit fairly quickly due to lack of pilots (let alone talented pilots).

 

[Quarto]

Did the guy ever recover?

That would depend on what you mean by 'recover', I guess . He did seem to get over the stark-raving-lunatic phase eventually, but whether he ever went back to normal (and whether he was ever normal in the first place) is arguable.

 

[LeHah]

Here we go - for the record, Todd "Maniac" Marshall's Academy Record:

GPA 4.02 (Rank In Class - 125 of 1403)

Flight School Academic Record

GPA 4.50 (Rank In Class - 9 of 314)

Flight School Flight Record

Flight 91.1 (Rank In Class - 2 of 314)
Marksmanship 95.1 (Rank In Class - 1 of 314)
Safety 64 (Rank In Class - 311 of 314)
(3 accidents, 1 ship lost, inquiry found no fault)
Navigation 88 (Rank In Class - 22 of 314)

---

Blair's was the following

GPA 3.64 (Rank In Class - 477 of 1403)

Flight School Academic Record

GPA 4.22 (Rank In Class - 23 of 314)

Flight School Flight Record

Flight 96.2 (Rank In Class - 1 of 314)
Marksmanship 93.4 (Rank In Class - 2 of 314)
Safety 100 (Rank In Class - 1 of 314)
Navigation 100 (Rank In Class - 1 of 314)

Note: Blair is the first pilot to ever graduate with a perfect Navigation record from the Academy.

 

[Edfilho]

because he had m4d n4v1ga+10|\|z00r sk117zz.
And BTW, not all good pilots-soldiers are officer material. some of them are a lot better in the battlefield.

 

[DyNaMiX]

When you see how close both Maverick's and Maniac's scores are, it really shows why they were so competitive.

 

[DyNaMiX]

One thing I forgot to mention, the extra footage in the introduction of each episode that was not seen in any actual episodes, perhaps these were from segments to be used in the next season? Or were they just exclusively for the intro?

 

[overmortal]

Probably outtakes.

(Taking special note that Maniac did MUCH better in the academic section than Blair)

 

[Viper61]

Navigation 100 (Rank In Class - 1 of 314)
Note: Blair is the first pilot to ever graduate with a perfect Navigation record from the Academy.

Yay for bastard Pilgrims blood/genetics/math skills!

And I don't remember anything in the intro that you can't pick out in Season 1

C-ya

 

[Edfilho]

(Taking special note that Maniac did MUCH better in the academic section than Blair)

Considering that and the fact that Maverick was a champion wrestler, we get the picture that actually maniac was the bookworm and Maverick was the sports jock.

 

[DyNaMiX]

Yay for bastard Pilgrims blood/genetics/math skills!

And I don't remember anything in the intro that you can't pick out in Season 1

C-ya

There is plenty.
There is a scene with Tolwyn standing on the brige of the Tiger's Claw and out the windows on the deck, you can see a large fleet of ships flying along side the claw.
A view from inside the cockpit of a Kilrathi fighter as the pilot turns his head (towards the camera) to look behind him, you'll also note the glass on his helmet visor was not red coloured like all the others, the scene quickly changes to show what he is looking at, two scimitars hot on his tail firing in tandom.
A small vessel (slightly larger than a fighter) explodes slightly as it flies past the camera, in the same view a Kilrathi Grikath (spelling?) flys past the camera and explodes.
The scene with the alarms going and all the pilots scrambling towards their fighters. The camera shows one scene were Maniac and Maverick jump in their fighters at the same time and put their helmets on at the same time. As the pilots run to their fighters, I beleive it's Tech Specialist Maya (or someone who looks like her) calling out in alarm.
The very first part where the Tiger's Claw flys past the camera in an asteroid belt. I'm pretty sure that's not in the series.

That's pretty much it.