A major character exit in last week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery suggests that the long rumored Starfleet Academy the series could finally happen.
In season 4, episode 4 of Star Trek: Discovery, Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), who has struggled with her role as a Starfleet officer for weeks, joins a group of Starfleet cadets on what was supposed to be a routine training mission. Things didn’t go as planned, but Tilly managed to keep the group alive on a hostile planet long enough to be rescued. After what happened, Tilly received an offer from Kovich (David Cronenberg) to teach at Starfleet Academy, which she accepted. The episode ended with a tearful goodbye that ultimately saw Tilly leave Discovery and her team for her new job as a teacher.
Although Wiseman’s comments on The preparation room hint that she will return Star Trek: Discovery later this season, ComicBook.com reported that the impending departure of the actress from the show could be a setup for the rest to be confirmed. Starfleet Academy spin off.
Speculations on a potential Starfleet Academy series have started circulating online since Alex Kurtzman began his tenure as star trek head of television development. According to the first unconfirmed reports, the project was developed by Runaways creators Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz.
Although Starfleet Academy was mentioned in a New York Times profile on Kurtzman last August, Kurtzman did not publicly comment on the supposed project until Star Trek Day last September. During his opening remarks at the live stream event, Kurtzman suggested he had plans for a Starfleet Academy series. However, it hasn’t outright revealed if it’s currently in development.
“I know there’s been a lot of talk about Starfleet Academy, which we’re very excited about,” Kurtzman said in a chat with Star Trek Day co-host Wil Wheaton. Without confirming the status of the potential series, Kurtzman briefly explained how Starfleet Academy would fit in with the flow star trek programming landscape, but stressed that he and his team are in no rush to come up with new star trek series.
Whether or not the Starfleet Academy comes to fruition, ComicBook.com reported that Wiseman’s Tilly is the perfect point-of-view character for the spin-off, as she has only recently graduated, serving aboard the Discovery during the Klingon War while she was still a youngster. And though she’s relatively young, Tilly has valuable experience beyond her years, thanks to her rapid promotions, time as Discovery’s first officer, and life-changing time travel.
While details on the potential spinoff are scarce, seeing Tilly direct a Starfleet Academy series set in the 32nd century would offer some exciting possibilities. ComicBook.com pointed out that sending Tilly to the academy to teach during the post-Burn era would open up opportunities to explore familiar extraterrestrial societies. Additional dramatic storylines could also be pulled from the project’s setting in the 32nd century, when the Federation is just beginning to rebuild after a near-collapse.
Star Trek: Discovery launches new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
Source: ComicBook.com
