The series featured many spacecraft introduced in the Wing Commander video games. The Scimitar and Broadsword were the primary fighters and bombers flown by the main characters, with the Dralthi and Grikath fulfilling those roles for the Kilrathi. As in Wing Commander I, the TCS Tiger's Claw was a Bengal class strike carrier. Individual episodes also featured cameo appearances from ships introduced in later games such as Wing Commander III's Arrow, Hellcat and Longbow and Wing Commander IV's Avenger. None of these ships are mentioned by name. A number of new capital ships were introduced by the series including the Achilles class destroyer and the Agan Ra Sivar class dreadnaught.
Episode list
No.
Title
Written by
Original air date
1
"Red and Blue"
Mark Edens and Michael Edens
September 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
Blair and Maniac are assigned to the Tiger's Claw for training.
2
"The Last One Left"
Mark Edens (story) Michael Edens (teleplay)
September 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)
Maverick and Maniac are captured by Daimon Karnes, a missing legendary space fighter pilot who became disillusioned with the war and turned to piracy.
3
"The Most Delicate Instrument"
Mark Edens (story) Shari Goodhartz (teleplay)
October 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)
Mentally unbalanced from stellar phenomena, four cadets begin to exhibit erratic behavior.
4
"Word of Honor"
Mark Edens (story) Richard Mueller (teleplay)
October 12, 1996 (1996-10-12)
Blair and Grunt crashland on an alien world, but they're not alone...
5
"Lords of the Sky"
Mark Edens (story) Matthew Edens (teleplay)
October 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)
Blair and Maniac land on an alien world where the local savages worship the dastardly "Lords of the Sky".
6
"Chain of Command"
Mark Edens (story) Brooks Wachtel (teleplay)
November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
Tolwyn meets an old "friend", who just happens to outrank him now.
7
"Expendable"
Mark Edens (story) Ted Pedersen and Francis Moss (teleplay)
November 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Blair and Payback scout an unstable jump node.
8
"Recreation"
Mark Edens (story) Matthew Edens (teleplay)
November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
The crew of the Claw discovers a mysterious being in suspended animation aboard a derelict space capsule.
Blair crashes on an ice world, where he meets an unusual Kilrathi who just happens to have an agenda...
13
"Glory of Sivar"
Mark Edens (story) Mark Edens and Michael Edens (teleplay)
December 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)
Blair and Grunt land on the planet Dolos, and find themselves surrounded by fur.
Home media
In March 2012, Visual Entertainment released Wing Commander Academy - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.[6] The series became available on the Peacock streaming service in July 2020.
References
^Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 909–910. ISBN978-1476665993.
