How To Watch Wing Commander Academy (March 11, 2004)

[Bandit LOAF]

How To Watch Wing Commander Academy

By now, you're probably knee-deep in High-Res Wing Commander Academy downloads... and you're probably asking yourself, what order should I watch these episodes in? The question isn't as easy as it seems... as there are three distinct schools of thought!

Airdate: This is the order in which Academy originally aired on the USA Network in 1996. The show was run Saturday mornings at 11:30 AM (except for "Recreation", which was shown at noon) and then rerun on Sundays at the same time (the Oct. 26th showing was a rerun).

Airdate Order
Episode 01 - Red & Blue - Sept. 21st, 1996
Episode 02 - The Last One Left - Sept. 28th, 1996
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument - Oct. 5th, 1996
Episode 04 - Word of Honor - Oct. 12th, 1996
Episode 05 - Lords of the Sky - Oct. 19th, 1996
Episode 06 - Chain of Command - Nov. 2th, 1996
Episode 07 - Expendable - Nov. 9nd, 1996
Episode 08 - Recreation - Nov. 16th, 1996
Episode 09 - Walking Wounded - Nov. 23rd, 1996
Episode 10 - On Both Your Houses - Nov. 30th, 1996
Episode 11 - Invisible Enemy - Dec. 7th, 1996
Episode 12 - Price of Victory - Dec. 14th, 1996
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar - Dec. 21st, 1996

Timeline: This is the order in which the series occurs within the context of the Wing Commander universe. It's noticably different, but probably best for watching the show in order... as, for instance, Chain of Command references the events of Expendable. Stardates are rough, and could be within a few days off in each case.

Timeline Order
Episode 01 - Red & Blue - 2654.072-.073
Episode 02 - The Last One Left - 2654.094
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument - 2654.155
Episode 04 - Lords of the Sky - 2654.162-163
Episode 05 - Word of Honor - 2654.169
Episode 06 - Expendable - 2654.176
Episode 07 - Chain of Command - 2654.177
Episode 08 - Walking Wounded - 2654.183
Episode 09 - Invisible Enemy - 2654.184
Episode 10 - Recreation - 2654.185-.186
Episode 11 - On Both Your Houses - 2654.190-.191
Episode 12 - Price of Victory - 2654.292
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar - 2654.292-.293

Production: Last, and probably least, is the production order. There's no real reason to watch the show in the order in which it was made (as animated shows are generally produced out of order), but it's an important historical footnote!

Production Order
Episode 01 - Red & Blue
Episode 02 - The Last One Left
Episode 03 - The Most Delicate Instrument
Episode 04 - Lords of the Sky
Episode 05 - Word of Honor
Episode 06 - Chain of Command
Episode 07 - Expendable
Episode 08 - Recreation
Episode 09 - Walking Wounded
Episode 10 - On Both Your Houses
Episode 11 - Invisible Enemy
Episode 12 - Price of Victory
Episode 13 - Glory of Sivar

--
Original update published on March 11, 2004

 

[PrinceThrakhath]

Forgot our little email-exchange a while ago? I think we had worked out a little different timeline (not the order, but the dates) for the episodes already. Here your comments from back then:

I like this idea. ...

WCA: Red & Blue
(Tolwyn reassigned, Sansky takes over Tiger's Claw.)
WCM: Movie
WCM: Pilgrim Stars & WC1: Enyo Series
(Ends with Tiger's Claw at Sol. Tolwyn takes command from Gerald. Moves to 'backwater sector'.)
WCA: The Last One Left
WCA: The Most Delicate Instrument
WCA: Lords of the Sky
WCA: Word of Honor
WCA: Expendable
WCA: Chain of Command
(Moves back to Vega.)
WC1: McAuliffe - Venice Series'.
WCA: Walking Wounded
WCA: Invisible Enemy
WCA: Recreation
WCA: On Both Your Houses
WCA: The Price of Victory
WCA: Glory of Sivar

This works interestingly well. There are three sets of WCA episodes which go together.
Expendable goes with Chain of Command (they were aired in reverse order -- but Blair mentions the events of Expendable to Admiral Bergestrom during Chain of Command. "Cadet Price flew wing." -- the fleet they're fighting in CoC is the one he located in Expendable.)

Walking Wounded, Invisible Enemy and Recreation goes together. The Tiger's Claw saves a convoy in Walking Wounded, escorts it through the Kilrathi stealth fighter attacks in Invisible Enemy and then leaves it with a frigate group in Recreation.

The third set is, of course, The Price of Victory and Glory of Sivar.

As for the main reason we decided to move the Claw back to Vega after Chain of Command:

My comment:
[/I]
As I said back then:
"The Claw returning to the main battle at Vega seems logical too after the "Chain of Command" episode since Tolwyn is the man kinda saving the day, so Confed HQ might forgive him and bring him back to the front line."


Since The Claw must be already at Dakota already in .139 (https://www.wcnews.com/loaf/skeleton.htm - TCSO show from Claw Marks)
the episodes up til Chain of Command must take place before that date.

Or have you gotten new info that made you change your opinion about it again?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Hey - I did forget (G) I did the update quickly, and just took the dates from the skeleton I did a while back... I'll go back and see what I can figure out once I'm more awake.