Star Trek: Discovery Sets Up A Problem For Starfleet Academy Show To Solve

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 6 – “Whistlespeak”

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 sets up a problem that could be solved in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Written by Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz and directed by Chris Byrne, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, “Whistlespeak” sends Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) to the pre-warp world of Halem’no in search of the fourth clue to the ancient treasure of the Progenitors. Although focused on the mission at hand, Tilly is noticeably bothered by issues she is experiencing at Starfleet Academy.

Starfleet Academy officially reopened in Star Trek: Discovery season 4’s premiere, “Kobayashi Maru”, with Captain Burnham presiding over the inaugural class of 3190. Formerly based in San Francisco on Earth, Starfleet Academy closed after The Burn wiped out dilithium and warp travel in the galaxy for nearly a hundred years. United Earth became an isolationist world and banished the United Federaiton of Planets, which broke apart into only a handful of member worlds. After Burnham and the USS Discovery solved the mystery of The Burn, the restoration of warp travel allowed the Federation to reopen Starfleet Academy and welcome students from across the galaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Sets Up A Problem For Starfleet Academy Show

There’s trouble brewing at Starfleet Academy

As they infiltrated Halem’no in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 6, “Whistlespeak,” Lt. Sylvia Tilly confessed the problems she is experiencing at Starfleet Academy to Captain Burnham. Tilly says Cadet Ross (Addison Holley), who served Burnham and the USS Discovery’s crew drinks at Federation HQ’s Millennium Celebration in Star Trek: Discovery‘s season 5 premiere, “Red Directive”, is thinking about leaving Starfleet Academy to work on a cargo vessel. And, Tilly says, other cadets want to quit the Academy as well.

Lieutenant Tilly resigned from the USS Discovery for a teaching position at Starfleet Academy, so her frustration and fears are justifiable. The new Starfleet Academy is in its infancy, and unhappy students don’t bode well for the future of the school or Starfleet itself. It’s possible Starfleet Academy is presenting an antiquated curriculum that isn’t meeting the needs of the varied alien young people who came of age during The Burn, and the school may not have adjusted properly to a post-Burn galaxy. In any case, the woes Tilly describes seem like plot points the next Star Trek series on Paramount+, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, must address.

Starfleet Academy Needs Star Trek: Discovery Guest Stars

Many Discovery characters would fit in Starfleet Academy

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in pre-production and scheduled to begin filming in fall 2024, although it’s possible the new series won’t premiere on Paramount+ until 2026. Starfleet Academy is an ambitious new Star Trek series that will introduce an all-new cast of young human and alien characters. Starfleet Academy will also film on the largest sets ever constructed for Star Trek. However, a school also needs teachers and a faculty of adult Star Trek characters, old and new, and it’s logical for some of Star Trek: Discovery‘s cast to appear in Starfleet Academy.

Mary Wiseman reprising Lt. Sylvia Tilly seems like a no-brainer, although she isn’t confirmed to be part of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s cast. Captain Burnham, Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones), Ensign Adira Tal, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), and others from the USS Discovery could potentially appear in Starfleet Academy, as could Cleveland Booker (David Ajala). Any of Star Trek: Discovery‘s geniuses could lend their expertise and empathy to help the students of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy overcome any problems they face.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+