Star Trek: Everything We Know About Starfleet Academy

All Mary Wiseman could do until 27th July 2024 (date of the SDCC panel) was contractually deflect the question, though she did it in style, most notably to CinemaBlend's Mick Joest who tried as he might back in April this year to get confirmation on her participation in Starfleet Academy. Wiseman jokingly replied:

Man, don't try to get me. Don't you try to get me. We can be friends, or we can be enemies [laughs].

Joest had good reason to ask, even coming before we found out that Tilly had got tenure (the longest ever for any Academy instructor). With all the set-up, it would have been a little odd for Tilly to have suddenly taken a lengthy sabbatical.

The track to teaching started (bumpily, and with radiation) for Tilly in All Is Possible when a cadet team-building mission nearly turned into a meal for a couple of Tuscadian pyrosomes. Despite the obstacles, Tilly managed to rally the young Starfleet hopefuls, all of whom were unsure of how to work together, having grown up on worlds previously isolated by the Burn.

By the end of the episode, Doctor Kovich offered Tilly the job at the Academy, which she accepted. Largely absent for the rest of season four of Star Trek: Discovery, Tilly returned for most of five, though seemingly at a loss with some of her students. By the end of Life, Itself (pre-coda tenure), Tilly had found a solution — starting a mentorship programme.

The secret that never was one was lifted at SDCC24 when Wiseman's name was spoken aloud alongside those of Tig Notaro, Oded Fehr, and the next person on this list. Previously a main cast member on Discovery, it was revealed that Wiseman will be returning as a guest star in Academy. We shall have to wait and see how that translates into number of appearances, but presumably that means a lot fewer Tilly-(teacher)-isms than we might have hoped for.