Pop Culture References in Wizard101: Empyrea – Wezlee

Wezlee – Wesley Crusher
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/NPC:Wezlee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Crusher

Wezlee

Wezlee is son of the Beastmen Crusher and Caleban. After throwing Crusher out of the tribe, Caleban threw Wezlee into a Monkey Spider cave.

After helping your wizard storm Caleban’s stronghold, Wezlee convinces his fellow Beastmen to live in peace and work with the outsiders. He prevents the Beastmen from killing Caleban and instead exiles him to the jungle.

Wesley Crusher is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He appears regularly in the first four seasons of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), and sporadically in its next three seasons. He also appeared in the feature film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and in the television series Star Trek: Picard (2022). He is the son of Beverly Crusher and Jack Crusher and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton.

Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)

Wesley Crusher first arrives on the Enterprise-D with his mother, soon after Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command. Crusher’s father was killed while under Picard’s command, with Picard delivering the message to Wesley and to his mother, Beverly. Picard initially found Wesley irritating, as he is often uncomfortable around children, a fact he discloses to his first officer, Commander William Riker, in the pilot episode “Encounter at Farpoint”.

In early episodes of the series, Picard does not allow Wesley on the ship’s bridge. However, during the first season, Picard comes to realize that Wesley understands many things beyond his age, having inherited his mother’s intelligence, and grants him more opportunities onboard. An alien known as the Traveler tells Captain Picard that Wesley possesses a unique intelligence and great potential when provided encouragement and opportunity, comparing him to a child prodigy like Mozart. Picard soon appoints Crusher as acting ensign.

During the fourth season Crusher is accepted to Starfleet Academy. He joins an elite group of cadets known as Nova Squadron. In the fifth-season episode “The First Duty”, a squadron-mate is killed attempting a dangerous and prohibited flight maneuver and, under pressure from the team’s leader, Nick Locarno, Crusher abets the squadron’s efforts to cover up the truth. Although the Enterprise crew’s intervention and Crusher’s own testimony saves him from expulsion, Crusher’s academic credits for the year are revoked; he is required to repeat the year and graduate after most of the rest of his class. He remains in the Academy until the Traveler recontacts him in the season 7 episode, “Journey’s End”. Crusher resigns his commission and goes with the Traveler to explore other planes of reality.

Crusher is next seen sitting next to his mother in the background of the wedding scenes in the feature film Star Trek: Nemesis. In a scene deleted from the film, Captain Picard asks Crusher if he is excited to serve on board the USS Titan (Captain Riker’s ship). Crusher tells him that he will be running the night shift in Engineering, which would have indicated that Wesley returned to Starfleet prior to the events of the film and held the rank of Lieutenant.

Crusher returns in the Star Trek: Picard season 2 episode Farewell. In the years since Star Trek: Nemesis, he has rejoined the Travelers, traveling across space and time. In the year 2024, he approaches Kore Soong and reveals that he and his fellow Travelers were responsible for creating the Supervisors and the Watchers to help ensure the universe’s survival. He offers Kore a position with the Travelers, although he can’t guarantee her safety, and she accepts.

The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Wezlee image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment

Wesley Crusher image is borrowed from ScreenRant. It is copyright CBS Studios / Paramount Global

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.

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