Display MoreEarlier this year we suggested everyone catch up on Majuular's excellent (and lengthy) series of Ultima retrospectives. I hope you took our advice, because it's time for the next one: a three plus hour deep dive into the controversial Ultima VII: Pagan and the history around its development. The story naturally includes quite a bit about Wing Commander and it's all very fascinating.
I even noticed a Wing Commander nod I hadn't before: after summoning Pyros, the Lord of Flame, the Avatar is told "I will feast upon your entrails first, manling!". That's a callback to a common Kilrathi taunt... and it's spoken here by Origin's Ken Demarest, who voiced Bluehair in Wing Commander II. Here's the audio from Ultima:
The taunt first appeared in the original Wing Commander where it was "I shall feast upon your offspring." Secret Missions 2 updated it to "I shall feast upon your entrails!" and a tradition was born. It first appeared in audio form in Wing Commander II where "I will feast on your entrails!" was used by Drakhai pilots. This version is also used for one of the Kilrathi pilots in Wing Commander Academy.
Super Wing Commander uses "I shall feast upon your entrails!" as one of the standard Kilrathi taunts, too:
And the Kilrathi carry the tradition through to Wing Commander Prophecy! One of the pilot profiles has "I shall feast upon your entrails." as a taunt and one of the aces has "Traitorous ape! We will feast upon your entrails!" as its friendly fire response. That one is also used when Hawk attacks the Kilrathi in T'lan Meth F1.
Wing Commander Armada returns the favor, too: Ultima VIII's titular Pagan appears as a trio of star systems in Sector 6 of the campaign mode! The first one even looks a lot like Pagan...
