Supernatural Academy

Supernatural Academy
Genre	Fantasy Animation
Written by	Gillian Horvath
Directed by	Steve Ball
Creative director	Geoff Taylor
Voices of	Gigi Saul Guerrero Larissa Dias Cardi Wong Vincent Tong Ali J. Eisner Bethany Brown
Theme music composer	John Majkut
Opening theme	"In This World"
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	16 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Allen Bahbot, Jaymin Eve
Producer	Konnie Kwak
Editor	Augustin Escoffier
Running time	22 minutes
Original release
Network	Peacock (streaming service)
Release	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20) – present

Supernatural Academy is an American animated fantasy television series that premiered on Peacock on January 20, 2022. It is based on the book series created by Jaymin Eve.

Premise

The show follows two girls, Mischa Jackson/Lebron, a 16-year-old girl living in the human world with her mom Lienda, and her twin sister Jessa Lebron, a popular girl and Wolf-Shifter living at Supernatural Academy with her father, the council leader Jonathon. Being split up at birth Mischa has no idea of the existence of her twin sister and the supernatural world, populated by Shifters, Magic-Users, Faeries, Trolls, Harpies, Vampires and Mermaids, and lives as a normal teenager in modern day New York City.

Mischa keeps having visions of wolves, dragons and strange doors, which she keeps drawing in her notebook. Due to her suppressed powers awakening slowly her mother decides that they can no longer hide and protect her daughter in the human world, which forces her to reunite Mischa with her sister and father, and enroll her in Supernatural Academy too.

Characters

Main

• Larissa Dias as Jessa Lebron
• Gigi Saul Guerrero as Mischa Jackson/Lebron
• Cardi Wong as Braxton
• Vincent Tong as Maximus
• Ali J. Eisner as Jae
• Bethany Brown as Terra

Recurring

• Alessandro Juliani as Jonathon Lebron
• Barbara Kottmeier as Lienda Jackson/Lebron
• Brian Drummond as Archibold Kristov
• Diana Kaarina as Santra and Zadi
• Kathleen Barr as Yufon
• Shannon Chan-Kent as Elda Kristov, Shan, Opal, Carmen

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboard by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	1	"Parallel Lives Part A"	Steve Ball	Gillian Horvath	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	101
At Supernatural Academy: Popular girl Jessa almost late for school meets up with her pack friends Maximus, Braxton, Jae and Terra. During a run through the woods, Jessa and Brax spot the Headmaster Kristov hunting a young boy with a Dragon-Mark on his arm. Kristov conjures a door to the Cloister and takes the boy with him, Jessa and Brax are too slow to catch up before the door closes again. The Supernaturals live hidden behind cloaking spells since their original realm was destroyed by the Dragon-King in a big war. Meanwhile in the Human World, Mischa is more of a misfit and has strange visions of the boy and the door her sister saw the same day, which she turns into drawings in her sketchbook. That night Mischa has more nightmare visions and it seems that her powers are awakening because she damaged furniture in her sleep. After her mother Lienda wards off an attack by a Harpy, she is forced to come clear to her daughter and reunite Mischa with her twin sister Jessa and father Jonathon. Both girls didn't know of each other till that point.
2	2	"Parallel Lives Part B"	Steve Ball	Gillian Horvath	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	102
Confused and angry Mischa settles in at Supernatural Academy, where she is introduced to her sisters pack: Maximus a Vampire, Braxton a Dragon-Shifter, Terra a Magic-user and Jae a Faerie. Mischa hasn't gotten her wolf-shifting powers yet, which is why Jonathon has tasked Jessa to keep her sister out of trouble. Mischa is amazed by the magical world, but instantly gets into conflict with one of the teachers, due to pointing out the many misconceptions the supernatural people seem to have of the human world, because not every kind can pass as human. The girls decide to confront their parents on why they both were split up at birth, which reveals that both of them are Dragon-Marked like the boy Jessa saw the day before. Dragon-marked Supernaturals are kept apart from the rest of society to keep both parties save from each other. Angry at their parents, the girls gather the pack that night, to break into the headmasters office and steal some travel tokens to find the door, Kristov took that boy through. They barely make it out, but their actions were noticed.
3	3	"In Over Their Heads Part A"	Steve Ball	Kaaren Lee Brown	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	103
The night after the heist of the headmasters office, the twin girls visit the hub, a place from where you can visit other enclaves, even thought they could be suspended. They find the correct door, but they can't open it, due to not having the correct aura to do so. The hub gives them the choice of some other weird doors too, one of them opens on its own and almost drops the girls into lava. Terra gets interrogated by the headmaster, but doesn't snitch on her fellow students. She gets a 30% demerit of her powers, which leaves her feeling weak. She gets increasingly angry with Jessa, because she feels that Jessa doesn't care about the sacrifice Terra made, only thinking about Mischa, to the point where she helps Elda in her misdeeds. During combat training Mischa gets paired up with a Bunny-Shifter, but Elda, the headmasters daughter switches body with her, and pushes Mischa into the lake, where she gets attacked by one of the mermaids.
4	4	"In Over Their Heads Part B"	Steve Ball	Kaaren Lee Brown	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	104
Jessa is finally able to hear Mischas thoughts, so she is able to save her sister in the last moment. The healer is able to detect a spell that is bound to Mischas aura, but can't identify what it does. That night, their parents tell the girls, that a powerful friend of theirs cast a spell at them to conceal the sisters Dragon-marks, and also suppress Mischas powers, so that she can live in the human world, which is the reason she can't shift. They decide to pay another visit to the hub, but that time Jae, Max and Brax go with them. Jae and Brax are being pulled into the door that leads to the Faerie-Realm, which the Dragon-King had destroyed long ago. Jae feels at home, but the realm begins to consume their powers to vitalize itself again. Jae knows that the realm is slowly killing them, but gives the realm more power anyway, like it was an addiction. The rest of the pack is unable to open the door again to save their friends, so there is no other way, but to get the adults to help. A troll teacher is able to open it, and Brax is able to snatch Jae and get out at the last second, before the realm can get hold of them again. Headmaster Kristov is giving the pack 60% demerits for their recklessness, but doesn't expel them.
5	5	"Trapped Part A"	Steve Ball	Meghan Fitzmartin	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	105
Losing so much of their power Jessa, Brax, Terra and Maximus feel weak, almost to the point of not functioning correctly. The hub is closed off with some heavy security. Jessa steals her father's talon to reverse the effect of the punishment they got, which would normally take weeks to recover. To their surprise it works with no problem, and they are able to get their full power back. Due to their visit to fairy and the experience they made Jae doesn't feel whole anymore. Mischa is trying Yoga and other stuff to connect to her inner wolf, but fails to do so. Surprisingly she gets comforted by one of Eldas friends. At campus Jessa confronts Elda about the body swapping incident and threatens her to give her the talisman she used. In the argument Jessa finds out that Terra helped Elda to attack Mischa. They almost fight in the cafeteria, but Mischa, Brax and Maximus are able to stop them. At night Jessa uses the Body-Swapping-Talisman to change with Mischa, for Mischa to experience how it feels to shift.
6	6	"Trapped Part B"	Steve Ball	Meghan Fitzmartin	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	106
Headmaster Kristov catches the pack on their way back to the campus and confiscates the talisman, but doesn't punish them. Mischa feels bad for not being able to shift on her own. The rift between Jessa and Terra deepens. Jonathon is summoned before the council to discuss the situation with the door to the Faerie realm. It is seen as a sign that the Dragon-King may return, so the possibility to establish a taskforce catchin the Dragon-Marked is argued. Jessa spies on the council. It is revealed that Lienda has freed her wolf long ago, to be able to live in the Human-realm. Mischa steals the hub-pass of one of the teachers. Maximus is able to distract the guards and Braxton is able to bring down the protection spells. The door to the Fae-realm, that has not been able to conjured by the adults, shows up for the pack again, and Max is forced to take Jae away from it. Brax is able to open the door to the Cloister, but not Mischa or Jessa, as it does not react to Dragon-Marked. The Cloisters protection disables the spell that masks the mark of the girls and the trio is able to find the missing boy, frozen in a crystal.
7	7	"The Last Dance Part A"	Steve Ball	Julia Yorks	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	107
The trio is disillusioned that the Cloister is nothing like, they were told their whole life and the children get entrapped in crystals once they get their powers. The twins confront their parents about the lie, but find out that they already knew, which is the reason the two of them were split up in the first place. The mark glows bright, when both of them are close to each other. Angry with her mother, Mischa is able to shift for the first time that night. The theme of the Equinox Bash is revealed to be "Underwater" this year. Kristov tasks his daughter Elda to keep an eye on Mischa, as he has noticed her recent strange behavior. Maximus is binging rom-coms to figure out the best way to ask Mischa out for the dance. At class the students learn how to defend themselves against silver, as it can be deadly for them to be cut with silver weapons. Because Mischa has to keep distance from her sister, she sits out this lecture, but touches the silver dagger at the end of class, which burn her skin, a sign that means she got her powers, which Elda spots and instantly tells her dad. Braxton asks Jessa to the dance, but gets denies. Maximus has more luck and Mischa agrees to go to the dance with him. Mischa tells her mother about her powers awakening, meanwhile Kristov takes preparations to get rid of Jonathon.
8	8	"The Last Dance Part B"	Steve Ball	Julia Yorks	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	108
Jessa has a change of mind and asks Braxton to go to the dance with her, but the fumbles it with some poorly worded sentences. The girls are able to cover their Marks up with some magical make-up. Maximus finds out about Mischas mark and is furious with her at first. Headmaster Kristov corners the twins and it is revealed that they knew of their mark since the night of their birth. He is a minion of the Dragon-King and plans to use the girls to revive his master. The twins are able to escape at first, but are cornered shortly after. The truth is revealed to the whole school and the pack rushes in to protect the girls. Kristov conjures the trapped children from the Cloister and frees them from their crystal prison. They are mind controlled by the scepter of the Dragon-King and attack the other students. The students are able to defend themselves at first, but are soon outnumbered. Jessa taps into her powers and is able to shift into a dragon, and the mind controlled children bow to her. She is a Wolf- and a Dragon-Shifter, which was believed to be impossible. Kristov flees, but vows revenge.
9	9	"Sins of the Father Part A"	Steve Ball	Kerry Glover	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	109
In the aftermath of headmaster Kristovs betrayal the school power lines are heavily damaged. Terras mother is the infirmary, when she burned herself out protecting the students. The twin girls are increasingly antagonized. A rumor starts to spread that Kristov was killed by Jessa's dragon flames. Jonathon gets demoted as council leader and Yufon follows in his role. Santra the history teacher gets promoted to be the new headmistress. With all the uncertainties the pack sticks closer together. The girls decide to ask the Riddle-Tree for help, to figure out Kristovs plan, as it was a sapling when the Dragon-King fell and possesses the knowledge of eons. Trying to figure out the riddle the tree gave them, they think it is an old Compass-Ritual, with the girls being North and South respectfully. On the way home Mischa and Jessa get caught in magic web and pulled away.
10	10	"Sins of the Father Part B"	Steve Ball	Kerry Glover	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	110
The culprit is revealed to be Terra, who warn the girls, that they can't go home, as the Magical-Enforcers knows as The Four are hunting them. Because of the busted magical power grid they are not able to locate the girls yet. The school is on lockdown and the barrier got reinforced, to the girls decide to hide in the tower above Kristovs study, where the protection spells are at its strongest. The pack is coming up with a plan to get the twins to safety by conjuring a door to the Human-realm. During the night, the girls find old prophecies in the study, which means Kristov knew for a long time, that he needs the twins to awaken the Dragon-King again. The situation gets more serious as the Four proclaim to everyone to get the girls either dead or alive. Not all the students seem to be on board with it. Brax is being threatened by the Four, but they are stopped by headmistress Santra. The preparations from Terra and Jae go into full swing, but the first try to conjure the door fails, as it blows out the rest of the power grid. Jae has to tap into the Ley-Lines underneath the Riddle-Tree, and Terra is able to manifest the door fully this time. The Four are in close pursuit of the girls, Jae jumps in front of a spell to save them, and is thrown into the Human-World with them before the door closes and Terra collapses.
11	11	"Supernaturals of New York Part A"	Steve Ball	Jon Cooksey	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	111
The Four interrogate Terra, but are stopped by Lienda, before they can hurt her. Meanwhile, the twins and Jae arrive in Liendas old apartment. They instantly feel sick, because the walls are covered in silver paint, which is camouflaging their presence to the Four, who are already in pursuit. Mischa reluctantly agrees for Jae and Jessa to go outside to buy some plants, they can cover the walls with, so that the effect of the paint on their body gets weakened. Hali, Mischas friend from the Human-Realm instantly spots them, and they have no other choice put to clue her in on the situation. Even thought it means danger for her, Hali agrees to help them without a second thought. With the help of Dante, a troll Mischa befriended at the Academy, they are able to contact Braxton and Maximus. Safe but scared the girls try to get some sleep, but Jae is restless. They sing to the fall trees, which forces them to go into full bloom. Mischa gets angry at them, and they admit it to be some kind of addiction, since visiting the Faerie-Realm. Due to the high levels of Fae-Magic, other Faeries living in New York soon approach the pack. Back at the Academy Brax and Max decide to visit the Cloisters in other realm, because someone, they assume Kristov, is breaking the kids out one by one. They want to surrender him to the authorities, so that the hunt for the twins would end.
12	12	"Supernaturals of New York Part B"	Steve Ball	Jon Cooksey	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	112
Famous singer Reece, secretly a Faerie, approaches the pack. Skeptical at first, he agrees to convince the Elders, that the twins are no threat to them. The Four find out that the twins are in New York due to Jaes magic, but are not able to pinpoint them. At night Reece contacts them and urges them to meet him. In the subway, the twins, Jae and Hali, now part of the pack, are attacked by one of the Four, but Reece is able to help them escape. Back at the apartment news spread of Reece's death. The Four are getting increasingly closer, so Jessa decides that they have to split up. The escape fails, and the pack has to improvise to get away from the Four. They make it to Central Park, where it turns out that the Four is actually only one sorcerer, who is able to duplicate, be at the cost of his power splitting up too. They are able to force him to recombine, at which point he is ensnared by the Faerie Elders, who want revenge for the murder of Reece. At the Academy Santra is taking Elda to the Dragon-Marked kids inside the make-shift cloister. She is surprised that Elda can still use magic inside. At night, Elda enters her father's office, where a voice offers her whatever she wants. She chooses power and a black fog surrounds her that changes her appearance. Maximus and Braxton are able to locate Kristov in Berlin and capture him.
13	13	"Fractured Part A"	Steve Ball	Kaaren Lee Brown	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	113
Braxton and Maximus hand Kristov over to the enforcers, and the council agrees that Mischa and Jessa can return to Stratford and Supernatural Academy. They reunite with their friends to bring them home. Hali sees Mischa off and gifts her a crystal dragon figurine. Jae stays behind with the other Faeries. Kristov's trial is scheduled. The twins are still antagonized by some of the other students. Kristov appears to some of the students to rally them in raising the Dragon-King, saying no jail cell can hold him. Jessa is still scared to connect to her dragon, due to how powerful she is. In New York Reece is laid to rest and Jae promises to get him home to the Faerie-Realm, but instantly falls victim to their addiction. They can be saved by the Faerie Elder and back in Central Park Louis, the powerful sorcerer that hid the Dragon-Mark of the twins all these years ago, wants to be brought to Mischa and Jessa. At the trial Kristov pleds guilty of all charges and broadcasts a speech to the students to instigate a riot, by promising them to take back the Human-Realm, once the Dragon-King is revived.
14	14	"Fractured Part B"	Steve Ball	Kaaren Lee Brown	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	114
Louis is able to bring an end to the riot, but is severely weakened. He argues there is a way to kill the Dragon-King once and for all, but he needs the help of Mischa and Jessa. The twins agree to train for that plan, and spot Kristov trying to get the mermaids on his side, but he fails. The council believes Kristov to be locked up in his sell, so they seek the help of Dante to expose Kristov. Elda becomes stronger and stronger, being able to use magic inside the compound that holds the Dragon-Marked and connecting with them by being kind. The girls are able to get some blood from Kristov to figure out what kind of spell he is using. Louis reveals that his original plan was to use the East-West twins to kill the Dragon-King, as they are also needed for the ritual, but wasn't able to find them. He doesn't have much confidence in the North-South twins Mischa and Jessa, as they are younger and less experienced. Kirstov's blood reveals it to be an illusion spell, with the captured Kristov being Santra all along. The girls try to stop the prison transport, but are attacked by other students led by another Kristov. Santra overpowers her guards and takes Maximus hostage, treating Mischa to do as she says.
15	15	"Fateful Part A"	Steve Ball	Gillian Horvath	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	115
Mischa figures out, that the "Santra" that has been posing as the jailed Kristov is actually Santra's twin sister, and that they both Dragon-Marked like her and Jessa, making them the East-West twins needed to raise the Dragon-King. They are able to overpower Santra's twin, and she escapes. Meanwhile out in the woods, the real Santra is trying to capture Jessa, but Terra, with her boosted powers still not under control and Brax are able to ward her off. Believing to be the only option left to delay Kristov's plan, to raise the Dragon-King from his tomb, Mischa kisses Max good bye and freezes her self in one of the cloister crystals, but Santra and her twin sister find and take her with them, through the door, that almost sucked Mischa and Jessa in, when they first visited the hub. Elda is infecting some of the older Dragon-Marked kids with the same shadow that possessed her. The council is planning to send Enforcers after Santra and Kristov, promising to bring Mischa home, but as it would be easiest for them to just kill Mischa and stop the resurrection of the Dragon-King that way. Anxious and not being able to make contact with Mischa, Jessa breaks her sisters crystal figurine. To get Jessa to chase after them Kristov awakens Mischa in the crystal. The Riddle-Tree got damaged, when the pack used the Ley-Lines to conjure the door to New York, so they can't use its help again to conjure a door to Mischa. Frightened she decides to steal the Body-Swapping-Talisman once again and plans to switch places with Mischa, turn herself into a dragon and overpower Kirstov in a moment of surprise. Terra is able to boost the talisman, so that it can breach the distance and Jessa swaps with Mischa.
16	16	"Fateful Part B"	Steve Ball	Gillian Horvath	TBA	January 20, 2022 (2022-01-20)	116
Mischa in Jessa's body makes contact with her sister to stop her from breaking out of the crystal as Kristov has enough Dragonbane to kill her in an instant. Mischa is pretty angry at the pack, because it was her choice to be taken out of the picture in the first place, and now her sister is stuck frozen in a crystal. To comfort Mischa the pack is able to put the dragon-figurine together, by Terra reforging the glass, Jae reshaping it, Maximus strengthening the material, Brax giving it the heart of the Dragon and Mischa, as the artist, giving it its final form. Hali's present now has the core of a mending spell, inhabiting the powers of everyone and making it possible to be broken and reshaped at any time. The barrier surrounding Stratford is still strengthened with Enforcer magic, but Mischa figures out that there is still a weak spot in the barrier, because phone signal is able to pass through. She plans to get in contact with the Elder-Faeries. Elda has already gotten most of the Dragon-Marked on her side and breaks them out of the compound. They are fed up with being put in cages and want to have their rightful place in society. They plan to break through the boundary with sheer force. Everyone with combat experiences prepares themselves to stop them from reaching the Human-Realm. In New York Mischa and Hali ask the eldest Faerie to open a path to the Dragon-King tomb. Hali tells Mischa about the "Kings Bane" comic she has been reading in Mischas absence, which has the same word in them the Riddle-Tree gave the twins: "What is shattered must be mended, what is mended must be shattered". The Dragon-Marked in the lead of Elda are facing off against Jonathon, teachers and students, including the pack, but Elda got too powerful. Louis finds out that Elda is possessed by the dark magic of the Shadow-Spawn, who were awoken, when the Faerie-Realm reappeared. The Eldest is able to send Mischa to the tomb of the Dragon-King. Mischa is able to destroy the Dragonbane and Jessa shifts into her dragon to destroy the crystal she is trapped in. The twins swap back, but Santra, her sister and Kristov are too powerful for them and force the girls to participate in the Compass-Ritual. The Dragon-King awakens. Elda and the Dragon-Marked were able to reach the boundaries and begin to break it down. Jonathon infects himself with shadow magic to get close and try to reason with Elda, but she doesn't listen. He throws himself in front of her spells, and stop her, sacrificing himself in the progress and causing a huge explosion. In the tomb, the Dragon-King kills Kristov, as he has fulfilled his purpose. Jessa shifts into her dragon again to fight the King, but is soon outnumbered by him, Santra and her twin-sister. With the time Jessa bought her, Mischa is able to use the Mending-Core from the crystal-figurine to form a sword using the words "what is shattered must be mended", striking the eye of the Dragon-King and turning him to crystal himself. Soon being able to move, the Dragon-King grabs Mischa. Jessa picks up the sword, stating the other part of the poem "what is mended must be shattered", destroying the sword and the Dragon-King in the process. Jessa is able to save Mischa from the fall, though Santra is killed by falling into the magma pit in the ritual chamber. Back at Stratford the Dragon-Marked kids got freed from the Shadow-Spawn's influence, but Elda is able to escape through one of the cracks. The twins arrive at their home, learning about Jonathons death from Lienda. The Cloisters are getting destroyed, reuniting all the Dragon-Marked children with their families. Liendas wolf returns to comfort her. In the last scene Brax and Jessa kiss in the bell tower. His eyes are seen glowing in the color of the Shadow-spawn, hinting it survived the explosion.

Production

Development

The series was first announced to be in development in October 2019, with an original release target of fall of 2021. Allen Bohbot serves as the executive producer, while the series is directed by Steve Ball. The pilot was written by Gillian Horvath, who is also headwriter for the other episodes. Jody Prouse serves as the animation director. 41 Entertainment is involved with producing the series, and the animation was provided by ICON Creative Studio. The series premiered on January 20, 2022, with the first season consisting of 16 half-hour episodes.

Cast

The voicecast includes Larissa Dias, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Cardi Wong, Vincent Tong, Ali J. Eisner and Bethany Brown, as the main characters. Additional characters are spoken by, among others, Alessandro Juliani, Barbara Kottmeier, Brian Drummond, Diana Kaarina, Kathleen Barr and Shannon Chan-Kent.

Reception

Critical response

Polygon praised the show for its rich concept of having a magical school-setting, that is not just populated by human characters, but a variety of mythological creatures. They take issue with the show not really establishing who their intended audience is, with the animation being more catered to younger children, but the language and themes of the show being more suited for a young adult audience. They note the intriguing nature of the inner politics in the Supernatural and the Human World, even if the pilot doesn't do the best job establishing the vast world the show is trying to build. Slant Magazine also notes as a positive aspect, that the show tries to grapple with social issues relevant for young adults of various backgrounds in today's society, especially the fear and prejudice that comes with being an outcast for superfluous reasons, but criticizes that the show deviates from its rich characters and their problems, to a generic race to save the world during the end of the first season. They give Supernatural Academy a 2 out of 4 stars rating. Common Sense Media gives the show 3 out of 5 stars, criticizing the jerky CGI animation, but praising the good pace of the show and well-rounded characters.

External links

• Official website
• Supernatural Academy at IMDb