Brandon didn’t know anything about anything. He only knew he got ice cream if he was good.
I don't know what an accelerated PhD program even means. The usual requirement is 2 years of relevant graduate level courses and then a thesis. Princeton used to be famous in physics for requiring physics PhDs be complete in 3 years. There averate is now 6 years. With all the advances since Einstein's general relativity there is just a lot to learn and a thesis solving a significant issue just take longer.
This will happen again unless it is fixed by legislation.