The Star Wars Timeline Explained, Completely & Succinctly

The Star Wars timeline is one of the more expansive in media history, with many different eras containing stories set in a galaxy far, far away. Originally, the Star Wars timeline was fairly simple. Upon the release of the first Star Wars movie in release order, the original trilogy was born. The two subsequent movies in the trilogy meant that all three movies belonged to one era, with little in the way of more extensive content existing in the Star Wars timeline.

Then came the prequel trilogy, a more divisive era regarding the ranking of Star Wars movies. With the sequel trilogy movies produced by Disney, the Star Wars theatrical films make up three distinct eras of the franchise’s timeline. That said, the explosion of expanded content within the saga that was brought about thanks to Lucasfilm’s insistence on a transmedia franchise has only added more to the timeline. With upcoming Star Wars movies and upcoming Star Wars TV shows planning to continue this, a succinct breakdown of the franchise’s timeline is more necessary than ever.

Every Canonical Star Wars Movie and Show in Chronological Order:

• James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi Movie
• Young Jedi Adventures
• The Acolyte
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (Various Timelines)
• Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Movie)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Series)
• Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (Various Timelines)
• Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld (Various Timelines)
• Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord
• The Bad Batch
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Star Wars Rebels
• Andor
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
• Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
• Forces of Destiny
• The Mandalorian
• The Book of Boba Fett
• Ahsoka
• Skeleton Crew
• The Mandalorian & Grogu
• Dave Filoni’s New Republic Movie
• Star Wars Resistance (starts shortly before TFA)
• Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
• Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
• Star Wars: Starfighter (5 Years After Rise of Skywalker)

The Star Wars Timeline Is Centered Around The Battle Of Yavin

The Climactic Battle From A New Hope Serves As The Star Wars Timeline’s Focal Point

Firstly, before exploring the individual eras of the Star Wars timeline, it is worth exploring an easy way to denote different events. Figuring out how much time passes in each Star Wars trilogy is made easy thanks to the Battle of Yavin, the climactic Rebellion-Empire battle from A New Hope. The Battle of Yavin serves as the center point of the Star Wars timeline, with events before and after this battle denoted as BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) and ABY (After the Battle of Yavin).

For example, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace takes place 32 years before A New Hope, and thus occurs in the year 32 BBY in the Star Wars timeline. Conversely, Return of the Jedi takes place four years after the original film, marking it as 4 ABY in the timeline. This makes it much easier to place major events in-universe, by comparing them with the original Star Wars movie from 1977 and its own place in the franchise’s long timeline.

The Dawn Of The Jedi Era Explained

Pre-25,000 BBY

Going furthest back, we have the “Dawn of the Jedi” era. This era was first unveiled by Lucasfilm during Star Wars Celebration 2023, and it takes the franchise further back in time than ever before. This will be explored in an upcoming Star Wars movie, James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi story, set at least 25,000 years before A New Hope. Lucasfilm announced this movie at the 2023 convention, confirming that the expansion of the Star Wars timeline would only continue through a brand-new era.

Given its relative newness, little is known about the Dawn of the Jedi era, which saw the Jedi Order formed for the first time, a story which Mangold’s film is set to explore. The film is expected to center around the first Jedi in Star Wars, also known as the Prime Jedi, as they begin to understand the Force for the first time and dedicate their life to serving the mysterious power. As Lucasfilm builds toward the film’s as yet unconfirmed release date, more stories will undoubtedly be set in the Dawn of the Jedi era.

The Old Republic Era Explained

25,000–1,000 BBY

The era that comes after the Dawn of the Jedi era is that of The Old Republic. Interestingly, this era has rarely been explored in Star Wars canon, with the majority of stories instead existing within Legends. The most prominent are Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, stories that Star Wars canon has not contradicted, meaning they could be classed as such. Regardless of whether stories are canon or Legends, the concept of the Old Republic era remains largely the same.

The Old Republic era featured the Jedi at the height of their powers, though this led to conflict when a splinter group left and created the Sith. Over the millennia, the Jedi-Sith War raged. This culminated in the defeat of the Sith 1,000 years before the Skywalker saga, with the sole survivor – Darth Bane – establishing Star Wars’ Sith Rule of Two. The Old Republic era is also known the Mandalorian-Jedi War, another major conflict in Star Wars history. With little outside these major events known, the hope is that upcoming Star Wars projects will be set in the Old Republic era.

The High Republic Era Explained

500–100 BBY

The next era in the Star Wars timeline is the High Republic. With the absence of the Sith after the Jedi-Sith War of the Old Republic, the High Republic saw the Jedi become the dominant force in the galaxy. Alongside the members of the Republic, an era of growth and prosperity began that eventually became known as the High Republic. This era of the Star Wars timeline is classed as the four hundred years between 500 BBY and 100 BBY when the Republic faced relative peace with the Jedi Order as the guardians of that peace.

The bulk of stories set in the High Republic era thus far exist within Lucasfilm’s transmedia initiative of the same name, Star Wars: The High Republic. This began in 2021 with a series of novels for adults, young adults, and juniors, alongside several comic book runs, and centers on a conflict between the Jedi Order and a band of marauding pirates known as the Nihil. Thus far, the only movies or shows that take place within the High Republic era are Young Jedi Adventures and The Acolyte.

What Happened Between The High Republic & The Skywalker Saga?

The Sith Began To Rise Once More

In between the era of the High Republic and the Skywalker Saga, a big change took place. As alluded to, the Sith had little to no presence in the High Republic as they were in hiding, training in secret for so long that the Jedi believed them extinct. However, the time between the High Republic and the Skywalker Saga saw the Sith begin to unfold a plan that led directly into the prequel trilogy, masterminded by Star Wars’ Darth Plagueis and later, his apprentice Darth Sidious.

The Fall Of The Republic & The Clone Wars Explained

32–19 BBY

After the High Republic, the Fall of the Jedi era began. This era saw Darth Sidious, disguised as the Republic Senator Sheev Palpatine, enact his plan to form the Galactic Empire. This plan began with the rise of the Separatists, a collection of worlds from across the Republic who wished to secede from the Republic and become internally governed. Palpatine played both sides against one another, culminating in the outbreak of The Clone Wars nestled between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.

The Clone Wars saw the Jedi Order become warriors, fighting for the Republic against the rising powers of the Separatists. This war and the manipulations of the Sith caused the shroud of the dark side to descend over the Jedi Order, including characters like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker – the Chosen One of the Force. Using this shroud, Palpatine seduced Anakin to become his apprentice, used a clone army to commit a purge against the Jedi – Order 66 – and oversaw the fall of the Jedi and the Republic.

The Dark Times Explained

19–0 BBY

The Dark Times of the Star Wars timeline is also referred to as the Reign of the Empire. After Sidious’ plan worked in the prequel era, he formed the Galactic Empire and began ruling with an iron fist over the galaxy. This saw the galaxy undergo almost two decades of destitution, from the overbearing rule of the Empire to the lack of freedom and collaboration the Republic allowed. Given that the Empire’s reign affected so many in the Star Wars galaxy, this era of the timeline contains the most movie and TV show stories detailing the tyranny of Sidious.

This era saw the rise of some of the biggest heroes in the entire Star Wars franchise. From the raising of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa to the origins of Han Solo and Chewbacca, the heroes of the Star Wars original trilogy were born from the oppression of the Empire. The same can be said for other heroes integral to the Rebel Alliance from the next period in the timeline, like Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and Ezra Bridger to name only a small handful. However, the Dark Times also saw the rise of more sinister rivals to Palpatine’s rule as well, most notably Maul, Darth Sidious’ former apprentice.

The Galactic Civil War Explained

0–4 ABY

The era immediately succeeding the Empire’s reign in the Star Wars timeline is the era of the Galactic Civil War, also known as the Age of Rebllion. The Age of Rebellion began with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which saw the Rebel Alliance commit their first major offensive against the Empire as a unified front. This assault was on the planet of Scarif, with a team of insurgents led by Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor managing to steal the plans to the Death Star, leading directly into the events of A New Hope.

Following the clash on Scarif, the Rebel Alliance engaged the Galactic Empire in a series of skirmishes that lasted around four years. This era became known as the Galactic Civil War, with the Alliance fighting for freedom from the Empire while the Empire tried to snuff out the sparks of rebellion. The Battle of Yavin takes place at the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, days after the Battle of Scarif, with the final official battle of the war coming in 5 ABY with the Battle of Jakku and the signing of the Galactic Concordance.

The New Republic Era Explained

4–34 ABY

After the Battle of Jakku, the Republic reformed under the watch of Mon Mothma. The Republic began attempting to reinstall the freedom of the last regime before the rise of the Empire, while the remnants of Imperials formulated plans to strike back from the Outer Rim territories. The majority of storytelling within this period has come from Star Wars‘ best-ranked TV shows like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, with future TV installments and movies expected to be set in the New Republic timeline also.

These future stories will center around the resurgence of Star Wars‘ Grand Admiral Thrawn, a character who fought for the Empire before the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War. Thrawn went missing in another galaxy at the end of Star Wars Rebels, only to return in Ahsoka in the era of the New Republic. Thrawn’s resurgence and reorganization of the Imperial remnants of the galaxy is expected to culminate in Dave Filoni’s “Heir to the Empire” movie, all while tying into the foundations of the First Order and Emperor Palpatine’s resurrection with Project Necromancer.

The Sequel Trilogy Era Explained

34–35 ABY

With the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney came the reemergence of Star Wars stories and a point beyond the Age of Rebellion in the franchise’s timeline. This era is also known as the Rise of the First Order and details the rise of this organization out of the ashes of the Imperial remnants from the New Republic era. Under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke, a Palpatine clone, and Kylo Ren, the First Order’s reign of terror became serious with the use of Starkiller Base to destroy the Hosnian system, the seat of the New Republic’s power.

After this, Leia Organa organized what was left of the Republic into the Resistance. The Star Wars sequel trilogy outlines the efforts of the Resistance against the First Order, initially led by Snoke and then Kylo Ren. However, this war culminated in the reveal of Palpatine’s revival and the Final Order being unleashed. The Final Order was an initiative in which Star Destroyers with Death Star weapons would travel throughout the galaxy to destroy any planets that resisted Palpatine’s continued rule. However, Palpatine is defeated once and for all by Rey Skywalker, bringing a close to the sequel trilogy era of the Star Wars timeline.