The Star Wars saga is more than just a series of films; it is a sprawling, multi-generational epic that spans thousands of years of galactic history. For newcomers and long-time fans alike, navigating this vast universe can be a daunting task. Viewing the story in chronological order offers a unique and deeply rewarding experience, transforming the narrative from a collection of trilogies into a single, cohesive history. This approach allows one to witness the subtle decay of the Galactic Republic, the tragic fall of Anakin Skywalker into the shadow of Darth Vader, the desperate spark of rebellion fanning into a galactic flame, and the enduring struggle to restore hope and balance to the Force.
The following card series serves as your definitive guide to this chronological journey. Each card represents a canonical film, television series, or special, placed in its proper story order from the twilight of the High Republic to the dawn of a New Jedi Order. From the grand political machinations of the prequel era to the gritty espionage of the Rebellion and the lawless frontiers of the New Republic, this timeline provides the context needed to appreciate the full, intricate tapestry of the galaxy far, far away. Consider this your roadmap to experiencing the Star Wars saga as a living, breathing history.
The Star Wars Timeline in Chronological Story Order
The Star Wars Timeline
This timeline arranges the canonical Star Wars films and series in chronological story order, allowing fans to experience the epic saga as it unfolded within the galaxy's history. From the twilight of the Republic to the rise of the First Order, this is the definitive sequence of events.
📺 The Acolyte
Timeline: 132 BBY
Set during the final days of the High Republic era, this mystery-thriller (2024) explores a galaxy at its peak, where the Jedi Order's influence is absolute. However, a series of shocking crimes forces a respected Jedi Master to confront a dangerous warrior from his past. The investigation uncovers sinister forces and reveals that the dark side is re-emerging in ways the complacent Jedi could never have imagined. The show's core themes revolve around perspective, questioning institutions, and how personal trauma can curdle into a desire for systemic destruction, planting the seeds for the Sith's return.
🎬 Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Timeline: 32 BBY
The saga begins with this 1999 film, setting the political stage for the Republic's downfall. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo from an illegal Trade Federation blockade, a conflict orchestrated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Stranded on Tatooine, they discover a remarkably Force-sensitive slave boy, Anakin Skywalker, whom Qui-Gon believes is the prophesied Chosen One. Themes of symbiosis, political corruption, and the subtle return of the Sith after a millennium in hiding are central to the plot.
🎬 Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Timeline: 22 BBY
A decade after Episode I, this 2002 film depicts a galaxy on the verge of civil war as a Separatist movement gains power. While Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, he uncovers the secret creation of a massive clone army. Meanwhile, a more powerful but increasingly arrogant Anakin Skywalker is tasked with protecting Padmé, leading to a forbidden romance. His emotional turmoil following the death of his mother marks a crucial turn toward the dark side, just as the Clone Wars erupt.
⭐ Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Film)
Timeline: 22 BBY
Released in 2008, this animated movie serves as the theatrical pilot for the beloved television series. It establishes the wartime dynamic of the main characters and formally introduces Ahsoka Tano to the galaxy as she is assigned to be Anakin Skywalker's apprentice. Their mission to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son sets the stage for the grand-scale conflicts and character arcs that would define the subsequent TV show.
📺 Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Timeline: 22–19 BBY
Airing from 2008-2020, this beloved animated series is essential viewing that explores the three-year gap between Episodes II and III. It showcases numerous campaigns and battles across the galaxy. The series is lauded for its mature themes, exploring the morality of using a clone army, the cost of war on civilians, and Ahsoka Tano's journey from apprentice to disillusioned but powerful Force wielder.
🎬 Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Timeline: 19 BBY
The tragic and operatic conclusion to the prequel trilogy (2005). As the Clone Wars reach their climax, Chancellor Palpatine executes his final plan. He seduces Anakin Skywalker to the dark side with promises of power to save his wife Padmé, anoints him Darth Vader, and executes Order 66, a brutal command that leads to the near-extermination of the Jedi Order. The film culminates in the birth of the Galactic Empire and the fateful duel between Obi-Wan and his fallen apprentice on Mustafar.
📺 The Bad Batch
Timeline: Begins 19 BBY
This animated series (2021-2024) acts as a direct sequel to The Clone Wars, following the elite, genetically enhanced Clone Force 99. Unaffected by Order 66 due to their mutations, the squad becomes fugitives from the newly formed Empire. They navigate a rapidly changing galaxy as soldiers without a purpose, undertaking mercenary work while protecting Omega, a young, unaltered female clone who is key to the Emperor's cloning ambitions.
🎬 Solo: A Star Wars Story
Timeline: 13–10 BBY
This 2018 standalone film delves into the origins of the galaxy's most charming scoundrel, Han Solo. It details his escape from an Imperial shipyard, his brief time as an Imperial soldier, and how he first met his loyal co-pilot Chewbacca. The core of the film is a heist story, showing Han falling in with a crew of smugglers led by Tobias Beckett. We witness how he won the Millennium Falcon from the charming gambler Lando Calrissian and made the legendary Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, establishing his reputation as a daring pilot with a reluctant hero's heart.
📺 Obi-Wan Kenobi
Timeline: 9 BBY
Set a decade after the events of Revenge of the Sith, this 2022 live-action series finds Obi-Wan Kenobi as a broken man, living in exile on Tatooine and watching over a young Luke Skywalker from afar. He is drawn out of hiding when a young Princess Leia Organa is kidnapped by Imperial Inquisitors, forcing him on a mission that leads to a series of harrowing and emotional confrontations with his former apprentice, Darth Vader, who is obsessed with hunting down his old master.
📺 Star Wars Rebels
Timeline: 5–1 BBY
This acclaimed animated series (2014-2018) is a critical bridge in the timeline, showing the formation of the Rebel Alliance. It follows the found family aboard the starship Ghost: Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus, his apprentice Ezra Bridger, pilot Hera Syndulla, Mandalorian artist Sabine Wren, Lasat warrior Zeb, and astromech Chopper. Together, they conduct daring missions against the Empire, facing off against formidable foes like Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Inquisitors, and helping to unite disparate cells into a true rebellion.
📺 Andor
Timeline: 5–0 BBY
A gritty, ground-level spy thriller, this 2022 live-action series charts the origin of Rebel spy Cassian Andor. It begins five years before the events of Rogue One, showing Cassian's journey from a cynical thief and nihilist into a committed revolutionary. The series offers a mature exploration of the moral compromises and brutal realities of fighting against a fascist regime, detailing the intricate operations of the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) and the disparate threads that slowly weave together to form the Rebel Alliance.
🎬 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Timeline: 0 BBY
Set in the immediate days before A New Hope, this 2016 film tells the story of the ordinary heroes who made the Rebellion's first major victory possible. Jyn Erso, daughter of the Death Star's conflicted lead engineer, joins a team of spies on a desperate mission to steal the plans for the Empire's planet-killing superweapon. The film's final act is a breathtaking battle on the planet Scarif, culminating in a heroic sacrifice that delivers the plans to the Rebel fleet and directly into the opening moments of the original film.
🎬 Episode IV: A New Hope
Timeline: 0 BBY / 0 ABY
The 1977 film that launched a phenomenon. On the desert world of Tatooine, young farm boy Luke Skywalker's life changes forever when he discovers a message from Princess Leia carried by two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Guided by the wise hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi, he teams up with smuggler Han Solo and Chewbacca to rescue the princess and join the Rebel Alliance. Luke embraces his Jedi heritage and uses the Force to land a one-in-a-million shot, destroying the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star.
🎬 Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Timeline: 3 ABY
In this darker 1980 sequel, the emboldened Empire strikes back with overwhelming force. After a devastating battle on the ice planet Hoth, the heroes are scattered. Luke Skywalker seeks out the legendary Jedi Master Yoda on the swamp world of Dagobah for training. Meanwhile, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca are relentlessly pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and a host of bounty hunters. The film culminates in Han's capture and a fateful duel that reveals a shocking truth about Luke's parentage, leaving the heroes at their lowest point.
🎬 Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Timeline: 4 ABY
The 1983 finale of the original trilogy. The story begins with a daring rescue of Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. The focus then shifts to the Rebel Alliance's all-or-nothing assault on a second, more powerful Death Star. The film's emotional climax occurs as Luke Skywalker confronts both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, struggling to resist the dark side while holding onto the hope that he can still redeem his father, Anakin Skywalker, and bring balance to the Force.
⭐ Ewoks: Caravan of Courage
Timeline: ~3 ABY
This 1984 live-action TV movie offers a charming side-story set on the forest moon of Endor before the climax of the Galactic Civil War. It follows two young human siblings, Mace and Cindel Towani, who are stranded after their starcruiser crashes. They must rely on the help of the brave Ewok Wicket and his tribe to embark on a perilous journey to rescue their parents from the monstrous, giant-like Gorax.
⭐ Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Timeline: ~3 ABY
A 1985 sequel to Caravan of Courage, this TV movie takes on a surprisingly darker and more action-oriented tone. The Ewok village is attacked by a band of Sanyassan Marauders led by the warlord Terak and the Dathomirian witch Charal. After a great personal loss, the young Cindel and Wicket team up with a roguish hermit named Noa to protect their home and stop the invaders from seizing a powerful energy source from the crashed cruiser.
📺 The Mandalorian
Timeline: 9 ABY
This groundbreaking live-action series (2019-Present) explores the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy five years after the fall of the Empire. It follows a stoic, creed-bound bounty hunter, Din Djarin, whose life is forever altered when his target turns out to be Grogu, a mysterious, Force-sensitive infant of the same species as Yoda. A simple bounty becomes a galaxy-spanning journey as the Mandalorian becomes a reluctant father figure, protecting the child from Imperial remnants and discovering his own place in the universe.
📺 The Book of Boba Fett
Timeline: 9 ABY
This 2021 live-action series chronicles the return of the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett. Using extensive flashbacks, it reveals how he survived the Sarlacc Pit and his time living among the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine. In the present day, aided by master assassin Fennec Shand, he attempts to take over the criminal empire once held by Jabba the Hutt, choosing to rule with respect rather than fear, a decision that proves difficult in the treacherous underworld.
📺 Ahsoka
Timeline: 9–10 ABY
A direct continuation of the story from Star Wars Rebels, this 2023 live-action series follows former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates a rising threat to the New Republic. Her quest is to locate the lost Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn and her friend, the Jedi Ezra Bridger, who were both pulled into hyperspace to an unknown destination years prior. The series delves into complex Force lore, intergalactic travel, and the machinations of Thrawn's allies as they attempt to bring him back to spark a new war.
📺 Skeleton Crew
Timeline: Expected 10 ABY
Set within the same post-Empire era as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, this upcoming live-action series is described as a coming-of-age adventure. It will follow a group of children who get lost in the vastness of the galaxy and must undertake a perilous journey to find their way home. The show promises to explore the galaxy from a unique, youthful perspective while potentially tying into the larger narrative events of the era.
🎬 Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Timeline: 34 ABY
Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, this 2015 film launches the sequel trilogy. The galaxy faces a new threat: the First Order, a military power that rose from the ashes of the Empire. The story introduces a new generation of heroes, including the scavenger Rey, defecting stormtrooper Finn, and pilot Poe Dameron. They join forces with original trilogy heroes Han Solo and Chewbacca to find the missing Luke Skywalker and deliver a crucial map to the Resistance, led by General Leia Organa.
🎬 Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Timeline: 34 ABY
Picking up immediately after The Force Awakens, this 2017 film sees the vastly outnumbered Resistance on the run from the First Order's fleet. Rey finds the exiled Luke Skywalker on Ahch-To, but he is a broken man, haunted by his failure with his nephew, Ben Solo, who is now the menacing Kylo Ren. The film subverts expectations, exploring themes of failure, legacy, and letting go of the past. It also deepens the complex psychic connection between Rey and Kylo Ren, pushing them toward a fateful confrontation.
🎬 Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Timeline: 35 ABY
The 2019 conclusion to the nine-part Skywalker Saga. The story reveals the shocking return of Emperor Palpatine, who has been orchestrating events from the hidden Sith world of Exegol. The remaining Resistance members must embark on a desperate quest to find a Sith Wayfinder to locate him. The film serves as the final confrontation between the Jedi and the Sith, as Rey, embracing her own complex heritage, faces her grandfather, Palpatine, in a bid to save the galaxy and inspire a new generation of hope.
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