The Star Wars timeline can be a confusing beast for one to understand. With terms like ABY and BBY as well as the Old Republic, New Republic, originals, prequels, and sequels all being thrown around, it can be a lot for some to understand at first. The timeline though can be a bit easier to digest with a little research and work. But there are still some things easily missed.
Through 12 theatrically released movies and a plethora of other media being explored, placing stuff delicately in the timeline is a hard job for Lucasfilm. There are things about the timeline though that do not quite make sense. Alongside these, there are facts and tidbits relating to the timeline some just may not immediately take notice too. Here are 10 things you didn’t notice about the Star Wars timeline.
VARIOUS SMALL PLOT DISCREPANCIES
The Star Wars timeline can be problematic both in its confusion to fans but also in that it creates some small plot holes that, while they do not affect the story, can be noticed if fans pay attention.
For one, prequel technology is much sleeker and arguably advanced than original trilogy technology (obviously due to the release dates but still). Also, the fact technology makes no real advancements in the 20 years between the prequel and the original trilogy, or really ever since hyperspace tech. Another is that Obi-Wan (nor Owen) recognizes neither R2 or C-3PO in A New Hope and claims Yoda is his master, not Qui-Gon. There are some others, a lot of these though can be dealt with in other canon material.
POTENTIALLY 3 SITH EXIST AT ONCE
This is a thing that may or may not be true depending on A) your interpretation of what Maul is before The Phantom Menace and B) the future of Star Wars canon. But Palpatine took Maul as a child and trained him under his tutelage as his apprentice all the while being the apprentice of Plagueis.
The rule of two is a rule that exists within the Sith so that the apprentice can take over from the master when they are strong enough. There is no clear canon timeline of when Plagueis dies, but it was either during or just before the events of The Phantom Menace, but either way Maul, Plagueis, and Palpatine all exist at once – even if Maul did not have the official title of “Darth” or Sith apprentice.
HYPERSPACE TRACKING TOOK A LONG TIME TO PERFECT
In Rogue One, when Jyn is searching for the Death Star plans, she comes across “Hyperspace tracking.” This was studied as a part of the Tarkin initiative during the Galactic Empire, but not perfected until the First Order times when Hux assembled a team to study it.
The Empire is seriously advanced and intelligent technologically, but for at least 4 years, they could not utilize it. Meaning Hyperspace tracking existed for at least 34 years in the Galaxy before anyone was able to use it.
IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO CONSTRUCT THE FIRST DEATH STAR
A point made by a lot of Star Wars fans is how quickly the second Death Star was made. But one of the key aspects of this is just how long it took for the first one to be made.
The plans are delivered to Palpatine in Attack Of The Clones, and at the end of Revenge Of The Sith, we see what is the beginning of construction of the Death Star. That outline of the space station probably took the 3 years between those 2 movies, with it taking between 19 and 22 years for the whole thing to be complete.
CHEWBACCA HAS SEEN IT ALL
In The Rise Of Skywalker, Poe jokes that Chewbacca is beating him and Finn at Dejarik because he is 250 years old. In reality, Chewbacca is around 235 years old, having been born in 200 BBY.
What this means is that Chewbacca has lived through all major events in the Star Wars universe as shown in the films. From the Clone Wars to the rise of the Empire, through to the events of the sequel trilogy. While it is an obvious fact, a lot of people do not realize just how long Chewbacca has been around and what he has been through.
HAN SOLO WAS ALIVE WHEN THE JEDI WERE AROUND
Han Solo’s official birth year is a bit disputed, but Wookiepedia cites it as 32BBY (with others calling it 29BBY). When you look at this year in the timeline it comes 13 years before the events of Revenge Of The Sith.
This means Han Solo was around at the time of the Jedi, and at the time of their fall. This pokes a hole in Han’s dismissal of the Force and lightsabers in A New Hope, as well as his seeming disbelief in the Jedi. Nonetheless, it is interesting that Han was a boy at the same time as the Jedi, and the Clone Wars were ongoing.
YOU CANNOT TELL HOW LONG THE EVENTS OF EACH FILM LASTS
A deep dive into various novels and canon material can give clearer images of this. However, the bottom line is when watching any given Star Wars film, you cannot decipher how long the film’s events are lasting.
There are clear ideas, for example, The Last Jedi does take place over a matter of days, with the number of days being unknown. But the events of Empire Strikes Back could be taking place over days, or weeks, the same applies to nearly all other of the movies.
THERE ARE 3 OF YODA’S SPECIES ALIVE AT ONCE
The famous ‘Baby Yoda’ is around 50 years old during the events of The Mandalorian, his birth being in approximately 41BBY. 41 BBY comes 9 years before the events of The Phantom Menace.
This is significant as not only is Grand Master Yoda alive, but so too, on the Jedi council, is a fellow member of Yoda’s species Yaddle. Little is known about the species thus far, but the fact 3 have existed at the one time leaves a lot of potential in the future for canon explorations into the species.
REY TRAINS FOR ROUGHLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME AS LUKE IN THE FILMS
Rey’s training post-Rise of Skywalker and between the sequel films, and Luke’s training post-Return Of The Jedi are pretty unknown in terms of what, and how much is done.
But, roughly 1 year separates Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi and roughly 1 year separates The Last Jedi and The Rise Of Skywalker. Assuming Luke and Rey both train with Yoda and Leia respectively during this time alongside the various missions they undertake, it means they train for roughly the same amount of time.
THE GALACTIC CALENDAR EXISTS IN UNIVERSE
The BBY/ABY (before and after the Battle of Yavin) system may seem to exist just for fans to give a clear idea of the timeline of the films. But in fact, this system exists in-universe in what is known as the Galactic calendar.
It may not be something fans think about, but of course, there is a calendar in the universe. It came to fruition during the New Republic and was used on many maps created by Ithorian Gammit Chond and centered around a lot of the famous exploits of the Skywalkers. Lothal had a similar calendar system known as the Lothal Calendar, used on the planet some 3277 years before the Battle of Yavin.
