Forum:SH:TCW Timeline 2012

As some of you are already aware, the recently released Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide included an updated section with information from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. To get to the point, we now have the first canonical timeline, officially published, that orders the episodes since the series premiered in October 2008.

Here is the introduction to the book, written by author Ryder Windham:

Sounds good, right? Yay, even?

But wait, there's MORE!

Up until now, we (or at least I, and thus, WP:TCW) has been using my unofficial timeline to order TCW episodes for the site. In the new timeline in The Ultimate Visual Guide, there are two problems. The first is that it's rather difficult to actually read what the timeline is, since there are random blurbs over the wide pages. And the second is that it knocked some rather significant canonical markers aside, for example placing "Slaves of the Republic" (Season Four) in line with some early Season One stuff.

As a side note, the 21 BBY date from the Star Wars Annual 2011 is still the only canonical placement we have so far with TCW and the rest of the EU Clone Wars material. The Ultimate Visual Guide didn't repeat the 21 BBY date or give us a new one.

The newly published timeline
Twenty-four pages of the updated The Ultimate Visual Guide are dedicated to The Clone Wars. Here is the entire timeline, as best as I can manage it, reading left to right on the pages. To those who might blame me for releasing this borderline copyrighted material: sorry, that's the basis of Wookieepedia. And we really, really need it right now to solve this problem that wasn't our fault. And if you disagree, blame the Encyclopedia for linking to us.

Only episodes and media whose events are directly or indirectly referred to are listed. Parenthesized after each episode are all of the events that occurred in the listed episode. Bolded events specify which events are directly or indirectly referred to in The Ultimate Visual Guide. Note that I'm linking to the article names, which may or may not be official.

To make the list a little easier to read, the original airing order is listed with each episode.


 * 1) ADAPTING TO WAR (pg. 58–59)
 * 2) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars film (Battle of Christophsis, Battle of Teth, Mission to Jabba's Palace, Raid on Ziro the Hutt's Coruscant club)
 * 3) TRAINING GROUND (pg. 60–61)
 * 4) *3.01 "Clone Cadets"
 * 5) *The Clone Wars: Prelude
 * 6) *3.03 "Supply Lines" (Battle of Ryloth, Mission to Toydaria)
 * 7) *1.01 "Ambush" (Mission to Rugosa)
 * 8) *1.03 "Shadow of Malevolence" (Battle of the Kaliida Nebula)
 * 9) *1.04 "Destroy Malevolence" (Battle of the Kaliida Nebula)
 * 10) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars Secret Missions (Mission to Kynachi, etc.)
 * 11) *1.05 "Rookies" (Battle of the Rishi moon)
 * 12) CLOSE CALLS (pg. 62–63)
 * 13) *1.08 "Bombad Jedi" (Mission to Rodia)
 * 14) *1.11 "Dooku Captured" (Skirmish at Vanqor)
 * 15) *1.12 "The Gungan General" (Mission to Florrum)
 * 16) *1.15 "Trespass" (Battle of Orto Plutonia)
 * 17) *4.12 "Slaves of the Republic" (Battle of Kiros, Mission to Zygerria) (why is this here...)
 * 18) *1.13 "Jedi Crash" (Sky Battle of Quell)
 * 19) *1.14 "Defenders of Peace" (Defense of Maridun)
 * 20) *The Clone Wars: The Ballad of Cham Syndulla
 * 21) *1.21 "Liberty on Ryloth" (Battle of Ryloth)
 * 22) RISE OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS (pg. 64–65)
 * 23) *2.01 "Holocron Heist" (First Battle of Felucia, Mission to the Jedi Temple)
 * 24) *2.02 "Cargo of Doom" (Battle of Devaron)
 * 25) *2.03 "Children of the Force" (Mission to Glee Anselm, Second Mission to Rodia, Mission to Naboo, Mission to Mustafar)
 * 26) *2.17 "Bounty Hunters" (Destruction of the Felucia Medical Center, Skirmish on Felucia)
 * 27) MONSTERS! (pg. 66–67)
 * 28) *2.18 "The Zillo Beast" (Battle of Malastare)
 * 29) *2.19 "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back" (Zillo Beast incident)
 * 30) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars 12: Hero of the Confederacy, Part 3 (Battle of the Veil Nebula)
 * 31) *2.07 "Legacy of Terror" (Second Battle of Geonosis)
 * 32) *2.08 "Brain Invaders" (Skirmish on TB-73)
 * 33) BOBA FETT RETURNS (pg. 68–69)
 * 34) *2.09 "Grievous Intrigue" (Battle near the Arda system, Battle of Saleucami)
 * 35) *2.10 "The Deserter" (Battle of Saleucami)
 * 36) *2.20 "Death Trap" (Sabotage of the Endurance)
 * 37) *2.21 "R2 Come Home" (Mission to Vanqor)
 * 38) *2.22 "Lethal Trackdown" (Second Mission to Florrum)
 * 39) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Wind Raiders of Taloraan (Battle over Kothlis, Mission to Taloraan)
 * 40) MANDALORIAN INTRIGUE (pg. 70–71)
 * 41) *3.04 "Sphere of Influence" (Blockade of Pantora)
 * 42) *3.02 "ARC Troopers" (Battle of Kamino)
 * 43) *2.12 "The Mandalore Plot" (Bombing of the memorial shrine, Skirmish on Concordia)
 * 44) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju
 * 45) *2.13 "Voyage of Temptation" (Skirmish aboard the Coronet)
 * 46) *2.14 "Duchess of Mandalore" (Assassination attempts on Satine Kryze)
 * 47) *3.05 "Corruption" (Skirmish on Mandalore)
 * 48) *3.06 "The Academy" (Mandalorian black market conspiracy)
 * 49) THE HUTT CONTRACT (pg. 72–73)
 * 50) *3.08 "Evil Plans"
 * 51) *1.22 "Hostage Crisis" (Senate hostage crisis)
 * 52) *3.09 "Hunt for Ziro" (Mission to Nal Hutta, Showdown on Teth)
 * 53) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic (Battle of Khorm)
 * 54) WITCHES AND DEMONS (pg. 74–75)
 * 55) *3.12 "Nightsisters" (Battle of Sullust, Mission to Serenno)
 * 56) *3.13 "Monster" (Battle at the Temple of Eedit)
 * 57) *3.14 "Witches of the Mist" (Showdown at Toydaria)
 * 58) *Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Gauntlet of Death (Battle of Rishi)
 * 59) OVERLORDS OF MORTIS (pg. 76–77)
 * 60) *3.15 "Overlords" (Mission to Mortis)
 * 61) *3.16 "Altar of Mortis" (Mission to Mortis)
 * 62) *3.17 "Ghosts of Mortis" (Mission to Mortis)
 * 63) PRISONERS AND PREDATORS (pg. 78–79)
 * 64) *3.18 "The Citadel" (Capture of Even Piell, Battle of Lola Sayu)
 * 65) *3.20 "Citadel Rescue" (Battle of Lola Sayu)
 * 66) *3.21 "Padawan Lost" (Battle of Felucia, Skirmish on Wasskah)
 * 67) *3.22 "Wookiee Hunt" (Skirmish on Wasskah)
 * 68) DEPTHS OF EVIL (pg. 80–81)
 * 69) *4.01 "Water War" (Battle of Mon Cala)
 * 70) *4.02 "Gungan Attack" (Battle of Mon Cala)
 * 71) *4.04 "Shadow Warrior" (Skirmish on Naboo)
 * 72) *4.05 "Mercy Mission" (Mission to Aleen)
 * 73) *4.07 "Darkness on Umbara" (Battle of Umbara)
 * 74) *4.21 "Brothers"
 * 75) *4.22 "Revenge" (Skirmish above Raydonia)

Where did they go?
At first glance, I'm sure the above timeline looks pretty good&mdash;it did for me. But as it settles in, there are episodes missing and major issues still remaining. Below is a list of the episodes and/or media that were not mentioned at all. Stricken episodes refer to the episodes that are part of story arcs in the above timeline and can therefore be placed with the above episodes, but the unstricken ones cannot be placed as of yet.


 * Most Star Wars: The Clone Wars webcomics, and all Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK comics
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny series
 * 1.19"Storm Over Ryloth"
 * 1.20 "Innocents of Ryloth"
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * 1.06 "Downfall of a Droid"
 * 1.07 "Duel of the Droids"
 * The Clone Wars: No Prisoners
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Shipyards of Doom
 * 1.02 "Rising Malevolence"
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Colossus of Destiny
 * 1.09 "Cloak of Darkness"
 * 1.10 "Lair of Grievous"
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Siege
 * Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth
 * 1.17 "Blue Shadow Virus"
 * 1.18 "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct (can kinda be placed with "Cargo of Doom," but not entirely)
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * 2.04 "Senate Spy"
 * 2.05 "Landing at Point Rain"
 * 2.06 "Weapons Factory"
 * 2.11 "Lightsaber Lost"
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
 * 3.07 "Assassin"
 * 3.10 "Heroes on Both Sides"
 * 3.11 "Pursuit of Peace"
 * 2.15 "Senate Murders"
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Starcrusher Trap
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Strange Allies
 * 3.19 "Counterattack"
 * 4.03 "Prisoners"
 * 4.06 "Nomad Droids"
 * 4.08 "The General"
 * 4.09 "Plan of Dissent"
 * 4.10 "Carnage of Krell"
 * 4.11 "Kidnapped"
 * 4.13 "Escape from Kadavo"
 * 4.14 "A Friend in Need"
 * 4.15 "Deception"
 * 4.16 "Friends and Enemies"
 * 4.17 "The Box"
 * 4.18 "Crisis on Naboo"
 * 4.19 "Massacre"
 * 4.20 "Bounty"

Problems with the new timeline
These issues remain from the new timeline, mostly due to the missing episodes but a few from the timeline itself. I apologize if the following section sounds rather harried, but the inconsistencies need to be identified so that we can start to think about how we can address them.

The Battle of Ryloth
Okay, I realize that the Battle of Ryloth was a prolonged engagement, as it was shown over four episodes ("Storm Over Ryloth," "Innocents of Ryloth," and "Liberty on Ryloth" from Season One, and then "Supply Lines" from Season Three). But can we really assume that twelve episodes (yes, twelve, I counted) take place between "Supply Lines" and "Liberty on Ryloth"? Does the Republic really take that long to mobilize an invasion force?

"Downfall of a Droid" story arc
Where did this go? Where did Wild Space and No Prisoners go?

Shipyards of Doom
Where did this go?

Crash Course and The Colossus of Destiny
Where did these go?

Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth and Siege
Where did these go?

"Blue Shadow Virus" story arc
Where did this go?

"Holocron Heist" and In Service to the Republic
In Service to the Republic depicts Wolffe's loss of his eye to Ventress, so it therefore must precede "Holocron Heist," in which we see a scarred Wolffe. Yet The Ultimate Visual Guide order of the two is the opposite; the publication puts "Holocron Heist" first. Since both are printed on the same spread, this may be due to the fact that I'm reading the pages wrong (the order is rather hard to decipher from the placement of text and images), but this issue still remains.

Jedi Alliance
Where's this?

"Assassin"
And this?

Season Four
And most of these?

Per Dave Filoni's comments in Star Wars Insider 125, Season Three and Season Four have been moving forward in the timeline according to airing order, and the "DEPTHS OF EVIL" section makes that pretty clear. But seriously, what happened to "Slaves of the Republic"? Somehow (due to the way that similar-topic episodes were grouped, I'm assuming), it got lumped in with Season One, which definitely isn't possible given the midway–Season Three model upgrades to Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano. I think it would be safe for us to assume that "Slaves of the Republic" and the rest of its story arc can be placed back with Season Four, but that's debatable as well.

So, what do can we do?
I'm just beginning to pick apart the errors from the new timeline, and simply by looking at everything that was left out, we're going to have questions that The Ultimate Visual Guide can't answer. Can we assume direct chronology between story arcs as listed in the new timeline? Do we automatically list battles as "Previous" and "Next" in infoboxes, even though there might be gaping holes in chronology due to the episodes and media that weren't included in the new timeline? What those episodes and media that were left out&mdash;when will they get integrated into the timeline, too, in a later source? (I understand that there always have to be cuts from the final version of publications, but that doesn't solve the problem of the missing media.)

For now, I strongly urge everyone to exercise patience before updating TCW chronology across Wookieepedia, until we can come to a community consensus about how to address the new timeline in terms of the questions and problems that I just listed.
 * First of all, I would propose that we try to verify with Lucasfilm if the timeline as posted above is correct. The placement of text and pictures in The Ultimate Visual Guide isn't always clear, and while I did my best to glean the intended order from the pages, we need to ensure that it's correct as it appears. This would probably entail contacting Leland Chee, though I'm not sure how much success we'll have given the scale of what we're asking.
 * Second of all&hellip;in terms of the inconsistencies that are listed, in addition to ones that are potentially forthcoming, I'm not sure how much we can do. The Ultimate Visual Guide is a canonical (and the most recently published) source, and our right to assume errors only goes so far. Until we know for sure that we are supposed to treat this new timeline as canon, I'd like everyone to start thinking about how we can stay true to both the source material that's been around since 2008 and this new source material from The Ultimate Visual Guide.

It's a lot to take in, I know. You're welcome to use this section to post your thoughts and suggestions about how we as a community can tackle this problem. Again, I cannot require everyone to refrain from updating TCW chronology in articles across the site, but I strongly urge everyone to exercise patience. With an issue this large, we have to work together about tackling it instead of being source-happy and making revisions just because the material is new and attractive.

If I still have your attention, thank you for staying with me. Post away about what you think we can do. (I.e., please show me that I'm not the only one who cares about TCW chronology on Wookieepedia. :P)  CC7567  (talk) 07:15, May 5, 2012 (UTC)