How Jedi: Survivor Fits Into the Star Wars Timeline

Sometimes, it’s easy to figure out how a piece of Star Wars media fits into the larger Star Wars timeline. The Book of Boba Fett, for instance, clearly takes place after the Galactic Empire has fallen, but we only know that because of a few cameos from pre-existing characters and context clues. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor doesn’t offer such obvious luxuries since it is a more self-contained story, which makes it more difficult to place in the greater timeline. Difficult, but not impossible.

Before we begin, we should explain some terminology. Much like the real world, the chronology of Star Wars falls into two periods: Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) and After the Battle of Yavin (ABY). For reference, the Battle of Yavin is the famous assault on the Death Star in A New Hope and marked the Rebel Alliance’s first decisive victory against the Empire. It was so decisive that it essentially reset galactic calendars. For this reason, everything that happened before the Battle of Yavin is considered BBY, which acts like the real world’s BC dates, and everything afterward is considered ABY, which acts like AD.

Early marketing stated that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which is good and all for everyone who knows when that game takes place. For those who need additional information, Star Wars Jedi’s main character, Cal Kestis, lived through Order 66, which took place in 19 BBY. The main events of Jedi: Fallen Order occur five years after that insidious event, which places that game in 14 BBY. Therefore, Jedi: Survivor unfolds in 9 BBY, which should give you a rough idea of how it relates to the other major pieces of Star Wars media. However, we can go a little deeper than that.

Let’s get the worst part out of the way: Solo: A Star Wars Story is canon, and it takes place in 10 BBY. That means Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian one year before the events of Jedi: Survivor. Moreover, Princess Leia Organa is kidnapped, prompting Senator Bail Organa to ask for Obi-Wan Kenobi’s assistance in 9 BBY. That means while Cal does whatever he does in Jedi: Survivor (we won’t spoil that just yet), Obi-Wan is dealing with Reva and the other Imperial Inquisitors. Oh, and in an alternate universe, this was also the year legendary smuggler Dash Rendar, who first appeared in the now non-canonical Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, joined the Imperial Academy. Just thought you should know.

But what happens after Jedi: Survivor? Four years after this game’s events, during 5 BBY, Cassian Andor is recruited by Luthen Rael, thus beginning the events of Andor, and Ezra Bridger joins the Spectres, setting off Star Wars Rebels. Fast forward five more years and you’ve got the entirety of A New Hope. If we go beyond that, Return of the Jedi takes place in 4 ABY, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett take place in 9 ABY. So you can stop wondering if Cal Kestis will meet Din Djarin. Although, maybe they’ll cross paths in a future sequel. It just depends on when that hypothetical game takes place.

It’s going to be very interesting to see what Survivor‘s almost inevitable sequel does with the timeline. After all, if Survivor‘s sequel follows Fallen Order‘s five-year time jump, that would bring us even closer to the events of the Original Trilogy.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is out now on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.