Star Wars: Visions is one of the coolest things to come out in a while and the fact that it’s detached from the greater Star Wars Canon somehow makes the show even better. While each story firmly plants itself adjacent to the events of actual Star Wars canon, it’s soft connections to those events allow each story to breathe, allow for stylistic interpretation of the source material, and ultimately allow each studio to create something wholly new. Even amongst each episode, there’s no reason to believe these stories exist within the same universe, only that they each inhabit an offshoot of the Star Wars setting. Thus, placing it on our canon timeline that we’ve been working on in the Timeline Journal series is a pointless endeavor.

But creating a timeline or chronological viewing order based on the individual episodes is not only doable, but worthwhile. And in so doing, by watching these disparate stories of Jedi and Sith throughout the ages in chronological order, it turns the 9 episodes into an overarching history that thematically weaves light and dark in equal measure, ending on a new hope for the galaxy. In this video we’ll show you where we think each episode takes place on the Visions Timeline, and how we came to that conclusion based on clues from within each story.

Please note though, there are many anachronisms in each story that can make the interpretation of time or time periods difficult, such as in The Duel, Akakiri, and T0-B1. Anachronisms are things that don’t belong to the time period a story is set in. But weighing what we know happens in the actual canon timeline, vs what we know happens in other Visions stories is highly telling. I’m suggesting that there is no definitive timeline of events for the show, because of said anachronisms and because Star Wars is like a song that repeats itself, generation after generation, but you CAN fit pieces where you feel they are best placed on the timeline puzzle. And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do today, and I promise you that by watching it in this order, you’ll feel the spirit of these stories is more connected than ever, and the themes are more profound.

Akakiri is the story of a Jedi named Tsubaki returning to a planet after 5 years to help a princess he once loved reclaim her usurped throne, only to find it taken by Masago, the King’s sister. We believe this episode occurs earliest on the timeline, and the feudal Japanese setting is a big clue as to its placement, but it’s not the biggest. The lightsabers featured all look like swords, not dissimilar to the Darksaber. This could be stylistic, and it certainly is, but it could also be interpreted as an ancient style of saber from a similar time to when the Darksaber was created. Note that there doesn’t appear to be any rule of 2 system going on here, and there’s no implication in this episode that the Sith or other dark side users are in any way rare. Lastly this is the only episode without any droids. Yes, technology exists and is featured, but the notable lack of any sentient droids is telling. There are also no blasters or other energy based projectile weapons involved. There are anachronisms however, like the B-Wing Starfighter that Tsubaki flies in on, which was something that began use on the canon timeline around the Galactic Civil War, but overall the story neither looks nor feels like it belongs anywhere near that point. This appears to go back very far in the Star Wars timeline, perhaps even before the Republic, and highlights the steady proliferation of Dark Side users across the galaxy, and how the Sith began rebelling from the Jedi path.

The Duel follows this thread beautifully. Bandits raid an unnamed village, led by a vicious Sith, and they begin taking and killing all they choose. A mysterious Ronin takes her on, Sith on Sith. They are part of the last remnant of the Sith rebellion. Rebellion from the Jedi most likely, and the Ronin has taken it upon himself to hunt them down. The galaxy seems far more technologically mature as well. Droids are present and so are many types of blasters. I’ve seen some theories suggesting this exists during the Hundred-Year Darkness, a period where the Sith rebelled from the Jedi, and if this is the remnant of that, maybe this is near the end of that hundred-year period. We see there’s clearly no rule of 2 here as well, so we can rule out anything near the Skywalker Saga. There are many anachronisms in this though, the biggest being the repurposed Stormtrooper helmets. Could this take place post empire? Sure, but it’s unlikely this is anything more than just a stylistic decision to keep the bad guys looking like they belong in a Star Wars setting. The great through line between The Duel and our next chronological placement is the beginning of the fall of the Sith.

The Elder follows a master and padawan duo several hundred years before the prequel trilogy, following a disturbance in the force on a planet in the outer rim. After splitting up in search of the elderly man terrorizing a small village the Padawan stumbles across the old man. The most telling hint as to where this occurs is the fact that they claim the Sith haven’t been around in hundreds of years, which leads me to assume this occurs before the High Republic period. Let me explain. In the prequels it’s been about a thousand years since the Sith were seen, and the High Republic period was about 200 years before the prequels. If this were the High Republic period the Jedi would likely say something like it’s been almost a thousand years since the Sith were gone, but instead they say it’s only been hundreds. But the Jedi robes they wear is quite similar to the High Republic garb that is indicative of that time period. When Dan asks the man if he’s Sith he denies it and claims “The Sith became far too obsessed with trying to outwit each other. It resulted in them completely neglecting their destiny. And so, they are now extinct.” This shares the fascinating connection to the previous story, which showed exactly that, Sith outwitting each other. Because of that, it bought the Jedi a thousand years of peace before the Sith returned with their rule of 2 firmly established, ended the Clone Wars and brought about the First Galactic Empire.

The Village Bride follows shortly after the Jedi purge, as a helmeted man named Vaan and a woman named F observe a wedding ritual play out across several days. The bride, Haru, volunteered herself as sacrifice to several bandits who were using abandoned Separatist droids and weaponry, in exchange for keeping the village safe. Considering the setting places this post-Separatist defeat, and with a Jedi character freshly on the run this clearly takes place shortly after the Galactic Empire took control of the galaxy. Vaan even tells her the Galactic Empire won’t catch her here. We know this is shortly after said events because F still has her padawan braid, or at least did before her self-appointed ascension to knighthood. Along with the Galactic Empire taking control we see the galactic scene begin it’s slow descent into organized chaos. Bandits, gangs, and cartels fill the void left by the Republic – at least in places left untouched by the Galactic Empire.

Tatooine Rhapsody comes shortly thereafter, several years after the Jedi purge, conceivably. A padawan named Jay is on the run and is taken in by a Hutt named Geezer to join his band, Star Waver, and in that time they gain a small following and become quite skilled musicians. The Hutt cartel is extending their grasp of power in the system, likely thanks to a lack of Republic interference, and in so doing Jabba hunts down Geezer because he won’t join the rest of the Hutts. He is to be executed unless his fellow bandmates can get him out. Considering the fact that Boba Fett is now employed by Jabba, and significant time has elapsed since Jay wore his padawan braid, it’s safe to conclude that this occurs after The Village Bride. Again, these are all standalone stories, but together they weave a bigger story. And while the Empire may not be present physically on a world like Tatooine, they occupy many worlds throughout the galaxy.

Which is what we see on the planet Tau in Lop and Ochō, our next story chronologically. Lop is a Lepi slave laborer of the empire until she is adopted by Yasaburō and his daughter Ochō. This first part of the story occurs at least several years into the Empire’s reign of the galaxy, as their domineering quality over world’s like Tau is clearly seen at the episode’s outset. Seven years later, as Rebellions begin springing up as we draw closer to the Galactic Civil War, Ochō sides with the empire over her father’s wishes, leaving Yasaburō and Lop to face her head on. The galaxy is beginning its rebellion against the Empire, and eventually they defeat them. That is until the First Order spring up several decades later.

And while the First Order is on the run, after the events of the Sequel Trilogy, we get the events of The Twins. The remnant of the First Order raises two Force users named Am and Karre to be the new driving force behind their Gemini-Class Star destroyer and kyber powered super weapon, though Karre rebels just before their plan comes to fruition. We know this occurs post Sequel Trilogy, as that’s where this story was billed as occurring according to its creators. But it also references both the Empire and the Republic existing concurrently, and this doesn’t happen at any point prior to The Sequel trilogy, wherein the First Order takes back control for the once great Empire. How long this back and forth between good and evil, Sith and Jedi, Republic and Empire lasts? We don’t know, but the last two stories hint at an ongoing struggle.

T0-B1 is my next placement, and here’s where I’m definitely going to have some people scratching their heads, but just bare with me for a moment as I explain why I believe this takes place here instead of far earlier on the timeline. The story follows an elderly droid maker and his Pinocchio-esque droid, T0-B1, who dreams of becoming a Jedi. T0-B1 activates a signal which calls an inquisitor, who kills his maker, but in so doing he realizes he has what it takes to become a Jedi inside him. Inquisitors, or Force Sensitive Jedi hunters, were introduced to wipe out any Jedi on the run or in hiding during the Empire’s reign, so this would seemingly occur during that time, except for a few major points of interest in the short. The first are the inclusion of the carvings on the walls of the home, which depict the wars of the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy. And if this occurs after the original trilogy, it can’t be during the first Galactic Empire’s reign. Secondly is the fact that T0-B1 is so profoundly high tech. He can dream. He is Force sensitive. He’s far more advanced seemingly than anything we’ve seen, even in the sequel trilogy. Both of these points denote that this story occurs at a later time, a time where Inquisitors are brought back to do the work that the First Empire employed them for. And incredibly our final story in this chronological order also deals with Force Sensitive Jedi Hunters.

“Many generations have passed since the light of the Jedi protected the galaxy. Since then, an era of war has arisen.” The Ninth Jedi follows many generations, possibly hundreds of years, after the likes of Luke and Rey in the sequel trilogy. Since then, even lightsabers have left the galaxy it seems. Margrave Juro has a plan to bring them back though, and to reinstate the Jedi Order. He has invited a number of Jedi to his planet of Hy Izlan and has devised a way of determining a Force user’s connection to the Force by the color a lightsaber will emit for them. This unveils the many Jedi Hunters in their midst. While not outright called Inquisitors, their m.o. is much the same. For this future to pan out it requires the fall of the Jedi once again after Rey presumably starts it up after The Rise of Skywalker, which may help place the second inquisition we see develop in T0-B1. What I love about this placement is that it ends on a new hope for the galaxy. Lightsabers are back. Jedi are back. And they’re gonna hunt down some Dark Side users and bring light back to the Galaxy.

In this order, we’ve seen the fall to the Dark Side, the fall of the Dark side, the thousand year peace thereafter, the rise of the Galactic Empire, the strengthening of the cartels, the beginnings of rebellion, the new threats from the First Order, the effects of a possible second Jedi purge, and a new hope for the galaxy far, far away after an era of war. I hope you’ve enjoyed the video, and if you choose to watch these shorts in this order, let me know if you appreciated the stories any more or less. Please like and subscribe if you’d like more content like this, and comment your thoughts below! Thanks for watching! Have a good one.