Where does Tales of the Jedi land on the Star Wars timeline?

Even though Tales of the Jedi is contained to dual stories of two force wielding protagonists, the series sets its six acts at different points in the Star Wars timeline.

Dave Filoni’s newest creation, Tales of the Jedi, differentiates itself from his previous Star Wars work by filling in gaps, rather than laying out a comprehensive narrative in a typical storytelling fashion. Regardless, the Star Wars maestro manages to both expand on cherished mythology and unveil an absorbing chronicle of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku.

Chronologically, the show starts off with the earliest setting in the canon of Star Wars film and television. We are treated to Ahsoka’s first adventure as a baby, followed by an account of a younger Dooku, when he was a master Jedi and Qui-Gon Jinn was his advanced Padawan. The reason why Ahsoka’s episodes are broken up by Dooku’s backstory is because the series is presented in consecutive order on the Star Wars timeline, even though the tales have vast intervals between them.

The third episode takes place when Dooku was an equal to Mace Windu, shortly before the powerful Jedi joined the High Council. Therefore, the first half of Tales of the Jedi all materialize before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Dooku’s plot points are impactful as we have never before seen him as a Jedi.

Dooku’s final stretch (the fourth part of the show) completes his fall to the dark side. The plot of “The Sith Lord” runs concurrently with the events of The Phantom Menace and concludes immediately after that film’s climax, when Darth Maul slays Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, in turn, defeats Maul. It also answers the question of who erased the planet Kamino from the archive’s maps.

“Practice Makes Perfect” depicts Ahsoka’s rigorous training, directed by Anakin Skywalker with assistance from Captain Rex. While the opener placed the force sensitive heroine on her home planet as a baby, this tale hurdles her forward to a more familiar Ahsoka era, the Clone Wars; nesting between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It unequivocally ties into one of her more tragic encounters during The Clone Wars animated series – facing down her clone allies when Order 66 is enacted.

The finale, simply entitled “Resolve”, follows the Empire’s victory in Revenge of the Sith. Ahsoka secretly attends Padme Amidala’s funeral and keeps her identity secret on a distant planet. Anakin enlists Inquisitors to track down any remaining Jedi and Ahsoka’s gripping confrontation with one of the cruel villains incites her to join the rebellion. Her arc is picked up from there in Star Wars Rebels.

Where Tales of the Jedi takes place on the Star Wars timeline

Currently, this is how the Star Wars chronology roughly lines up:

• Tales of the Jedi (“Life and Death”, “Justice”, and “Choices”)
• The Phantom Menace
• Tales of the Jedi (“The Sith Lord”)
• Attack of the Clones
• The Clone Wars
• Tales of the Jedi (“Practice Makes Perfect”)
• Revenge of the Sith
• Tales of the Jedi (“Resolve”)
• The Bad Batch
• Solo
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Rebels
• Andor
• Rogue One
• A New Hope
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Return of the Jedi
• The Mandalorian
• The Book of Boba Fett
• Resistance (Season 1)
• The Force Awakens
• The Last Jedi
• Resistance (Season 2)
• The Rise of Skywalker

Tales of the Jedi is an uncommon Star Wars show in that its six episode run spans many years, but all of the tales land in and around the general vicinity of the prequel trilogy on the timeline.

Did you enjoy Tales of the Jedi? What do you think of its time jumping storytelling strategy? Let us know in the comments below.