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Intense
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Weird
Star Wars: Visions is a new animated Star Wars series unlike any we’ve seen to date. Obviously the storytelling style and format set it apart from recent shows like Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars Rebels. Unlike those shows, Visions is an anthology series comprised of 9 short films that were all produced by top-tier anime studios. The series is also unlike anything we’ve seen before in that those studios were allowed to tell stories outside of continuity, meaning they could go anywhere and do anything they wanted.
Still, Star Wars has a very clear timeline of events. The Sith and the Jedi and the Empire all rose and fell and rose and fell at specific times in the canon. That means it’s possible to figure out when you are by looking at what forces are in play. That’s why fans are always interested in knowing when certain shows and movies take place—even if their status as canon is in question. With that in mind, let’s try to unravel the mystery that is Star Wars: Visions.
Is Star Wars: Visions in chronological order?
Here’s the thing: Star Wars: Visions isn’t part of the Star Wars canon. Since it’s not part of canon, and since all 9 short films have nothing connecting them, there’s not even a shared timeline for all of them to follow. Because of that, Star Wars: Visions can be watched in literally any order you want. Choose your own chronology!
Okay, but… seriously, how do you watch Star Wars: Visions in timeline order?
If you want to watch these 9 standalone little movies in an order, you can do that. While Star Wars: Visions is not canon (at least not yet—Lucasfilm can always change their mind), you can at least tell which era of the Star Wars mythology inspired each animation studio. So while there’s no official order, you could watch them in the following order based on each short’s status quo.
- “Akakiri” – This episode would have to take place at a time when Sith Lords were plentiful. That means it’s set 1,000 years before the prequels, before the ancient Sith Lord Darth Bane established that only two Sith—a master and an apprentice—can exist simultaneously.
- “The Elder” – During that 1,000 years, the Sith faded into obscurity. This episode takes place at some point in that timeline, since the Sith—specifically Darth Maul and Darth Sidious—have not publicly emerged.
- “The Village Bride” – The bandits use abandoned Separatist battle droids, yet our reluctant protagonist is a Jedi. That places this chapter between The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith.
- “T0-B1” – The subtitles reveal that the villain is an Inquisitor, which is a rank of Imperial enforcer created by Darth Vader at the rise of the Empire. This one would have to be set after Revenge of the Sith.
- “Lop & Ocho” – This one spans a period of seven years when the Empire had undeniable control over the galaxy. That places it towards the end of the gap between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
- “Tatooine Rhapsody” – The appearance of so many major Star Wars characters—Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt, Bib Fortuna, the Mos Eisley cantina—places this closest to the original trilogy, probably around the events of A New Hope.
- “The Twins” – This one’s a doozy and, of all the shorts, the hardest to make canon because it stars Force-wielding twins serving as commanders of an Imperial Star Destroyer capable of obliterating a planet. That contradicts… so much… but the aesthetic of this short is very much that of the original trilogy.
- “The Duel” – These bandits are ex-stormtroopers (or jerks in beat up stormtrooper armor) leftover from the war against the Rebellion. That places “The Duel” in Mandalorian territory.
- “The Ninth Jedi” – It’s mentioned at the start of this one that generations have passed since the Jedi were at their peak. That means this one could possibly take place roughly 100 years after The Phantom Menace, which would put it roughly 40 years after The Rise of Skywalker.
How does that sound? Who knows—maybe watching them in this order will cause a shared narrative to emerge. Let the bingeing and theorizing commence!
