Star Wars is one of the most popular film franchises in the world. Ever since the first film came out in 1977 we have been getting consistent films, TV shows, specials, and video games. This article will explain every film, TV show, and special from the perspective of someone who has watched all of them (except for Young Jedi Adventures.)
The first production on the timeline coming out in 2024 is the show The Acolyte. Though it was received poorly by the fans it dives into the Jedi Order, a group of beings that have the ability to use light sabers and the force, and how they started to fall with corruption beginning to seep in. The story follows Osha, a former Jedi padawan who was raised by a now deceased race of witches. The show officially puts Darth Plagueis into the on screen franchise. Even with ending on a cliffhanger and bringing back the more acrobatic and fast paced lightsaber duels the show has been officially cancelled and will not get a season 2.
The next item on the timeline is Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. This 1999 movie starts off the Skywalker saga by introducing the young enslaved boy named Anakin Skywalker. After the planet of Naboo is invaded by the Trade Federation the Jedi flee with the queen. After their starship cannot go lightspeed anymore they land on Tatooine to buy a new one but don’t have the money. They befriend the Skywalker boy and he wins a podrace with his speeder and is asked to be a Jedi. They take him to Coruscant. After a large battle Naboo is set free with the death of the Jedi Qui Gon Jinn Anakin goes to the Jedi temple and is trained by Qui Gon’s padawan, Obi Wan Kenobi.
Next up is 2002’s Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. Taking place years after the last film Anakin Skywalker is now a teen and with Obi Wan Kenobi protects the former Queen Amidala from the last film who is now senator. When she is almost killed the Jedi track down the assailant but before seeing who hired them they are poisoned by a man with a jetpack. Anakin takes the senator to Naboo and stays to protect her. Obi Wan researches the poison and tracks it down to a water covered planet that has been deleted from the Jedi archives called Kamino. He discovers that there is a clone army being developed for the Jedi and the Galactic Republic. Anakin takes the senator of Naboo to Tatooine to visit his mother. He discovers that the local sand people captured and killed her. Obi Wan encounters the bounty hunter that killed the assassin, Jango Fett, but he gets away. Obi Wan follows him to a desert planet called Geonosis. Anakin is worried so he and the Senator try to help him but they all get captured. The Jedi go to save them from being killed by large beasts in a gladiatorial style gathering of the bug people. The Jedi save them with Jango Fett losing his head to one of the Jedi masters named Mace Windu leaving his son, a clone made with normal aging, named Boba Fett orphaned and left with his armor but when they start to get surrounded some ships appear and with clone troopers start a massive battle. Anakin and Obi Wan meet the sith lord Count Dooku who chops off Anakin’s arm and is only defeated when Yoda appears and he flies away.
The next film on the timeline is 2008’s Star Wars the Clone Wars movie. This film starts as the Clone Wars are raging on with Jedi and clones fighting the droid army across the galaxy. Anakin and Obi Wan are fighting when Anakin is sent a padawan which he doesn’t want named Ahsoka. After Ahsoka proves herself to him they are both assigned a mission to save the crime lord Jabba the Hutt’s infant son. The enemies, the separatists also want to find the son because whoever finds him will have access to the Hutt hyperspace lanes. Under the command of the sith assassin Asajj Ventress, the droids capture the son and try to frame it on the Jedi. Anakin and Ahsoka finally take the baby back and get him to Jabba, succeeding in the end. The movie was received somewhat negatively due to a strange story and did not like Ahsoka.
The next product of the saga is Star Wars: The Clone Wars not to be mistaken with the movie. It is also animated and aired 7 seasons from 2008 to 2020. In 2013 the show was going to be cancelled after season 6 came out in 2014. Luckily the show was revitalized to go into the events of the next film. The show continues the journeys of Obi Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, and various other Jedi in what are usually several episodes long per adventure diving deep and exploring many parts of the galaxy and the people within. With the Clone Wars raging on we learn about how they go along with Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, and General Grievous leading the droid army. The show adds to the story of Star Wars bounty hunters and Jedi. The show gets fans to love Ahsoka as she is forced to leave the Jedi order and comes back to save clone captain Rex during Order 66.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is the next Star Wars film that closes the Clone Wars. The movie starts with rescuing Chancellor Palpatine from Count Dooku where Anakin kills Palpatine and successfully escapes with Obi Wan. Anakin is mad that he won’t be put on the Jedi Council. Obi Wan successfully kills General Grievous who wields 4 lightsabers. Anakin realizes Palpatine is the mystery sith lord, Darth Sideous. After a duel Master Mace Windu arrests Palpatine but Anakin kills him and joins the dark side as his apprentice, Darth Vader. Order 66 is initiated and almost all of the Jedi fall. Palpatine is now the Emperor and Anakin goes to the lava planet of Mustafar and kills the Separatist leaders. Obi Wan and pregnant Padme meet him there. Anakin chokes Padme to death and fights Obi Wan. Obi Wan wins by chopping off Anakin’s limbs. Padme delivers her children Luke and Leia who are hidden on different worlds by Obi Wan Kenobi.
The next show in the franchise is Bad Batch which follows some experimental clone troopers with special abilities. Order 66 doesn’t affect them because of faulty brain implants. They rescue a young girl and work as bounty hunters trying to fit into the galaxy. The show ends with the whole group dying, ending the 2 season run.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is the next film in the Star Wars timeline. This takes place later on when the Rebellion is forming against the Galactic Empire. This story follows young Han Solo and how he becomes a famous smuggler and does the Kessel run in an incredibly short distance. He starts off by joining the Imperial Academy to make a life for himself but after going to war he breaks some rules and is thrown into a pit with a beast. He meets Chewbacca there who is a wookie and helped Yoda off of his homeworld of Kashyyyk during order 66 in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Han meets a gambler named Lando Calrission. In his ship, the Millennium Falcon they go on the Kessel run with the help of some pirates. He achieves the Kessel Run in such a short distance by flying into a solar storm and past a massive space monster. After completing the run he bets against Lando Calrissian and beats him in the card game Sabacc by taking a card from Lando’s sleeve which prevents him from cheating causing him to win. Han gets ownership of the Millenium Falcon and with Chewbacca as a crewmember, becomes a smuggler.
The next part of the timeline is Obi Wan Kenobi which shows his story over a series after several years of living on Tatooine as a Jedi to watch over Luke Skywalker as he is a child. When the other twin, Leia Organa, is captured by pirates, he must leave to go find her and rescue her. This journey takes him to many planets where he sees Jedi that survived Order 66 getting killed by the Empire’s Inquisitors. On this journey he runs face to face with Darth Vader. After using his rusty skills in dueling he gets away but not before damaging Vader’s mask and seeing the face of his former padawan, Anakin Skywalker, who he thought he had killed on Mustafar all that time ago.
After this point on the timeline we get our next 4 season animated show being Star Wars: Rebels. This show follows Ezra Bridger who is found by some rebels on his home planet of Lothal. These rebels are the former and escaped Jedi padawan Kanan Jarrus, formerly Caleb Jarrus; Twi-Lekk pilot Hera Syndulla; an old astromech droid named Chopper; one of the last known Lasats, Garazeb Orrellios, who was a general for the Lasat army when they lost their planet to the Empire; and Sabine Wren who is an artistic Mandalorian with knowledge in explosives. This show shows their journey to expanding the Rebellion and freeing Lothal.
Next on the timeline is Andor which follows a man with the same name that lost his home planet and people to the Empire when he was a child and is finding his way as a key part of the rebellion. We see him do various tasks for the Rebellion and score big hits on the Empire, including escaping one of their prisons. Season 2 just came out as the most recent part of the timeline and goes into the next film in the franchise.
Rogue One is next in the saga. We see young Jyn Erso lose her parents to the Empire and her dad designing a superweapon named the Death Star for them. She meets Cassian Andor on Jedha and leaves with several Empire haters just as the Death Star appears and blows up the capital city of the planet. They find her dad so that they can get the plans of the Death Star for the Rebellion to use. Her dad dies to the Empire but tells her to find the plans on the tropical planet of Scarif. She goes to the Rebel base but is unable to get support to go to Scarif so they steal a ship and with some other rebels goes to Scarif and invades the tower with the plans. A ground battle ensues with Jyn, Cassian, and his droid K2SO sneak into the tower. The Rebellion sends some ships starting a large space battle. The shield around the planet prevents many reinforcements from getting on the ground. Many of the rebels start to die in the battle but using the satellite on the tower the plans are sent to the rebels. The Death Star destroys the planet which unexpectedly kills all of the main characters. The movie finishes with Vader killing rebels in the hallway of one of their ships which leads directly into the next film.
The original installation of the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: A New Hope, is chronologically next. The film opens to Darth Vader’s star destroyer chasing Rebellion’s ship, the Tantive IV, and capturing it. Princess Leia gives a message for R2-D2 and C-3PO, the same droids used by Anakin Skywalker, to deliver. Leia is captured by Darth Vader but the droids escape onto the planet of Tatooine. After being found and taken by Jawas that sell junk they find in the desert, they are sold to the Skywalker family including Luke Skywalker. When R2-D2 disappears Luke and C-3PO go look for him but they are attacked by the Tusken Raiders. They are saved by Obi Wan Kenobi and go back to the Skywalker water farm but find that Luke’s aunt and uncle are dead. They go to Mos Eisley spaceport and meet Han Solo and Chewbacca and pay them to help them rescue the princess. They see what they think is a moon but it is the Death Star that had just destroyed Leia’s home planet of Alderan. They manage to get her from her cell on the space station and as they are getting back onto the Millennium Falcon they see Obi Wan and Vader dueling and see Obi Wan disappear in thin air. After getting to the rebel base Luke is given an X-Wing and with many other rebels go to destroy the Death Star. With the plans obtained in Rogue 1 they learned that the Death Star has a small vent that can be shot into and is a weak spot. Most ships are destroyed with some even being destroyed by Darth Vader’s fighter. Luke hears Obi Wan’s voice in his head telling him to use the force so he closes his eyes and shoots a torpedo. It goes into the vent and the Death Star explodes.
Next up is Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back taking place soon after. The new rebel base is on the snow covered planet of Hoth. When attacked by the Empire’s massive AT-AT walkers they start evacuation with Luke Skywalker and some other pilots use snowspeeders to try to attack the walkers. Their guns don’t damage them but they realize that their grappling hooks can tie up the legs and take out the walkers. Han Solo was about to leave but instead helps get Leia, C-3PO, and Chewbacca off of the planet. Luke goes to a mysterious swampy planet called Dagobah and meets the 900 year old Jedi master Yoda. He trains Luke to be a Jedi. The rest of the core crew goes to Lando Calrission’s mining colony on Bespin. They learn that it was a trap and are captured by Darth Vader. Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Leia escapes but because of a vision Luke arrives. He duels with Vader and learns that he was his father. He loses his arm and denies a request to be Vader’s apprentice.
Next is Star Wars: Return of the Jedi which ends the original trilogy. In an attempt to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt’s castle the droid duo is sent as a peace agreement and a trade. Princess Leia dressed up as a bounty hunter takes in Chewbacca as a trade for Han but is unsuccessful. After she saves Han and takes him down from the wall Jabba captures her as well as Chewbacca. Luke comes in to save them but is dropped into a pit with a vicious rancor, a large reptilian monster with large claws, but he defeats the beast and is taken away. Jabba takes the group to the Sarlacc Pit and enslaves Leia. R2D2 fires a lightsaber to the speeder that Luke is on and Lando Calrissian disguised as a guard helps them all escape. Jabba is choked to death but Leia and they all get away on a speeder from Tatooine after blowing up the Sail Barge. The Rebellion learns that there is a second Death Star being built. The shield is based on the Forest Moon of Endor and they will need to destroy it in order to fly to the core of the Death Star. Leia, Han, Chewbacca, R2D2, C-3PO, and various other rebels go to the Moon to try and blow up the station with bombs. After gaining the trust of the small, furry, ewoks because they see C-3PO as a deity. They take down the station. Luke turns himself in and faces his father in front of the Sith Lord, Darth Sideous, and as he duels his father he is electrocuted by the force lightning from the emperor. Vader turns back to the light and throws the emperor down to the middle but is fatally wounded in the process. After getting away, Lando in the Millennium Falcon Blows up the Death Star.
Next up in the franchise is The Mandalorian. This show follows a Mandolorian man who wears armor and has a jetpack as well as weapons as a part of his religion. He finds a child named Grogu who is the same species as Yoda. This show’s third season happens directly after the next show.
The next show is The Book of Boba Fett. This show follows Boba Fett after getting out from the Sarlacc and becomes the ruler of Tatooine. Part of the season shows Grogu being trained by Luke Skywalker but eventually decides that he would rather be with the Mandolorian, Din Jarin. Boba Fett finally rules peacefully after killing the deadly bounty hunter Cad Bane.
Ahsoka is the next TV show. Ahsoka learns that the Imperial general may be rescued from being trapped in a far away galaxy during Rebels so she and some of the cast from that show go into the mouth of a hyperspace monster to stop the witch, Morgan Elsbeth, from saving him. As of the end of season 1 they are trapped in that galaxy but were successful.
Skeleton Crew is one of the next shows which follows a group of children that live on a planet that has been kept secret and even now prints Old Republic credits. The children get caught in an old pirate spaceship with almost no way to return to their home. They find a pirate that says he will help them home but he betrays them and uses them to get into the vaults so that he can take all of the credits. The children call the New Republic X-Wings and they prevent the pirate invasion.
The next animated show on the timeline is Star Wars: Resistance. This show takes place a while after the rest of the recent productions. It follows Kaz, the son of a politician on the capital planet of Hosnian Prime, who wants to be a racer. This show leads into the next 2 films and shows Kaz living on an ocean planet and eventually learning that the station is also a massive spaceship so they use it to help the Resistance.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the next film on the timeline which shows a new era where a faction has emerged being the First Order which takes much influence from the Empire. We see a stormtrooper help the Resistance’s best pilot, Poe Dameron, escape from a Star Destroyer and adopt the name Finn. He lands on the desert planet of Jakku that has become a junkyard because of one of the final battles to rid the Empire occurring there. Here we meet a scrapper named Rey who finds Finn and together after the Empire goes after them they with Poe’s droid, BB-8, run away from the fire of the Tie Fighters and take a ship from the scrapyard to escape. This ship was the Millenium Falcon. When in the middle of space a smuggler ship uses a tractor beam to get them onto their ship. On this ship is an aged Han Solo and Chewbacca who are happy to see their old ship. When Han Solo sees some people that he owes money he puts out the squid-like Rathtars to eat them as they get away on the Falcon. They go to the forest planet of Takodana to meet Maz Kanada who owns the castle and is friends with Chewbacca. It is attacked by the First Order because BB-8 has the plans to their Star Killer Base which is a superweapon built into a planet. The Resistance saves them after Rey is given the lightsaber of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. The plans get to the Resistance Fleet and with Poe still alive they go to destroy the base. Han Solo and friends get the silver stormtrooper Captain Phasma to turn off the shield and they set bombs to the shield generator. The base shoots out its laser and destroys many planets including the capital of Hosnian Prime. The new red lightsaber wielder, Kylo Ren, arrives with his crackling red 3 bladed lightsaber. He kills Han Solo who is his father but everyone else leaves the building. Finn uses the Skywalker saber to duel Kylo Ren but is thrown to the ground but Rey takes the lightsaber and fends off Kylo Ren until the Falcon takes them off the planet. Poe Dameron and the rest of the fleet manage to destroy the base and get away.
The next film is Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rey journeys to the island planet of Ossus where Luke Skywalker is settled and trained Jedi. She learns that he has given up on the Jedi and he refuses to take the lightsaber and help the Resistance but eventually she convinces him to train her. We learn that he trained Ben Solo, also known as Kylo Ren, and was betrayed by him because Luke tried to kill him after a vision. The resistance base on the fielded planet of D’Qar is under attack by the First Order so they have to evacuate. Poe Dameron avoids Leia’s orders to hold back but he attacks the Dreadnaught. The Dreadnaught is destroyed by a slow bomber but it and every other bomber along with other ships are destroyed in the battle. Poe gets demoted as they leave in hyperspace. Leia was thrown out of the ship but used the force to get back in so she has General Holdo take her place for the time being. When the First Order seems to have followed them they realize that they can track them through hyperspace. The Resistance is forced to retreat onto a salt covered planet Named Krait. Holdo sacrifices herself and crashes the cruiser into the fleet of the First Order destroying most of it. When the first order lands with walkers and a weapon that can break open the door of the base Finn tries to crash a speeder into the weapon but a woman named Rose stops him causing the base to be broken open. Luke Skywalker appears from nowhere and duels Kylo Ren after surviving a full barrage of the walkers unfazed. Luke disappears as Rey saves the remaining people with the Millenium Falcon. Luke disappears from his home planet showing how he used the rest of his life energy to distract Kylo Ren.
The final film on the Star Wars timeline as of now is Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. This film starts by showing that Kylo Ren has found the Sith planet of Exegol where he finds that Palpatine has returned and has been secretly manipulating things while in hiding. Leia has been training Rey on a base while the Resistance has been trying to rebuild. Leia was trained by Luke for some time but she later gave up on being a Jedi because of her other goals. Rey, Finn, Chewbacca, Poe, C-3PO, and BB-8 go to a desert planet called Pasaana and find a Sith wayfinder. They then go to Kijimi so that C-3PO can break his code and read the ancient Sith writing. They then go to one of the moons of Endor called Kef Bir which is where the 2nd Death Star crashed. The artifact that they find matches perfectly with the wreckage. They meet some former First Order stormtroopers and befriend them. Rey goes against the rest of their pleas and goes to the Death Star even though the seas were rough. She finds the way to Exegol and lands on the planet. She meets Kylo Ren and they work together to fight Palpatine. The Resistance sends their small fleet to fight the ships. Darth Sideous made Empire style Star Destroyers which each have a planet destroying weapon on the bottom of them. Rey, learning that she is the grandchild of Palpatine, makes him want her to strike him down and take the mantle of Sith lord. The Resistance calls for help and eventually after all looks lost the Millenium Falcon appears leading thousands of ships, one of which is the Ghost, that quickly start to take out Star Destroyers. Palpatine fatally wounds Kylo Ren but Rey uses a force ability to heal him which makes it seem as if she will die but Kylo heals her and dies instead. She then kills Palpatine and ends his reign once and for all.
There are also 3 different shows being Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Sith, and soon Tales of the Underworld which in each show contain small animated episodes to the franchise that add to fill gaps but go all across the timeline which makes it hard to fit into the timeline.
This ends all of the known to be canon Star Wars films and shows but it is not all that the company has made over the last almost 50 years. There have been many other productions that have not been confirmed to be canon but could theoretically be considered so for some of them.
Starting in release order we have Star Wars: Holiday Special which takes place between episode 4 and 5. This film shows many new things like Chewbacca’s family and a lot of singing. This is known as one of the worst things to ever show on a TV screen by many and even Lucasfilm has tried avoiding the fact that it existed.
Next we have The Story of the Faithful Wookiee which shows a traditionally animated Chewbacca helping save Han Solo from the bounty hunter Boba Fett. This was the first appearance of Boba Fett in the Star Wars franchise based on release. It was a part of the Star Wars Holiday Special and is seen as the only positive.
Star Wars: Caravan of Courage. This follows 2 kids that crash land on the Forest Moon of Endor and live with the Ewoks. With some help from the Ewoks, they rescue their parents from a giant beast. In this series which theoretically takes place after Star Wars: Return of the Jedi the young girl, Bristol, starts to teach some basic language, also known as English. This was a pretty well received ABC family film that played several times after its release.
Ewoks is the next TV show released that was also traditionally animated and follows a few Ewoks including Wicket journeying and going against the Empire in a single season Kids show type of story. Unfortunately this show was not well received because of people seeing it as a way for money rather than an addition to the franchise.
Droids continues the traditionally animated run of Star Wars by making a 10 episode adventure of C-3PO and R2-D2. It wasn’t well received either but many people enjoyed it more than Ewoks.
The next film made was Ewoks: Battle for Endor. This was made as an ABC TV film sequel to the last live action Ewoks film. The movie starts with the rest of the family being killed by pirates only leaving Bristol. Bristol finds a man on Endor with a broken ship and a creature friend with super speed. This story follows the Ewoks and the people previously listed fighting the pirates and a witch that can turn into a raven for control over the Forest Moon of Endor.
The Clone Wars 2D Microseries is the final 2D animated Star Wars project. It follows Anakin and Obi Wan as well as many other Jedi during the time in between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. This could have been considered canon at the time until we got the modern and longer running Clone Wars movie and series.
There have been several Lego Star Wars TV specials. These include Padawan Menace, Empire Strikes Out, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, Terrifying Tales, and Summer Vacation. These were made as fun additions to the franchise that were directed as comedic films for children who can’t watch the movies. Some of these go themed off holidays as well as one for summer vacations.
Lego Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles was a series also made to show some adventures that Yoda and other Jedi did between Star Wars films.
Another Lego series is Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales. It is a Summary of the first 3 Star Wars films from C-3PO after he gets his old memory card back from R2-D2 and tells people after destroying the 2nd Death Star on the Forest Moon of Endor.
Lego Star Wars: Resistance Rises serves as a short comedic series that acts as a prequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We see a little bit of a backstory to Finn and see some other small events play out.
Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures takes place between episodes 4 and 5. It follows an orphaned group of 3 siblings who work as mechanics but learn that their youngest brother, Rowan, is force sensitive and a woman claiming to be a Jedi says she’ll train him. Graballa the Hutt and the “Jedi” are the main villains of the series who want to take the mythical kyber saber. That can shoot a laser with the ability to destroy planets.
The final Lego series as of now is Lego Star Wars, Rebuild the Galaxy that follows a man that didn’t want to leave his home but was forced to and met many characters that fans want to see but don’t actually exist in the canon like Darth Jar Jar and a white Jedi Darth Vader.
The final show of the Star Wars franchise is Star Wars: Visions which is a show that goes to a different popular anime animator and has each of them make an episode to their own story and animation style. This show is seen as pretty good and will soon get a 3rd season.
