Complete Timeline (Video Games/excluding Michonne)
Title says it all. I sat down and made a timeline for all the events in Season 1, 400 Days and Season 2. A few notes beforehand, though:
- The timeline is not official. I wrote this up in a few hours, over the course of a few days, and have almost certainly made some mistakes here and there.
- About the outbreak year: 2003 is the year the first issue of the comics was released, and is generally accepted as the outbreak year in comic/game canon. However, there is not really a set year, as mentioned several times by Robert Kirkman himself. So take all the dates with a grain of salt. Some evidence to support 2003 as outbreak year: The train map in S1:E3 is dated 2003-2005. Telltale employees mentioned that Michonne takes place in 2005 (the story of Michonne takes place roughly 1 1/2 to 2 years into the apocalypse).
- About the outbreak date: July 20 is the date you get if you count backwards from the dates given by the tapes in Crawford.
- A lot of guess work is involved. There are rarely any dates that we can pinpoint 100%. Only Day 0 (Crawford tapes), the Crawford tapes themselves and the day Clementine reunites with Kenny (Christmas Eve 2005) come to mind.
- Tell me if you see any blatant mistakes or think a guess is way off. I'll fix it as good as I can.
Pre-Apocalypse
September 3, 1962: Alvin is born (semi-confirmed by his VA)
After July 22, 1965 and before July 22, 1966: Lee Everett is born in Macon, GA.
1974-75: Anna Correa is born in (possibly) Savannah, GA.
December 29-31, 1978: Luke is born.
1989-1990: Sarah is born.
1992-93: Kenny Jr. (Duck) is born in (possibly) Fort Lauderdale, FL.
October 30, 1994: Clementine is born in (possibly) Atlanta, GA.
2000: Luke gets out of College.
Post-Apocalypse
Day 0 July 20, 2003: Global Outbreak.
Day 1 July 21, 2003: Lee’s car crash.
Day 2 July 22, 2003: Lee meets Clementine. Chet’s death (determinant). Lee and Clementine arrive at Hershel’s farm. Vince’s Story.
Day 3 July 23, 2003: Lee meets Kenny, Katjaa and Duck. Shawn’s death. Lee meets Lilly, Larry, Doug, Carley and Glenn in Macon. Girl kills herself at the Motor Inn. Carley’s/Doug’s death (determinant). Glenn leaves for Atlanta. Group settles in at the Motor Inn.
Day 41 August 30, 2003: Wyatt’s Story.
Day 45 September 3, 2003: Alvin’s 41st birthday.
Day 82 October 9, 2003: Dr. Logan tells Anna Correa to abort.
Day 83 October 10, 2003: Anna Correa kills Logan and flees Crawford. Crawford falls (presumed).
Day 94 October 21, 2003: Lee meets Ben, Travis and David. Travis’ and David’s deaths. Ben reveals that it’s not the bite. Group meets the St. Johns. Jolene’s death. “Dinner”. Mark’s death. Larry’s death. Lee kills Danny St. John (determinant). Brenda St. John’s death. Lee kills Andy St. John (determinant). Group steals from the Stranger’s car.
Day 103 October 30, 2003: Clementine’s 9th birthday.
Day 106 November 2, 2003: Lee and Kenny look for supplies. Lee shoots Beatrice out of mercy (determinant). Bandits raid the Motor Inn. Duck is bitten. Lilly shoots Carley/Doug (determinant). Lilly left behind (determinant).
Day 107 November 3, 2003: Group finds the train. Lilly steals the RV (determinant). Group meets Chuck. Katjaa’s death. Lee/Kenny shoots Duck out of mercy (determinant). Group meets Omid and Christa. Omid injures his leg. Lee and Kenny find out Clementine lied about her walkie talkie being broken.
Day 108 November 4, 2003: Group arrives in Savannah. Chuck is bitten. Group arrives at the mansion. Kenny discovers a zombified Fivel (attic kid). Lee sees the Stranger while burying the kid. Lee and Kenny search for a boat. Lee meets Molly, learns about Crawford. Lee finds Chuck’s body in the sewers. Lee meets the cancer survivors: Vernon, Clive, Boyd, Joyce and Brie. Vernon agrees to help Omid. Clementine finds the boat. Group decides to go to Crawford to look for medicine and supplies for the boat. Crawford is found overrun. Lee finds and kills a zombified Logan.
Day 109 November 5, 2003: Ben lets in walkers by accident. Brie’s death. Ben’s death (determinant). Clementine runs off. Lee is bitten. Group suspects Vernon and decides to go to the morgue, but the cancer group is gone. Lee’s arm is cut off (determinant). Group finds out Vernon stole the boat. Mansion siege. Omid/Lee kills a zombified Brie (determinant). Kenny sacrifices himself for Ben/Christa (determinant) and is presumed dead, but survives. Lee fights his way through a herd to reach the March House. Lee and the Stranger talk. Lee/Clementine kills the Stranger (determinant). Lee and Clementine discover the “cover” technique. Clementine sees her zombified parents, Lee passes out. Lee’s death. Clementine escapes Savannah.
Day 110-112 November 6, 2003-November 8, 2003: Clementine meets up with Omid and Christa.
Day 162-164 December 29, 2003-December 31, 2003: Luke’s 25th birthday.
Day 184 January 20, 2004: Russel’s Story.
Day 220 February 25, 2004: Bonnie’s Story.
Day 236 March 12, 2004: Shel’s Story (Part 1).
Day 259 April 4, 2004: Shel’s Story (Part 2)
Day 366 July 20, 2004: Omid’s death. Michelle’s death.
Day 370-90 July 24, 2004-August 13, 2004: Christa gives birth. Baby dies (unknown cause).
Day 400 August 23, 2004: 400 Days Epilogue.
Day 411 September 3, 2004: Alvin’s 42nd birthday.
Day 468 October 30, 2004: Clementine’s 10th birthday.
Day 528-530 December 29, 2004-December 31, 2004: Luke’s 26th birthday.
Day 776 September 3, 2005: Alvin’s 43rd birthday.
Day 833 October 30, 2005: Clementine’s 11th birthday.
Day 881 December 17, 2005: Christa and Clementine are separated. Christa’s death (presumed). Winston’s death. Clem falls in the river.
Day 882 December 18, 2005: Clementine awakes at the shore. Clementine meets Sam (dog). Sam attacks and bites Clementine. Clementine kills the dog/leaves the dog to die (determinant). Pete and Luke save Clementine and she meets the cabin group. Clementine is locked in the shed. Clementine steals supplies. Clementine stitches up her own arm and kills a walker that made it into the shed. Clementine and Luke talk about Lee.
Day 883 December 19, 2005: Pete, Nick and Clementine discover dead bodies at the riverbank. Pete is bitten. Pete`s death (determinant). Pete/Nick and Clementine hide from walkers in an abandoned cigarette truck/shed (determinant). Pete/Nick sacrifices himself for Clementine and is killed by walkers/survives the walkers (determinant). Clementine returns to the cabin. Carlos and Rebecca follow Luke and Alvin. Clementine/Sarah takes a picture of Sarah/herself (determinant) and Clementine teaches Sarah how to shoot (determinant). Carver arrives at the cabin and sees Sarah’s picture. Group leaves the cabin. They find Pete’s body/a hungover Nick (determinant) by the spot Clem left them. They decide to make their way to the Blue Ridge Mountains (not named in game).
Day 888 December 24, 2005: Group arrives at bridge. Matthew’s death. Group arrives at Moonstar Lodge. Clementine reunited with Kenny. Walter gives supplies to Bonnie. Nick’s death (determinant). Carver captures everyone but Clementine, Rebecca, Alvin, Kenny and Luke. Johnny’s death. Walter’s death. Kenny shoots Carver in the shoulder (determinant). Alvin’s death (determinant). Entire group except Luke captured.
Day 889 December 25, 2005: Group arrives at Howe’s Hardware. Clementine meets Reggie, Mike and Jane.
Day 890 December 26, 2005: Reggie’s death. Troy saves Clementine from walkers. Clementine meets up with Luke again. Carver talks with Clementine. Clementine steals a walkie talkie for Luke.
Day 891 December 27, 2005: Luke is caught. Carver beats Kenny almost to death. Group decides to use the herd to escape, using the “cover” technique. Clementine attracts the herd using outdoor speakers. Alvin’s death (determinant). Hanks’s death (determinant). Carver’s death. Troy’s death. Carlos’ death. Sarita is bitten. Sarita’s death (determinant). Nick is shot in the shoulder (determinant). Clementine escapes the herd with Rebecca and Jane.
Day 892 December 28, 2005: Clementine arrives at Parker’s Run with Rebecca and Jane. Clementine and Jane go looking for Luke, Sarah and Nick. Clementine puts down a zombified Nick (determinant). Sarah’s death (determinant). Sarita’s death (determinant). Clementine finds an observation deck for Rebecca to give birth in with Jane. Arvo arrives, he is robbed by Jane and Clementine (determinant) and threatened by Jane. Clementine helps Mike and Bonnie search for supplies in an old museum. Jane and Luke have sex, leading to walkers sneaking up on the group. Rebecca goes into labor and gives birth to a boy. Sarah’s death (determinant). Jane leaves the group.
Day 893 or Day 895 December 29, 2005 or December 31, 2005 (determinant): Arvo’s group ambushes Clementine’s on the road. Rebecca’s death. Clementine/Kenny shoot a zombified Rebecca, triggering a shootout. Natasha’s death. Mike shot in the arm. Luke shot in the leg. Buricko’s death. Clementine shoots a zombified Natasha. Vitali’s death. Jane returns. Arvo promises to bring them to his home. Rebecca’s baby is named Alvin Jr. (AJ). Group has a relaxed night at a campfire. Kenny knocks out Arvo (determinant). Luke’s 27th birthday (somewhere inbetween the two dates).
Day 894 or Day 896 December 30, 2005 or January 1, 2006: Luke’s death. Bonnie’s death (determinant). Group arrives at Arvo’s home. Kenny beats up Arvo. Kenny fixes the truck out back.
Day 895 or Day 897 December 31, 2005 or January 2, 2006: Arvo, Mike and Bonnie (determinant) try to steal all supplies and the truck to get away from Kenny. Arvo shoots Clementine in the shoulder. Clementine dreams about Lee. Kenny and Jane save Clementine and take the truck. Kenny searches for Diesel at a blocked off road. Clementine crashes the car when walkers attack. Clementine and Jane with AJ are separated. Clementine makes her way through a blizzard and finds Kenny. Jane appears without AJ. Kenny attacks Jane. Kenny’s/Jane’s death (determinant). Kenny’s death (determinant). AJ is found alive. Clementine leaves/stays with Kenny/Jane (determinant).
Day 904 or Day 906 January 9, 2006 or January 11, 2006:
- 1.1: Jane is dead and Clementine killed Kenny, she is alone with AJ. They make their way through a herd. 1.2: Clementine left Jane. 1.3: Clementine left Kenny.
- 2.1: Clementine is with Kenny. They arrive at Wellington, but there’s only room for the two kids. Clementine stays. 2.2: Clementine leaves with Kenny.
- 3.1: Clementine is with Jane at Howe’s. A family arrives and wants to be let in. Clementine lets them in. 3.2: Clementine refuses to let them in.
Day 1198 October 30, 2006: Clementine’s 12th birthday.
Day 1257 December 28, 2006: AJ’s 1st birthday.
Day 1563 October 30, 2007: Clementine’s 13th birthday.
Day 1622 December 28, 2007: AJ’s 2nd birthday.
Comments
December 17th, the day where Clem and Christa get separated is also the same day season 2 came out.
Holy shit. That makes me more confident about it being right if I'm honest.
What is TellTalluminati trying to tell us?
Thank you so much.
Also I am entirely impressed that you put more thought and energy into the timeline more than Telltale themselves has.
Also, I'm going to point out that all of season 2 (excluding the time skip) lasted over a span of 22 days. From the day Clementine is found by the cabin group to the last day of S2 E5. That's not even a month. Whereas S1 lasted over a span of 111 days.
Now for the grand finale:
@EpicMustacheGuy when did this happen?
Well, it's normal for fans to overanalyse stuff I guess. Also, while researching this I noticed that Telltale actually cared more about it than I thought (for example the train map and the Tweets saying Michonne takes place in 2005), so I underestimated them there.
Day -1 or Day 0. Shortly before Clementine hides in the treehouse and Sandra is killed. Ed and Diana seem to only have called and left the messages after Sandra was already dead.
For some reason I always thought it was a couple days (2+) but knowing she's still wearing that outfit you're probably right. Unless TT just didn't want to change it.
Well, there is no real answer, so your guess is as good as mine. It could be three or four days for all we know. I just thought it would be cool if this scene took place right before shit hits the fan. Like the camera turning off meaning the end of the video, and the world.
This is fantastic and very well put together! Thank you for your time and work on this!
How did you deduce the date of Clementine arriving at the mountain lodge? No one mentions it being Christmas Eve and people typically place their tree and decorations a few weeks to a month before.
No problem
For lack of a better one. You have to consider that it is a real pain to just take random dates from a large span of time, so it was an anchor of sorts. And while it's true that people often place their tree a few weeks ahead of time, I know people to usually decorate them only a day before, or on the 24th. It is also true that no one mentions it's Christmas, which is a bigger problem, I agree. But again, having a fixed date is still better than messing around with a timeframe anywhere from November-December, and I figured Christmas was as fitting a date as any.
Shows what i know. I thought the events were in current time. (2012-2016)
You're not entirely wrong, in the sense that Robert Kirkman, the comic's creator, only ever said that the game takes place in "modern times", which could be interpreted as anything, really. However, the examples I gave above (train map and when Michonne takes place) seem to strongly suggest that 2003 is, indeed, the outbreak year in the games. And since the game and comics share a universe and Robert Kirkman has not outright denied this, it is semi-official.
There are some objects in the game that don't look modern at all, such as the phones, TVs, cars, etc. Which points to 2003 being the correct year of the outbreak compared to it being in 2012. But like OP said, it isn't entirely official.
Can you also add events that happens in the comics and novel? That would be the best.
Not the novels since I don't know anything about them, but I'm currently working on the comics and Michonne. It will be a few days though since it is a shit ton of information.
So, I just noticed a pretty big inconsistency myself. The comics are currently only at Day 1481 according to the wiki, whereas Clementine turned 13 on Day 1563. And even if my exact calculation is wrong, the fact remains that Clementine's 9th birthday was 3 months and a few weeks after Day 0 on July 20, 2003. If the wiki is correct, then Clementine cannot be 13 without the game overtaking the comics, unless I'm missing something obvious.
Pretty much the Novels is Woodbury after Rick and Co went to war.
Even Telltale and Kirkman probably haven't thought about it this much detail!
This was awesome, thank you for this!!!
Maybe not, but do realize that it probably isn't entirely correct.
No problem. As said above though, take it with a grain of salt.
Yeah, but I still love stuff like this, not sure why but it just pleases me xD
Well, me too, or I wouldn't have made it in the first place. Just something weirdly satisfying about seeing all this information in one place and having (possible) dates to go along with it, I've always liked timelines.
YES! SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS! XD
November 5, 2003 was a pretty shitty day. Also this is super awesome and thank you for this. Definitely will help fanfic writers!
It was a Wednesday, so it was shitty by default. And you're welcome! I hope it helps with your writing.
No need to get too picky because you admitted that a lot of it was guess work on your part and that it is nowhere near anything official. However I think you might be adding a little bit too much time. Kirkman has said that season 2 took place right about the two year mark (the time AOW was taking place in the comic).
Also if we go by the time that has officially been announced to have passed in the game it would be about two years as well. 3 months pass in between the time of season 1 ep 1 and ep 2. An indeterminant amount of time takes place during the rest of season 1 but we can likely assume it all happens within a month or so. So that is four or five months for season 1.
The only timetable we have for the very beginning of season 2 is how Christa is animated. She is a lot more pregnant than she was in season 1 (how far a long she was during season 1 we really don't know. So if we just say add another four or five months we will be about the eight or nine month mark of the apocalypse.
There is a sixteen month timeskip right after Omid dies and that would lead us right at around the 24 or 25 month mark when season 2 picks up again.. I think it would be more accurate to say everything in season 2 takes place closer to the 2 year mark instead of the 3 year mark.
All valid points, but I'll break down what I was thinking nonetheless.
Season 1
Katjaa can mention on Hershel's farm that it's almost like they didn't watch people eating each other for the past 3 days. So I think my estimate is right for Episode 1. Other evidence is that you can see Kenny and his pickup in the beginning of 400 Days, so this is likely when Duck got attacked. Then we get a time jump of exactly 400 days. Meaning that Duck was attacked on Day 0 and Katjaa told Lee about it on Day 3.
I just added roughly 3 months for Episode 2. A relative of mine's birthday is the 21st, so I decided to use that instead of the 23rd (exactly 3 months).
We don't really know how much time passes between Episode 2 and 3, I think I used a random number generator and let it generate a number between 7 and 21 or something. What we do know is that Clementine's birthday is 6 days before Lee's death. After Episode 3, the number of days till the end of Season 1 is set in stone: 2 days.
-> I think up to this point, my estimate is pretty good. Also note that while the exact dates may be wrong, the season and even month are pretty much set despite that. Now on to Season 2.
Season 2
As I said earlier, we know that Season 1 ends in the fall/winter. We also know that Season 2 takes place around Christmas 2005: Maybe Clementine doesn't meet up with Kenny exactly on Christmas eve, but I think it's fair to say that it isn't more than 1 or 2 weeks away/in winter 2005. This means it takes place a little over 2 years after Season 1.
Regarding Christa's pregnancy: We know that it is around Christmas 2005 16 months after Omid's death. At that point, Christa looks like she is about to give birth any day. I estimated that she probably only got pregant very recently before we met her in Season 1, maybe she knew for only a few days. She didn't look pregnant at all, and Lee and Kenny actually had to figure it out by other clues. I counted with her being pregnant for another 8 1/2 to 9 months. I did this so it fits in with Christmas 2005 being around 25 months after Season 1/November 2003.
Season 2 itself is pretty much set in stone. There are a few variations possible here and there (maybe they drove an additional day to Howe's or waited a day more if you choose so in Ep4), but other than that there isn't much you can change there.
Now, I did notice a pretty big issue with this timeline, but this time it's something that isn't really dependent on how I count and rather seems to be a mistake on Telltale's part: Let's leave the exact dates away completely. The fact remains that Clementine turns 9 anywhere roughly between Day 100 and 110. This means that she turns 13 between Day 1560 and 1570. However, if the wiki is to be believed, the comics are currently around Day 1480. Now, Kirkman said that Season 3 takes place "closer" to the comic's events, but it sounds as if it isn't "there" yet. So unless the wikia timeline is complete bullshit, Clementine shouldn't be 13 for another few months in Season 3.
Again: This is not dependent on how I count, the info is all in the game without need of interpretation: Clementine's 9th birthday is 3-4 months in no matter how one counts, and birthdays don't change each year. It could either be a mistake on Telltale's or the wikia's part.
We are all free to come up with our own timeline since there isn't any official one out there. However what I will say is that you probably shouldn't take the Walking Dead wiki site to seriously. The Walking Dead wiki is one of the more inconsistent wikis I have seen. For instance they have Sophia starting the series out being a year older than Carl but now according to the wiki she is a year younger.
It's obvious that the people who work on that site just stick to certain paiges and they have virtually no communication with one another. They just post what they want to post.
All I use the wiki site for is just to see which characters were in certain issues.
I guess I shouldn't judge them (seeing as I'm basically doing the same), but how did they "lose" so much time? But I'm glad that it's a mistake on their part and not Telltale's.
The inconsistency with Sophia and Carl's ages came about because while the comic officially states when the series began that Sophia was eight and Carl was seven the Walking Dead survival's guide by Tim Daniels which came out in 2012 or something said that Sophia was only six when the comic began.
So it looks like the people who are updating those character pages (a long with not even communicating with each other to make sure they are all on the same page) are also basing their information off of some faulty guide book info. Some people think the apocalypse has lasted six years while others think the apocalypse has lasted just four years. Some people think Sophia was six when the comic started. And all the while no effort whatsoever is being put forth to conform the site into a cohesive piece of work.
I'm sure I have only mentioned the tip of the iceberg of everything that is off with that site.
Me personally I say they are about at the five year mark in the comic (maybe a little further than that). Eugene mentioned within the past ten issues or so that they had been in Alexandria for around three years. Kirkman has always played a little loose with the timeline of the series. Even when he does try to give some kind of timeframe on things he will often have the characters say something a long the lines that they believe it has been that long but they havn't been real good at keeping track of time. Leaving room open for the reader to come up with their own timeline if they want.
I thought it was before.
I also thought it was around five years, so that's what I'm going with from now on. That fixes the issue of Clementine's age and also fits with the summer-y feel of the teaser trailer: it might be around the five year mark/June-July.
Yeah also you can tell it has been a while since they came back from the timeskip as well. When they picked up from the timeskip the people in Alexandria were all wearing short sleeve shirts and many of them were wearing shorts (plus they were picking corn which tends to be a summer activity). In the last couple issues lots of people are wearing coats. Magna stated several issues back that they had been in Alexandria for a few months by that point.
So my guesstimate is that the Negan War took place around the two year mark. The timeskip was about two and half years or so (the two year skip that people saw was pretty much said to be inaccurate by Kirkman) and since the timeskip I say it has been between 4-6 months which would make the entire apocalypse around the five year mark by this point.
Before and after.
Good work here. I made a timeline like this (I lost it unfortunately), and I'm sure that the events of the Michonne Series were previous to S2 ones.
According to Samantha's passport, her birthday is August 1. She was born in 1983, and Arthur Von Nagel confirmed that Sam was 22 years old in the Michonne Game.
So that means that Michonne met her after August/01/2005. That made me think that the Michonne events were previous to S2 ones, because Michonne met Randall and Norma three weeks after she joined Pete.
Bad thing is that I dont know the exact day, and there was not a single reference to S2 to know exactly.
This is incredible work, @EpicMustacheGuy!
I have had a sort of epiphany; a moment of sudden insight. Is it not incredible to learn that Clementine was at Gil's Pitstop with Christa, Omid and Michelle before Tavia arrived and before Vince, Wyatt, Russel, Bonnie, Shel and Becca took off?
Thanks, man!
And it's kind of cool to think about how close the two groups probably were to each other. Clem, Christa and Omid might well have stumbled into the 400 Days people and have stayed with them until Tavia arrived.