Star Wars Calendars

Originally posted at the Star Wars Blogs:

Continuity, Criticisms, and Captain Panaka by: Dan Wallace date posted: May 09, 2005 2:11 PM | updated: Jun 17, 2006 9:58 PM

Star Wars Calendars Hey, I warned you I was into stuff like this. There was some discussion on in-universe calendarization on the message boards at theforce.net. Basically, if you lived in the SW universe, what year would it be? Here's a summary of calendars, either in the past or in current use:

Calendar #1: Republic calendar Uses 25,000 BBY as its zero point, to correspond with the establishment of the Republic. Honestly, I've never actually seen this calendar being used in SW literature, but it seems logical that this would have existed at some point.

Calendar #2: Sidereal Period Uses 5,689 BBY as its zero point. Reader Pfluegermeister reminded me of this calendar, which is only referenced once, in the 1970s Star Wars Sunday newspaper comic strips by Russ Manning. In the comic, a supercomputer named Mistress Mnemos speaks the line, "Luke Skywalker... File: ZC-1905-FT, Section: OC-6492, Human: 10th Degree, Born: Sidereal Era, AS-5670... of Master and Mistress Tan Skywalker." Putting aside "Tan Skywalker" for a sec, this sets the zero point at 5,689 BBY, but raises the question of what would have occurred during that year to start the Sidereal Period. (Wish I'd remembered this in time for the New Essential Chronology.)

Calendar #3: Ruusan Reformations Uses 1,000 BBY as its zero point, which helps explain the references in the prequels to the Republic existing for "a thousand years" (as opposed to 25,000 years). This calendar originated in HoloNet News (but isn't actually used by HoloNet News...see below).

Calendar #4: Great Re-Synchronization Uses 35 BBY as its zero point. This is the in-universe dating system used by HoloNet News (and before that, West End Games' Galaxywide NewsNets). I think Zahn's Pre-Empire dates correspond to this, but it's been a while. This date originated with an old timeline in the 2nd edition of the Guide to the Star Wars Universe that placed the end of the Clone Wars at 35 BBY. Since that date is no longer valid, HoloNet News retconned it into the "Great Re-Synchronization." Years that occur prior to the establishment of this event are referrred to by the abbreviation "BrS" (for "Before Re-Synchronization) under the rules of this system.

Calendar #5: Battle of Yavin Uses 0 BBY (i.e. Star Wars: A New Hope) as its zero point. This is the most widely-used timeline since it's easy to grasp. It is also apparently used in-universe, if the Essential Chronology is any guide.

There are really only two timelines being used in current practice: #4 (which I'll call the Fanboy Timeline) and #5. #4 is almost like a secret code and will continue to be used in fannish sources like HoloNet News, but the smart money is on #5, since that's the one that everyone (particularly SW authors and licensees) will gravitate toward.

Almost forgot: there are two distinct "year" calendars:

Year Calendar #1: 10-month year This was introduced by West End Games, apparently in an effort to make SW seem more "spacey." It causes lots of problems in figuring out where to place events separated by months, since Lucasfilm doesn't really use it, and new authors generally have no idea it was ever introduced.

Year Calendar #2: 12-month year This is exactly like our calendar here on earth. The smart money is on this calendar, because it allows LFL to place events without having to calculate the result.