Expanding the refined timeline
POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Thursday, December 1, 2016 06:35
VIEWED: 14114
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After discussion of the nucleus of a timeline of our verse in another thread (b=4&t=31980), here I will try to provide an expanded version including key dates/periods referred to in BDS/BDM. This nucleus of time references was refined to eliminate or moderate perceived conflicts among canon date/time references.
There are a number of references which conflict greatly with other evidence. Mal's birthdate given as 1468 (making 31 year old Nathan playing 49 year old Mal) is one example. Another is River's data on Birth, institute enrollment, age in BDS/BDM. These conflicting items are not used.
Another timeline is available at
http://www.mts.net/~arphaxad/firefly.html
Another timeline similar to this, but derived from the originating scripts and original episode sequence before either was interfered with by the network, can be found here:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=4&t=36140
Late Nov or early Dec 2493 - Simon Tam born (Simon's birthday in Out of Gas, year conjecture from actor Zac Efron's portayal of critical/focused age in Safe - seen post on 30 Nov 2016.)
Early August 2500 - River Tam is born, before 15 August. (River is 16 in Escape from Institute of BDM, and River-in-the-Box is 17 in Pilot Serenity.)
2505 or early 2506 - Reasearch Vessel crashed on and investigated Miranda, sent out signal (BDM, Mal states signal about 12 years old.)
2506 - Beginning of the War for Alliance Domination. War lasted 5 years. Could be August, but "5 years" is fairly vague.
October 2506 - River is playing the part of Independent Platoons while Simon tries to study at the Tam Estate (flahsback in Safe, "11 years earlier"). Even at age 6, River is very aware of the verse outside her immediate realm.
2509 or 2510 - River explains to Alliance teacher that Independents don't like Allince to meddle with them. (flashback as intro classroom scene of BDM - classmates are 12 year olds, River is at least 2 years younger than them, specified iin script).
February 2511 - Battle of Du-Khang (Seven years before The Message, flashbacks with Pvt Tracey.)
Late May 2511 - Battle of Serenity Valley on Hera starts. Lasts seven weeks. (May from BDM deleted scenes)
First week of July 2511 - Scene from beginning of Pilot Serenity, High Command gives up after 5 weeks of fighting, and Independents fight for 2 more weeks.
Mid July 2511 - Battle of Serenity Valley ends, about 2-3 weeks into July.
Late July 2511 - For a week of Peace negotiations, BoSV survivors lay dying on the Battlefeld, including Mal & Zoe. Third or fourth week of July. (from Pilot Serenity deleted scene 75). This shown in Pilot Serenity scene 1 (deleted scene).
Approx 12-17 August 2511 - Unification Day - End of the War for Alliance Domination. (6th Anniversary was celebrated in The Train Job.)
Late Nov - early Dec 2512 - Mal purchases Firefly transport ship (from Tim Minnear and David Soloman commentary in Out of Gas, "about 5 years ago").
Early/mid November 2513 - Jayne and Stitch Hessien work a heist on Higgin's Moon together, at least starting out together. Stitch ends up in a sweat box, being let out 4 years later in Jaynestown.
August 2514 - River enrolls at Institute (assuming enrollment still occurs at end of August, River just turned 14.)
October 2516 - Official records show Inara shipped out with Serenity here (from Commander Harken, Inara's exchange in Bushwhacked.)
Mid October 2516 - Jayne switches from Marco's crew to Serenity. (this entry disputed, derived from "man I met a year ago" line in OMR teaser.)
Late Dec. 2516 to mid Jan 2517 - Inara actually rents Shuttle I. (from "8 months" in TTJ, "a year" in OiS, Sheydra's "a year" in BDM deleted scenes/script)
April 2517 - sometime around this period, Kaylee's nethers experience some form of non-battery operated plaything.
Early August 2517 - River escapes Institute on Osiris, a day or week before Pilot. River is 16.
Approx 10-15 A
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Some notes from this newer view of things.
The apples Jayne buys from Ariel profits are around Christmas or New Year's Day. Maybe he was trying to make up for when River said "they took Christmas away" in Ariel.
Book is off ship in Ariel, around Christmas time.
There had been some discussion about the Battle of Du-Khang in The Message flashbacks being in conflict with the timing of Battle of Serenity Valley, BoDK was too early to be having a lot of Independent defeats. This seems to be resolved more now.
River is born in early August 2500, turns 14 in 2514 and then enrolls in Institute, is still 16 in escape scene of BDM (as specified in script), turns 17 in transit and is 17 in Pilot as specified in script, and is still 17 in BDM, as specified in script.
When Mal says in Objects in Space that they'll hit New Melbourne in 3 days, should we consider this to be Inara's destination - The Companion Training House? She said she was leaving in heart of Gold.
Original script shows New Melbourne actually was her destination, before the episode sequence was juggled around.
From early August 2517 Escape from Institute to early April 2518 is the 8 months the Operative states to Dr. Mathias.
From mid-August 2517 Pilot to Late April 2518 BDM is about 8 1/2 months, Mal says "8 months" in BDM.
When Inara tells Book in The Train Job that she's been aboard 8 months, this is more than 8 months and less than 9 months from the late-Dec 2516 to mid-Jan 2517 time frame. When Inara tells Jubal in Objects in Space that she's been aboard "a year" it is 13 or 14 months. When Sheydra mentions Inara was aboard "a year" in BDM deleted scenes, this is also 13 or 14 months. When Sheydra mentions "these last months" Inara has been at Training House, this would be end of February, March, and most of April.
When Simon says in Safe they have been aboard "more than 2 months" it is a tad more than 2 months instead of 4 months.
Because our BDH go to Beaumonde in early November 2517, and then go to Canton on Higgin's Moon for a job (Jaynestown) to deliver merchandise to Bernoulli, perhaps they got the job from Fanty & Mingo while on Beaumonde?
The discussion thread preceding this:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=4&t=31980
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Also, why the other timeline states that the BDM spans a week of time is beyond me. Other than the River classroom scene and Operative at the Institute scene, and repair yard at the end, the rest of the BDM spans 2 days (a Sunday and Monday).
They start off with the Lilac heist, then quickly get to Beaumonde with Fanty & Mingo. Then to Haven, spending a day and evening at Haven. No time is specified yet regarding the travel from Beaumonde to Haven.
From Haven to Training House is "few hours" as stated by Mal, and then another few hours returning to Haven.
After the Operative and Mal at Training House, script and deleted scenes show the Operative abducts Fanty & Mingo, finding out the places Mal "goes to ground" through beating, and dispatches Alliance craft to destroy these places before Serenity gets back to Haven. This indicates Fanty & Mingo are within a few hours of both Training House, which was a few hours from Haven. This shows Beaumonde is not too many hours from Haven itself.
On destroyed Haven, Mal tells Kaylee she has 2 hours to make Serenity ready for the trip to Miranda. Then it's only a few hours to Miranda.
After Miranda, River states it is a 4 hour trip at maximum burn to Mr Universe.
The only passage of a day shown is dusk and evening on Haven Sunday, then morning upon return to Haven.
Leaving the sunny side of Lilac, landing on the dark side of Beaumonde, and going to the bright side of Haven does not require a day of passage, only several hours of travel time.
Maybe the time at the repair yard afterwards is the week mentioned.
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First off, let me just say I'm glad I'm not the only one obsessed with Firefly timelines!
I agree with the majority of the dates you've worked out with the following exceptions.
1. I think Jayne came on board after Inara. Nothing solid to base this assumption on except the order of flashbacks in OoG. Also, in Serenity, Jayne says something like "I didn't sign on with this crew for the sights" which gave me the impression he hadn't been on Serenity long.
2. I think the events of the BDM lasted longer than 2 days. (Although the fact that River wears the same dress may support your idea.) I think there's just more travel time between planets than you're allowing for.
You've got to factor in time it took for the Operative to suss out all the info on Mal, get to Inara, "persuade" her to wave Mal. She is wearing different clothes in her wave from when she first met the Operative which indicates more time passed. (Of course, she does like wearing different outfits so this might not mean anything 
)
There was also enough travel time from Haven to Miranda to allow the crew an opportunity to "sleep."
Plus, the Operative had to spend time getting Fanty & Mingo to give up Mal. And, I don't think Fanty & Mingo would know all of Mal's hiding places - I mean, who goes around broadcasting that info to criminal businessmen? I tend to think the Operative found Haven through Book as a registered passenger and traced his current whereabouts through the Abbey.
I also think we can't base time assumptions on daytime versus nighttime on different planets. Serenity time has got to be completely independent of so-called local time which has got to give the feeling of jet lag. No wonder Mal's so grouchy!
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Quote:
Originally posted by CharlieBZ:
First off, let me just say I'm glad I'm not the only one obsessed with Firefly timelines!
I agree with the majority of the dates you've worked out with the following exceptions.
1. I think Jayne came on board after Inara. Nothing solid to base this assumption on except the order of flashbacks in OoG. Also, in Serenity, Jayne says something like "I didn't sign on with this crew for the sights" which gave me the impression he hadn't been on Serenity long.
This sole reference is from OMR "man I met a year ago" line. Not solid, and no other reference to this found (other than less than 3 1/2 years ago). I would more likely delete this timeline entry than change to elswhere, absent further data. Since I posted this for others to use and refer to, I might just do this deletion.
Quote:
2. I think the events of the BDM lasted longer than 2 days. (Although the fact that River wears the same dress may support your idea.) I think there's just more travel time between planets than you're allowing for.
Mal specifies "few hours" from Haven to Training House, and then the same would be returning. And the Operative does all the work after leaving Training House and before the "few hours" trip back to Haven - meaning beaumonde couldn't be that far away.
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You've got to factor in time it took for the Operative to suss out all the info on Mal, get to Inara, "persuade" her to wave Mal. She is wearing different clothes in her wave from when she first met the Operative which indicates more time passed. (Of course, she does like wearing different outfits so this might not mean anything
From the time of Maidenhead on Beaumonde to the Operative getting to Training House - this occured while Serenity on Haven, day or dusk until nighttime, when Mal went to sleep before being awoken for Inara's wave.
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There was also enough travel time from Haven to Miranda to allow the crew an opportunity to "sleep."
Didn't see sleep - they were pretty wired going through the reaver armada, and they had already said they were the closest to Miranda, in the Burnham Quadrant. Where did they get sleep?
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Plus, the Operative had to spend time getting Fanty & Mingo to give up Mal. And, I don't think Fanty & Mingo would know all of Mal's hiding places - I mean, who goes around broadcasting that info to criminal businessmen? I tend to think the Operative found Haven through Book as a registered passenger and traced his current whereabouts through the Abbey.
I also think we can't base time assumptions on daytime versus nighttime on different planets. Serenity time has got to be completely independent of so-called local time which has got to give the feeling of jet lag. No wonder Mal's so grouchy!
Day versus night is arbitrary, based upon whether Serenity lands on the dark side or the sun side of a planet at any given time. The only clear usage of this in on Haven, the mining camp is rotating on Haven at the same position and goes from daytime (Serenity landing) to nightime fireside chat with Book, then leaving for Training House, and returning to daylight when Book dies.
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As I recall, when Serenity leaves Haven the scene is supposed to show the flesh burning off the bodies strapped to the nose, happening when leaving atmo. This leaves just the skeletons on the outside, and then the scene goes right into passing through the reaver armada. Am I incorrect here? I don't have the scripts with me.
I'm willing to change my viewpoint, but I don't see contrary evidence so far.
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My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle. :)
Serious now, your timeline don't look half bad. But apparently you've decided to utterly ignore the found BDM prop: the data pad with important dates on it, such as River's birthdate. I'm not sure so this prop can be waived away as a goof so easily. I would buy it from an other director, but we're talking about Joss here, the man who actually had the letters in "Safe" contain the story line from a shooting script (the stuff about them having had a vacation at the lake, last year). So, I'd say Joss is not one to be overly careless with such details.
Having said that, that prop lists November 2516 as the date River escapes. And I can, my own self, not make that date construe with ANY other info we have. So, maybe that prop is indeed best let go of. As long as we're aware that that's what we're doing.
It's unlikely the BDM takes place in only 2 days, though. I'm with a week, at least (especially considering all the leg-work the Operative has to do to get to Mal and his).
Oh, and there's sleep alright. :) Right before Mal receives wave from Inara, he's seen waking up:
WASH
Mal! You up?
I got a wave. I'm gonna
bounce it down to you.
Mal wakes up, there. It's an especially subtle scene, since River, at the same time, wakes up too, from her "Cut them down!" dream.
--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam
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Quote:
Originally posted by asarian:
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle. :)
Serious now, your timeline don't look half bad. But apparently you've decided to utterly ignore the found BDM prop: the data pad with important dates on it, such as River's birthdate. I'm not sure so this prop can be waived away as a goof so easily. I would buy it from an other director, but we're talking about Joss here, the man who actually had the letters in "Safe" contain the story line from a shooting script (the stuff about them having had a vacation at the lake, last year). So, I'd say Joss is not one to be overly careless with such details.
Having said that, that prop lists November 2516 as the date River escapes. And I can, my own self, not make that date construe with ANY other info we have. So, maybe that prop is indeed best let go of. As long as we're aware that that's what we're doing.
Correct. The data on this prop does not match any known other date/time reference. The BDM River escape scene states River is 16. From the Pilot script, River-in-the-Box is 17. Next Episodes are aired with intro subtitle proclaiming 2517. If River was born in 2501 she would be turning 16 in 2517 and would not be 17 until 2518. If River was born in Dec 2500, she would still not be 17 as specified in Pilot script until December 2517, yet the Pilot is at least 2 months before October 2517. That prop also lists a date of June 2518, which would put many dates in the timeline out of tolerance. In short, since the only plausible date on that prop is the Institute entrance date, I have discounted entirely the data from this prop. If other evidence shines light upon this, we can reconsider it's validity. If Joss specifies a timeline someplace, I would by all means accept that.
I should in honesty mention that I probably understand where that set of dates results from, but it still does not mesh with the existing dates already known, so I still discount the prop data.
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It's unlikely the BDM takes place in only 2 days, though. I'm with a week, at least (especially considering all the leg-work the Operative has to do to get to Mal and his).
Oh, and there's sleep alright. :) Right before Mal receives wave from Inara, he's seen waking up:
WASH
Mal! You up?
I got a wave. I'm gonna
bounce it down to you.
Mal wakes up, there. It's an especially subtle scene, since River, at the same time, wakes up too, from her "Cut them down!" dream.
--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam
That sleep, as mentioned above, is after the nighttime fireside chat with Book on Haven (Book alive), and then they head off to Training House. That is the one time there is sleep, showing the passing of a day. After Book is dead on Haven, going to Miranda - no sleep.
In the "few hours" that Serenity goes from Training House to Haven, the Operative eradicates the mining camp. I don't see where this shows that the Operative is taking his time - contrarily, this seems to indicate he is very quick, ruthless, efficient. Not fiddling around. Thus the conclusion Beaumonde is a few hours away as well.
This also helps us understand why Mal needs to make such a harsh decision so quickly. Wait too long and the Operative will get them, there is no time to spare, they must go now. The Alliance will not let them live, so they must take action now, or forfeit the remaining hours of their lives.
I should have clearly stated that I was providing this summary of timeline for use among firelfyfans. I'd assumed some of the data might help fanfic writers, even if I don't get over there much. And also to better understand the interactive dynamics of various relationships among the Independants, Alliance, characters, etc. I did not intend this to be a decree or tablet of Commandments. If this is not agreed upon by most here, it has lost it's purpose. Hopefully it will be able to stand as a reference for the data we (mostly) agree upon - not that it won't h
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Quote:
Originally posted by CharlieBZ:
You've got to factor in time it took for the Operative to suss out all the info on Mal, get to Inara, "persuade" her to wave Mal. She is wearing different clothes in her wave from when she first met the Operative which indicates more time passed. (Of course, she does like wearing different outfits so this might not mean anything
This is a deleted scene, available on CE. From viewing Maidenhead video, to I.D. Mal and Zoe and find Inara took a couple minutes. He is not messing around.
Quote:
I also think we can't base time assumptions on daytime versus nighttime on different planets. Serenity time has got to be completely independent of so-called local time which has got to give the feeling of jet lag. No wonder Mal's so grouchy!
The discussion of a standardized calendar has not happend yet, that I've seen.
We were assuming all times and time data was based upon Earth-that-was time and calendar.
Do I think every planet in the verse orbited the sun once per 365 days? no. Had a moon orbiting each planet 13 times per year? spun on it's axis once very 24 hours? no.
Is it possible they all held to a standardized calendar specifically based upon Earth-that-was regardless of what their own planetary body was doing? Appears to be the case.
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Wait...time LINE?? Time isn't made out of lines; it is made out of circles. That is why clocks are round!!!!!
I'm sorry, I needed to have an immature moment. Won't happen again.
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Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?
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A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.
You can't take the sky from me...
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