The easiest way to follow Star Wars is to separate story order from release order. A television series made decades after the original film may take place years before it. Another may revisit the same period from a different character’s perspective.
An era-based approach helps. The official Star Wars eras guide organizes the galaxy around political changes and major conflicts. That provides a more useful starting point than trying to memorize every date. The guide below includes broad story developments, so newcomers should expect some spoilers.
Before the Empire
The Acolyte belongs to the High Republic period, well before the Skywalker films. Its setting allows a different view of the Jedi from the institution seen approaching disaster in the prequel trilogy.
The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith then form the main sequence of the Republic’s collapse. Roughly a decade separates the first two films, while the Clone Wars occupy the interval leading to the third.
The animated The Clone Wars largely fits between Episodes II and III, with its final story overlapping the catastrophe of Revenge of the Sith. Watching it adds relationships and perspectives, but the three films remain a complete route through the central transformation of Anakin Skywalker.
Under Imperial rule
The Bad Batch begins around the transition from Republic to Empire. Its focus on clones shows how a political change can leave people who served the old system searching for a place in the new one.
Solo follows the younger Han Solo during the Imperial era. Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place about ten years after Revenge of the Sith. Both precede the original trilogy, although they approach this period through very different kinds of adventure.
Star Wars Rebels and Andor move toward organized resistance. Andor starts five years before Rogue One, then its second season advances through the remaining years. Rebels follows another group whose activities also develop before the original film. These stories overlap in era rather than forming one simple sequence of consecutive events.
Rogue One leads directly into A New Hope through the mission to obtain the Death Star plans. It is the clearest bridge between the later-made prequel stories and the film that introduced audiences to the galaxy in 1977.
Rebellion and the New Republic
A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi form the original trilogy. Their progression takes Luke, Leia and Han from a vulnerable rebellion to a decisive confrontation with Imperial power.
The Mandalorian begins in the period after that victory, when the New Republic is trying to govern a galaxy that remains unstable. The Book of Boba Fett combines events in this general period with earlier memories, so its flashbacks should not be mistaken for a separate position for the whole series.
Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew also belong to the New Republic era. Their connections differ: Ahsoka draws heavily on characters established in Rebels, while Skeleton Crew offers a smaller group’s route into the wider galaxy.
The 2026 film The Mandalorian and Grogu belongs here too. It is directed by Jon Favreau; a separate film project associated with Dave Filoni should not be confused with it.
The studio’s May 2026 release announcement provides a useful production-date reference, separate from the film’s place in fictional history.
The sequel era and beyond
The Force Awakens takes place roughly thirty years after Return of the Jedi. The Last Jedi follows immediately, while The Rise of Skywalker concludes the trilogy later. Their conflict centers on the Resistance and the First Order.
The announced Star Wars: Starfighter is set about five years after The Rise of Skywalker.
Its announced May 2027 release date belongs to the real-world schedule, not the galaxy’s chronology. Other announced projects reach much further into the past or future, but a development announcement should not be treated as a completed addition to the viewing order.
Lucasfilm’s 2023 film announcements included a project about the beginnings of the Jedi and another involving Rey after the sequel trilogy. Later reporting on the ancient-era film’s writing team and the proposed setting for Rey’s return describe development plans, rather than finished films that need to be inserted into a first viewing.
For a first encounter, release order preserves the original films’ discoveries. For a return visit, era order can make political changes and overlapping character journeys easier to follow.
