Lit Share your Ewoks timeline! (Legends)

I don't know how many people have ever put any serious effort into mapping this area of the timeline, but recently I've been trying to figure it out for my own chronology. Sadly, some of these are hard to come by, and they're not all consistent with one another, so I'm inviting anyone with knowledge of some of the more obscure stories from this sub-franchise to share their homework. (@TalonCard, I think you have some notes on this.)

A series of children's picture books:

• How the Ewoks Saved the Trees: An Old Ewok Legend
• The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense
• The Ewoks' Hang-Gliding Adventure
• The Baby Ewoks' Picnic Surprise
• Wicket Finds a Way: An Ewok Adventure
  
• Three Cheers for Kneesaa!: An Ewok Adventure
• Wicket Goes Fishing: An Ewok Adventure
• The Ewok Who Was Afraid: An Ewok Adventure
• Fuzzy as an Ewok: Things to Touch, See, and Smell from the Forest Moon of Endor

Ewoks #1-14 from Star Comics, plus the time-travel crossover in Droids #4.

The three short stories in the UK-exclusive Ewoks Annual:

• Chief Chirpa Kidnapped!
• Return of the Great One!
• The Ice Princess!

The 26 episodes of the Ewoks animated series.

The two live-action TV movies, Caravan of Courage and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.

The digest-sized graphic novel Ewoks: Shadows of Endor.

The eight Spanish stories from MyComyc:

• Princess Kneesaa's Birthday
• Perfect Antidote
• The Princess in a Predicament
• Snare of the Forest
• The Balloon
• To Trap Latara
• Logray's Staff
• Painting Exposition

The six issues of the German comic series Die Ewok Comic-Magazin, at least some of which I believe contain original stories. (Rumor has it they've already been translated and will supposedly be posted to starwarstimeline.net once the finished version of Supernatural Encounters is finally released, but that's already five years overdue at this point so I'm not expecting to ever see these in my lifetime.)

There are a few additional children's books, a Spanish novel, and a Chinese comic, but to the best of my knowledge they're all just adaptations of other stories.

 

I've always loved the Ewok movies and cartoon, so this is an interesting topic for me. One item you might want to consider adding to this list is Return of the Jedi itself. The timing of the Ewok movies in relation to ROTJ has always been a source of low-level controversy, and I'd be interested in seeing how folks justify various positions. I personally never really managed to figure out a "clean" way to place them either before or after ROTJ in Legends - if you place them before you have to contend with the fact that Wicket should be able to speak in Basic when he meets Leia, and if you place them after you have to explain why there's no New Republic presence on the moon. (Most everything else seems pretty clearly set before ROTJ, though in what order is the question.)

 

I'd have gone with -

"Wicket, remembering the Marauders and Charal, is being cautious with Big Folk strangers - waiting till he's had plenty of time to assess Leia's behaviour and comments when she thinks he can't understand her."

 

I opened this thread cause it was obviously a topic that interested me, only to see that I was already tagged, lol. I'll have to dig out my notes; another forum member actually sent me his Ewok timeline like 15 years ago so I'll have to look that up.

I did want to note that the Ewok movies taking place before ROTJ was confirmed by Ryder Windham's novelization which shows Wicket's perspective as he recalls the Towani family and Charal when he encounters Leia in much the same way as Iron_Lord describes. I seem to recall a semi-official retcon that the Towani family were speaking another language or dialect rather than Basic around the Ewoks, translated for the benefit of the audience, but I could be wrong.

Shadows of Endor is sort of the Rosetta stone when it comes to the Ewok timeline; it's explicitly set 8 months before ROTJ and after the cartoon show, but Charal appears in human form with her ring still intact, so the Ewok movies haven't happened yet.

(This does mean that the Imperial base was already on Endor when the Towanis crashed, but this was almost a given since the entire Ewok Saga had long been grouped around 3 ABY officially anyway.)

Theoretically, knowing that the Ewok movies take place between 8-1 months before the Battle of Endor, it should be possible to backtrack from there using references to character ages and seasons passing on Endor to distribute the stories along the Legends timeline in a reasonably accurate and consistent order. (That is, when the seasons aren't being altered by magical intervention, of course. )

 

I remember reading somewhere that the director or writer(s?) of the Ewok films imagined them taking place a hundred years (or more) after ROTJ. Don't quote me on that, though.

Obviously it would conflict with other Ewok-centric EU media, but it's still an interesting thing to note.

 

The Wook traditionally placed all Ewoks-related media in 3.5 ABY, apparently because of a reference in the Behind the Magic CD-ROM. But Waru that must have been a very, very busy six months. You'd be lucky to have Noa and Cindel blasting off even five minutes before Wicket meets Leia.

Eight months? Nice. That's a solid retcon. And yeah, Shadows of Endor was a fantastic link between the cartoon and the two live-action films, what with Charal showing up and the destruction of the Sunstar.

Always liked the explanation posited by this random sw.com article:

"A timeline published in the Star Wars Insider places the Ewok movies as happening a short time before Return of the Jedi. There is no Imperial presence visible on Endor, suggesting the films take place before the Death Star operation began in earnest. Also, Wicket appears to learn english through his association with Cindel. It is likely that the language Cindel was speaking was not Basic, but another language, and that it was translated into english for the benefit of the viewing audience. Thus, Wicket doesn't understand what Princess Leia is saying when those two meet."

 

Ahh, there we go, that's the Basic retcon! Thank you!

 

Doesn’t Wicket have a toy AT-AT? I seem to remember that being one of the indicators that the screenwriter or whoever pointed to to support the movies taking place post-ROTJ.

I also remember seeing people talk about certain chronology indicators within the comics and picture books, like whether or not Wicket has some kind of sash or who has the Ewoks’ space donkey. I have the old Dark Horse comics omnibus somewhere, I might have to try to find that and see what they were talking about.

 

Given the Imperial Base and Shield Generator were late additions to the moon and the near-finished DS2, most construction must take place unshielded, right? Thus the base and shield were maybe only added for the trap the Emperor was setting up?

I mean, DS2 construction was not hopping around like DS1 was for 20 years from site to site with longest stays at Geonosis and Despraye. And depending when exactly it began, pre ANH already or shortly after, Endor saw lots of Imperial traffic even without a Moon Base and Shield, thus Ewoks must have seen plenty in orbit and Noa's escape with Cindel must have been barely met by Imperial patrols or witnessing DS2 even before they jumped to Hyperspace! Unless DS2 was at the other side of the planet/system most of the time and moved to Endor's Sanctuariums Moon only recently, too.

With Charal around for most of the time till 8 months before ROTJ, I wonder if the Empire knew of her and was afraid to land as much as on Dathomir, like even 1 single witch gives them the chills to stay away and only after reports of her death did they attempt to send in scouts that met equally dangerous Ewoks quickly.

PS: stop calling the moon Endor, that's the planet! Sanctuariums/Sanctuary Moon, that's its name.

 

The "they're not really speaking Basic" retcon is... well, it gets the job done, I suppose. I certainly won't call it my favorite retcon, but it does get you past the "Wicket doesn't speak Basic" barrier.

Meanwhile, I'd never heard the anecdote about the filmmakers assuming the Ewok films take place a hundred years after ROTJ. That's interesting because while Wicket being basically the same as he was in ROTJ certainly conflicts with that idea, other things work surprisingly well with that idea - Chirpa's absence from the films, Logray's radically altered (aged) appearance, no sign of Imperial debris, etc. That's not a hill I'm willing to die on or anything, just an idea to bounce around a bit.

I wonder when George thought they took place?

 

I like it personally. Protocol droids come loaded with millions of languages as a standard feature, it makes sense to me that not even all humans speak basic all the time. Plus, the Ewoks cartoon does establish that other languages are sometimes translated into English, unless the Ewoks were all speaking basic for no reason and forgot it for the movies (admittedly, the same series does have imperial droids and doctor Raygar communicating with Ewoks no problem - though I will combine that with the films and have it so the Ewoks and imperials were using whatever language Cindel taught them. Possibly they used that to talk to 3PO as well, since he comments that they have a peculiar dialect - and a dialect is a language variation rather than a whole language, plus 3PO presumably wouldn't have an uncontacted language in his databanks.)

 

There are enough castaways on Endor that an AT-AT toy predating a major Imperial presence isn't an insurmountable problem, though.

Don't be so sure. The VCR Board Game has a nearly-completed DS2 moving to Endor from an undisclosed location shortly before the events of RotJ.

You know full well that they're both called Endor.

Star Wars: Complete Locations establishes that C-3PO was speaking the Yuzzum language, to which Ewokese is closely related. (C-3PO was apparently unconcerned as to whether or not the Ewoks or Yuzzum had an army and a navy.)

 

We all know theyre only both called Endor because too many people mistakenly called the moon that

 

Including Vader.

 

Ah, that does make a lot of sense. Thanks

 

Woah... blast from the past! I love when someone pulls out a very obscure old rare item to stun me with new intel! thx

Does the game detail how shortly before ROTJ though? When is the earliest we have a DS2 sighting over Endor? Like the actual thing, not just a shipment headed for Endor or such like in some WEG materials which could be preparatory and not need the actual DS2 on site yet.

Any idea where it had been before? Moving sites like DS1 did I guess? If so where was its inception?

Maybe we can place its arrival right after the Ewok stuff, hmm. Or at the very least, it could have been insystem already but moved to Endor specifically for the trap setup and final stage. Maybe previously it was over another moon or planet insystem?

 

It's over the Forest Moon at the beginning of Choices of One, which is set 8 months after ANH.


“First of all, the multifrequency force field you have set up should be more than adequate to protect the construction site,” Thrawn said, gesturing past Car’das’s shoulder at the huge half-finished sphere floating above the moon’s surface. “I trust the generator has redundant energy sources, plus an umbrella shield to protect it from orbital attack?”
“It does,” the Emperor confirmed. “There are also a number of fully crewed garrisons in the forest around the generator.”
“Has the moon any inhabitants?”
“Primitives only,” the Emperor said contemptuously.
“In that case multiple garrisons are an inefficient use of resources,” Thrawn said. “I would recommend burning off the forest for a hundred kilometers around the generator and putting a small mechanized force of AT-ATs and juggernaut heavy assault vehicles under the umbrella shield. Add in point support from three or four wing-clusters of hoverscouts, and the rest of the troops and equipment could be reassigned to trouble spots elsewhere in the Empire.”
“So you would suggest I make the generator completely unassailable?” Palpatine asked.
“I assumed that was the intent.” Thrawn paused, and Car’das glanced back in time to see the captain’s glowing eyes narrow. “Unless, of course, you’re setting a trap.”
“Of course,” the Emperor said calmly. “You of all my officers should understand the usefulness of a well-laid trap.”

 

Hmm 8 months after ANH already? Maybe it was removed to elsewhere and returned shortly before ROTJ as per VCR game? In that timeslot then the Ewoks stuff may happen free of a DS2 in orbit. Unless when was the Imperial Base established? Latest sources tend to be between TESB and ROTJ, but any early groundbased Endor Imperial action in the Choices of One or else? Did Imps establish a base, then leave it behind to expand it upon return?

 

I found the source for the Ewok films being considered to take place a hundred years (or 150, to be precise) after ROTJ. It was in an interview with Eric Walker (actor who played Mace Towani), who had been told that by one of the producers. Leland Chee then made a tweet about how they had considered going with that date but went against it due to not wanting to accept Wicket being so "ageless."

 

Come on Leland... 60 is the new 40... or in Ewoks case, 150 is the new 30.
Ah that reminds me of the nice age oddities of the early EU, with Bakuran medtech users living up to 300 years, Dathomiri Forceusers reaching 400, or more for the da Boda family, and similiar cases.
Now all I need is Endor being a Time Nexus and Imperial Scouts scouting for the DS2 base location find 150 year old armor and helmets of themselves in the woods as well as wreckage from the DS2 before it was being built even. Making what happens on Endor both... ROTJ era and 150 years after concurrently. When and where you exit or enter the system decides what time period you will reach. Charal's dathomiri magick may also mess with time.

 

It's in the Endor system in the Brian Wood comic series, circa two months ABY.

 

I can't see how the Ewok films can be before ROTJ, even with the "Basic-less Wicket" retcon.

There is too much activity, whether from the family shuttle, the marauders, or Noa's ship, to seriously believe the Empire wouldn't notice these things happening.

Now, the 100 years after seems a bit of an over-reach. And would be particularly hard to apologize with canon in our new look at Endor in TROS.

Particularly with legends, I always got the sense that after the party, the Alliance/NR pretty much headed out of town. There weren't a lot of resources or strategic value to have in the system. Most of the Imperial tech was roasted. Ewoks were nice friends, but not the most capable pool to draw recruits from.

As such, within a relatively short time, Endor was quiet again.

The question remains whether the Mauraders and Noa were hidden on world throughout the Imperial operation on the world.
I could see Noa certainly doing such. He was alone and living "low tech".
The Marauders, with their rather exposed outpost, i suspect were probably in hiding elsewhere, or were off-world before getting marooned there sometime after everyone else lost interest, just like the Towanis.

In my head, the Ewok adventures were kind of in time with when they actually release after ROTJ...2-3 years afterward. The Alliance/NR were busy beating warlords and moving on Coruscant. Endor slipped back into a obscurity and localized adventures.

 

This works equally well in canon. With NR on less of a war footing during that period, instead toss in a quick headcanon that the NR decided to protect the primitive indigenous species there by pulling their forces out and declaring the moon a protected nature preserve or some such.

 

That's also an extended retcon from Gamer #9's Endor and the Moddell Sector, which establishes the Inner and Outer Zuma regions--a reference to the Droids/Ewoks comic crossover where Threepio mentions the dialect comes from the Inner Zuma region--a neat tie-in for what was a pretty obscure source at the time.

The Dark Forces Saga online RPG supplement established that Shira Brie was one of the Force-sensitive Rebel agents mentioned in the Assault on the Death Star interactive VCR Boardgame, so that puts it sometime after the Battle of Hoth.

The Illustrated Star Wars Universe had an in-universe section on Endor written by one of the Imperial scouts sent to further investigate the moon as a site for the Death Star II after a previous expedition's report proved less than thorough. (I think this was a reference to a previous RPG story, someone will have to help me out here.) This was also set after the Battle of Hoth (the expedition receives ice suits decomissioned after the battle in an equipment snafu) but before Ewoks: Battle for Endor as the Imperial scouting party is captured by Cheral and the Marauders.

I think given the very early presence of the Death Star II in-system 2 months after Yavin in Brian Wood's comics and the survey of the moon in Choices of One, it's probably safe to assume as y'all suggest that the station was somewhere in the system for construction shortly after Yavin but not always directly over Endor as construction of the garrison and shield generator wasn't underway until 8 months before ROTJ in Shadows of Endor. This somewhat explains why it's not visible in the Ewok material, but we do have to assume that the Empire is somewhere in the system if not on the moon offscreen during the bulk of the Ewok stories. (We'd probably have to assume that Thrawn and the Emperor were speaking of the planned shield generator and garrisons in Choices of One rather than something that was already completely constructed.)

Canon (The Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary) actually states that the moon Kef Bir (also a moon of Endor) was intended as the original site for the Death Star II's construction; I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been so in Legends too. This would have been where Vader was moving the Death Star II from in the video board game before (somehow) detouring to D'rinba IV and then back to the Endor system again.

Behold, the Ewok timeline, based on the original and with seasonal notes by Mavrick889

1 BBY
(Summer)
How the Ewoks Saved the Trees: An Old Ewok Legend (Ends on the first moon of summer, first in-universe appearance of Kneesa, Logray is made Medicine Man of Bright Tree Village)
Ewoks Save the Trees! (Board game adaptation)
The Adventures of Teebo: A Tale of Magic and Suspense
Three Cheers for Kneesaa: An Ewok Adventure (Set during a midsummer festival)
(Fall)
The Ewoks’ Hang Gliding Adventure (The Harvest Festival approaches)
The Baby Ewoks’ Picnic Surprise (Set on the Harvest Festival)
(Winter)
Wicket Finds a Way: An Ewok Adventure (It is Winter in Bright Tree Village. Wicket has possession of Baga the Bordock here; he may be training the mount in preparation for gifting the animal to Kneesa as mentioned in Ewoks # 2: Rites of Power)

0 BBY
(Summer)
Ewoks # 1: The Rainbow Bridge
Ewoks S1E1: The Cries of the Trees (Not explicitly summer, but very hot) (Part of the the “Haunted Village” compilation movie)
Ewoks # 2: Rites of Power (Kneesa receives Baga the Bordock for her birthday, putting this before the series)
Ewoks S1E2: The Haunted Village (Part of the the “Haunted Village” compilation movie)
Ewoks 1. The Haunted Village (Adaptation of “The Haunted Village”)
(Fall)
Ewoks S1E3: Rampage of the Phlogs (The Ewoks play in a pile of leaves, hinting at a Fall setting, Melani receives her hood, placing this before the Ewoks #3 comic) (Part of the the “Haunted Village” compilation movie)
Ewoks # 3: Flight to Danger (Melani now has her hood)
Wicket the Ewok (Board game)
Ewoks Annual 1989: Chief Chirpa Kidnapped! (Set on Halloween)
(Winter)
Ewoks Annual 1989: The Ice Princess (Set in Winter)

1 ABY
(Spring)
Ewoks S1E4: To Save Deej (The children’s book adaptation of this story, below, places this story during the spring.) (Part of the “Tales from the Endor Woods” compilation movie)
Wicket and the Dandelion Warriors: An Ewok Adventure (Adaptation of “To Save Deej”)
Ewoks 2. To Save Deej (Adaptation of “To Save Deej”)
(Summer)
Ewoks Annual 1989: Return of the Great One (Set during summer)
Wicket Goes Fishing: An Ewok Adventure
The Ewok Who Was Afraid: An Ewok Adventure
Fuzzy as an Ewok
Ewoks S1E5: The Traveling Jindas (Part of the “Tales from the Endor Woods” compilation movie)
Plaza Joven: Ewoks (Adapting “The Traveling Jindas”)
Ewoks S1E6: The Tree of Light
Ewoks S1E7: The Curse of the Jindas
Ewoks # 4: Valley of Evil
Ewoks # 5: The Terrible Machine
Ewoks # 6: The Ice Demon
Ewoks # 7: The Perilous Laughing Spell
Ewoks # 8: Eye of the Kreegon
Ewoks # 9: The Underwater Kingdom
Droids # 4: Lost in Time
Ewoks # 10: Lost in Time
Ewoks # 11: The Incredible Shrinking Princess
Ewoks # 12: The Thorn Monster
Princess Kneesaa's Birthday (Still in Summer, as established in Ewoks #2)
Mycomyc: Perfect Antidote
Mycomyc: The Princess in a Predicament
Mycomyc: Snare in the Forest
Mycomyc: The Balloon
Mycomyc: To Trap Latara
Mycomyc: Logray's Staff
Painting Exposition (Morag appears, placing this before “Sunstar vs. Shadowstone”)
(Fall)
Ewoks S1E8: The Land of the Gupins
Ewoks S1E9: Sunstar vs. Shadowstone (Part of the the “Haunted Village” compilation movie)
The Shadow Stone: An Ewok Adventure (Adaptation of “Sunstar vs. Shadowstone”)
Ewoks 3. Sun Star Against Shadow Stone (Adaptation of “Sunstar vs. Shadowstone”)
Ewoks S1E10: Wicket’s Wagon (Part of the “Tales from the Endor Woods” compilation movie)
Ewoks 4. Wicket’s Wagon (Adaptation of “Wicket’s Wagon”)
Ewoks S1E11: The Three Lessons
Ewoks S1E12: Blue Harvest
Ice Capades: The Ewoks and the Magic Sunberries (Live performance; Wookieepedia notes that this may take place between seasons based on Wicket’s hood design)
(Winter)
Ewoks S1E13: Asha (This episode has a winter setting) (Part of the “Tales from the Endor Woods” compilation movie)
Plaza Joven: Ewoks (Adapting “Asha”)
The Red Ghost: An Ewok Adventure (Adaptation of “Asha”)

2 ABY
(Fall)
Ewoks S2E1: The Crystal Cloak/The Wish Plant (The Wish Plant has a Fall setting)
Ewoks S2E2: Home is Where the Shrieks Are / Princess Latara
Ewoks S2E3: The Raich
Ewoks S2E4: The Totem Master / A Gift for Shodu
Ewoks S2E5: Night of the Stranger
Ewoks S2E6: Gone with the Mimphs / First Apprentice
Ewoks S2E7: Hard Sell / A Warrior and a Lurdo
Ewoks S2E8: The Season Scepter
Ewoks S2E9: Prow Beaten / Baga’s Rival
Ewoks S2E10: Horville’s Hut of Horrors / The Tragic Flute
Ewoks S2E11: Just my Luck / Bringing up Norky
Ewoks S2E12: Battle for the Sunstar
Ewoks S2E13: Party Ewok / Malani the Warrior
Ewoks # 13: The Black Cavern
Ewoks # 14: King for a Day

3 ABY
The Illustrated Star Wars Universe: Endor (After TESB but before Battle for Endor)
Ewoks: Shadows of Endor (8 months before ROTJ)
The Ewok Adventure: Caravan of Courage
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

4 ABY
(Spring)
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

c. 35 ABY
Tales of the Endor Woods (Compilation of Ewok episodes with VO by an older Wicket storyteller)

 

As TalonCard notes, Shira Brie's presence among the agents in The Dark Forces Saga, Part 1 establishes a fairly narrow post-Hoth window where these events could have occurred. Wookieepedia places them before her first comic appearance in Star Wars 56: Coffin in the Clouds, which makes the most sense; but at the very latest, it had to happen before Star Wars 61: Screams in the Void.

Given all of the evidence that the DS2 was in the Endor system years prior to the D'rinba event, I'm thinking the best explanation is that it was a test of the base's hyperspace systems and possibly some short-term specialized work handled at some other Imperial black site. It left Endor for somewhere else very briefly (constituting a successful test of its hyperdrive), got some quickie work done, and then headed back to Endor, with an opportunity to test out the superlaser system at D'rinba IV that was called off when Katarn, Shelvay, and Tredway were able to disable the superlaser but presumably were captured (since they'd have had a LOT to report to the Rebellion about the DS2 and Shira if they'd made it back unscathed).

Unfortunately, I think other references like the Choices of One excerpt put the kibosh on that idea. One possibility is that it was in orbit of the Sanctuary Moon on the other side; since the Death Star had to be in geostationary orbit for a shield to be projected up from a single site on the surface, if it was over the far side of the moon for much of its construction, it would never have been seen by our plucky band of Ewoks.

Yes! A nice reference that, like so much from those comics, could so easily have been overlooked in those days.

Yes, it references a small boxed text in the Star Wars Sourcebook, text so short I can quote it in full here:

Fantastic work as always.