The Best Order to Watch Star Wars TV Shows For the First Time

Up until the 21st century, the only serious way to talk about watching Star Wars was to talk about what order towatch Star Warsmovies.Because Star Wars Episodes I-VI were released out of order, debate raged for decades as to which order to watch those films in for the first time, a conversation which was only made more complicated by the sequels (Episodes VII-IX) and standalone movies likeSoloandRogue One. Still, up until recent years, the conversation never included what order to watch Star Wars TV shows, simply because there weren’t enoughgoodStar Wars TV shows to even have that debate. But, which order do these shows happen in? IsObi-WanbeforeMandalorian(yes!) What about the flashbacks inAndor(confusing!) And what about Baby Yoda?

Do you know who Baby Yoda is? You know he’s notliterally尤达,对吧?如果你的答案是“um…” or if your kids are having a hard time unpacking the complicated Star Wars timeline, we’ve got you. From your fuzzy memory of Star Wars cartoons in the ’80s to the newer cartoons and live-action shows, here’s your brief guide to watching Star Wars shows in “the right order,” plus, why you can totally skip around.

The Chronological Order of Star Wars TV Shows

The first thing to remember about most of the Star Wars TV shows is they all tend to take place in between the various movies. So, listing the shows in chronological order will look alittlefunny. That said, here’s the actual in-universe order in which these stories occur. (Release years are listed in parentheses.) With the exception ofThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fett, all of these shows are animated.

1. Clone Wars(2003)
2. The Clone Wars(2008-2020)
3. The Bad Batch(2021)
4. Droids(’80s)
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)
6. Rebels(2014-2018)
7. Andor(2022)
8. Star Wars Holiday Special: Faithful Wookie (1978)
9. 艾沃克(’80s)
10. The Mandalorian(2019-?)
11. The Book of Boba Fett (2021-?)
12. Star Wars: Resistance(2018)
13. Star Wars: Visions(2021)

A few timeline shenanigans:Visionsis an anthology show, and therefore jumps all around the Star Wars timeline, sometimes not adhering to the timeline at all. Similarly,The Book of Boba Fetttakes place mostly after the events ofThe MandalorianSeason 2, but several scenes take place in flashbacks right afterReturn of the Jedi, which puts those events beforeThe Mandalorian. To make things nice and confusing, some flashbacks inThe Mandalorian(including Mando’s childhood) take place duringThe Clone WarsTV series.

Andormostly happens 5 years beforeA New HopeandRogue One, but some of Cassian’s childhood flashbacks would are roughly in the middle ofThe Bad Batch.Obi-Wan Kenobihappens 9 years beforeA New Hope(Leia is 10 in that show, and 19 in the first movie) but, one very notable flashback withAnakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen)happensright beforethe events ofAttack of the Clones.

Disney+ Star Wars Timeline feature

As of late 2022, Disney+ actually has a menu feature in its Star Wars section called “Star Wars in timeline order.” If you click on theStar Wars collectionon the Disney+ homepage and scroll down, you’ll see it. It should begin withThe Phantom Menace.

Should you watch the Star Wars TV shows in chronological order?

The answer to this question is almost certainlyno. For one thing, there are 133 episodes ofThe Clone Warsthat are each 30 minutes. Yes, certain key characters and events will help you understandThe Mandalorianbetter, but watching the entire show isn’t necessary to watch some of the live-action shows. Also, almost nothing that happens in theDroidsand艾沃克展示的是缺点idered “canon,” meaning none of it impacts the events ofThe Book of Boba Fett. If anyone tells you that you must watch all ofDroidsbefore watchingThe Book of Boba Fett, they are very, very wrong. But, they’re also probably a super-unique person, so keep them in your life! They’re weird! In a good way!

Each Star Wars TV show tends to connect to specific Star Wars movies

If you’re utterly baffled by the Star Wars chronology relative to the Star Wars TV shows your family wants to watch, here’s a rule of thumb that usually works: If you’re ever confused, try to figure out which Star Wars movie the TV show in questions is following or leading up to. You can think of the Star Wars movies as the parents of the TV shows. So, if you match up each Star Wars TV show to its “parent” film (or films) you might be less confused. For example:

CloneWarsandThe Clone Warsare both animated series that take place after the movieAttack of the Clonesand before the filmRevenge of the Sith. BecauseThe Clone Warshas the most hours of any Star Wars TV show, this makes it relatively easy to understand once you get where it falls in the chronology: Everything that happens in those 133 episodes happens in betweenEpisode II: Attack of the Clones(2002)andEpisode III: Revenge of the Sith(2005). This means, the sequel series toThe Clone Wars—The Bad Batch—happens right AFTER the events ofRevenge of the Sith.

To put it another way, if you’re looking for a “hack” to understandingThe Clone Wars(orThe Bad Batch), the only two Star Wars movies you REALLY need to have seen areAttack of the Clones,andRevenge of the Sith. This is oddly true forObi-Wan Kenobi, too, which is more of a sequel to the prequels, rather than another prequel to the classic films.

Thinking about “parent” Star Wars movies works for the other new live-action shows, too. BothThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fetttake place roughly FIVE YEARS AFTER the movieReturn of the Jedi(1983). So, if you watched ONLYReturn of the Jedibefore eitherMandalorianorBook of Boba Fettyou’d be slightly less confused. The references to the politics of the galaxy, Jabba the Hutt, the Jedi, and Luke Skywalker would be explicable.

The New Live-Action Shows Reference the Cartoons — A Lot

For parents who have kids who are, perhaps,growing upwith Star Wars shows, one interesting feature of the newer live-action shows — especiallyThe Mandalorian —is that they tend to referencethese two animated series quite a bit:

• The Clone Wars
• Rebels

This is especially true of the Jedi character of Ahsoka Tano, who was a big deal in both animated series but had her first live-action appearance inThe MandalorianSeason 2, played by Rosario Dawson. Similarly, the character of Bo-Katan originated inThe Clone Wars, later appeared inRebels, and first appeared in live-action inMandalorianSeason 2, played by Katee Sackhoff, who, appropriately, had provided the character’s voice in bothRebelsandThe Clone Wars, before. That said, casual fans probably know her best for her role as Starbuck inBattlestar Galactica, which no, you don’t need to watch to understand Star Wars shows.

What About the Shows That Aren’t Out Yet?

Two new live-action Star Wars shows are the horizon for 2023 and beyond. This is how they fit in.

• Ahsoka(2023? Maybe?) likeMandoand波巴·费特,probably takes place afterReturn of the Jedi.
• The Acolyte(2023?), takes place in the “High Republic” era, well beforeThe Phantom Menace.

This means, when those shows ALL come out, the chronology will look like this. (Shows not yet released have asterisks around them.)

1. ***The Acolyte**
2. Clone Wars(2003)
3. The Clone Wars(2008-2020)
4. The Bad Batch(2021)
5. Droids(’80s)
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi(2022)
7. Clone Wars(2003)
8. The Clone Wars(2008-2020)
9. The Bad Batch(2021)
10. Droids(’80s)
11. Rebels(2014-2018)
12. Andor(2022)
13. Star Wars Holiday Special: Faithful Wookie (1978)
14. 艾沃克(’80s)
15. The Mandalorian(2019-?)
16. The Book of Boba Fett (2021-?)
17. ***Ahsoka***
18. Star Wars: Resistance(2018)
19. Star Wars: Visions(2021)

So, there you have it. And if you’re still confused: the reason why Baby Yoda isnotactually Yoda (and his name is Grogu) is thatThe Mandaloriantakes place afterReturn of the Jedi,a movie in which Yoda died. Hopefully, if you still have questions, you can refer to this article again and attempt to explain the chronology to your family.

However, be warned, the ultimate cure for figuring out Star Wars timeline stuff is simply watching more Star Wars.

All past and current Star Wars TV shows are streaming on Disney+.