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All the Star Wars TV shows and the timeline, explained

Photo credit: Lucasfilm/DigitalSpy.com - Disney
Photo credit: Lucasfilm/DigitalSpy.com - Disney

From Digital Spy

It's not just on the big screen that Star Wars has made its mark over the decades with several TV shows and specials for fans to enjoy.

There's no sign of it slowing down either with Star Wars Resistance landing in October, a new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2019 and a live-action TV show at some point in the future.

To help you keep track, here's a round-up of every TV outing there has been and ones still to come.

And before you wonder where they are, we know that there are a lot of Lego Star Wars TV outings, from short films to TV shows, but they aren't officially canon, so it'll just be confusing things to include them here.

Star Wars: Droids (1985-86)

Photo credit: ABC
Photo credit: ABC

When is it set? Between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope

In case the title didn't give it away, Star Wars: Droids followed the adventures of beloved droids R2-D2 and C-3PO as they found themselves with four different sets of masters, fighting gangsters, criminals and Star Wars characters like Boba Fett and IG-88. It ran for 13 episodes and one special that, confusingly, was the prequel to a previous episode.

Star Wars: Ewoks (1985-86)

Photo credit: ABC
Photo credit: ABC

When is it set? Before A New Hope

The prequel series to the two Ewok TV movies (more on those in a bit) followed Wicket and his friends on the forest moon of Endor, featuring most of the Ewoks introduced in Return of the Jedi. It ran for 35 episodes across two seasons, although the second season largely featured episodes that were around 10 minutes long.

Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-05)

When is it set? Between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith

Filling in the three years between Episode II and Episode III and featuring a whole host of major characters (Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda and more), Star Wars: Clone Wars was the first Star Wars TV show for almost 20 years. Its place in canon has since been overtaken by Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but its importance remains and it also won multiple Emmy award wins across its two seasons and 25 episodes.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-14, coming back in 2019)

Photo credit: Lucasfilm
Photo credit: Lucasfilm

When is it set? Between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith

The new version of The Clone Wars (note the added "the") was launched with a feature-length movie that ended up spanning five seasons and 121 episodes, with a sixth season of 12 episodes to come in 2019. Like the previous show, it fills in everything you'd want to know about the Clone Wars with appearances from every major Star Wars character that you could want – even Darth Maul.

Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018)

When is it set? Between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope

Running for 75 episodes across four seasons, Star Wars Rebels dealt with the early days of the Rebel Alliance as it built into a threat to the Empire, ending shortly before the battle between the Empire and the Rebellion starts to heat up (with an epilogue after the Battle of Endor). Alongside original characters, it featured familiar faces including Leia, Obi-Wan, Lando and Darth Maul.

Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017-present)

When is it set? Across the entire Star Wars timeline

Web series Star Wars: Forces of Destiny centres on the female characters of the Star Wars universe – including Rey, Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala and Leia – and explores how their decisions affect their destiny. To date, there have been 32 episodes across two seasons which have also featured the likes of Chewbacca, Finn and Luke Skywalker, with pretty much all characters voiced by their original actors.

Star Wars Resistance (2018-present)

When is it set? Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

Featuring Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma and BB-8, the anime-inspired Star Wars Resistance will follow Kazuda Xiono, a young pilot recruited by the Resistance who has been tasked with a top-secret mission to spy on the growing threat of the First Order. It premieres on October 7, 2018 in the US and at some point in October in the UK.

Untitled Jon Favreau live-action series (TBC)

Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage - Getty Images
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage - Getty Images

When is it set? Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

We don't know too much yet about the live-action Star Wars series from Jon Favreau, other than the fact it's set "about seven years after the Battle of Yavin" and will largely focus on "new characters, different planets".

TV films

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Photo credit: CBS
Photo credit: CBS

When is it set? Between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back

Ah the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special that saw Han Solo and Chewbacca visit Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world, to celebrate Life Day. While its place in canon has been long-debated, it did mark the first official appearance of Boba Fett and featured all of the major characters from A New Hope. Doesn't mean it's not terrible though.

The Ewok Adventure (1984)

Photo credit: ABC
Photo credit: ABC

When is it set? Between Star Wars: Ewoks and Return of the Jedi

Otherwise known as Caravan of Courage, The Ewok Adventure followed Mace and Cindel Towani as they try to find their parents – Catarine and Jeremitt Towani – who were captured by the Gorax after their starcruiser crashed on Endor. It brought back Warwick Davis as Wicket, introduced the universe's first Mace and was followed by a second TV movie called...

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985)

Photo credit: ABC
Photo credit: ABC

When is it set? After The Ewok Adventure and Return of the Jedi

The second Ewok spin-off TV movie, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, gets off to a bleak start as Cindel Towani is left an orphan when the rest of her family are killed in an attack by Marauders. She then helps the Ewoks, including Wicket, to win back Endor from the villainous Marauders, thanks to help from another human staying on Endor, Noa Briqualon, and all ends well.


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