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Where does Solo: A Star Wars Story exist on the Star Wars timeline?

Time to visit your local library

Alden Ehrenreich rests his hands on his hips while standing on sand, with people behind him, in Solo
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Lucasfilm

We were given a rough idea of where Solo: A Star Wars Story falls on the timeline when the film was first announced, but new details get a little more specific.

Del Rey Books, the official publisher of Star Wars novels, printed a nifty timeline for all of the novelizations that have come out thus far. When the timeline is combined with the canonical events that take place in the Star Wars universe, it gets remarkably easier to try and place Solo, the next movie in the expansive franchise.

The events of Solo take place before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Rebels, the highly acclaimed animated series that’s in its fourth season, as pointed out by The Hollywood Reporter. That also means Solo takes place after Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, and just after the Empire’s rise.

This is where Del Rey’s handy-dandy timeline comes into play. Star Wars: Tarkin and Star Wars: A New Dawn (a prequel to Rebels that takes place six years before the events of the show) are the imprints to pay attention to. Tarkin takes place 14 years before the events of the original trilogy, while A New Dawn takes place 11 years before.

We know there’s a 19-year difference between the events of Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, and thanks to the new timeline, we know Solo is nestled between Tarkin and A New Dawn. That’s five to seven years after the fall of the Jedi, and 14 to 11 years before the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the first Death Star.

There’s one other important novel that will help place the Solo timeline and give diehard fans even more information: Star Wars: Last Shot. The upcoming novel is supposed to provide even more information on who’s in control of the Millennium Falcon at the beginning of the movie, even if we know that Han Solo will eventually gain ownership of it from Lando Calrissian.

Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released on May 25. Last Shot will be available in book stores on April 17.

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