The primary episode of Andor begins with a title card that features the abbreviation “BBY 5.” The phrase is just not defined or commented upon, and it doesn’t come up once more all through the remainder of the episode. You both know what it means otherwise you don’t. Hardcore Star Wars actually do; however extra informal viewers who like Rogue One or Diego Luna and determined to present Andor a strive are prone to be somewhat confused.
“BBY” is a manner time is measured within the Star Wars universe. It’s to Star Wars what “BC” is to our personal calendar — and the equal of our “AD” in Star Wars time is “ABY.” Every are acronyms; BBY stands for “Earlier than the Battle of Yavin” and ABY is “After the Battle of Yavin.”
And what, you ask, is the Battle of Yavin?
It’s the incident the place Luke Skywalker blew up the (first) Loss of life Star. So the occasions of Star Wars: A New Hope happen within the yr BBY 0. (Or, in the event you want, ABY 0; they each imply the identical factor.)
So when Andor says it takes place within the yr “BBY 5” meaning the occasions within the present’s premiere happen roughly 5 years earlier than the occasions of Star Wars: A New Hope, and Luke utilizing the Power to show the Loss of life Star into an enormous pyrotechnic show.
The Star Wars timeline goes again hundreds of years BBY, however simply 35 years ABY; that’s when the occasions of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker happen. (That means Andor is occurring 40 years earlier than, someway, Palpatine returned.)
Listed here are a number of extra notable dates within the Star Wars chronology:
- Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: BBY 32
- Star Wars: Assault of the Clones: BBY 22
- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: BBY 19
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: BBY 9
- Star Wars: A New Hope: BBY 0
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again: ABY 3
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: ABY 4
- The Mandalorian: ABY 9
- Star Wars: The Power Awakens: ABY 34
- Star Wars: The Final Jedi: ABY 34
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: ABY 35
The creator of Andor, Tony Gilroy, has already mentioned that he present was designed with a 5 yr plan in thoughts — which signifies that the present will observe its hero, Cassian Andor, proper as much as the occasions depicted in Rogue One, which was a prequel to A New Hope. The ultimate seconds of Rogue One came about proper earlier than the primary seconds of Star Wars: A New Hope. So Andor will span BBY 5 to BBY 0. Supposedly this primary season covers the occasions of BBY 5, and the collection’ second season will cowl the next 4 years in a quartet of three episode arcs.
All of it looks as if a complicated system at first nevertheless it’s not when you perceive it. The destruction of the Loss of life Star is 12 months 0 — which can also be 12 months 0 for your complete Star Wars mythology, so it makes good sense as a temporal demarcation level for each the characters inside its universe, and people of us residing in our actuality.
New episodes of Andor premiere on Wednesdays on Disney+. Join Disney+ right here.
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