#kotlc timeline

[the-great-gullon-incident]

I have seen one too many posts misremembering the main casts ages so for those unaware based off this scene from Neverseen:

(Chapter 40, page 374, Neverseen)

The official age gaps between the core five are roughly(give or take a week):

Fitz is 29 months months older than Biana

Fitz is 23 months older than Dex

Keefe is 18 months older than Biana

Fitz is 17 months older than Sophie

Keefe is 12 months older than Dex

Sophie is 12 months older than Biana

Fitz is 11 months older than Keefe

Keefe is 6 months older than Sophie

Dex is 6 months older than Biana

Sophie is 6 months older than Dex

These age gaps do not change whether or not you're counting in Elven years or Human years.

[the-way-astray]

one quick thing: fitz says at the beginning of flashback that the celestial festival is a little under three months away. since the festival is when the climax takes place, and there are a few events that happen after that, wouldn't flashback actually be three months long?

sorry if i got that wrong, and i love this timeline. in love with the colors and ages. thanks so much!

Do you know the timeline in the KOTLC books? It's very confusing.

OKAY! Semester over, timeline time! I've mapped out all the books in a comprehensive timeline. Disclaimer: there is room for error in this timeline, as it's based on my understanding of Shannon's writing and I am not foolproof; be aware of that.

Summary: The keeper series takes place over the course of 2 1/2 years. The longest book is book one, which takes 9 months, and the shortest (excluding Unlocked) is book 8, which takes 3 weeks.

I've included the time in each book (highlighted in blue), when notable events happen (I've likely missed a few), and the time between each book. My notes are more in depth, so if you have specific questions feel free to ask--though I cannot promise I'll be able to answer them.

Edit: This now includes Sophie human (marked "hy" for human years) and elven (marked "ey") ages throughout the series.

I will be posting a version without Stellarlune, but THIS ONE INCLUDES SPOILERS. Enjoy!

Book 1: 9 months long. Week 1, Sophie (age 12hy, 13ey), leaves her family and starts Foxfire. 2 months in, she gets Iggy and wins the Splotching Tournament. 4 months in are midterms. 5 1/2 months in she has her first tribunal. (She turns 13hy, is still 13ey) 7 1/2 months in is her allergy incident and her adoption cancellation. 8 months in she's kidnapped for ten days. 8 months and 3 weeks in is her second tribunal and her adoption by Grady and Edaline.

There is an estimated 3 month interim. (Sophie turns 14ey, is still 13hy).

Book 2: 5 weeks. Week 1, Silveny is found, the Ruewens visit Brant, and the kids practice for the opening ceremonies. Week 2, Sophie and Alden visit Exile, Foxfire has its ceremonies, and Alden's mind breaks. Beginning of week 3, Foxfire starts; end of week 3 is Alden's planting. Beginning of week 4, Sophie and Keefe go to the Black Swan hideout to fix her, learn she can teleport, and she heals Alden the next day. Week 5, the Celestial Festival where Silveny enters the Sanctuary.

There is a 2 week interim.

Book 3: almost 4 weeks. Week 1, Fintan is healed and Kenric dies with the funeral a few days later. Week 3, Sophie is given her restricting circlet. Mid week 4 is the final confrontation with Brant and Mount Everest.

There is an estimated 1 day interim.

Book 4: almost 6 weeks. Day 1, the kotlcrew join the Black Swan. Week 2, Sophie and Keefe attempt to trick information out of Gethen. Week 3, they attempt to break into Exile, fail, and instead exchange Gethen for Prentice. Sophie learns about elven birthdays and is stated to be 14yrs and 5 months in elven, making her 13yrs and 8 months in human. Week 4, they begin attending Exillium and meet Tam and Linh. Week 5, Silveny is revealed to be pregnant. Week 6, they storm Ravagog and Keefe runs away.

There is a 3 week interim.

Book 5: 4 weeks. Day 1, Keefe explodes Foxfire. Day 2, a small group revisits where Dex and Sophie were taken and tortured. The end of week 1, the famous sleepover and Wylie's kidnapping/torture. Week 3, Sophie, Forkle, and Oralie visit Gethen. Week 4, Sophie manifests as an enhancer; the next day Tam, Fitz, and Sophie confront the Neverseen (and Keefe), and the treaty negotiations are the day after that, killing Forkle. At the end of week 4, Sophie visits her human family to find them missing.

There is no interim.

Book 6: 4 1/2 months. Day 1, Sophie's sister moves to the Lost Cities. Week 1, Forkle twin reveal, Marella's pyrokinesis reveal, visiting King Dimitar (Keefe spars), introducing Ro, and the storming of the first Nightfall (recovering Alvar). Week 2, Foxfire starts. Week 4, Prentice is healed. Week 5, Vespera's name is revealed. Sophie then spends 3 months as a "zombie-girl." (During this, she turns 14hy, is still 14ey). 4 months and 1 week in, the second Nightfall is found and raided, the Atlantis forcefield broken, and her parents recovered. 4 1/2 months in, Amy leaves, and it's found alvar has no memories.

(Sophie turns 15ey, is still 14hy). There is a "weeks" long interim, which I've reasoned to be about 3 1/2 months long. This is based in logic but is, however, unverified.

Book 7: about 8 1/2 weeks. Day 1, Alvar's trial, Sophie and Fitz are attacked and put in the Healing Center. Week 2, Sophie begins her skill training with Keefe. At the beginning of week 3, Fitz is woken, and at the end of the week they leave the Healing Center. Week 5, Silveny gives birth to the alicorn twins. Week 6, Sophie and Fitz meet with Fintan, where he reveals something to do with the Celestial Festival. Week 7, the Celestial Festival fight happens (troll hive), and Tam is kidnapped. About a week and a half later, Sophie learns she's unmatchable.

There is a 9 day interim.

Book 8: 3 weeks. The beginning of week 1, Team Valiant is formed and Amy/Sophie recover erased memories. The end of week 1, Sophie has her abilities reset after a meeting with King Enki. Mid week 2 is when Fitz gives Sophie the infamous painting. The beginning of week 3, Sophie learns Oralie is her mother, finds Alvar at Candleshade, and breaks up with Fitz. Mid week 3 is the battle of Loamnore (Keefe unconscious, King Enki betrayal, Tam reunited, Glimmer, etc.). At the end of week 3 Oralie approaches Sophie to open her cache.

There is no interim.

Book 8.5: 3 days. Day 1, Oralie's cache is opened, Keefe wakes, and Sophie is told to stay away. Day 2, Fitz tells Sophie to reach out to Keefe telepathically. Day 3, the Dizznee's and Elwin try to help Keefe, Sophie and a few others (with Glimmer) go to the storehouse, she burns it down, and Keefe leaves again.

There is a 1 hour interim.

Book 9: about 6 weeks. Week 1, Cassius's memory of Gisela's second ability is found; Oralie, Sophie, and Dex go through Kenric's cache. Sophie wants to find Elysian. Week 2, Foxfire starts again (it was on hiatus), Sophie and Fitz begin their cognate inquisition. Week 5, the group meets with Trix, and immediately after find Keefe, bringing him back. Mid week 6, the sokeefe confession occurs, the inquisition concludes, and 1 day after that is the final confrontation and Elysian's reveal.

(Sophie is currently 15 years and 8 months in ey, 14 years and 11 months in hy).

That brings us to present day! That was a lot, so I'll keep this brief. This is pretty solid, but still room for error and if someone catches something, please feel free to let me know. I hope this helps!

people who asked to be tagged: @fucked-up-mover-shaker @when-wax-wings-melt @that-glasses-dog @creetchure @you-have-been-frizzled @crymeariveronceagain @shellyseashell @a-withered-old-rose @wyvrens @axels-corner @sofia-not-sophie @three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat @stardustanddaffodils @stopstealingtomatoes @lotuskitty404 @alike-chocolate1013 @jolieharkness @bubbleteaaaaaaaa @arsonistblue @sugarshackpeasant

hello I hope you enjoyed i did math for you :)

[moonrose18]

hey wdym the elves don’t keep track of birthdays. its on their records. their foxfire level is based on age. you have to be a certain age for matchmaking. they classify people as ancients based on age. Calla knew how old she was. shannon wdym they don’t celebrate birthdays. shannon.

[gay-otlc]

Approximate KOTLC dates! Mild Unraveled spoilers ahead regarding Keefe + human pop culture, nothing plot relevant.

Given Keefe's fashion choices in Unraveled, we know it takes place some time after October 2022. And thanks to Quil's incredible timeline mapping out (roughly) how long the events of each book take, we know Unraveled takes place around 2 years and 4 or 5 months after the start of the series. Without taking any other canon details into account, that puts the earliest possible start of the series in June-ish 2020.

However! I am choosing to take other canon details into account.

Book 1 starts a few weeks after Garwin Chang receives his rejection letter from Yale. Based on Yale's admissions schedule and some character analysis of Garwin (he 100% applied early action), the first book starts sometime in December or early January.

So at the earliest, KOTLC begins in December 2020 or January 2021.

In Neverseen, when Sophie learns about the way elves count age, she's 13 years and 8 months in human years. This happens about a year and 3 months into the series, so probably somewhere around March, maybe early April. Sophie's birthday would likely be some time around late June or July, then.

We don't know when exactly Unraveled is happening- it's definitely after 2022, but it could be 2023, it could be 2024, it could be 2037 for all we know. At the earliest, it's 2023, probably around May or June (I haven't actually read the book so I have no idea if this is contradicted by the weather or anything).

Assuming the December 2020/January 2021 start date, Sophie was born in the summer of 2008. Her elf birthday would be September or October 2007.

That's all (for now I'm definitely going to do more with this later) thanks for reading my nerd shit :)

[officially-shannon-messenger]

Marella would listen to Chappell Roan, yes?

marella IS chappell roan

[inkcovens]

image 6 year fitz old roaming the streets of italy or something just grabbing random smart 4 year old girls with blue eyes. like the boy had NOTHING to go off of, wtf was he even doing. he deadass just found sophie from a newspaper about a child prodigy?? and she didn't even fit 1/3 of the criteria?? do you know how many child prodigies there are. was fitz binging episodes of like Ellen or something to find kid geniuses

[lotusishere]

It’s crazy how everyone knows how neglectful Cassius is to Keefe yet no one does anything about it. Yes the Elves are peaceful people. That’s fine but…how do you just turn a blind eye at the clear signs of neglect? Keefe is struggling internal and external. Why would you try to have him with his father and not any other guardian. Better yet why do they have him alone? He’s always alone. The only time he was around people is when he was Elwin. Yes Keefe has his flaws but not one person was willing to take him in, so he could stay away from Cassius? Matter a fact, nobody says anything about it either. Nobody corrects Cassius or snaps at him. They just allow him to do his shanigians as if what he is doing and saying is fine. I don’t care if they don’t want to step on any toes. Sophie should NOT be the only one stepping up to Cassius about him behavior. That’s insane to me.

[glassesglasses2]

Alicorns and the Extinction Timeline: what's the plan exactly?

So, the Council lost their mind when Silveny appeared because they could continue the alicorn species. But I got to thinking: not only is breeding siblings (especially twins) gross, but it also isn't very biologically sound. You've got things like inbreeding to worry about when combining close genetics, so what exactly are we shooting for? Because all I can see is just one more generation before the Timeline begins.

[1very1fancy1doilies1]

why'd my art slay so hard in 2022 :')

template under the cut!

https://x.com/SunnyDionysus/status/1770169215133048961?s=20

[crescentpaws]

was foxfire founded 3,000 years ago or over 5,000 years ago. which is it shannon.

[the-great-gullon-incident]

If Garwin used Single-choice early action then his rejection letter would’ve probably come around mid-december meaning that is the earliest the time line can begin but if he applied for regular decision then his rejection letter would’ve come early April, while the absolute latest it can begin is early June as that’s when San Diego school district’s school year ends. It’s probably not June since it’s likely at some point Sophie would’ve mentioned school nearly being over so it’s more likely the latest possible time for the books to begin being in may.

This gives us an approximate 5 month window as to when the series could take place. Do with this information as you will.

[bookwyrminspiration]

i don't get why so many people trip over the timeline. the series started in like 2012, it's been 2-3 years, and now it's functionally 2024. on account of the series experiences real and fictional time simultaneously. this is very normal in ongoing series. the human half of the world is also fictional !!

[thelasttaleofthepari]

Okay I'm interested in Rayni's backstory like BOTH of her parents got Tribunals?? Did they both get punished and she was left to fend for herself??? or maybe she got adopted by someone but they were part of the Neverseen

[gay-otlc]

If we're still on this stupid website in 2040 I want us to celebrate Sophie Foster's birth

[callum-hunt-is-bisexual]

sometimes i wish i never posted anything kotlc related ever

[aphelea]

my personal proposal for the Timeline Problem is that we were all originally right with the early 2010s timeline, however, we incorporate the existence of the anti-hero lyrics by considering that, à la rick riordan, taylor swift may actually be an elf in keeper world. "but that doesn't fix the problem!" you say. no. it turns out that taylor actually has a unique ability: she's a time elf. a telf, if you will. and she accidentally time travelled while writing her hit 2022 album midnights and fell into her 2014 recording sessions for 1989, muttering the lyrics of a song that shouldn't technically exist. thus shake it off gains an extra verse and t-shirts are made for keefe to wear.

this becomes relevant in kotlc because telves actually use the void for time travel and sophie accidentally finds herself stuck with dinosaurs after keefe holds her hand and they have some weird mutual enhancing/healing thing happen. it turns out that the rocks gisela wants are from that asteroid thing. sophie wins. the end