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Timeline of The After Years

DrakeClawfang

The Wanderer of Time
The timeline of TAY is very vague, but I've been trying to piece it together. It was pretty difficult, and in some areas I had to use overlapping events to work backwards on some details and had to stretch some timeframes, but I think I got it down. This is all based on things observed during the game.

Several points of note in how I constructed and am presenting this info.
- Because the actual passage of time in terms of days is vague, I'm using generic 'Timeframe 1' headers for the events that occur at or around that point in time.
- I placed events during the timeframe I felt they are most probable to have occurred. There are direct indications of two Tales overlapping, these instances are noted, otherwise it's educated guessing.
- Italics are meant to indicate a generic point - it's possible that the event took place at that time, but it can't be certain. In this case, the italicized events are the earliest possible time the events could have occurred, but just as likely could occur in a later point in time.
- When I say "Porom's Tale" I mean the third sequence where she goes to find Kain, not the two flashbacks, for obvious reasons.
- I assume the Red Wings act as one force and as such cannot be in two places at once.
- In Ceodore's Tale when Baron is being attacked we see a sequence of Cecil and Rosa watching the Red Moon reappear. We then see glimpses of Rydia and Luca on the Falcon flying over a forest, Yang and Ursula on Mt. Ordeals, Edward and Harley on a ship, Palom and Leonora in Troia, Porom looking at a collapsed Elder in Mysidia, and Edge and the Eblan Four in Eblan. This flash of scenes is not canon. First, it's the intro, it's likely it is intended just as a glimpse of the characters. Second, these scenes do not occur in the other tales. Third, it is flat impossible for all these things to occur at once. Thus, the sequence cannot have actually occurred.

-----------------------------

MAJOR INCONSISTENCIES

- At the beginning of Edward's Tale, Edward says the meteor hit the night before and sends Harley to investigate it the next day. That night he goes to look for her, and it is day when he returns and a Baron messenger arrives. That same day they set out for Kaipo to sail to Baron, and rest for a night in the underground waterway before reaching Kaipo.
- In Yang's Tale, Ursula says the impact occurred "several days ago". Later Ursula runs to check it out and Yang pursues her.
- Because Yang and Edward's Tale later synchronize timeframes with their ships sailing alongside each other, Edward and his group must have taken several days to travel to Kaipo and then retrieve the Sand Pearl. Otherwise, as only three confirmed days pass in Edward's Tale, he'd be setting sail for Baron before Fabul is even attacked.
- Unfortunately this doesn't rest well with Kain's Tale, where Ceodore and the Hooded Man traverse the undergound waterway, resting on the way, in the same space of time as it takes Kain to fly to Damcyan and have his confrontation with Edward. Ceodore and the Hooded Man arrive at Damcyan just as Kain is leaving to boot.
- This is not the first time this sort of thing occurs, as apparently Ceodore, Kain, Rosa, Edward and Cid confront Cecil in Baron, and in the space of that time Rydia, Luca, Edge and Golbez fly around the world freeing the Eidolons and gathering the other party members.
- Yang does not leave Fabul until after the Red Wings have attacked them. Because we see his and Edward's Tale overlap during their voyages, this means that Edward sails to Baron, conducts his business with Cecil and returns to Damcyan in the same space of time it takes Kain to fly back from Fabul to Baron (as indicated by them flying over Mist on the way to Damcyan) and then to Damcyan.

So the only way there can be a coherent timeline is if A - Edward's group took their sweet time traversing the waterway while Ceodore and the Hooded Man sprinted through it, B - Edward's sea-faring ship can outrun the Red Wings, and C - time slows in the room during a plot-significant confrontation while the rest of the world moves at normal time. Ridiculous I know, but that's how it is.

---------------------

TIMEFRAME 1
-
Ceodore's Tale
-- Baron is conquered, Cecil is brainwashed, Mysterious Girl takes control of the kingdom.
-- Ceodore meets the Hooded Man and they speak to Porom at Mysidia.
-- Rosa and Cid flee to Damcyan
-- Rosa and Cid fleeing to Damcyan obviously has not occurred at the beginning of Edward's Tale. Discounting non-canon visits to the castle when the player goes to the Antlion's Den, they could have arrived there any time after Edward and his group leave for Kaipo.

- Edge's Tale
-- Edge sends the Eblan Four to the world.

- Lunarian's Tale
-- Golbez awakens and travel to the surface.
-- Golbez and Fusoya investigate the meteor impact
-- Golbez and Fusoya investigate Bahamut's cave
-- The only frame of reference to link a point in time between the Lunarian's Tale and the rest of the game is the rise of the Lunar Whale, which occurs at the end of the tale. The events beforehand could happen any time at all.


TIMEFRAME 2

-
Ceodore's Tale
-- Ceodore and the Hooded Man traverse the Devil's Road and arrive at Baron, then head to Mist Cave.

-
Rydia's Tale
-- Feymarch is attacked by Mysterious Girl, Eidolons captured
-- Rydia arrives at Dwarf Castle. Castle has been attacked and Crystal stolen.
-- Rydia and Luca retrieve the Crystal from the Sealed Cave, the MG takes it.

- Palom's Tale
-- Palom and Leonora climb Tower of Trials and return to Troia.
-- Palom and Leonora flee to the Chocobo Forest

- Porom's Tale
-- Mysidian Elder and Porom see the Lunar Whale take flight.
-- Elder of Mysidia sends Porom to find Kain on Mt. Ordeals.

- Edge's Tale.
-- Izayoi sees Palom in Troia and climbs the Tower of Trials.
-- Gekkou sees MG kill the Fabul Monks in the crater and builds a shrine there.
-- Zangetsu and the dwarfs hear Giott celebrating peace. Zangetsu flees the castle. (this must have occurred like, minutes before the Red Wings attacked)
-- Tsukinowa pursues Porom up Mt. Ordeals and then returns to Eblan.
-- Edge heads to investigate the Tower of Babil
-- The timeframe of Edge's Tale is very hard to pin down - that the Eblan Four see the dwarfs and Troia haven't been attacked indicates that their sequences occur early in the game. However, in the final tale Edge is confronting Golbez on the Falcon, picking up precisely where his tale ended, which would seem to imply that Edge's Tale spans the beginnings of the game up to just before the final tale.

- Lunarian's Tale
-- Fusoya and Golbez pray for the Lunar Whale to fly to them
-- Fusoya and Golbez fight Zeromus's Malice, Fusoya teleports Golbez to the Lunar Whale and it departs for Earth.

- Edward's Tale
-- Harley and eventually Edward investigate the meteor impact and return to Damcyan.
--- All we know about the timeframe for the first parts of Edward's Tale is that once they return from the impact site, Baron is controlled.
The later parts of the tale have a more defined frame of reference. Also see above inconsistencies.

TIMEFRAME 3

-
Ceodore's Tale
-- Ceodore and Kain travel though Mist Cave.

-
Kain/Porom's Tale
-- Kain and Porom return to Mysidia, Porom senses something is wrong with Palom on the way.
-- MG attacks Mysidia, Kain allies with MG and steals the Water Crystal.

- Yang's Tale.
-- Ursula flees to the Impact Crater, Yang pursues her.
-- Yang and Ursula investigate the crater

- Rydia's Tale
-- Rydia and Luca fly to the surface.
-- Rydia and Luca see Palom and Leonora on a Black Chocobo
-- Rydia and Luca are attacked by the Red Wings and crash-land near Agart.

- Palom's Tale
-- Palom and Leonora fly to Lodestone Cavern with a Black Chocobo and are attacked on the way.
-- In Lodestone Cavern Baron troops pursue them, MG takes the Earth Crystal from them. Porom senses this on Mt. Ordeals with Kain.

- Edward's Tale
-- Edward and Harley arrive in Kaipo
-- Edward returns to the Antlion's Den to retrieve a Sand Pearl for Harley


TIMEFRAME 4

-
Kain's Tale.
-- Kain allies with MG. Kain and Red Wings depart for Fabul.

-
Yang's Tale
-- Yang and Ursula see Red Wings approaching Fabul as they cross Mt. Hobs.
-- Fabul is beseiged and Kain steals the Wind Crystal.

- Rydia's Tale
-- Rydia and Luca repair the Falcon when Titan attacks Agart. Golbez saves them.

TIMEFRAME 5

-
Kain's Tale
-- Ceodore and Hooded Man cross Mist Cliff, see Red Wings flying to Damcyan.
-- Ceodore and Hooded Man rest at Kaipo
-- Kain returns to Baron and then flies to Damcyan

- Yang's Tale
-- Yang and Ursula depart for Baron by ship.
-- Events with Adamant Isle Forest and Leviathan occur

- Edward's Tale
-- Edward departs from Kaipo to Baron.
-- Edward arrives at Baron and returns to Damcyan. Sees Yang being attacked by Leviathan on the way back.

- Edge's Tale
-- The Eblan Four return and the group explore the Tower of Babil. The group flees the tower through a trap door and leap onto the Falcon.


TIMEFRAME 6

- Kain's Tale
-- Kain steals Fire Crystal and returns to Baron
-- Ceodore and the Hooded Man arrive at Damcyan, pursue Kain in the Enterprise with Cid and Edward
-- Hooded Man and Kain duel, Hooded Man reveals himself as Kain and becomes Holy Dragoon

Soon after all timelines converge as the final tale begins.

---------------------------

So yeah, there's my work, took a few hours. Any errors or such I made, feel free to point them out and I'll either explain them or rework the timeline.

And of course, looking at all the liberties I had to take, and there's still shit that can't be lined up, it really drives home how lousy the writing in this sequel was.
 
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Tetsujin

he/they
AKA
Tets
Haven't even played this past the first chapter so there's nothing I could contribute I'm afraid. :P
 

Xory

Rookie Adventurer
I'm sorry. I never played the original until i bought the complete collection and....when i finished the first i was all FF IV'd out. sorry.
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
Just now got around to reading this. Good work, Drake. You made the best of that mess that one could, I think.

The After Years is such shit.
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
A terrible plot that literally relied on recycling every plot element from FFIV at that. :monster:

Which is kind of depressing -- it makes FFIV look bad by virtue (vice?) of the fact that it reused the previous game's plot outline.
 

DrakeClawfang

The Wanderer of Time
And then when they ran out of stuff from FF4 to recycle, they began throwing bosses at us from other games with no reason or logic.

Also note the parts of TAY's plot that doesn't rip off the original game rips off TTGL.
 

Dawnbreaker

~The Other Side of Fear~
I personally liked it. It was fanservice to the ninth degree, but if you forgive that and forgive the fact that there's an enormous lack of creativity (I know that's a lot of forgive) it is a fun romp with old characters you never thought you'd see again.

also, that is quite an extensive timeline. Excellent work.
 
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