Enderverse Timeline

SPOILER WARNING: Enderverse plot details follow.

This page is a timeline of events. You may be looking for a timeline of novels.

This page documents events in chronological order that took place in the Ender's Game Universe, or Enderverse.

In Speaker for the Dead, the "B.S.C." (before Starways Congress) and "S.C." (Starways Congress) dating system was introduced. It was stated to be based on the date of the introduction of the Starways Code. However, the Ender's Game Wiki has decided to use its own dating system for use in articles, in order to provide a more relative reference to events in the series. The origin year, or epoch, is based on the date of the Formic Xenocide, as it is the most prominent event in Enderverse history and localizes the timeline around the first novel, Ender’s Game. The designations used to label years will be BX (Before the Xenocide) and AX (After the Xenocide).

Many events will have approximate dates (denoted by "c.", for "circa") or will be listed as unknown, as there are many contradictions between canon material that makes it difficult to know for sure when events occurred, or broad estimates of dates are stated like "two centuries" that likely are not the literal number of years that have passed.

The Pre-Formic Wars Era (< 87 BX)

???? BX

• The Makers of the Recorder create the Recorder virus and spread it throughout the galaxy.
• The Recorder virus spreads beyond the planet Nest, where it is damaged by cosmic radiation and becomes the Descolada. It ravages several planets before reaching Lusitania where it destroys the local ecosystem and leaves very few species remaining.

c. 300-600 BX

(1602-1902 CE)

• The Formic Ark leaves the Formic Homeworld.

??? BX

• The expansion of Humans into the Sol System takes place.
  • Luna and Mars are colonized.
  • Space stations, including one that would eventually become Battle School, are constructed at the Lagrange points and in the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt.

109 BX

(2093 CE or 1289 BSC)

• Mazer Rackham is born.

105 BX

(2097 CE or 1285 BSC)

• Victor Delgado is born.

95 BX

(2107 CE or 1275 BSC)

• The Formic scout ship separates from the mothership beyond the solar system.

?? BX

• Juke Limited develops gravitational manipulation technology (Gravitics) that can be utilized with the Jukes Gravic Downmaster.

The Formic Wars Era (87 BX - 0 BX)

87 BX

(2115 CE or 1267 BSC)

• The First Formic War takes place.
  • The Battle of the Belt takes place.
  • The Scouring of China takes place.
• The International Fleet is founded, and along with it the Hegemony and the positions of Strategos and Polemarch.
• Seeing the Formic fleet amassing outside of the Kuiper Belt, the Quispe mining clan decides to leave the Sol System on the Ark and colonize another planet to preserve humanity.

86 BX

(2116 CE or 1266 BSC)

• Research conducted by the Hegemony in the 6 months after the First Formic War leads to the invention of the Ansible.

87 - 84 BX

(2118-2115 CE or 1264-1267 BSC)

• The Hegemony institutes strict population laws and establishes Common as the global language.
• The Second Warsaw Pact is established.

84 BX

(2118 CE or 1264 BSC)

• The Parallax Telescopes are destroyed by Formic fighter ships.
• Thousands of Sol System asteroids are occupied and mined by Formic miniships in order to construct a larger fleet.

82 BX

(2120 CE or 1262 BSC)

• The Second Formic War takes place.

c. 82 BX

(c. 2120 CE or c. 1262 BSC)

• The Formic Egg Drive is discovered by Humans and reverse engineered to enable near-lightspeed travel.
• Mazer Rackham is sent into space at near-lightspeed in order to still be young when the Third Invasion fleet arrives at the Formic home worlds.

68 BX

(2134 CE or 1248 BSC)

• Hyrum Graff is born.

c. 52 BX

(c. 2150 CE or 1232 BSC)

• Mazer Rackham considers not returning to Earth, but after speaking with Hyrum Graff he orders the International Fleet to give Graff the authority to create Battle School. The Fleet agrees, and Mazer turns his ship around to go back to Earth.

40 BX

(2162 CE or 1220 BSC)

• John Paul Wieczorek (Wiggin) is born.

39 BX

(2163 CE or 1219 BSC)

• Theresa Brown (Wiggin) is born.

20 BX

(2182 CE or 1200 BSC)

• Theresa's father, Hinckley Brown, resigns from the International Fleet in protest of the Hegemony's population laws.

19 BX

(2183 CE or 1199 BSC)

• Theresa Brown and John Paul Wiggin begin their relationship.

15 BX

(2187 CE or 1195 BSC)

• Peter Wiggin is born.
• Bonito de Madrid is born.

13 BX

(2189 CE or 1193 BSC)

• Valentine Wiggin is born.

c. 12 BX

(c. 2190 CE or 1192 BSC)

• Han Tzu is born.

11 BX

(2191 CE or 1191 BSC)

• Ender Wiggin is born.

9 BX

(2193 CE or 1189 BSC)

• Dabeet Ochoa is born.

6 BX

(2196 CE or 1186 BSC)

• Bean is born.

2 BX

(2200 CE or 1182 BSC)

• Ender Wiggin becomes the commander of Dragon Army.

c. 1 BX

(c. 2201 CE or 1181 BSC)

• Mazer Rackham returns to Earth.

0 BX (1180 B.S.C.)

(2202 CE or 1180 BSC)

• The Third Formic War takes place.
  • Ender Wiggin uses the Molecular Disruption Device on the Formic Homeworld and all but annihilates the Formic species.
• The League War begins and lasts for 5 days, concluding at the signing of the Locke Proposal.

The Post-Formic Wars Era (1 AX - 62 AX)

1 AX

(2203 CE or 1179 BSC)

• Battle School Students, including Ender's Jeesh, return to their home countries on Earth.
• IFcoltrans1, the first colony ship, leaves Earth to travel to Shakespeare.
  • Battle School is transitioned into Fleet School.
  • Ender's Jeesh, except for Bean, is kidnapped by Russia under the planning of Achilles de Flandres.

2 AX

(2204 CE or 1178 BSC)

• A terrorist attack on Fleet School organized by Achilles is foiled by the efforts of Dabeet Ochoa and his team of fellow cadets.

2 - 8 AX

(2204-2210 CE or 1182-1188 BSC)

• Multiple wars take place on Earth between the Muslim League, India, and China, caused by China invading and occupying much of SE Asia.

8 AX

(2210 CE or 1172 BSC)

• The Free People of Earth is founded.
• Each of the respective leaders of the Muslim League, India, and China leave Earth to found colony planets. Their empires are divided up and eventually join the FPE.
• Bean and three of his children, Ender, Carlotta, and Cincinnatus leave Earth in the Herodotus on a relativistic flight to attempt to live to see the cure for Anton's Key be developed.

9-41 AX

(2211-2243 CE or 1189-1221 BSC)

• Every nation on Earth except for the United States of America joins the Free People of Earth. The FPE begins to be known as EarthGov, and Peter Wiggin tries to retire as Hegemon twice.

36 AX

(2238 CE or 1144 BSC)

• The governor of Shakespeare, Vitaly Kolmogorov, passes away and is succeeded by Sel Menach.

41 AX

(2243 CE or 1139 BSC)

• Ender and Valentine Wiggin arrive on Shakespeare.

41-43 AX

(2243 CE or 1137 BSC)

• Ender Wiggin governs Shakespeare.

43 AX

(2245 CE or 1137 BSC)

• Ender finds the last Formic Hive Queen on Shakespeare and learns the true history of the Formics.
• The Hive Queen is published and gains popularity across the inhabited human worlds.
• Peter and Ender Wiggin converse for the first time in nearly 50 years.
  • The Hegemon is written.

43-44 AX

(2245-2246 CE or 1223-1224 BSC)

• Peter Wiggin dies at age 58 from a blood clot.
• The Hegemon is published and gains popularity alongside The Hive Queen.

44 AX

(2246 CE or 1136 BSC)

• Ender and Valentine Wiggin leave Shakespeare on a colony ship heading to Ganges.

44-58 AX

(2246-2260 CE or 1224-1238 BSC)

• Theresa and John Paul Wiggin both die, aged in their mid-eighties.
• Hyrum Graff is removed from his office as Minister of Colonization.

62 AX

(2264 CE or 1118 BSC)

• Ender and Valentine Wiggin arrive at Ganges.
  • Ender forsakes his nickname and goes by Andrew from 62 AX onward.

The Starways Congress Era (> 62 AX)

c. 113 AX

(c. 2315 CE or c. 1067 BSC)

• The crew of the Ark, now containing the the human Folk, the human sub-species of the Yachachiyruna, as well as sentient Keas and Ravens, arrive at the planet Nest and colonize it.

62 - 400 AX

(2264-2602 CE or 1242-1580 BSC)

• Starways Congress is founded and the Hundred Worlds are organized at some point during these years.

c. 300 AX

(c. 2502 CE or c. 880 BSC)

• Sorelledolce is founded.

c. 313 AX

(c. 2515 CE or c. 867 BSC)

• A war breaks out between the sentient birds of Nest and the humans known as The Folk. After constant destruction from the birds, the humans decide to live fully underground.

c. 400 AX

(c. 2602 CE or c. 780 BSC)

• Andrew and Valentine Wiggin arrive at Sorelledolce.
• The Exploratory Service allows colonists to settle on Catalunya.

0-429 AX

(2202-2631 CE or 1180-1609 BSC)

• Over 93 human colonies are established.

429 AX

(2631 CE or 751 BSC)

• Bean and his three children aboard the Herodotus encounter the Formic Ark and an unnamed planet.
• Bean's children learn from the Formic drones how to modify their genome, curing Anton's Key and creating the Leguminid sub-species of human.
• Bean dies due to his gigantism.

c. 500 AX

(c. 2702 CE or c. 680 BSC)

• Andrew and Valentine Wiggin arrive at Catalunya.

c. 1042 AX

(c. 3244 CE or c. 138 BSC)

• Starways Congress unites all human-settled worlds under its rule.

c. 1150 AX (30 B.S.C)

(c. 3352 CE or c. 30 BSC)

• Andrew and Valentine Wiggin arrive on Moctezuma and Andrew speaks the death of San Angelo, which becomes a well-known event.

c. 1179 AX (1 B.S.C)

(c. 3381 CE or c. 1 BSC)

• Andrew and Valentine Wiggin arrive on Mindanao and Andrew speaks the death of a murdered revolutionary.

1180 AX (0 S.C.)

(3382 CE or 0 SC)

• The Starways Code is established.

c. 2179 AX (999 S.C.)

(c. 4381 CE or c. 999 SC)

• Hindu scientists on Ganges conduct an experiment that claims to prove that human Philotic twinings twined with other humans.

3010 AX (1830 S.C.)

(5212 CE or 1830 SC)

• A robotic probe from Starways Congress discovers the planet Lusitania. Congress gives a colonization license to the planet Baía to settle the world.

3066 AX (1886 S.C.)

(5268 CE or 1886 SC)

• Settlers from Baía land on Lusitania and discover the Pequeninos, another sentient species.

3111 AX (1931 S.C.)

(5313 CE or 1931 SC)

• Novinha is born on the planet Lusitania.

3116 AX (1936 S.C.)

(5318 CE or 1936 SC)

• Novinha's parents and siblings, along with a large amount of Lusitania's population, die from the Descolada virus.

3128 AX (1948 S.C.)

(5330 CE or 1948 SC)

• Andrew Wiggin leaves Trondheim on the Havelok, heading for Lusitania.

3150 AX (1970 S.C.)

(5352 CE or 1970 SC)

• Andrew Wiggin arrives on Lusitania.
• The Lusitanian Rebellion begins.
• The Formic civilization begins again on Lusitania.

3164 AX (1984 S.C.)

(5366 CE or 1984 SC)

• Han Qing-jao is born on Path.

3165 AX (1985 S.C.)

(5367 CE or 1985 SC)

• The Herodotus and its crew of the Delphiki Family arrive on Nokonoshima.

3169 AX (1989 S.C)

(5371 CE or 1989 SC)

• Delft Delphiki is born on Nokonoshima.
• Thulium Delphiki is born 3 months later on Nokonoshima.
• 3 weeks after Thulium's birth, the Delphiki family kidnaps their children from Nokonoshima and leaves on the Herodotus.

3179 AX (1999 S.C.)

(5381 CE or 1999 SC)

• Quim Ribeira is killed by the Fathertree Warmaker.
• Valentine Wiggin II and Peter Wiggin II come into existence from the Outside.

3180 AX (2000 S.C.)

(5382 CE or 2000 SC)

Children of the Mind

• Starways Congress attempts to kill Jane by shutting down the entire Ansible network, but she survives.
• The Descolada is killed off on Lusitania, being replaced by the Recolada.
• Andrew Wiggin dies.
• The Second Xenocide is prevented by Peter Wiggin II, Si Wang-mu, and Jane.

The Last Shadow (~3-5 months later)

• The Leguminids arrive on Lusitania.
• After exploration of the planet thought to be the origin of the Descolada, it is discovered that it was settled thousands of years before by humans known as The Folk, a sub-species of humans called the Yachachiyruna, as well as sentient Keas and Ravens.
• After their discovery by the Lusitanians, The Folk attempt to kill the Lusitanians with a biological weapon, and turn against the other species of the planet with an ultrasonic weapon. Some of the Keas, Ravens, and Yachachi are saved by the Lusitanians and are sent to other Lusitanian Colonies.
• The Descolada is revealed to be a damaged version of the Recorder virus.

3264 AX (2084 S.C.)

(5466 CE or 2084 SC)

• Han Qing-jao dies.

Dates With an Unknown Era

Chinese Invasion of Taiwain

This was an event mentioned a few times in Shadow Puppets and Shadow of the Giant as happening many years before its events. This would either put it in the Formic Wars Era or the Pre-Formic Wars Era. However, it was never mentioned in the First or Second Formic War Trilogies, indicating that it may have taken place between 84 BX - 8 AX.

Muslim Civil War and Nuking of Mecca

This was an event mentioned a few times in Shadow of the Giant as happening many years before its events. This would either put it in the Formic Wars Era or the Pre-Formic Wars Era. However, it was never mentioned in the First or Second Formic War Trilogies, indicating that it may have taken place between 84 BX - 8 AX.

Notes

Date of the First Formic War

Before the release of the First and Second Formic War Trilogies, the exact number of years before Ender's Game that the First Formic War took place was unknown. However, the promotional material and cover art for the First Formic War Trilogy stated it took place "100 years before Ender's Game", or "Nearly 100 years before Ender's Game". Although it was apparent that this was a general timeframe, not an exact number, the Ender's Game Wiki decided to establish the date of the First Formic war as being 100 BX.

However, upon further examination of other Enderverse content, a more exact timescale becomes apparent. In Shadows in Flight, it was stated that Bean's ship left Earth in 2210 AD. Next, in The Swarm, the year was stated to be 2118 AD, 3 years after the end of the First Formic War. Under the assumption that the FFW takes place in 100 BX, then the Shadows in Flight date would be at 5 BX, as Bean leaves Earth roughly 8 years after the end of Ender's Game, which does not line up with the rest of the timeline. Additionally, in Xenocide it is stated that Valentine and Peter Wiggin were "still children in the twenty-second century", which implies that by 0 AX it was at least 2199 AD. Finally, Hyrum Graff's date of birth was established as being 14 years after the end of the Second Formic War. If the 100-year timescale was used, Graff would be 81 in Ender's Game, which does not fit.

Therefore, using all these data points, the Ender's Game Wiki has established that the First Formic War begins in the year 87 BX, or 2115 AD. This puts The Swarm taking place in 84 BX, and the Third Formic War being in the year 2202 AD.

Later Dates in Ender in Exile

Towards the end of Ender Wiggin's term as governor of Shakespeare, there is some confusion about the year. On dozens of occasions it is stated that Ender's term as governor lasted/would last 2 years. As the IFcoltrans1 arrived in 41 AX and Ender immediately began his term as governor, one would assume that it ended in 43 AX, and then promptly left for Ganges, as it is stated that he left almost immediately after ending his term. However, there are a few problems with this clean-cut answer:

• In "Governor Wiggin", the story begins with Ender stating he has been governor for (nearly) 2 years. The story takes place over roughly 7 months, and when it ends it seems as though Ender is still governor. In addition, the Hive Queen cocoon is not mentioned at all, indicating that at least the main part of the story (~1 month) takes place before Ender discovers it. When Ender discovers the cocoon in Ender in Exile, the time frame is stated to be roughly a year before the colony ship piloted by Hong arrives to take Ender to Ganges. This would seemingly put Ender's time at Shakespeare as roughly 3 years, meaning he leaves in 44 AX.
• For most of the later chapters of Exile when Ender is preparing to leave Shakespeare, he states he is 16 years old, which puts the year around 43 AX. However, when he arrives at Ganges after being in Stasis for the voyage, he states he is 17 years old. This indicates that Ender had his birthday shortly before leaving Shakespeare, indicating that the year may have been 44 AX.
• In Exile, an email from Hyrum Graff during Ender's voyage to Ganges states that "Fifty-seven years ago, before you went to Shakespeare, I assembled your pay during the war" and that "You will see this message when you come out of stasis yourself upon arriving at Ganges four years from now." One would assume that this means Graff is sending the message in 57 AX and that Ender would arrive in 61 AX. This is supported by Valentine stating that 18 real-time years had passed during the voyage, meaning that they left Shakespeare in 43 AX.

With all these data points, there is an obvious discrepancy of 1 year. To present a consistent and clear timeline of events, the Ender's Game Wiki has decided to interpret Graff's "fifty-seven years ago" as meaning roughly 1 AX rather than 0 AX, which puts the departure from Shakespeare in early 44 AX. Some discrepancy still exists with statements about spending 2 years on Shakespeare, but some leeway can be granted with this.

This means that, as Ender stated he would not publish The Hegemon until Peter Wiggin's death, and Graff's mention of it being seemingly published while or just before Ender's voyage to Ganges, it is likely that Peter died in late 43 AX or early 44 AX, just before Ender's departure from Shakespeare.