Canon refers to the current ongoing Star Wars universe. Stories published after 2014 - in addition to Episodes I-VI and the Clone Wars - are considered part of Canon (unless otherwise noted).
Legends refers to the stories published before 2014, formerly known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
For a more in depth explanation, please see our guide here. (LINK: The Difference Between Star Wars Canon and Legends)
The way we select which books go on the timeline is an incredibly complex and arduous process with far too many rules and discussions to outline here. We take it very seriously.
If you feel there is a book, comic, or other story missing, please reach out to us on Twitter or drop us a note through the site. This timeline is intended to be completely comprehensive, including all Star Wars stories.
There are a number of rules we use to place books. Though most typically, books are placed by where the main story ends. Some books will have epilogues (see: Queen’s Peril) or framing stories (see: Moving Target) that take place later on the timeline, but those are ignored when considering timeline placement. Books with multiple stories are listed based on whichever story takes place latest on the timeline or most prominently.
We know that there are many different and conflicting philosophies regarding timeline placement. We strive to be consistent in our implementation, and we feel this solution works best across the board.
The novelizations of Episodes I-VI and the Clone Wars movie are considered Canon where they align with the films, as explained by Del Rey. Because they were written well before 2014, any extra scenes are not considered Canon until canonized elsewhere.
The same applies to the recent film adaptations as well. While the Lucasfilm Story Group is involved in their creation, they are still considered Canon only where they align with the films. However, their involvement and the fact that the novelizations (now dubbed as Expanded Editions) starting with Solo: A Star Wars Story have come out months after the movie means that the stories tend to fit better with established Canon.
Simply put: because there are too many.
Technical limitations prevent us from displaying every published comic book as a single issue. Instead, we display collected issues of completed stories as a trade paperback (visible under the “Graphic Novels” filter.
One-shots, anthology series, and comics that have not been collected in a trade paperback or hardcover will still be displayed using the “Single Issue Comics” filter.
Luckily, we have a separate timeline for all the single issues that you can access here.