Mass Effect

1. NoteNumerous events are backdated during conversation, via Codex entries, or some other means from the time the stories are set: 2183 to 2186 CE for the Shepard trilogy, 2819 CE for Mass Effect: Andromeda , and the like. These aren't often given exact dates. Unless an exact date is given for an event, the following outlines how to handle approximate dates.
2. ·Huge timescales should not be taken literally; "nearly a billion years ago" from Mass Effect does not exactly mean "this event happened in 999,997,817‬ BCE". Same goes for millennia up to four significant digits: "300,000 years ago" from Mass Effect 2 (set 2185 CE) is approximately 298,000 BCE. "15,000 years" of turian civilization equates to about 13,000 BCE, and so forth.
3. ·Decades or centuries before/after the "present day" can be dated to the nearest units or tens, depending on source context.
4. Prehistoric Times (Unknown BCE - c. 1,000,000,000 BCE)
5. ·The Leviathans dominate the Milky Way , enthralling every new sapient race they encounter and protecting them in return for tribute. The Leviathans consider themselves the galaxy's first and only apex race.
6. ·After observing that their subservient races create synthetic races who consistently and violently rebel, the Leviathans create an Intelligence to seek a way to permanently preserve organic life. The Intelligence constructs an army of "pawns" to gather genetic information throughout the galaxy.
7. ·The Intelligence betrays the Leviathans, using its pawns to slaughter them for their genetic material to create Harbinger , the first Reaper . Thus begins the cyclical harvest of the galaxy's intelligent organic life by the Reapers, part of a vast experiment conducted by the Intelligence to fulfill its mandate.
8. ·The Intelligence builds the mass relay network to increase the efficiency of the cycles, allowing galactic civilizations to develop faster and more consistently between harvests.
9. Pre-Prothean Times (c. 1,000,000,000 BCE - c. 68,000 BCE)
10. c. 1,000,000,000 BCEThe Leviathan of Dis , a Reaper , is killed by the Leviathans . Its corpse comes to rest on the planet Jartar and remains undisturbed for nearly one billion years.
11. c. 37,000,000 BCEAn unknown spacefaring race fires a mass accelerator round at a Reaper near the planet Mnemosyne . The round penetrates the Reaper, disabling it, and continues moving through space, eventually striking the planet Klendagon and creating the geological feature there known as the Great Rift Valley.
12. c. 298,000 BCEThe ancient arthenn race flourish in the Zelene system, living on the planet Helyme until being destroyed in an unknown event that wiped out all complex life on the planet. They also maintained a presence on other planets in the system including Epho , which bears the scars of an ancient orbital bombardment, and Gaelon , which may have been mined for helium-3 .
13. c. 125,000 BCEAncient spacefaring races called the thoi'han and inusannon fight over the planet Eingana , littering the planet with the debris of hundreds of starships. Refined element zero scattered by broken drive cores contaminates the environment, causing many native species to go extinct and those that survive to show a tendency to develop biotic powers.
14. Pre-Council Times (c. 68,000 BCE - 500 BCE)
15. c. 68,000 BCEThe Protheans achieve spaceflight and discover mass effect technology from the ruins of the extinct inusannon. They go on to establish a galaxy-wide civilization linked by the mass relay network with the Citadel as their capital.
16. c. 68,000 BCEAt some point, the Protheans encounter a hostile race of machine intelligences that endanger their existence. To combat this threat, the Protheans aggressively assimilate many other spacefaring organic races into their empire. The Prothean Empire is able to fend off the machines in a conflict known as the "Metacon War".
17. c. 48,000 BCEFall of the Protheans
18. c. 68,000 BCEThe Prothean Empire collapses with the arrival of the Reapers through the Citadel. Although the Protheans had learned of the Reapers' existence from studying the ruins of previous civilizations and had begun to prepare, they were nonetheless caught off-guard. Over the next several centuries, the Protheans fight the Reapers system by system, world by world, and city by city. In the end, it is not enough. The Reapers methodically wipe out the remaining Protheans, as well as other contemporary races , and depart the galaxy to await the next cycle.
19. c. 13,000 BCEThe turians of Palaven begin to develop civilization around this time.
20. c. 6000 BCESeeking to escape the imminent explosion of their sun, an alien race constructs an AI -managed starship equipped with supercomputers containing a virtual world, into which some one billion of the aliens transfer their consciousnesses. The starship begins a journey throughout the galaxy which lasts for the next 8,000 years.
21. c. 1900 BCETuchanka , the krogan homeworld, enters the nuclear age. In a global conflict, weapons of mass destruction are released, triggering a nuclear winter. In the resulting devastation, krogan society devolves into a collection of warring clans.
22. c. 1800 BCEA supernova propels the Mu Relay , the only point of access to the remote Pangaea Expanse , out of position. Concealed somewhere in the dense nebula formed by the supernova, the relay's position is effectively lost for centuries. Later, the rachni rediscover the relay.
23. c. 1600 BCEIn the Andromeda galaxy, the angara are created and seeded across multiple worlds in the Heleus Cluster by the Jardaan .
24. 580 BCEAfter developing faster-than-light spacefaring capabilities based upon Prothean technology, the asari begin to explore the mass relay network, and eventually discover the huge Citadel space station at a hub of many mass relays.
25. 520 BCEThe salarians discover the Citadel and open diplomatic relations with the asari.
26. Council Era - Formation (500 BCE - 1 CE)
27. 500 BCEFounding of the Citadel Council
28. ·The Citadel Council is formed. The asari and salarians together colonize the Citadel and establish it as a center of the galactic community, led by the Council. This year is also known as 0 GS, the beginning of the Galactic Standard (GS) timeline.
29. ·As a gesture of openness with their new asari allies, the Salarian Union opens the records of the League of One . Under threat, the League responds by assassinating every member of the Union's inner cabinet; Special Tasks Group operatives then hunt down and eliminate the League.
30. c. 300 BCEThe volus begin exploring and colonizing the stars shortly after discovering FTL .
31. c. 300 BCEFirst contact is made with the volus . Eventually, the Citadel Council commissions the volus to draw up the Unified Banking Act, which establishes a standard galactic currency known as the credit and links all galactic economies.
32. c. 300 BCEThe turian Unification War occurs. The increasingly isolated and xenophobic colonies on the frontiers of turian space go to war with each other. After years of fighting, the Turian Hierarchy sweeps in and pacifies the remaining factions. Animosity between turian colonies continues for decades.
33. c. 300 BCEThe Council grants the volus the honor of being the first non-Council species with an embassy at the Citadel, rather than a Council seat.
34. c. 300 BCEFirst contact is made with the batarians . They are granted an embassy a century later.
35. c. 300 BCEThe asari discover the elcor home system and help the elcor locate and activate their nearest mass relay . "Within one elcor lifetime" they establish a regular trade route to the Citadel and are granted an embassy.
36. c. 300 BCEFirst contact is made with the hanar and the quarians . Both races are later granted embassies.
37. Council Era - War and Rebellion (1 CE - 900 CE)
38. 1 CE: The Rachni WarsThe rachni , a species of highly intelligent hive-minded insects, are discovered when a Citadel expedition opens a dormant mass relay leading to their star systems. The rachni prove to be hostile and begin a war with the rest of the galaxy. Negotiation with the rachni queens is impossible because they cannot be contacted in their underground nests on the toxic rachni worlds.
39. 80 CEThe Rachni Wars continue. The salarians make first contact with and uplift the primitive krogan , manipulating them into acting as soldiers for the Citadel Council. The krogan prove able to survive the harsh environments of the rachni worlds and pursue the rachni into their nests, systematically eradicating queens and eggs.
40. 300 CEThe rachni are declared extinct. In gratitude for their aid during the Rachni Wars, the Council rewards the krogan a new homeworld. Free of the harsh environment of Tuchanka , the krogan population explodes.
41. 300 - 700 CEThe krogan begin to expand exponentially, colonizing many new worlds. Growing concerns about their expansion lead to the founding of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.
42. 693 CEBeelo Gurji, a salarian operative, is appointed the first Spectre by the Citadel Council.
43. 700 CE: The Krogan RebellionsKrogan warlords leverage veterans of the Rachni Wars to annex territory from other races in Citadel space . Eventually the Council demands withdrawal from the asari colony of Lusia , but the krogan refuse. A preemptive strike is made on krogan infrastructures by the Spectres. The Krogan Rebellions begin.
44. 700 CE: The Krogan RebellionsThe Citadel Council makes first contact with the turians around this time and persuades them to aid in the war. After the krogan respond to the initial turian offensive by devastating turian colonies with weapons of mass destruction, the turians vow to stop the krogan from ever becoming a threat again.
45. 700 CE: The Krogan RebellionsSometime after the turians join the galactic community, the volus are accepted as a client race of the Turian Hierarchy.
46. 710 CERealizing that the krogan will never give in as long as they can replenish their fighters, the turians unleash a salarian-engineered bio-weapon known as the genophage on the krogan. The krogan population starts its decline.
47. 800 CEThe Krogan Rebellions end, though scattered krogan insurgent actions continue for decades. The turians fill the military and peacekeeping niche left by the decimated krogan.
48. 800 CEThe Citadel Conventions are drawn up in the wake of the conflict.
49. Council Era - Expansion (900 CE - 2157 CE)
50. 900 CEThe turians are granted a seat on the Citadel Council in recognition for their service in the Krogan Rebellions.
51. 1380s CEExtensive and unchecked industrial expansion on the drell homeworld Rakhana begins taking a significant toll on the planet's environment.
52. 1600 CEThe first sightings of the Collectors are reported in the Terminus Systems . In Citadel space, the claims are dismissed as unsubstantiated rumors and tall tales.
53. 1600 CE(Estimated date) In the Andromeda galaxy, the Jardaan begin deploying Remnant machines to the Heleus Cluster to terraform barren planets into life-supporting worlds .
54. 1755 CESamara 's three daughters are diagnosed as Ardat-Yakshi . Rila and Falere accept exile, but Morinth flees. Samara takes the oaths of the asari justicars and pursues her errant daughter for the next 430 years.
55. c. 1858 CEThe oldest geth log is time-stamped around this time, on quarian creator year 2463, third day of Fal'tash, Waxing Moon.
56. c. 1873 CEThe oldest geth audio-visual log dates from approximately this time, 15 years after their oldest log.
57. c. 1873 CEOn quarian creator year 2485, 18th day of Lun'shal, New Moon, the geth record the first instance of their creators growing frightened when a unit inquires if geth have souls.
58. 1880s CEAria T'Loak arrives on Omega , a space station in the Terminus Systems regarded as the region's nominal capital. Aria is hired by the station's warlord as an enforcer and quickly becomes one of his most trusted lieutenants.
59. 1921 CEThe geth begin construction of a megastructure designed to house and simultaneously run every geth program in existence. Completion of the megastructure, which would allow the geth to maximize their collective processing capacity, is the long-term goal of geth civilization.
60. April 12Yuri Gagarin aboard the Vostok 1 becomes the first human to travel in space. Humanity becomes a spacefaring race.
61. July 20Apollo 11 lands on Luna . Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on Luna, and the first human to walk on an astronomical object other than Earth .
62. 1980s CEThe drell make first contact with the hanar around this time. With their homeworld Rakhana severely depleted and no spaceflight capability, the drell were poised for a massive population crash by 2025 CE. Agreeing to help, the hanar mount a large-scale rescue operation and evacuate approximately 375,000 drell to their own homeworld, Kahje , over the following decade. The remaining 11 billion drell on Rakhana gradually perish, warring over the last reserves of food and water.
63. 1980s CEAria T'Loak assumes control of Omega after defeating the space station's previous warlord in single combat. She mockingly bestows the title " Patriarch " on the broken krogan , and uses him as a reminder to her enemies of her power.
64. GiottoFirst ESA deep space mission; first ESA mission to intercept an asteroid (Halley & Grigg-Skjellerup)
65. 1990 CELaunch of the Hubble Space Telescope
66. UlyssesFirst ESA mission to Sol; first polar orbit around Sol
67. 1997 CESojourner touches down at Ares Vallis becoming the first rover to explore Mars. During its three months of operation, the rover captures more than 550 images of the Red Planet.
68. HuygensFirst ESA mission to Titan; a Saturn moon
69. Mars ExpressFirst ESA mission to Mars
70. 2003 CESMART-1 — First ESA mission to Luna
71. RosettaFirst ESA mission to orbit an asteroid (67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko)
72. Venus ExpressFirst ESA mission to Venus
73. HuygensFirst successful landing on an outer Solar System world (Titan)
74. RosettaFirst artificial probe to make a soft landing on an asteroid (67P)
75. 2015 CESpaceX successfully lands and recovers the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket after delivering 11 communications satellites to orbit. This represents the first-ever orbital class rocket landing, and humanity’s first major shift towards sustainable space travel.
76. ExoMarsFirst ESA probe landing on Mars (contact lost)
77. BepiColomboFirst ESA mission to Mercury
78. JuiceFirst ESA mission to the Jupiter system
79. July 20Armstrong Outpost at Shackleton Crater is formally founded as the first human settlement on Luna , on the 100th anniversary of the first lunar landing.
80. 2070 CEBillionaire Victor Manswell, frustrated with the pace of official human space exploration, begins funding his own private spaceflight expedition.
81. 2075 CEThe Manswell Expedition successfully launches from Earth en route to the Alpha Centauri system with 300 colonists aboard in cryogenic stasis . Communications with the vessel are lost soon after.
82. 2103 CEThe European Space Agency's Lowell City in Eos Chasma becomes the first permanent human settlement on Mars .
83. 2125 CEThe yahg , an intelligent pre-spaceflight race, are discovered on the planet Parnack. Ambassadors representing the Citadel Council arrive on the planet and attempt to open diplomatic contact. After the ambassadors are killed by the predatory yahg, the Council ceases all contact with the yahg and declares Parnack off-limits.
84. 2125 CENot long after the yahg are discovered, one yahg is captured for the Shadow Broker to study. With the Broker's assistance, the yahg rapidly ascends within the Broker's organization as "Operative Kechlu". Eventually, the Broker becomes wary of "Operative Kechlu" and attempts to have him terminated, but the order is sent too late. The yahg assumes the mantle of the Shadow Broker and directs the organization for the next sixty years.
85. 2137 CEThe Eldfell-Ashland Energy Corporation demonstrates helium-3 fuel extraction from the atmosphere of Saturn .
86. 2143 CEConstruction of Gagarin Station (Jump Zero) begins beyond the orbit of Pluto .

Source: Timeline

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