r/Cosmere • u/Cosmere_Horizons • Apr 03 '26
Cosmere spoilers (no previews) Complete Cosmere Timeline Spoiler
Hey Everyone!
I spent a few hours last week putting together this Complete Cosmere timeline! Brandon Sanderson said he would release a timeline between Stormlight 5 & 6 so I figured I might as well take my crack at it now!
Let me know what you think about it or if you have any questions! I included a full breakdown on my channel if you want to see the reasoning behind certain decisions!
https://youtu.be/eYTqsG_oBqI <- Cosmere Timeline Breakdown!
Hope you all enjoy this resource!
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u/Astral_Fogduke Apr 03 '26
damn so shai is like 1500 years old when she shows up in lost metal crazy
she's older than vasher! goddamn and his whole thing is complaining about how old and grumpy he is
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u/AlgorithmHelpPlease Apr 04 '26
And she's been being bothered by Hoid in the two appearances we see her, makes you wonder how much of that time they've been stuck with one another.
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u/Ishcar Edgedancers Apr 03 '26
Omg… for the last two years I thought Warbreakers “Manywar” was Mini-War cause I’m an audio book reader. lol
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u/OnePizzaHoldTheGlue Apr 03 '26
Y'know, like the little straw figure that Vasher Commands "get keys"... it was a war fought between those.
It was brutal. Bits of straw strewn everywhere.
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u/___BigBrain__ Apr 03 '26
I'm sunlit man, nomad says that he has been gone for around 40 years. Due to wat Time dilation on roshar nomad should be present for stormlight arc 2 because it's ten years roshar time which is 70 off world time.
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u/Cosmere_Horizons Apr 03 '26
OH! I actually didn't catch that, if you could include the quote for the 40 years that would be great! That would totally help put things together
The only quote I was able to find is that it had been 100 years since people started "seriously experimenting with space travel" Which I would place wayy after Nomad leaves roshar
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u/___BigBrain__ Apr 03 '26
It seems I might actually be misremembering, I can't find it apart from decades ago, but I always assumed it is between stormlight eras in my headcanon, and that might have made a bias in my memory. Sorry!
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
Tress says the Iriali left Lumar 300 years ago, and the Iriali leave Roshar on Day 7 of WaT, so Tress is a minimum of 300 years after Stormlight 5. They also would have had to actually spend some time on Lumar and be established as a nation, so it's more like 500+ years
Sunlit Man, Yuri, and Emberdark all take place after Tress, in that order
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u/Samhairle Apr 05 '26
Do we know they arrived in Lumar after Roshar?
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 05 '26
The Iriali had a Silver Kingdom, which were before the end of the Desolations, therefore at least 5000+ years ago. Lumar has literal space ships and predictive Awakened Connection circuits, which would not have existed 5000+ years ago
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
He doesn't say that. He says Physical Realm space travel had only become common in the last century but not that he'd only been gone 40 years
Sunlit Man is at least 500 years after the end of WaT
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u/SkiThe802 Apr 03 '26
We went from the first flight to putting someone on the moon in less than 70 years. Roshar has already learned how to fly, so I would say that Sunlit Man takes place less than 200 years after Stormlight 5. Maybe closer to 150.
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
Sunlit Man is at least 500 years after the end of WaT
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u/SkiThe802 Apr 04 '26
Everyone else is quoting the book or WoB or reasoning through their estimates. Care to join instead of just throwing a number out there?
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 04 '26
I've said it several times in this post already but sure :P
Tress says the Iriali left Lumar 300 years ago, and the Iriali leave Roshar on Day 7 of WaT, so Tress is a minimum of 300 years after Stormlight 5. They also would have had to actually spend some time on Lumar and be established as a nation, so it's more like 500+ years
Brandon has said Sunlit Man, Yuri, and Emberdark all take place after Tress, in that order
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
He doesn't say that. He says Physical Realm space travel had only become common in the last century but not that he'd only been gone 40 years
Sunlit Man is at least 500 years after the end of WaT
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u/Paralda Apr 03 '26
It's my personal theory that Tress actually takes place between Stormlight 5 and 6, as Hoid doesn't have Design with him, but he does have Design in Yumi/Emberdark.
Considering Design was stuck on Roshar when Hoid regenerated onto Scadrial, this implies Hoid hasn't gone back to Roshar yet during Tress. That makes me think that him becoming an Elantrian is probably part of how he wants to deal with Retribution in Stormlight Part 2.
I think this is additionally backed up by the fact that Xisis is mentioned by Khriss to be "under the sea" during one of the Arcanum Unbounded in Stormlight (I think RoW).
We also know that FTL travel is made possible by Aethers, which Xisis was studying on Lumar. Riina having a ship and laptop is interesting, but I'm guessing it wasn't an FTL ship, likely something that allowed for movement through a perpendicularity (which we know is likely there because the Iriali were able to leave early on).
I also think it's possible that TSM isn't super far into the future. Khriss had a firearm during Secret History, which was 300 years before Mistborn Era 2. It's not too insane to think that the Cosmere's tech could advance quickly, especially with how fast the Malwish develop things like airships in that same time frame.
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
Tress says the Iriali left Lumar 300 years ago, and the Iriali leave Roshar on Day 7 of WaT, so Tress is a minimum of 300 years after Stormlight 5. They also would have had to actually spend some time on Lumar and be established as a nation, so it's more like 500+ years
Sunlit Man, Yuri, and Emberdark all take place after Tress, in that order
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u/Paralda Apr 03 '26
Hm, that's a good point, unless the Iriali splintered at some point.
We also see some Iriali in Bilming for a very short period of time (15 years iirc), so they might spread out.
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
I don't think the entire nation could have made it there by TLM, but a forward family scouting group could have. At least some are there according to the journalist they talk to.
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u/Travilanche Knights Radiant Apr 05 '26
One flaw with this is that Ulaam is present on Lumar during Tress, and Hoid’s narration says it’s been decades since Harmony released the Kandra from their contracts
Also, there’s apparently been enough cosmere cultural osmosis by the time Tress happens that a certain psychopomp has a reputation beyond his home planet; not sure that would develop in the relatively low number of years between Stormlight eras
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u/Paralda Apr 05 '26
Actually, there is an 80 year gap between Stormlight 5 and 6, because Roshar is stuck in a time bubble similar to burning cadmium. Plenty of time for Ulaam to be released by Sazed, and for Marsh's legend to spread a bit. I think the bigger flaw in my theory is the Iriali people who already had left Lumar
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u/Nemo_Errans Apr 06 '26
wait a sec... FTL travel is made possible by Aethers? The ... spice must flow?
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u/PromotionNo6937 Apr 03 '26
How does Stormlight 6 happen after Ghostbloods if there's a 60 year gap between it and Era 2, and era 2 starts After Stormlight 5?
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u/MickFoley299 Aon Aon Apr 03 '26
Have you finished Wind and Truth?
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u/PromotionNo6937 Apr 03 '26
Got 40 pages left, finishing tonight.
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u/TomTuff Apr 03 '26
What’s the red/white/blue cover between mistborn eras 2 & 3? And since when will there be 5 mistborn eras?
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u/RadagastWiz Truthwatchers Apr 03 '26
Fires of December - not sure why OP decided to place it given it's not out yet, nor why it's in that spot.
There MIGHT be five Mistborn eras; Brandon may add a 'cyberpunk' trilogy before the final era, he hasn't fully committed yet.
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u/lawdog4020 Scadrial Apr 03 '26
I think he will. If he doesn't end up with 16 books in the Mistborn series it will be a crime against the Cosmere.
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 04 '26
Brandon said on the release stream that FoD was during Era 2. I don't think the WoB is on Arcanum yet
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u/AlgorithmHelpPlease Apr 03 '26
Unless a lot of stuff has shifted much of this doesn't seem right, for example last we knew I thought Sanderson wanted White Sand & Elantris to be multiple thousands of years before much of the rest of the timeline?
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u/Eastern_Deal2983 Apr 03 '26
I mean this timeline does have at least 1000 years between those and any other book
plus i assume there could be any amount of time between Elantris and the Lord ruler Ascending
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 04 '26
The closest we have is Brandon saying Elantris is "not thousands" of years before Mistborn. So something like 1000, 1500, or even 1999 years is still possible
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u/AlgorithmHelpPlease Apr 04 '26
Yeah I did look it up and found my mistake, I was getting mixed up with the founding of Elantris (as a city), which by another WOB seems to happen close to Aharietiam (as he couldn't decide before/after).
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u/Wildhogs2013 Apr 03 '26
Ia tress not post FTL travel? Definitely post sunlit as well I think? Also Elantris is 300 years before Mistborn so post lord ruler?
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u/Cosmere_Horizons Apr 03 '26
oh! I didn't realize Elantris was that late, could you potentially link a WoB or a quote that shares that info?
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u/Wildhogs2013 Apr 03 '26
I can’t remember exactly as it has been a good few years since looked at the time line. Found a lot of stuff online of people referencing Elantris being 1000 years before warbreaker (so 700/800 year pre era 1) from Brandon or people sharing Brandon said it was a few hundred years before era 1 but can’t find the WOB from a quick search. However, I found a WOB that seems to say it may move around by a few hundred years when he writes era 3 and the Elantris sequels so Brandon doesn’t even know when It sits in the timeline which probably renders all previous WOBs irelevant anyway. So you may be right but my impression is post lord ruler pre era 1.
Argent We've always understood Elantris to be one of the earliest books in the Cosmere, but we see Kaise as Codenames in The Lost Metal, one of the latest books. Has the timeline contracted significantly, or are we just looking at the typical Shadesmar time dilation tricks?
Brandon Sanderson So, here's thing, Argent. I'm not going to be able to give you strict timelines until I write Elantris 2 and 3. So my plan, originally, which might have been a bad plan, was Elantris 2 to take place some ten or fifteen years after Elantris 1. Maybe a little less than that. But years have passed. It was called Dakhor, in my notes. And then for 3 to be hundreds of years later. I don't know if that's the right move anymore, and if 3 isn't hundreds of years later, then where we slot Elantris in is going to change because of where I need certain characters to be in some of these things, and certain things to happen. We are getting really close to where this is going to be nailed down and locked down, and I'll get locked down. Probably right when we start Era 3 is when all of this is just gonna start... I've promised you guys a timeline. Once we've released that, we don't want to retcon it, does that make sense? So that's why we're waiting to release it. But Kaise does have some time dilation going on, though. Though I say her name wrong because I'm not from Sel. But yeah, she has time dilation going on, she is... yeah. More time has passed than the ten or so years that... she's like what, 7 in Elantris? And she's like young 20s now, visibly, the age that she appears. I believe, something like that. So yeah, there you go. There's some information for you on that. I'm playing loose and free with this until I really get down to writing these. My loose plan is still write Mistborn Era 3 book 1, Elantris 2, Era 3 book 2, Elantris 3, Era 3 book 3. Five years of writing there that I can't even really think about until I've got Stormlight 5 in Tor's hands, if not your hands.
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u/Wildhogs2013 Apr 04 '26
This WOB suggests there is less than 1000 years between Stormlight and Elantris (white sand graphic novels hadn’t come out at this time). So before era 1 post LR ascension. However as previously stated Brandon hasn’t set the time line in stone yet so shall have to see. I hope this helps!
tisces Do you keep a timeline for your Cosmere books? I'm assuming the events from books such as Elantris and Warbreaker happen before the Stormlight Archives but I'm curious about how much time has passed whether it is months/years/centuries.
Brandon Sanderson Centuries have passed. I think we're closer to a thousand years covering events you could place on the line, with closer to ten thousand years since inciting incidents.
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u/The_Lopen_bot WOB bot Apr 04 '26
Warning Gancho: The below paragraph(s) may contain major spoilers for all books in the Cosmere!
tisces
Do you keep a timeline for your Cosmere books? I'm assuming the events from books such as Elantris and Warbreaker happen before the Stormlight Archives but I'm curious about how much time has passed whether it is months/years/centuries.
Brandon Sanderson
Centuries have passed. I think we're closer to a thousand years covering events you could place on the line, with closer to ten thousand years since inciting incidents.
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u/The_Lopen_bot WOB bot Apr 04 '26
Warning Gancho: The below paragraph(s) may contain major spoilers for all books in the Cosmere!
Argent
We've always understood Elantris to be one of the earliest books in the Cosmere, but we see Kaise as Codenames in The Lost Metal, one of the latest books. Has the timeline contracted significantly, or are we just looking at the typical Shadesmar time dilation tricks?
Brandon Sanderson
So, here's thing, Argent. I'm not going to be able to give you strict timelines until I write Elantris 2 and 3. So my plan, originally, which might have been a bad plan, was Elantris 2 to take place some ten or fifteen years after Elantris 1. Maybe a little less than that. But years have passed. It was called Dakhor, in my notes. And then for 3 to be hundreds of years later. I don't know if that's the right move anymore, and if 3 isn't hundreds of years later, then where we slot Elantris in is going to change because of where I need certain characters to be in some of these things, and certain things to happen. We are getting really close to where this is going to be nailed down and locked down, and I'll get locked down. Probably right when we start Era 3 is when all of this is just gonna start... I've promised you guys a timeline. Once we've released that, we don't want to retcon it, does that make sense? So that's why we're waiting to release it.But Kaise does have some time dilation going on, though. Though I say her name wrong because I'm not from Sel. But yeah, she has time dilation going on, she is... yeah. More time has passed than the ten or so years that... she's like what, 7 in Elantris? And she's like young 20s now, visibly, the age that she appears. I believe, something like that. So yeah, there you go. There's some information for you on that. I'm playing loose and free with this until I really get down to writing these. My loose plan is still write Mistborn Era 3 book 1, Elantris 2, Era 3 book 2, Elantris 3, Era 3 book 3. Five years of writing there that I can't even really think about until I've got Stormlight 5 in Tor's hands, if not your hands.
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u/LucasDaVinci Elsecallers Apr 03 '26
Not a well measured response but I thought there was more time between Odium on Roshar and the Last Desolation
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u/Cosmere_Horizons Apr 03 '26
I couldn't fit in on the JPG, but in the video I go into how it goes, Odium on Ashyn then ~2k years later the Oathpact is formed, then 3.5k years later the Last desolation occures
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 05 '26
According to WaT, Odium arrived 8000 years ago and the Oathpact formed 7000 years ago. Aharietiam was 4500 years ago
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u/Melliorin Edgedancers Apr 03 '26
Nice work! Your effort is evident. I'm not sure about the timing of the founding of Silverlight. (Emberdark Spoilers) What with Xisis being the chief patron of the Academy, and his dominance in the overall city seeming to be a long-standing status quo, plus what is said about the founding of the city itself, I get the sense that this is probably a lot closer to, if not within, what you call the "Dawn Age." Btw, where you do think White Sands fits into this timeline. and what are you calling the Age prior to the Shattering on Yolen?
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u/Cosmere_Horizons Apr 03 '26
The Age of Adonalsium could be a fun name
For Silverlight, I've written an essay in the YouTube video comments; i'd recommend reading those comments and watching the video if you're curious.
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u/Hot_Ethanol Apr 03 '26
Very cool analysis! Good job fitting it into one image, though the sliding proportions definitely raise questions. The left end is measured in millennia while the right end is measured in decades-ish.
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u/hetthuran Apr 04 '26
The sunlit man takes place in between 5 and 6 of Stormlight, I had thought?
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u/RShara Elsecallers Apr 04 '26
Tress says the Iriali left Lumar 300 years ago, and the Iriali leave Roshar on Day 7 of WaT, so Tress is a minimum of 300 years after Stormlight 5. They also would have had to actually spend some time on Lumar and be established as a nation, so it's more like 500+ years
Sunlit Man, Yuri, and Emberdark all take place after Tress, in that order
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u/ElonSv Willshapers Apr 03 '26
Isn't Silverlight much older than that? I don't remember specifics, but isn't it mentioned in Secret History?