The Indiana Jones Timeline / Chronology

Great Work! But no Indy timeline will ever be COMPLETE. If I ever got around to making one I would add fan works to my list which would take forever to decide what is canon and what is not canon. Plus Indy is always going on new adventures I would have to update it anytime there is a new adventure. Tough, tough work. Perhaps the raider.net could start up an updated timeline and people could send in their fanworks to try and get them added to the timeline.

Stoo said:

Yes, the wedding must be during spring '58. This was "sort of" established in another thread (can't remember which, but "The Complete Making of.." book alludes to a spring wedding.)

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And on the DVD featurette, the costumer talks spring pastels.

That's just the sort of thing I was thinking about.

Something to note on the next revision, then (two entries for the movie - one in late '57, one in early '58)?

lightsyder said:

Never seen but I have nothing against them. They aren't on the timeline though...

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You've never seen them? Anyway, don't go by the timeline on the 1st page as that was only DB's rough draught and, with various contributions/suggestions, was revised a few times within this thread. The latest version is on pg. 9 and include Old Indy.

lao che & sons said:

Great Work! But no Indy timeline will ever be COMPLETE. If I ever got around to making one I would add fan works to my list which would take forever to decide what is canon and what is not canon. Plus Indy is always going on new adventures I would have to update it anytime there is a new adventure. Tough, tough work. Perhaps the raider.net could start up an updated timeline and people could send in their fanworks to try and get them added to the timeline.

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Well, this is about as complete as it gets. The only things missing are the 2 recent young adult novels ("Mystery of Mount Sinai", "Pyramid of the Sorceror"), "Staff of Kings", the still unreleased "Army of the Dead" and "Adventures Vol. 2" comic. ("Temple of Yearning" is missing, too, because there is no date for it bit it's very likely c.1930-31.) DIrish was waiting for the new stuff to come out before updating again but he's now out-of-action for an undetermined amount of time.

As for the idea of including fan-fiction: Yech! NO WAY!

Moedred said:

And on the DVD featurette, the costumer talks spring pastels.

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...and there you have it. I tried doing a search to find the above mentioned thread using the keywords "pastel colors" (because I remember Attila writing that) to no avail.

I'm thinking our best hope (not something particularly likely, but we can always wish) for dating "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Yearning" would be if some future volume of Indiana Jones Adventures references the story (or otherwise provides something against which to place it, like a date for Indy's first meeting with either of the other characters in "Temple of Yearning").

Stoo, did you ever get around to checking out the timeline supplements on the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Blu-ray? If so, what do they have to say - anything good?

Crack that whip said:

I'm thinking our best hope (not something particularly likely, but we can always wish) for dating "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Yearning" would be if some future volume of Indiana Jones Adventures references the story (or otherwise provides something against which to place it, like a date for Indy's first meeting with either of the other characters in "Temple of Yearning").

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Quite right, Crack, that would be our best hope. As it stands, we know that "Adventures Vol. 1" takes place in 1930 and the preview of "Vol. 2" shows 1931 so, for now, I'm placing it sometime between those years (until some more substantial info comes along).

Crack that whip said:

Stoo, did you ever get around to checking out the timeline supplements on the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Blu-ray? If so, what do they have to say - anything good?

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Cripes, y'know, I have 2 Blu-ray copies (regular & metal box) and haven't even watched them yet! I was completely unaware of (or forgot about) an included timeline! Thanks for the "heads up"/reminder. Has anyone else checked this out? Is it rife with the usual errors we've become accustomed to seeing?

Why, Stoo, I'm surprised at you! Have you just not checked out all the extras in general, yet? Did you just leave the movie alone after the theatrical run, or have you been watching it on DVD even though you've also got the Blu-ray (and if so, why)?

Anyway, I'm very interested in the BD's timeline supplements (and looking forward to seeing them for myself, as soon as I have the capability, but alas, my circumstances don't allow for making the plunge into hi-def just yet ). I wonder how much the disc timelines jibe with anything out there in print...

Stoo said:

You've never seen them?

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Yeah, been wanting to get the box sets but I can't afford them. Of course the bookends aren't even in the new sets now are they?

I've been thinking a bit lately about Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures lately, of all things, and I think I have something to change here...

DIrishB said:

Indiana Jones Adventures RPG - "The Carlisle Incident" (March, 1935)
Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures (April, 1935)
Indiana Jones Adventures RPG - "The City of Dreams" (May, 1935)

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Given the nature of this particular game, one could easily argue for omitting it from the timeline altogether (since it's not just one story, but any one of a practically infinite number of tales based around any of several different adventure concepts, based upon the basic scenario of Indy and Marcus checking out "Site R" near Lucasio in 1930s Mexico), but if we do include it for the sake of completion, I'd say it has to go after Raiders of the Lost Ark, but probably before Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which would suggest a date sometime in 1937.

Details to follow...

Crack that whip said:

I've been thinking a bit lately about Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures lately, of all things, and I think I have something to change here...
...I'd say it has to go after Raiders of the Lost Ark, but probably before Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which would suggest a date sometime in 1937.

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I agree. In my own timeline I've placed it right after Further Adventures (the Marvel comics) and before Eye of the Fates (August 1937). Mainly because there are occasional references to Raiders, like his comment about rolling boulders.

Phil

That's one!

There are more, too. The Chachapoyan fertility idol (or another golden idol that looks remarkably like it) makes an appearance as well, at least in some plays of the game. If it does turn up, sometimes it can be had with the same switching-with-the-sandbag routine, and Indy says something about having done something like this before. Also, if Indy gets it back after he's finished using it to accomplish the main goal, and presents it to Marcus at the end of the game, Marcus responds "So that rogue, Belloq, didn't get away with his thievery after all. The museum will be pleased!"

Elsewhere in the game, one can sometimes get a weapon other than the whip from a older gentleman in a house in the middle of nowhere, and though the dialogue exchange can go a number of ways (with Indy first recognizing this man, or the man first recognizing Indy), most of them indicate the apparently nameless older gentleman to be a friend of Henry, Sr., and the variations of the brief conversation suggest to me that the events of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade haven't happened yet (one has the guy asking Indy, "Tell me, is he still looking for the Holy Grail?" to which Indy replies "I certainly hope not...").

Interestingly, a different version of this conversation in which Indy recognizes this other person first has the gentleman respond, "Eh, what's that?! Jones? Oh, you're one of Henry's brood, are you?" I find "brood" an interesting choice of word, here - it appears to be one of the very few, rare references (albeit a vague one) to Indy having ever had any siblings (the other canon wonks following this thread will of course know about Susie, but not much is known about her, and few sources even make any mention of Henry Sr. and Anna's other child[ren?]).

@Junior & Crack: I bow to your expertise in the video game area. I don't have the "Greatest Adventures" game nor have I ever had the chance to play it. (Considering all the reviews I've read on here, it seems to come near the top as one of the most favourite Indy games.)

Crack that whip said:

Interestingly, a different version of this conversation in which Indy recognizes this other person first has the gentleman respond, "Eh, what's that?! Jones? Oh, you're one of Henry's brood, are you?" I find "brood" an interesting choice of word, here - it appears to be one of the very few, rare references (albeit a vague one) to Indy having ever had any siblings (the other canon wonks following this thread will of course know about Susie, but not much is known about her, and few sources even make any mention of Henry Sr. and Anna's other child[ren?]).

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"Brood", eh? Hmm...that's interesting, Crack. Something to ponder and thanks for mentioning it.

DIrishB was holding off on an update until the new stuff was released. Now that it has been (and, sadly, DB is no longer here)...a note to all "canon wonks": Don't forget to plug these in somehow...we just need the appropriate months.

1922 - Staff of Kings (Honduras bit)
1930/31?- Free Comic Book Day: Temple of Yearning
1931 - Adventures #2: Curse of the Invicible Ruby
1939 - Staff of Kings
1941 - Pyramid of the Sorcerer (LATE JULY)
1941 - Mystery of Mount Sinai (5 years after the events of "Raiders")
1943 - Army of the Dead (SUMMER)

Stoo said:

1939 - Staff of Kings
1941 - Pyramid of the Sorcerer (LATE JULY)
1941 - Mystery of Mount Sinai (5 years after the events of "Raiders")

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I think I remember lines that put Staff of Kings sometime before April '39 but I'd have to go through it again.

Mount Sinai is the end of July into early August though.

Stoo said:

@Junior & Crack: I bow to your expertise in the video game area. I don't have the "Greatest Adventures" game nor have I ever had the chance to play it. (Considering all the reviews I've read on here, it seems to come near the top as one of the most favourite Indy games.)
"Brood", eh? Hmm...that's interesting, Crack. Something to ponder and thanks for mentioning it.

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My pleasure. I should perhaps clarify - I'm talking not about Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, but rather Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures. The former is a Super NES game (recently rereleased as a Virtual Console download for the Wii) adapting scenes from the three original movies into an action game format, and it is indeed well-regarded. The latter (the one I'm talking about) is a Windows / Mac game, essentially an adventure game, but done in a semi-"casual" format as a sort of "desktop accessory"-style game, played in a small window on the desktop, meant to be a "quick filler" between periods of work or whatever - an alternative to Minesweeper and things like that. It's actually not particularly well-regarded, though I think much of that stems from inflated expectations of just what it's supposed to be; I think it's quite enjoyable for what it is, but that's me...

Anyway, if you'd like to try it, I think the demo is still available for download, though I'm not sure how well it runs under current versions of Windows. I've got the Mac version, which I can run on my old G4 under Classic in OS X, or boot back into OS 9 to run it.

Stoo said:

DIrishB was holding off on an update until the new stuff was released. Now that it has been (and, sadly, DB is no longer here)...a note to all "canon wonks": Don't forget to plug these in somehow...we just need the appropriate months.

1922 - Staff of Kings (Honduras bit)
1930/31?- Free Comic Book Day: Temple of Yearning
1931 - Adventures #2: Curse of the Invicible Ruby
1939 - Staff of Kings
1941 - Pyramid of the Sorcerer (LATE JULY)
1941 - Mystery of Mount Sinai (5 years after the events of "Raiders")
1943 - Army of the Dead (SUMMER)

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So whatever happened to DIrishB, anyway? He was one of this forum's most valuable contributors. Is he Ok?

(And by the way, did you ever get around to checking out those timeline supplements on the KotCS Blu-ray? )

Lao Che said:

I think I remember lines that put Staff of Kings sometime before April '39 but I'd have to go through it again.

Mount Sinai is the end of July into early August though.

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Thanks, Lao Che. I don't have "Staff of Kings" (yet) so looking forward to any clues you can find! Whenever you have the chance, of course...

Crack that whip said:

My pleasure. I should perhaps clarify - I'm talking not about Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, but rather Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures.

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Thanks for the clarification, Crack. I didn't read your original post properly. I may check out the "Desktop" thing for fun.

Crack that whip said:

So whatever happened to DIrishB, anyway? He was one of this forum's most valuable contributors. Is he Ok?

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DIrish is doing OK. No need to worry but, shockingly, he sold off his entire Indy collection last year.

Crack that whip said:

(And by the way, did you ever get around to checking out those timeline supplements on the KotCS Blu-ray? )

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Yes, I did. My Blu-ray player wasn't working at 100% but would you believe that the timeline doesn't have any dates? FROM WHAT I COULD SEE, important events in Indy's life are listed but NO dates are given!

D'oh!

Ah, well. Perhaps it's just as well, given the apparent hassles that obviously bedeviled the authors of the Lost Journal, the Ultimate Guide, etc. At least it doesn't introduce new discrepancies (though part of me would welcome some, since it would provide all the more grounds for just discarding any and all "official" dates we like in order to come up with ones that actually work...).

BTW, at some point I should note I actually still don't have either of the two books I just mentioned (all my comments about them are based entirely upon what I read here, along with having briefly picked up and thumbed through the Lost Journal in a bookstore). I just can't afford to keep up with everything the way I'd like to, alas. I do still very much intend to get them both, though; I'm very appreciative of even the attempt at corralling all the information together into volumes addressing the entire series, particularly melding together the TV show and the motion pictures, even if the attempts haven't quite worked as well as we'd hope on the chronology front.

Bump...Can we continue to discuss this? I find canon/timeline discussions when it comes to Indy to be fascinating.

Personally for me my personal time line includes (in order of importance)

The movies and YIJC (1908-1957)
The Bantam and Del Rey adult novel series (1920-1943)
The Comics and Video Games (I accept only those comics or video games which don't contradict with the Novels, Movies or YIJC).
The Young Adult/Young Indy novels

To me non canon (as in, didn't happen in Indy's life) is:
Wolfgang novels
Find Your Fate Novels
Board Games
Unfilmed YIJC episodes
''Old Indy''

Raiders112390 said:

Bump...Can we continue to discuss this? I find canon/timeline discussions when it comes to Indy to be fascinating.

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Of course we can continue but this isn't a canon discussion. It is about Indy's timeline and encompassing (almost) every grain & morsel of Indylore out there...warts & all. Your post would have been more suited in your very own, "What's canon?" thread. (Perhaps you forgot you started that one?)

Raiders112390 said:

Personally for me my personal time line includes (in order of importance)

The movies and YIJC (1908-1957)...

To me non canon (as in, didn't happen in Indy's life) is:

...''Old Indy''

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Old Indy is part of the YIJC ("Chronicles") so you must mean that you accept the AOYIJ ("Adventures of...") and not YIJC.

Now, back to the timeline/chronology.

Stoo said:

1930/31?- Free Comic Book Day: Temple of Yearning

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A clue to finding a year for the undated "Temple of Yearning" was mentioned last month in the Indiana Jones Radio Drama thread. The comic takes place in Thailand but Peru1936 brought up a good point about it's former name, Siam.

Quick research shows that it only became Thailand on 23 June, 1939 but went back to Siam between 1945-49. So the story would have to take place anywhere within '39 and '45. (DoomTown/KVoss/Keith eventually set his radio adaptation in 1939.)

Any further ideas as to when Temple of Yearning should be?

A friend has asked me to compile an Indy timeline that's more comprehensive than any publicly available so far, including every story, in-universe document, and adaptation (the goal being a straight chronological read-through of everything). Since DIrishB's is the most comprehensive so far, and he's no longer maintaining it, I figured I'd use it as a base from which to expand and tweak when necessary (I've also found other posts in this thread extremely useful). I'd like to post it here for y'all's feedback, but I have a few questions I'm hoping I can get help on.

First, due to a move, most of my Indy novels and comics are currently boxed up and difficult to get to. Could anyone tell me, if there's available info, in which months (and page numbers?) the following take place?

Unicorn's Legacy, 1786 and 1924 portions
Genesis Deluge, 1917 portion
Peril at Delphi, 1920 flashback
Interior World, 1928 portion
Tomb of the Gods, 1931 portion
Shrine of the Sea Devil, 1931 flashback

Any guesses on when in 1939 "Facing Death!" should be placed?
Any guesses on when in 1939 or 1940 "Thunder in the Orient" should be placed?
Any guesses on when in 1940 "Skull Duggery!" should be placed?
Re: the Young Indy NES game. I know it adapts Mexico, 1916, but which other episodes does it adapt?
Re: Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures. Does the Last Crusade part adapt Young Indy in 1912?
I asked this in its own thread, but does the Didj KotCS game include any original content (its description sounds like it does)?
What is the 1922 Honduras bit for Staff of Kings? When in 1922 does it take place?