Where Does Andor Fit in the Star Wars Timeline? (Both Seasons Explained)

The Short Answer

Andor runs from 5 BBY to 1 BBY — the five years immediately before Rogue One and A New Hope.

• Season 1: 5 BBY → 4 BBY (one year, told across 12 slow-burn episodes)
• Season 2: 4 BBY → 1 BBY (four years, told across four 3-episode arcs)

The final shot of Season 2 sets up Rogue One. There is almost no gap.

If you’re new to BBY/ABY dating, see our BBY/ABY Star Wars Dating System guide — the short version is “5 BBY means 5 years before the Battle of Yavin (the climax of A New Hope).”

Andor on the Full Star Wars Timeline

Here’s where Andor sits relative to everything else in the modern saga:

Show / film	BBY/ABY	Distance from Andor
Obi-Wan Kenobi	9 BBY	4 years before Andor S1
Solo	10 BBY	5 years before Andor S1
Andor Season 1	5 BBY → 4 BBY	—
Star Wars Rebels	5 BBY → 1 BBY	overlaps entirely
Andor Season 2	4 BBY → 1 BBY	—
Rogue One	0 BBY	~5 days after Andor S2 ends
A New Hope	0 BBY → 0 ABY	immediately after Rogue One
The Mandalorian	9 ABY	10 years after Andor S2 ends

Season 1 — A Single Year (5 BBY → 4 BBY)

Season 1’s pacing is famously deliberate. Twelve episodes cover roughly one year of in-universe time, following Cassian Andor from a small-time fixer on Ferrix to a committed rebel after the events on Aldhani, Narkina 5, and his mother Maarva’s death.

The season breaks into four three-episode arcs:

1. Ferrix / Morlana One arc (Episodes 1–3) — Cassian’s initial flight, joining Luthen’s network.
2. Aldhani arc (Episodes 4–6) — the Imperial garrison heist.
3. Narkina 5 prison arc (Episodes 8–10) — Cassian wrongfully imprisoned, organizing the breakout.
4. Ferrix funeral arc (Episodes 11–12) — Maarva’s funeral, the riot, Cassian committing fully to the rebellion.

By the end of Season 1, the year has rolled from 5 BBY into early 4 BBY.

Season 2 — Four Years in Twelve Episodes (4 BBY → 1 BBY)

Season 2 changes structure dramatically. Twelve episodes are split into four 3-episode arcs, each set roughly a year apart:

Arc	Episodes	In-universe year
Arc 1	1–3	4 BBY
Arc 2	4–6	3 BBY
Arc 3	7–9	2 BBY
Arc 4	10–12	1 BBY

The time-jump structure compresses the run-up to Rogue One. By the final arc, characters are referencing the Death Star, Saw Gerrera’s network has fractured, Mon Mothma has gone public with her defection, and Cassian has become the assassin and intelligence officer we meet in Rogue One.

The final scene of Season 2 hands off directly to Rogue One‘s opening.

Andor and Rogue One — The Direct Lead-In

Rogue One is set in 0 BBY, in the days immediately before A New Hope. Andor Season 2 ends in 1 BBY, with maybe a five-day gap before Rogue One opens.

Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor is the same character across all three (Andor S1, Andor S2, Rogue One). His arc is:

• Andor S1: Cynical survivor turned reluctant operative
• Andor S2: Committed Rebel intelligence officer
• Rogue One: Mature Rebel assassin who dies stealing the Death Star plans on Scarif

This makes Andor the most directly serialized lead-in to a Star Wars film since the Clone Wars “Bad Batch” arc set up Revenge of the Sith.

Andor and Star Wars Rebels — Same Years, Different Cells

This is the most common timeline confusion. Andor and Rebels run in parallel.

Show	In-universe years
Star Wars Rebels	5 BBY → 1 BBY (with epilogue jumping to 9 ABY)
Andor	5 BBY → 1 BBY

Both shows cover the same five years. They follow different rebel cells:

• Andor: The Mon Mothma / Luthen / Yavin political-intelligence axis. Coruscant, Aldhani, Ferrix, Ghorman.
• Rebels: The Ghost crew under Hera Syndulla, with Kanan, Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper. Lothal, Atollon, Mandalore.

The two shows never directly cross over (though Saw Gerrera appears in both, and Mon Mothma is mentioned in both). They occupy the same galactic moment from radically different angles.

For more on Rebels‘ specific timeline, see our Star Wars Rebels Timeline guide.

The Galaxy in 5–1 BBY

What’s the state of the galaxy during Andor?

• The Empire has ruled for 14–18 years (since 19 BBY). It’s at peak control and peak overreach.
• The Death Star is in late-stage construction (Project Stardust). Krennic is overseeing it.
• The Rebellion doesn’t exist yet as a unified force. Different cells (Saw’s Partisans, Luthen’s network, Mon Mothma’s senators, the Ghost crew, the Lothal underground) all operate independently.
• Mon Mothma is publicly still a senator but secretly funneling money to the resistance. Her on-air defection happens in Andor S2.
• Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) is at peak power; Dedra Meero embodies its methodology.
• Inquisitors (Grand Inquisitor, Reva, Third Sister) have just finished hunting the last surviving Jedi.

The galaxy is dark, locked down, and one or two acts away from open civil war.

How Andor Connects to The Mandalorian Era

If you watched The Mandalorian first, here’s the gap:

• Andor Season 2 ends in 1 BBY
• Rogue One is 0 BBY
• A New Hope ends with the Battle of Yavin (0 BBY → 0 ABY)
• Empire Strikes Back is 3 ABY
• Return of the Jedi is 4 ABY
• The Mandalorian Season 1 begins in 9 ABY — ten years after Andor Season 2 ends.

So the entire original trilogy fits in the gap between Andor and Mando.

Naming Characters for the Andor Era

If you’re writing original characters set in the Andor timeframe (5–1 BBY), the naming aesthetic is late Imperial era:

• Rebel operatives — short, ungrand surnames. Andor. Erso. Rael. Use our Star Wars Last Names Guide and Human Names Guide.
• Imperial officers and ISB agents — clean, militarized names with Germanic/Anglo-Saxon roots. Use the Imperial Officer Name Generator and Imperial Names Guide.
• Coruscant senators — formal, Republic-era names that carry over. Try the Star Wars Middle Names Guide for full formal names.
• Frontier-world locals (Ferrix, Aldhani) — earthy, working-class names. The Human Names Guide covers this register.
• Rebel pilots — call-sign style names. Use our Rebel Pilot Name Generator.

For era-aligned naming theory, see the BBY/ABY Dating System Guide, the Complete Star Wars Naming Guide, and the Star Wars Watch Order.

Recommended Watch Order Around Andor

If you want to watch Star Wars in a way that frames Andor properly:

1. Solo (10 BBY) — sets up the criminal underworld Cassian came from
2. Obi-Wan Kenobi (9 BBY) — establishes the Inquisitors and Reva
3. Andor Season 1 (5–4 BBY)
4. Star Wars Rebels Seasons 1–3 (5–3 BBY) — parallel storyline
5. Andor Season 2 (4–1 BBY)
6. Star Wars Rebels Season 4 (2–1 BBY)
7. Rogue One (0 BBY)
8. A New Hope (0 BBY → 0 ABY)

For the full saga viewing order, see our Star Wars Watch Order Guide.

The Bottom Line

**Andor sits in the five years immediately before Rogue One and A New Hope.** Season 1 covers one year (5 → 4 BBY). Season 2 covers four years (4 → 1 BBY) via time-jump arcs. The final shot of Season 2 hands directly to Rogue One, which hands directly to A New Hope.

If you watch Andor and immediately roll into Rogue One, you’re watching one continuous five-year story about how the Rebel Alliance was actually built — and how Cassian Andor became the man who would die stealing the plans that brought down the Empire.

That’s the entire timeline placement, in one sentence.

Sources

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