A Complete and (Hopefully) Accurate Timeline of Carmen Sandiego
EDIT 12/2/25: Hi friends! I would like to preface that this timeline is very outdated! Since its creation quite some months back I have made many revisions and no longer see this version as completely fitting. While it is still a good baseline, I plan to send out a new and improved version sometime soon. Feel free to send me any asks or messages about the timeline in the meantime for clarity!
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During my second rewatch of this show (I only found it in December okay) I suddenly found myself with a burning question, when the hell is all of this going on?
I quickly realized I could go and find out
So I began my 3rd rewatch, and a month later here we are
Each date is bolded with a brief description of the event and the episode in which you can find the information. Any quotes are taken from what is said within the show and only altered in order to flow with my sentence structure
As a disclaimer this is my first pass at the timeline and what I've immediately noticed while rewatching the show, please tell me if I've missed anything π
March 01, 1999 - Carmen Sandiego is born (Season 2 Episode 10)
Carmen's birthday in previous media has been declared as March 1st, so I'm keeping that for simplicities sake. The year 1999 comes from Vera Cruz's tombstone; Vera Cruz "died" two weeks before her estate burned down, and as Carmen was beginning to walk at this time it places her at anywhere between 9-18 months of age.
This does give leeway for her to be born in 1998 (born in March 1998, house burns in Jan-Sep 1999) or 1999 (born in March 1999, house burns around December 1999) I chose 1999 because it would mean Carmen would be 20 (what Duane has declared Carmen's age during the events of the show) in 2019 (when the show aired) which I found fitting.
December 1999 - Vera Cruz's estate in burns down, Dexter Wolfe is killed. (Season 2 Episode 10)
June 2000 - Carlotta Valdez opens an orphanage (Season 4 Episode 8)
Chief relays while going over Dexter Wolfe and Carlotta Valdez's files that Valdez founded an orphanage 6 months after Wolfe's death.
March 01, 2015 - Carmen turns 16 (Season 1 Episode 1)
September 2015-February 2016 - Carmen receives her first call from Player (Season 1 Episode 1)
Duane has stated that Carmen was 16 when Player first called. Under the assumption that VILE follows a standard school year for the area (September-June), Carmen has to get this call after September so she enrolls in the following year, when she's instead 17. If she starts her first year at 17 as opposed to 16 it gets her closer to 20 when the show starts.
tl;dr: Player calls Carmen after the school year begins in September but before she turns 17 in March so it's as close to accurate to Duane's estimation of age later in the timeline.
March 01, 2016 - Carmen turns 17 (Season 1 Episode 1)
September 2016 - Carmen's first year at VILE Academy begins (Season 1 Episode 1)
December 01, 2016 - Cookie Booker arrives at VILE Island, Carmen and her classmates pull prank and get detention. (Season 1 Episode 1)
March 01, 2017 - Carmen turns 18 (Season 1 Episode 1)
June 2017 - VILE final exams, graduation, and Casablanca Caper (Season 1 Episodes 1-2)
July 2017-August 2017 - Carmen spends her summer under close scrutiny by the Faculty for her actions in Casablanca (Season 1 Episode 2)
Player, once Carmen retrieves her phone as she's attempting to escape the island, claims that Carmen hadn't "called [him] all summer long". Player is Canadian, their school years typically follow the September-June schedule, further implying that this same schedule is implemented at VILE Academy.
September 2017 - Carmen's holdover year begins (Season 1 Episode 2)
December 01, 2017 - Cookie Booker arrives with VILE hard drive, Carmen escapes the island (Season 1 Episode 2)
March 01, 2018 - Carmen turns 19
March 2018-May 2018 - Events of the Boston Tea Party Caper (Season 2 Episode 5)
Carmen recalls that the Boston Tea Party Caper had "been a few months since [she] escaped from VILE Island" and that "months of preparation were about to be put to the test" "A few months" is pretty vague, I'd say it's more than 2 months but less than 6. With graduation presumably happening in June, and El Topo being confused in his confrontation with Carmen because she "did not graduate", we can assume the new year had not yet concluded. This makes the cutoff for the Caper's events May.
May-June 2018 - Switzerland, Cairo, and Shanghai Capers (Season 1 Episode 1)
Carmen engaged in at least 3 additional Capers following the Boston Tea Party Caper (Season 2 Episode 5) but prior to the events of the first episode, information given to us courtesy of Devineaux and Julia's conversation at the beginning of the first episode.
Devineaux claims that "in just the last few weeks, this Carmen Sandiego has managed to rob millions of euros combined". A few weeks is a broad range of time, but likely not more than a month or so, which is why I've placed these three capers only slightly before the Poitiers robbery.
June 2018 - Carmen robs Cleo's vault in Poitier, runs into Crackle on train to Paris (Season 1 Episodes 1-2)
This event is 18 months prior to ACME taking Graham into custody and restoring his memories. As Devineaux is questioning him in the Big Bad Ivy Caper (Season 4 Episode 2), he asks if Graham would "care to tell [him] what [he was] doing on the train from Poitiers to Paris 18 months ago".
The events of the Big Bad Ivy Caper happen in December 2019, which if we track to 18 months prior, would be June. December 2019 is explained later in the timeline.
June-August 2018 - Events of the Sticky Rice Caper (Season 1 Episode 3)
August 2018 - Julia Argent and Chase Devineaux transfer employment from Interpol to ACME (Season 1 Episode 4)
In the French Connection Caper (Season 1 Episode 9), Devineaux's transfer from Interpol is stated to be "nearly 6 months ago" by Bellum as the Faculty observes the data they had managed to collect on him. With the French Connection Caper taking place in February 2019 (right before Hot Rocks of Rio Caper (Season 2 Episodes 1-2), which is Carnival, which is celebrated in February), August is "nearly 6 months" prior to that.
August 2018-February 2019 - Events of Season 1 Episodes 5-8
February 2019 - Events of the French Connection Caper (Season 1 Episode 9)
Early-Mid February 2019 - Events of The Hot Rocks of Rio Caper (Season 2 Episodes 1-2)
Mid February 2019 - Events of The Daisho Caper (Season 2 Episode 3)
February 19, 2019-February 25, 2019 - Events of The Fashionista Caper (Season 2 Episode 4)
To explain the previous five dates, the Hot Rocks of Rio (Season 2 Episodes 1-2) and Fashionista Capers both have events that only happen at a specific time of year, that being Carnival and Milan's Fashion Week respectively. They happen in late February to early March depending on the year. As Season 2 is set in 2019, this happens to be a bit inconvenient. Carnival actually happens in March while the fashion show occurs in February during 2019.
Since these dates conflict with the linearity of the show I've decided to push back Carnival to be sometime earlier in February as it has been in past years to fit with the show's continuity. I kept Milan's Fashion Week as it was in the real world because it's easiest that way.
It's entirely unsurprising to me that this kind of conflict has occurred as Season 2 was released in 2019 itself, meaning it was most definitely developed prior with general estimates of dates in mind.
With these capers directly following the French Connection Caper (as Devineaux is still in the hospital when Carmen is in Rio) that places The French Connection Caper in February as well.
March 01, 2019 - Carmen turns 20
March 2019-April 2019 - Events of Season 2 Episodes 6-7
April 2019 - Events of The Stockholm Syndrome Caper (Season 2 Episode 8)
The Need for Speed (Season 2 Episode 6) and Crackle Goes Kiwi (Season 2 Episode 7) Capers don't really have any indicators of when they occur, but The Stockholm Syndrome Caper happens while snow is still falling in Stockholm, Sweden. This places it in April at the latest, which is likely actually the month it takes place because at the end of the episode when Maelstrom and the rest of the faculty are addressing VILE's final graduating class Maelstrom mentions Valborg, a Swedish holiday that is celebrated at the end of April to announce the end of winter and coming of spring.
May 2019 - Shadowsan's goes on Capers during Carmen's recovery (Season 2 Episode 9)
As Valborg happens at the end of April, and so too does presumably the Stockholm Syndrome Caper (Season 2 Episode 8) as well, this means that Shadowsan's capers occur throughout the duration of May. He goes on at least four capers during Carmen's recovery period, which we can discern through what is briefly relayed by Player. These Capers take place in Belgium, Poland, Taiwan, and an area in the Austrian Alps; their cities being Antwerp, Krakow, and Taipei respectively. Her absence likely spans the majority of this month between the amount of rest she needed and the time it took to train so that she would be in the best condition to return to capers.
June 2019 - VILE Headquarters is blown up (Season 2 Episode 10)
June 2019 (1 week after explosion) - Devineaux arrives at VILE Island (Season 2 Episode 10)
June 2019 - Events of The African Ice Caper (Season 2 Episode 9)
June-July 2019 (1 week after Devineaux's arrival) - Carmen arrives at VILE Island (Season 2 Episode 10)
VILE Headquarters is blown up following the graduation of VILE Academy's final class. Back at the end of the Stockholm Syndrome Caper (Season 2 Episode 8), Coach Brunt tells the students that "upon graduating, it will be [their] prime directive to take [Carmen] down". This implies that at the time of the faculty's speech, those students were not yet graduating, so VILE would have to wait until after the school year had closed to wipe the island.
Since this school year likely ends in June, as previously gone over in this timeline, that means that the events occurring in the African Ice (Season 2 Episode 9) and Deep Dive (Season 2 Episode 10) Capers were sometime in June as well. This is further supported by the fact that in the Luchadora Tango Caper (Season 3 Episode 1), VILE had seen "no sign of [Carmen] all summer long" and ACME had not "heard nor seen any sign of her for weeks". Her last appearance until the Luchadora Tango Caper was when she stole information from ACME directly after the African Ice Caper, right at the edge of summer.
October 30, 2019 - Events of The Luchadora Tango Caper (Season 3 Episode 1)
We know this caper has to take place sometime in the fall, as per the summer statements made by VILE and ACME. It's clarified that this is specifically October because at the end of the episode Maelstom mentions that "Halloween is nearly upon [them]". As Halloween is at the end of October, you can put two and two together. 30th is further defined in the Day of the Dead Caper (Season 3 Episode 2), which takes place on the 31st (VILE is dressed up for Halloween), when you see Julia and Chase talking to Chief directly after the events of the Luchadora Tango Caper.
October 31, 2019 - Events of The Day of the Dead Caper (Season 3 Episode 2)
The Day of the Dead is traditionally celebrated November 1st and 2nd, though dates prior and post can also be included depending on the location. In this case, the episode showcases the celebrations on October 31st, aka Halloween.
Vlad and Boris are seen "trick or treating" and VILE is dressed up for the occasion, with it decidedly being Cleo's "worst Halloween ever" after Spinkick and Flytrap's failure at the end of the Caper.
Player also directly addresses the fact that "festivities typically begin the night before, on All Hallows' Eve", with All Hallows' Eve being an alternative name for Halloween.
On a slightly different note, the episode also addresses part of VILE's school year, as there were "delays caused by the move", they were forced to begin classes in "the winter quarter [that] year". This further proves their September-June schedule as it implies that the school year typically begins in the fall.
November 02, 2019 - Events of The Haunted Bayou Caper (Season 3 Episode 3)
The "Crawfish King", local celebrity chef in New Orleans, hosts a costume gala at his historic mansion "the first Saturday after Halloween" every year, stated in the episode by CK himself. With Season 3 presumably occurring in 2019, this makes Halloween a Thursday and the first Saturday thereafter November 2nd.
November 04, 2019 - Events of the Masks of Venice Caper (Season 3 Episode 4)
At the beginning of the episode, the VILE Faculty are seen eating excess Halloween candy; while Cleo complains about their indulgence, Maelstrom addresses "last night's bayou fiasco", and that they're looking forward to Cleo's "mask-themed scheme".
Since the operatives were "preparing to rendezvous as [they spoke]", this means the caper happens directly after they address it in conversation. This also means both Devineaux and Carmen are flying to Italy the morning of November 3rd, after the Bayou Caper. As this flight is about 12 hours, they would have landed in the evening/very early morning in Italy, meaning that their exploration around the city and actual Caper would have had to have happened the next day, November 4th.
November 05, 2019 - Events of The Jolly Good Show Caper (Season 3 Episode 5)
Player clearly says in the episode that "it's the 5th of November, a British holiday" when Carmen asks why VILE would want to steal the British crown jewels on that specific day.
You can also deduce that it's the 5th because a the end of the Masks of Venice Caper as Mimebomb is reporting the night's events, Roundabout reassures the faculty that "before the day [was] over, [they would] have Neal the Eel slithering free, and Carmen Sandiego in [their] clutches". As this report is happening the morning after the failed caper, this would place the Jolly Good Show Caper the ensuing night of November 5th as well.
November 2019 - Events of the Beijin Bullion Caper (Season 4 Episode 1)
The fourth season begins with Roundabout and Neal's mind wipe, though it goes awry. As it's presumably the morning after the Crown Jewels disaster, very little time passes between the Jolly Good Show and Beijing Bullion Caper.
Early December 2019 - Events of The Big Bad Ivy Caper (Season 4 Episode 2)
Player begins attending school this episode in December (with the Big Bad Ivy Caper happening on his first day of school).
We can deduce this month based on the calendar in Julia's office, observable in the V.I.L.E. History (Season 4 Episode 5) and Egyptian Decryption (Season 4 Episode 6) Capers. The month they are in during this time is composed of 5 weeks, with the last four days grayed-out, presumably cutting into the next month. This makes the month 31 days, lining up well with December.
Originally I had believed that this calendar had perfectly lined up with that of December 2019 (with the 1st of the month being a Sunday and the 31st a Tuesday), but then I realized the calendar Julia has is likely one that follows the month by Monday-Sunday rather than Sunday-Saturday.
This does mean that is is slightly off from what I thought previously, but still rather fitting nonetheless. Friday the 26th, as Julia had marked for her and Devineax's meeting, would instead be Friday the 27th on the 2019 calendar, so everything still more or less works out.
Now, to explain how this all relates to Player in school and the Big Bad Ivy Caper, we need to actually look forward into the Himalayan Rescue Caper (Season 4 Episode 4) as well. During the Himalayan Rescue Caper, Devineaux attempts to talk to Julia about Carmen and she postpones their conversation until "next Friday, at noon". This places the Himalayan Rescue Caper a week prior to the Egyptian Decryption Caper (when Devineaux arrives for lunch and finds Julia missing).
It is also addressed in the Himalayan Rescue Caper that Carmen didn't want to involve Player on the mission because he had "already been sent to detention on [her] account, and [it was] only his first week in school". THIS means that the Big Bad Ivy Caper (Player's first day of school) was about a week prior to the Himalayan Rescue Caper which is a week prior to the Egyptian Decryption Caper
tl;dr 2nd Week of December: Player starts school, Big Bad Ivy Caper
3rd Week of December: Robo + Himalayan Rescue Caper ("it's only his first week in school")
4th Week of December: V.I.L.E. History and Egyptian Decryption Capers (calendar lines up with Dec 2019, Devineaux lunch meeting marked for 26th)
Mid December 2019 - Events of The Robo Caper and The Himalayan Rescue Caper (Season 4 Episodes 3-4)
These events are back to back, with Graham's kidnapping and then ensuing rescue being a time-sensitive issue. Reason for December already explained.
Mid-Late December 2019 - Carmen acquires the ancient VILE relics (Season 4 Episodes 5-6)
Carmen hunts the VILE relics in two episodes, likely only a few days prior to her escapade in Egypt as she's actively racing VILE from location to location.
December 27, 2019 (~1 week post Himalayan Rescue Caper) - Devineaux goes to Julia's office for lunch, Carmen and Devineaux save Julia in Egypt (Season 4 Episode 6)
The calendar on Julia's desk is marked for the 26th, with it likely following the month from Mon-Sun as opposed to Sun-Sat (previously gone over in the Big Bad Ivy Caper). This would in fact make the 26th a Friday, though in 2019 this was not actually the case. The 26th was a Thursday and 27th a Friday, so I've pushed the date a day forward to match.
I doubt the creators were observing a 2019 calendar in order to precisely select a date for this event so I'm just rolling with what I've got.
Devineaux leaves Oxford for Egypt sometime after noon (when he was meant to meet Julia), and he and Carmen rendezvous at the pyramids to save Julia later in the day as the sun is setting, not quite cutting into the 28th.
December 28, 2019 - Julia and Devineaux give statements to the reporters for their historic find in the pyramids, Julia meets with Chief (Season 4 Episode 6)
It is the following morning when Julia and Devineaux talk to the press, as it's now light out.
Julia is seen in her office later in the day (back in Oxford), observing the footage when Chief appears to speak to her and schedule a meeting with Carmen.
December 29, 2019 - Carmen and Chief meet, Carmen is kidnapped (Season 4 Episode 6)
When Player analyzes Julia's most recent blog post, he tells Carmen that "if you line it up like a date and time, it's tomorrow, at 8 AM", in reference to the coded numbers at the end of each paragraph.
After Carmen and Chief's brief conversation on the 29th Carmen sits on a bench sometime later observing the city, and is subsequently kidnapped by VILE.
December 30, 2019 - Team Red hunts for clues about Carmen's location, Julia rejoins ACME, Carmen is brainwashed (Season 4 Episode 7)
It is late when we see Shadowsan at the grounds in which Carmen was captured in Seattle. Player claims to have "spent the last 24 hours hacking into every surveillance feed in Seattle [he] could find", meaning Carmen had been missing for an entire day.
In that same time frame across the city, Julia reunites with Devineaux as an ACME agent once again
We proceed to jump to Carmen whose memories are forcibly wiped in order to turn her into a VILE operative, all within the same evening.
January 20-January 26, 2020 - Shadowsan returns to the ruins of VILE Island (Season 4 Episode 7)
The show says that Shadowsan's return is three weeks after Carmen's kidnapping, but it's unclear how long "three weeks" refers to, as it could be exactly 21 days or bordering on four weeks with up to 26.
January 21-January 27 - Carmen goes on her first caper as a VILE Operative (Season 4 Episode 7)
The Caper is held the day after Shadowsan acquires information about the plan while on the island, so depending on when the three week jump is, this is the day after.
March 01, 2020 - Carmen turns 21 July 2020 - Carmen joins VILE faculty (Season 4 Episode 7)
Six months time jump, ACME has been assessing Carmen's crimes and is back to putting all their assets into taking her down.
VILE recognizes Carmen as their finest operative, and votes to have her join the Faculty.
??? 2020 - Carmen attempts to steal the Eye of Vishnu, memories restored (Season 4 Episode 8)
We don't know exactly when this caper happens. There's enough time for rumors about Carmen's plans to circulate, Gray to contact Chief, and Chief to pull strings to get the Eye of Vishnu back on display.
I would give this a few months preparation wise, but not an exponential amount of time.
2022 - Uptick in criminal activity due to prison breaks, Carmen's (presumably first) sighting (Season 4 Episode 8)
2 years after VILE began to crumble, they begin to show signs of activity once again following some prison breakouts. Julia, Devineaux, Zack, and Ivy (now apart of ACME) arrive at the scene of a supposed heist, only to find the culprit (Paperstar) already tied up with Carmen's silhouette on the rooftop.
Ending Ages for Characters with Confirmed Ages During the Show:
Carmen: 23 (20 during most of show)
Ivy: 22 (19 during most of show)
Zack: 21 (18 during most of show)
Player: 19 (16 during most of show)
Anyways that's it guys thank you for reading all my nonsense please again tell me if I missed anything π
