#voltron timeline

Part I: The Time Period of the Show

While the show never gives exact dates on when major events in the series take place, we can narrow down when the Paladins left Earth by examining context clues and supplemental material. From there, we can use that to determine a rough idea of the show’s timeline.

Pidge’s flashbacks in S1E05 Tears of the Balmera and the fact that Iverson doesn’t mention her, Lance, and Hunk’s bickering being a pattern when he berates their failure in the simulator during S1E01 The Rise of Voltron indicate that the day of Shiro’s return to Earth was the trio’s first time in the simulator together, and that this was fairly early in the school year.

From a Watsonian perspective, it’s not out of the question that a future Earth might follow a different school calendar. But from a Doylist perspective, since the show never says otherwise, we can take it as a given that since VLD is an American cartoon, the Garrison follows the same academic schedule as American schools. Which start the school year in late summer/early fall and end in late spring/early summer.

At the start of Lance, Pidge, and Hunk’s simulation run in S1E01 The Rise of Voltron, Lance calls out “Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14.”

And Matt’s tombstone in S4E02 Reunion confirms that these numbers represent a date:

Pidge confirms that the 0010.05.25 represents a birth date, since looking at it is how she determines that Matt’s birthday is wrong. Because this is obviously a tombstone, we can logically conclude that 0014.04.28 represents a death date.

Lance’s 5-11-14 flight log number in S1E01 is most likely a reference to the fact that the show started production between April and June of 2014.[1][2]

And when Keith shows the other paladins his notes that he’s compiled on his search for the Blue Lion, a page-a-day calendar can be seen on the back wall showing that the paladins left Earth on the second of whichever month it was.

Meanwhile in S1E02 Some Assembly Required, Hunk refers to Shiro’s rescue from quarantine as Monday night. This would put the paladins’ departure from Earth on Tuesday afternoon, as Iverson confirms in S7E07 The Last Stand: Part 2 that the Paladins left Earth the day after rescuing Shiro.

Obviously the show doesn’t take place in 2014 because the technology the characters use in their daily lives on Earth is significantly more advanced than what we have in real life even in the 2020s. Not to mention Veronica name dropping World War III in S7E07 The Last Stand: Part 2 as a historical event.

However, it’s also obviously can’t be too far into the future, because other than having more advanced technology, much of what we see of Earth civilization looks fundamentally similar to our present day in terms of things like clothing and architecture, just with some futuristic flourishes here and there:

The fact that the years on Matt’s tombstone in S4E02 both begin with 00 as the first two digits raises the possibility that Earth decided to create a new calendar that started 14 years before the paladins left Earth.

However, it’s more likely that the production staff simply wished to leave it ambiguous how many centuries into the future the show takes place, as from a Doylist perspective there is no purpose to having Earth be on a different calendar system unless it’s relevant to the story

Not to mention that it doesn’t make sense from a Watsonian perspective, since a change as widespread as the mass-adoption of a new calendar system would have to be in response to a major event that deeply changed society on such a widespread level that the society decided to define it’s calendar by how many years have passed since that event.

And the known event in the history of VLD’s Earth that might have this level of significance is World War III, which the showrunners have said in interviews resulted in “everyone on the planet realizing war sucks. We’re one Earth.”[3]

However, none of the characters act like it’s a recent event that happened within their lifetimes. The one time it’s mentioned in S7E08 The Last Stand: Part 2, Veronica speaks of the conflict as if it was a long time ago. Long enough that she has to preemptively clarify that the underground tunnels used to reach the Garrison’s supply depot are still structurally sound.

On top of the logistics not working out for World War III to have been the cause of a dramatic change in Earth’s calendars, Matt being Pidge’s older brother means that he would’ve been born before the hypothetical calendar change would’ve been adopted. 

Yet S4E02 only shows Pidge’s attention being drawn to the year on Matt’s birth date being wrong when her tear slides over to the 10, when the lack of anything before it would’ve stood out first if he was born before the calendar reset to Year 0.

So we can safely take it as a given that the extra zeroes in the years on Matt’s tombstone are there to maintain a sense of ambiguity over what century VLD takes place in.

Which fits with how showrunner Joaquim Dos Santos described how the writers kept the history of VLD’s Earth “nice and nebulous” rather than going into detail on the logistics of World War III.

The map in Keith's shack helps us to narrow things down a bit further, because the map of his search for the Blue Lion is a map of Grand Canyon National Park, placing the location of the Garrison base in Arizona.

Where, according to my own research and the experience of friends who live there, the school year typically begins in late July or early August and ends in May.

In S1E01 The Rise of Voltron, Lance mentions how Pidge goes ballistic “every time” the instructors bring up the Kerberos mission, implying that they’ve been in school long enough for him to notice a pattern, and Pidge’s dialogue when explaining her coming up to the roof to scan for Galra radio chatter indicates that she’s been doing it for multiple nights. This fits with how she wasn’t aware of aliens being involved in the Kerberos crew’s abduction when she broke into Iverson’s office. 

This means that the team leaves Earth at least a couple of weeks into the school year, meaning that the calendar on Keith’s wall is giving the date as September 2nd, which fits with the fact that September 2, 2014 is a Tuesday.

So all we have to do is fine a future year ending in 14 where September 2nd is a Tuesday that's that’s far enough into the future that there’s enough time for all the advancements of VLD’s earth, but not so far ahead that it’s completely unrecognizable to the 21st century audience.

And the nearest option is the year 2414.

Part II: Known Character Birth Years

If we treat it as a given that Season 1 of VLD starts in the year 2414, then we can use that  to narrow down the exact birth years of the human Paladins, as well as Allura, Lotor, Matt Holt, and Kova.

Kova is the oldest character whose birth year is known to us, as Haggar states he is 28 deca-phoebs old shortly before the destruction of Daibazaal and Altea.

Allura and Coran were in cryo-sleep for 10,000 Earth years, and Coran’s pedantic comment in S1E01 about the castle being 10,600 years old and built by his grandfather indicates that this number is exact.

This would put the destruction of Altea and Daibazaal in 7586 B.C.E., as Coran’s narration in S3E07 The Legend Begins indicates that the other planets in their solar system were conquered quickly after Zarkon and Haggar woke up from their Rift baths, meaning that both the Altean and Galran homeworlds were destroyed within a very short window of time.

Since Kova was 28 when Daibazaal was destroyed, he would’ve been born in 7614 B.C.E.

Meanwhile, S8E02 Shadows showed that Haggar only became coherent again after she gave birth, and flashbacks in S8E10 Knights of Light: Part 2 depict her participating in the conquest of the system. Which indicates that Lotor was born in between the destruction of both his parents’ home worlds.

In an interview recorded at WonderCon 2017, Lauren Montgomery and Joaqim Dos Santos talked about how despite initially having more knowledge and experience than the other paladins she was “just as young as anyone else”, and that she was handling overcoming her prejudice against the Galra “like any teenager would.” [4]

This indicates that Allura is still a teenager herself in the first 2 seasons.

Something which is supported by the fact that Allura was born less than 28 years before the fall of Altea yet looks to be around Keith, Lance, and Hunk’s age. Which indicates that while Alteans can live for hundreds of years as evidenced by Coran helping his grandfather build the Castle of Lions 600 years before the war against Zarkon, they age at roughly the same rate as normal humans until they reach adulthood.

Since she’s visibly older than Pidge, the showrunners’ remarks about her acting like “any teenager” put her age before being put into cryo-sleep somewhere between 17 and 18, the ages listed for Lance, Hunk, and Keith in the Paladin’s Handbook.

And we can presume that the ages listed in the Handbook are mostly accurate given that Colleen Holt confirms in S8E01 Launch Date that Pidge was 15 when the paladins left Earth, which is the same age that the Paladin’s Handbook gave for Pidge as of the end of Season 2.

So, if Allura is the same age as Keith, Lance, and Hunk, then she would’ve been born between 7603 and 7604 B.C.E.

As for the human characters, the cast and crew of Voltron have consistently said that Shiro was the oldest of the paladins, and that his age was somewhere in his early twenties. The only time a specific number was given was in the context of providing a maximum limit to his age range. Saying that while he was at least 20, he wasn’t older than 25.

However, the fact that his official birthday is February 29th means that it’s impossible for him to actually be 25 as the Voltron Paladins’ Handbook claimed.

Because leap years only happen once every 4 years, in years that are divisible by 4 into a whole number (The only exceptions are years that are by 100 but not 400).

It’s not possible for Shiro to be 25 in Season 1 because that would require the year of the Kerberos mission to be a leap year, since Shiro’s 24th birthday would mark the 6th time that February 29th occurred on the calendar since his birth.

The year before 2414 would be 2413, which cannot be divided by 4 into a whole number (trying gets you 603.25). However the year before Kerberis, 2412, is divisible by 4 into a whole number (603), meaning that 2414 is in between two leap years.

With all of this in mind, the only way for Shiro to be older than 20 but younger than 25 in 2414, is if he turned 20 in 2412, as his 20th birthday would mark the 5th time since he was born that February 29th occurred on the calendar. This puts the year of his birth in 2392, making him 22 years old when he returns to Earth in Season 1.

Meanwhile, Pidge being 15 when the Paladins left Earth in 2414 would mean that she was born in 2399.

Meanwhile, the Coalition Handbook, which is written from the perspective of 1 deca-phoeb after the Paladins left Earth, talks about Krolia’s arrival on Earth being “about 19 Earth years ago,” indicating that Keith’s parents met in 2396.

The Handbook’s indication of a 1-year timespan from Season 1 to Season 5 is confirmed by Sam’s debrief during the flashback portions of S7E07 The Last Stand: Part 1. Commander Iverson mentions that Sam’s return to Earth in S5E05 Bloodlines happened a month before the meeting and says that the Keberos mission was two years ago.

Krolia’s arrival being about 19 years ago appears to reinforce the Paladin’s Handbook listing Keith as being 18 by the end of Season 2. Pidge’s age means that S2E13 Blackout can’t happen any later than April 2, 2415, meaning that Keith – whose birthday is October 23rd according to the show’s official social media accounts – turns 18 at some point during the first 2 seasons of the show. This puts his birth year in 2396 and indicates that his parents had to have met sometime that January, as we’ve seen little evidence to suggest that Galra pregnancies are any longer than human ones.

So, if Pidge and Keith’s ages in the Paladins’ handbook are accurate, then we can assume Hunk and Lance’s ages are too.

Lance’s birthday is listed by the show’s official social media accounts as July 28, so the timeframe of Seasons 1-2 means he would’ve already been 17 by the time the Paladins left Earth. This means that he would have been born in 2397.

Hunk is a little tricky since his birthday is January 13th, as neither the show nor the handbooks give any details to definitively confirm whether he turned 17 during the first 2 seasons, or if he was already 17 when they left Earth.

However, some context clues regarding the nature of the Garrison’s Cadet Program and the glimpses of his backstory that we got in S7E01 A Little Adventure can help make some educated assumptions.

In her goodbye to Matt at the Kerberos launchpad in S4E02, Pidge says “I can’t believe I have to go through middle school without you.”

Since Pidge makes no mention of attempting to enroll at the Garrison while Matt and her father are in space, this logically indicates that Pidge is entering 8th grade and that the Galaxy Garrison cadet program is for students at the high school level (Grades 9-12).

The fact that the MFE pilots had graduated by the time Sam returns in 2415 supports this, as their presence as background cameos in S1E01 and in the flashbacks of Keith and Shiro’s past from S7E01 indicate that they, Lance, Keith, and Hunk all enrolled in the cadet program the same year. This means that when the Paladins left Earth, Lance and Hunk were starting their senior year of high school

Keith and Lance being 17 and 18 during Season 1 is consistent with that, as 17 and 18 are the typical ages at which most American teenagers graduate from high school [5].

In the United States, many schools in grades K-12 use students’ birthdays to determine grade placement, with students who are born before a certain cutoff date (usually around the beginning of the school year) being placed in a higher grade level than students born after the cutoff [6].

For example, Lance and Keith are shown to both be in the same class at the Garrison in S7E01 even though Keith being born a year earlier means he’d theoretically be in the grade above Lance. But Lance’s birthday is in July, and Keith’s is in October.

So, if Lance’s July birthday is before the cutoff for enrollment for their grade level, then logically the same is true for Hunk’s January birthday, meaning that Hunk is already 17 during Season 1, putting his birth in the same year as Lance’s.

And knowing how the Garrison’s Cadet Program functions as an equivalent to high school means that we can figure out how old Matt is.

In the Shiro’s Story Ready-to-Read book, Shiro describes how he and Matt were selected for the Kerberos mission after they finished school:

While some fans read this and assumed it meant Shiro and Matt were the same age, the fact that Season 7 established Shiro was a lieutenant when they were on the Kerberos mission indicates otherwise.

Because during the first few flashback scenes of S7E01, Shiro consistently shown with two stripes on the shoulder of his uniform. But as soon as we get to the scene where Sanda and Sam Holt are arguing about Shiro’s inclusion on the Kerberos mission, his uniform now has three stripes on the shoulder, which he has been consistently shown to have in Pidge’s flashback to the crew’s disappearance being announced in S1E05 depicting photos of Shiro, Sam, and Matt that would’ve been taken specifically for the mission’s publicity. Which indicates that the additional stripe coincided with his promotion to lieutenant.

In our world, it takes an average of 4 years after enlisting in the navy for a person to be promoted to lieutenant. However, if someone enlists before or while in college, promotion to Lieutenant can be achieved with the completion of a Master’s Degree. Depending on the field, a Masters’ degree would require an additional four years after completing a Bachelor’s degree. However, some universities that specialize in specific subjects (like mine did) offer a Master’s program that only takes an additional 1-2 years after receiving a Bachelor’s degree to complete.

Since the Garrison’s cadet program is teaching what 21st century viewers would consider advanced college-level science to high school students, it’s plausible that the Garrison has an advanced program for graduates of the cadet program to continue taking classes. Which makes sense because the Garrison’s cadet program is clearly an example of a vocational school, which focuses education at the secondary (high-school) and/or post-secondary (college) level on teaching students the skills and knowledge required for a specific career path, as opposed to a more general education.

It explains why tie-in books like the Paladin's Handbook indicate that Shiro and Matt graduated from the Garrison at the same time, and why showrunner Lauren Montgomery referred to Shiro as a “slightly older student” at WonderCon 2016. While Matt was completing his regular education in the cadet program, Shiro was finishing up his advanced education track.

Because Shiro makes multiple comments that imply an in-depth knowledge of physics and astronomy: From knowing enough constellations to recognize in S1E01 that the Blue Lion’s wormhole has left them in unfamiliar space, to being able to calculate the approximate speed of the black lion’s fall at the start of S2E01 Across the Universe in his head despite the pain of a glowing magic wound in his side and the general exhaustion of the battle they’d just come out of.

It even explains why S7E01 has Shiro was helping with classes and Adam mentioning having a class to teach, because many high schools and colleges offer work-study programs to where students can work part-time jobs at the school in exchange for financial assistance, as well as to get hands on work experience in a particular field so that they can transition from school to working more easily. Which also explains why Sam and Adam both mention Shiro having gone on multiple space flights and missions by the time he’s selected for the Kerberos mission even though the timeline indicates he’d only be 20 by the time he was chosen for Kerberos.

And since my analysis of Garrison lore indicates that the grey/green uniform that Shiro wears when visiting Keith’s school is reserved for those whose work in administrative roles and other capacities in the day-to-day running of the Garrison, this would indicate that he graduated from the cadet program at least a year or two before, and received the new uniform as part of the work-study program when classes started up the following school year.

So, the MFE pilots continuing their education after completing the cadet program would explain why Sanda would still refer to them as cadets even if they’ve already graduated from the cadet program: because even if they’re not in the cadet program anymore, they’re still students.

Which means that Shiro had to have graduated from the advanced program while Matt graduated from the regular cadet program. 

Since Keith is still wearing his cadet uniform when he confronts Shiro about his disease, this means that Sam and Sanda’s argument about Shiro being on the mission had to have happened during a period when classes were in session, as the flashback of their hoverbike racing in S7E01 and the lack of comments from Hunk about being caught out of uniform in S1E01 indicate that students are permitted to wear casual attire outside of school hours.

This indicates that Matt and Shiro had to have graduated the year before the Kerberos Mission, got selected at some point during the next year, and then spent months preparing for the mission, putting Matt’s graduation from the cadet program in May 2412. (Which, incidentally, means that the Garrison’s post-graduate education options are a 2-year program, since Shiro’s age and birthdate mean that he would’ve enrolled in the regular cadet program in 2406 and graduated from that in 2410). This would mean that Matt started classes at the Garrison in the fall of 2408.

And when Pidge says that his birthday is wrong in S4E02, she only does so after the camera draws viewers’ attention to the year. Which indicates that the month and date are correct, putting Matt’s birthday on May 25th. Based on what we’ve established about cutoff dates for grade placement, this would mean that Matt was 14 years old when he started classes at the Garrison, putting his birth year in 2394.

Part III: The Main Narrative

Knowing that Season 1 begins in September 2414 allows us to use the date of the Paladins’ departure from Earth as a baseline from which to determine a timeline of the show’s main storyline.

As previously established, the context clues within the first season place the paladins’ departure from Earth in S1E01 on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2414.

Since this is “1 year later” from Shiro’s capture on Kerberos, this puts the crew’s abduction in September 2413.

Since the Paladins’ Handbook reflects events up to the end of Season 2 and refers to Shiro’s capture as being “about a year ago,” we can safely assume that entirety of Seasons 1 – 2 take place before the end of 2414 in order for the character ages in the guidebook to be accurate by the end of S2E13 Blackout.

And for the first several episodes of Season 1, we’re given enough information to pinpoint exact dates for when much of the first season takes place.

Arus’ environment is shown to be nearly indistinguishable from Earths’ so we can assume that days on Arus last for about the same amount of time as days on Earth.

Coran states indicates in S1E01 that the search for the lions took about 2 hours, immediately after which the paladins had their first battle with Sendak.

The beginning of S1E02 Some Assembly Required is confirmed to take place the following morning, as Allura refers to the battle against Sendak in S10E1 as “yesterday”. Coran then tells Pidge that the prisoners they rescued need to remain in the cryo pods to heal “until tomorrow,” putting the events of S1E03 Return of the Gladiator on Thursday, September 4th.

S1E04 Fall of the Castle of Lions takes place entirely at night, with the Arusian’s re-enactment of Voltron’s battle with the Myzax robeast and Coran’s comment about letting the Arusians see the inside of the castle indicating from context that this is still on Thursday the 4th. This puts the daytime events of S1E05 on Friday, September 5th.

S1E06 Taking Flight takes place on the 6th, as Allura states at the end of S1E05 that Lance should be fully healed from his injuries after a day in the cryo pods.

Shay’s Belmera was close enough that Hunk and Coran could fly there from Arus in a small shuttle pod, have dinner with Shay’s family, fix their shuttle pod, wander around in the tunnel looking for the crystal, get captured, get rescued by Shay, and then get back to Arus all in less than a day.

So even if they spent several hours talking to Rolo and Nyma in S1E06, they still would’ve reached the Balmera in S1E07 Return to Balmera the same day. 

Since S1E08 Rebirth ends with Hunk showing Shay her first sunrise after the Balmera is liberated, this brings the paladins to Sunday, September 7th.

The first volume of the tie in comics is stated to take place right after this, as the paladins are leaving the Balmera in Issue #1. The bulk of the action happens over the course of the following day, as Issue #1 states that the Paladins’ battle against the guardian monster took place the day after they left Allura at the Castle, and the sky on Krell shifts from morning to afternoon colors over the course of the Paladins’ time there, along with the fact that the sky outside the Fripping Bolgogian is in sunset colors in both Issue #1 and Issue #5.

Then S1E09 Crystal Venom indicates that very little time passes since then when the Paladins begin to download Sendak's memories. Coran indicates that Allura should still be resting after healing the Balmera, indicating that very little time has passed since the end of the previous episode. Given how much time they spent on Krell, it's likely that the Paladins needed time to rest when they returned to the Castle, indicating that S1E09 begins as early as the day after the comics. After a length montage of time passing while they wait for Sendak's memories to start downloading, Hunk mentions going to make himself breakfast, indicating that a whole night has passed while they watched Sendak.

This means that the destruction of Alfor's AI cannot occur any earlier than September 10th. So the first 8 episodes of Season 1 and the first volume of the comics all take place from September 1st to September 8th.

From here, the time-frames indicated become murkier, as while many events seem to take place very close together, the fact that the guidebooks put Keith as 18 by the end of Season 2 means that S2E12 Best Laid Plans cannot take place any earlier than October 23rd, 2414.

There are a few instances where we can estimate the time between certain episodes, however, we don’t have enough concrete information to confirm an exact time frame by Earth’s calendar for anything after the first volume of the comics, beyond the fact that in the Paladins’ handbook, Shiro’s capture on Kerberos is still mentioned as “one year ago,” indicating that Season 2 Episode 13 still takes place in 2415.

I initially believed that since the Voltron Coalition Handbook refers to the Lion Shuffle as “many quintants ago”, compared to season 1’s events being “one year ago,” that Season 3 took place in 2415.

However, analyzing the details of the timeline for events from seasons 5 through seven implies that season 3 still took place in 2415 in order to account for the amount of time that passes between Season 3 and season 5, since Keith mentions in S4E01 Code of Honor that Lotor hasn’t been seen in months, and both S4E01 and S4E04 depict time passing on Keith’s blade missions and with the rest of the team’s propaganda shows, indicating at least a few weeks pass between the start of season 4 and the end.  

When S7E07 depicts the Garrison debriefing Sam about his experiences in space a month after his return, the Kerberos mission is referred to as “two years ago,” and the MFE squad are indicated to have graduated from the cadet program by the time Sam was introduced to them following his debriefing. This would seemingly indicate that the debriefing occurs in September 2415, however the details of events surrounding that took place during season 7’s three-year time jump imply that “two years ago” was an approximation and not an exact statement of when things took place on the calendar.

Because in S7E07, Matt contacts Earth a year later and reveals that six months have passed since Voltron’s disappearance after battling Lotor at the end of season 6, and by that point the Druids’ purge of the Blade of Marmora and the Coalition is already underway. By the sixth month, Matt says “our army has been all but wiped out,” implying that the battle between the Druids and the Blades depicted in S7E05 The Ruins occurred soon after. However, in S7E05, Macidus stated that he had been marooned on the planet for “two decaphoebs.” Then in the next episode, Romelle states that they’ve been travelling to Earth for “going on four movements,” indicating that it’s been 3-4 weeks since they began their voyage to Earth.

Depending on whether the debriefing was in the same month as Sam being released from quarantine, if Sam’s debriefing was in September 2415, that would put Voltron’s disappearance in March 7417, putting their encounter with Macidus in March or April 2419. Which would put the battle between the Blades and the Druids in early 2417. It doesn’t make sense for there to be such a big gap beween Matt’s transmission and the battle with the blades if the rebellion was almost wiped out at the point Matt contacted Earth, so it would make sense if Sam Holt’s debriefing happened sometime after May 2415, after the MFE squad graduated, but not quite exactly a year after the paladins left Earth.

The best way to make that work is if the debriefing happened in late May or June 2415, putting Matt’s contact with Earth in June 2416 and the paladins’ fight with Lotor in November or December 2415.

This would put the paladins’ encounter with Macidus in November or December 2418, narrowing down the battle between the Druids and the Blades to sometime between July and November 2416.

The team arriving on Earth exactly four years after Sam was released from quarantine a week after his arrival on Earth might seem to contradict this, but it’s actually an example of the phenomenon of time dilation that the characters often discuss, specifically the phenomenon where a person in a vehicle or space station moving very fast experiences less time and aging than someone on Earth. In this case, Voltron was going so fast through that weird space phenomenon in S7E06 that while they experienced only minutes of their journey the rest of the way to Earth’s solar system, six months elapsed on Earth.

This would put the back half of season 7 and at minimum the first half of Season 8 in 2419. Which fits because Rizavi mentions in S8E01 that she’s waited three years to get to the end of KillBot Phantasm 26, which came out just before Sendak’s invasion, and there was no mention of a large timeskip between Sam going public with his survival and the start of Sendak’s invasion, indicating that Sendak invaded Earth in the same calendar year. This also makes sense with Honerva being revealed as the mastermind behind Sendak’s invasion in S8E02 Shadows, as it doesn’t really make sense for her to wait until almost a year later to send his fleet to invade Earth.

Since Lance mentions in S7E03 The Way Forward that it’s been a few weeks for them since the end of Season 6 by the time they encountered Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa again, and S8E04 Battle Scars establishes that the lions at full power can get through 11 solar systems in just 3 days, I’m inclined to place the battle with Lotor in November 2415 on the assumption that the paladins’ battle with Zethrid occurred within days of their departure from the Dalterion Belt at the start of S7E02 The Road Home.

There’s also the fact that S7E06 reveals that they still have 1.5 years to go on their journey after being “out here” for four movements. And Coran’s comment in S1E02 about his Paladin lunch helping the team form Voltron “six times a movement” is said in the same manner that we’d say “seven days a week” in real life, suggesting that one movement is 6 quintants. Meaning that by the beginning of S7E06, the Paladins have spent more than 18 days flying back to Earth, but less than 24. Which all leads leads me to assume that S7E02 – S7E06 all take place in the same calendar month, putting the fight with Lotor in mid-November at the latest.

This puts Matt’s contact with Earth in May 2416, Sam’s release from quarantine and debrief in May 2415, and the liberation of Earth in May 2419.

The briefing and release from quarantine both being in May 2415 fits with the MFE pilots having graduated from the cadet program if the briefing occurs toward the end of May, since most schools in the U.S. end in late May. Which means that Sam’s return to Earth and the majority of Season 5 occurred in late April 2415.

The events of season 5 are indicated to happen fairly quickly, as S5E03 Postmortem clearly starts the morning after Zarkon is killed, and Lotor states that the Kral Zera will be held sometime in the next two days. Meanwhile, S5E04 Kral Zera showed that Sam was making the final preparations to leave for Earth when Shiro and Lotor went to the Kral Zera, indicating that he left the following day.

The hostage exchange in S5E02 Blood Duel likely only took a couple days at most of back-and-forth communication to negotiate the terms and details after the end of S5E01 The Prisoner, which in turn likely only took place over the course of two days at most, in order to give Pidge and Matt time to help Rollo and Nyma repair their ship after the battle at Naxzela in S4E06. So, the majority of Season 5 up through Sam’s departure took place in the course of maybe 7-9 days tops.

Meanwhile, the events of S5E01 are implied to not be that long after the end of S4E06 A New Defender. In S5E01, Nyma thanks Pidge and Matt for helping with repairs on the Coalition’s fleet, saying the ships were “pretty banged up after the invasion.” This implicitly indicates that the attack on Naxzella and the rest of the Galra forces in that section of the universe was recent enough that repairs to the rebel ships that survived the battle were only just now being finished.

However, enough time needs to have passed that Lotor has been able to give them several locations for Galra bases to attack that were lower-risk before he runs out of easy targets to give them. This would presumably include the third volume of comics, since the first issue of that arc depicts the Paladins attempting to drive a Galra fleet out of the Coalition’s new territory without letting them fly in the direction of the planets that were already liberated in S4E06, and the central conflict of the arc revolved around the paladins attempting to test if the information Lotor was providing them with was accurate.

Given the timeframe for Sam’s return to Earth, this puts the end of Season 4 sometime in early to-mid-April.

S4E01 Code of Honor opens with Keith indicating that Lotor hasn’t been seen in months, and the episode then shows a montage of time passing while Keith works with the Blades, indicating that a notable amount of time passed between the beginning and the end of the episode. Furthermore, Allura’s comment about how Keith keeps saying he’s sorry for not being there, but his actions say otherwise indicate a consistent pattern of Keith being too busy on Blade Missions to perform his duties as the Black Paladin. This indicates that Keith was flaking on them for at least a couple weeks before the crisis where Shiro had to reconnect with the Black Lion. Meanwhile, S4E04 is clearly shown taking place over the course of multiple days, if not weeks, as the team travels from planet to planet performing shows, and make mention of multiple other shows happening aside from the 9-10 seen on-screen during the episode. So, if we assume 2-3 weeks for each of those montages, the opening of S4E01 cannot occur any later than early March, or any earlier than mid-February.

I’m leaning toward the latter, because if the opening mission in S4E01 occurs in early March 2415, it would put the end of season 3 in early January, and the finale of Season 2 in December, which runs into the same Watsonian dilemma of why none of the characters mention New Year’s passing at any point during the timeskip between S2E13 Blackout and S3E01 Changing of The Guard. But the start of S4E01 being in mid-February puts all of Season 3 in the first half of December. Because S3E05 shows that Shiro travelled in a stolen Galra fighter for 7 days after Thayserix before Keith found him at the end of the episode. Even if there’s some time dilation involved, the fact that the Paladins are surprised Lotor was able to construct the first Sincline ship so quickly in S3E06 Tailing a Comet indicates that it hasn’t been that long since Lotor stole it in S3E04 Hole in the Sky, meaning that all of Season 3 took place in December.

This would put the end of Season 2 sometime in late November 2414. Because the fact that Lance and Hunk only brought back five planetary leaders from the worlds they liberated, combined with the handful of sightings Acxa reports of the lions in S3E02 Red Paladin indicate that only a short period of time passes since the end of S2E13. Especially given that, as S3E05 depicted with Shiro, a human can survive up to 7 days without food or water. So, in addition to Keith’s grief over Shiro’s disappearance still being fresh, the fact that he’s still looking for Shiro among the wreckage from S2E13 suggests that the start of S3E01 is within that 7-day window. Not to mention that Throk indicates to his friend when they’re sitting in the arena that he’s been trying to speak to Zarkon for several days without success.

But on the other hand, enough time needs to pass that planets like Puig will have heard of Voltron’s defeat of Zarkon before the paladins arrive to save his planet. So, 2-3 weeks is most likely the maximum amount of time that occurred between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3.

With the timeline of the first seven seasons solidified, we can now start to narrow down the timeline of Season 8. The ending of S7E13 Lion’s Pride Part 2 established that months passed before they discovered Luka’s pilot capsule inside the head of her Robeast, and in S8E01 Shiro mentions that “it’s been several months” since the rebuilding of Earth began after its liberation, indicating that at least 3 months have passed since the end of Season 7.

However, it can’t be more than 5 months since none of the paladins are dressed for winter weather in S8E01. The fact that Pidge and Rizavi are able to walk around the outdoor mall in shorts and shirts, while Lance and Allura don’t need any jackets while wandering around at night (because for those who don’t already know this, while they get hot during the day, deserts can get very cold at night), the team’s departure from Earth cannot take place later than September or October 2419.

I’m inclined to lean toward September being when the team left for the sake of narrative symmetry with the rest of the series. Because in S8E08 Clear Day, the Atlas’s clocks end up 4 movements behind planet Drazan thanks to time dilation, and the opening of the episode is implied to take place soon after the end of S8E07 Day Forty-Seven, indicating that roughly 72 days pass between the team leaving Earth and the events of S8E08. And if they leave Earth in early September, it would put the final episodes of Season 8 in mid-to-late November 2419, and the epilogue in November 2420.

Part IV: Backstory Dates & Other Timeline Trivia

Now that we’ve hammered out the timeline for the main events of the story, we can start filling in dates for elements of the characters’ backstories and other areas of the timeline not covered by the previous sections.

The First Kral Zera:

In S5E04 Kral Zera, the Archivist states in 2415 that the Kral Zera has been burning for “over thirteen millennia,” putting the first Kral Zera and the official founding of the Galra Empire as a political entity sometime before 10,585 BCE. Since he said thirteen, rather than fourteen, we can logically assume that it couldn’t be any earlier than 13,999 years before 2415, which would be 11,584 BCE.

The Daibazaal Rift:

Kova appears to be fully grown when Zarkon first meets him in Honerva’s lab in S3E07 after the discovery of the Rift on Daibazaal. Using Earth cat development as a basis for comparison, this would indicate that Kova is at least 1 year old by this point, meaning the earliest that the Trans-reality comet could have crashed was 7613 B.C.E.

However, it cannot have happened any later than 2 years before Allura’s birth. When Honerva shows Alfor that their Quintessence experiment is running after he thanks her for the gift celebrating Allura’s birth, he notes that the experiment has been running for a full year by that point. But despite the experiment being positioned right next to her workstation, it was nowhere to be seen when she and Zarkon were having their first meeting before the timeskip.

Meanwhile, before the episode transitioned from Honerva and Zarkon’s first meeting to Alfor showing his daughter off to Zarkon, Coran’s narration refers to Alfor visiting often “as the years passed,” indicating that more than one year passes between the discovery of the rift and Allura’s birth.

This means that since the experiment would’ve begun in 7604 or 7605 B.C.E., the Rift cannot have been opened any later than 7605 or 7606 B.C.E.

The Difference Between 1 Year & 1 Deca-Phoeb:

When Shiro and Allura are detected during their infiltration of a Galra cruiser in S1E10 Collection and Extraction, the computer identifies Shiro as "Fugitive prisoner 117-9875."

The format of his prisoner ID number indicates the year on the empire's calendar that Shiro was captured, meaning that the Galran calendar lists Earth year 2414 as imperial year 9876.

Initially, I thought this meant that the references to Altea being destroyed "10,000 years ago" were a generalization and that it wasn't exactly 10,000 years.

However, Coran's insistence on correcting Hunk that the Castle of Lions is 10,600 years old in S1E01 indicates that it was indeed exactly 10,000 years between Altea's destruction and the return of the Blue Lion.

Which left me with a bit of a conundrum of how to reconcile the two timescales. Then I remembered that S1E06 established that Earth and intergalactic time measurements weren't exactly 1:1, with Pidge and Coran's comparison showing that ticks were slightly bigger than seconds.

So I decided to do the math and see if how 9876 decaphoebs would compare to 10,000 years. And dividing both numbers by 9876 gives me 1 Deca-Phoeb = 1.0126 Years.

Meaning that Shiro's prisoner ID and the references to Altea's destruction being 10,000 years ago are both correct.

Cubserion Conquest

In S3E01 Changing of the Guard, Coran says that “The Cubserions just declared independence after a thousand years of oppression.” Since this is in 2414, this would put their conquest by the Galra Empire in 1414.

Garrison History

Pidge mentions in the Season 8 episode Knights of Light: Part Two that the Garrison managed to map the human brain "about twenty years ago." Since this episode takes place in late 2419, this puts the date of this event approximately in the year 2399.

Shiro and Keith’s First Meeting:

Since the Galaxy Garrison’s cadet program is shown to be for high school students, and that Keith, Lance, and Hunk were meant to graduate in 2415, we can deduce that Shiro and Keith first met in the spring of 2411. Most high school enrollment is done in the spring, so it makes the most sense for the Garrison to send Shiro to local schools to convince students who will be freshmen at the start of the next school year to enroll, as opposed to trying to persuade kids to transfer in the middle of the year.

Based on the fact that Lance was in 9th grade as a 14-year-old, and the fact that schools in Arizona, where the Garrison is located, start class in August and end in May, this would mean that Shiro just only a few months past his 19th birthday when he and Keith first met, while Keith was around 14 and a half.

Pidge’s Grade Level:

Though we don’t know exactly when it happened, the fact that Pidge is still in 8th Grade when she turns 15 means that somewhere along the line she had to repeat a grade during middle or elementary school.

Details and Aftermath of the Kerberos Mission:

In S4E02, Matt mentions planning to use their family code to keep in touch with Pidge during his mission, so the fact that Pidge never mentions receiving any message with the code letting her know that they landed safely indicates that Matt, Sam, and Shiro were abducted shortly after arriving on Kerberos.

The news broadcast announcing their disappearance is dated five months after the launch, and earlier in the flashback, Sam mentions that he and Matt “will be eating freeze-dried peas for the next two months.”

Since their abduction happened in September 2413, this puts the mission’s launch in July of 2413. From a logistics standpoint, a summer launch makes sense for the Garrison so that they won’t have to worry about disrupting classes, or cadets sneaking around to watch the launch and getting hurt.

This would mean that the crew’s disappearance was announced in December 2413.

Pidge’s confrontation with Iverson during S1E05 indicates that she was not aware of the involvement of aliens prior to her enrolling at the Garrison, as she only mentions that the Garrison’s probes show no sign of a crash on Kerberos and doesn’t bring up the transmission from the Galra warship to Zarkon’s central command that S7E07 reveals the Garrison had managed to record.

The Paladin Handbook states that a rescue mission to Kerberos recovered the remaining equipment, so the fact that Pidge doesn’t mention finding reports from the rescue team on Iverson’s computer in S1E05 indicates that the rescue mission hadn’t left yet when the disappearance was made public.

Since S7E07 shows video footage of Shiro, Matt, and Sam on Kerberos getting cut off as the Galra cruiser approaches, the probes were presumably destroyed by the cruiser as it arrived on Kerberos, and the Garrison sent new probes to try and reestablish contact before making the crew’s disappearance public.

The VR Game and The Zel:

In the opening of that one VR game Voltron: VR Chronicles, Zarkon and Haggar discuss a technologically advanced species known as the Zel, whose population was decimated by the empire a millennia ago, but whose homeworld remains hidden from the empire.

The game features Shiro still piloting the black lion, and Haggar indicates in the first cutscene that they’re still able to track the Castle of Lions through Zarkon’s bond with the Black Lion, which puts the game before the events of S2E04 Greening the Cube. However, the paladins don’t give any indication that they’re aware that Zarkon can track them like that, meaning that it has to take place before Allura gets captured in S1E10 Collection and Extraction. 

Given the timeline established for the first 2/3 of Season 1, the only places the events of the VR game could fit is between volume 1 of the comics and the beginning of S1E09 Crystal Venom, or during the travel montage in S1E10. However, the lack of any mention of getting back to their journey to the coordinates of the hidden Quintessence refinery in S1E10 means it has to take place between S1E08 and S1E09, particularly since Lance notes the game’s robeast boss fight - a recolor of the same one that attacked the Balmera - is giving him deja vu.

In the VR game, Hunk also indicates that travelling via wormhole is still a relatively new experience for him, so it’s most likelt that this game still takes place sometime in September 2414 after the events of the comic.

All of which means that the empire’s battle with the Zel that Zarkon and Haggar talk about would have occurred somewhere in the year 1414.

Timeframe of Bandor’s death:

While the show never specifies how long ago Bandor died, there actually is enough information to make an educated guess.

Because despite S3E06 Tailing A Comet establishing that despite Lotor was able to have his first Sincline ship built in a week, S4E01 shows that it somehow took 4 months for him to construct the second one, and then he was able to have the third one finished in the time between him taking the throne in S5E04 and his return from Oriande in S6E01 Omega Shield.

But if he had secretly made a trip to the Altean colony and didn’t start construction until he got back, it would explain the discrepancy in ship-building time perfectly, as well as explain why he was absent for so long. Especially because Romelle’s flashbacks shows that Lotor didn’t go to the first colony during the round of selections when Bandor was chosen, but he was present at the second colony when Bandor crashed outside his and Romelle’s house.

So that would mean that Lotor made a trip to the Altean colony between mid-December 2414 and late March/early April 2415, and that Bandor’s death occurred during this time window.

Timeframe of Season 4:

The order the episodes are presented in on Netflix leads viewers to believe that Keith left the team, then Pidge found Matt, then Lotor became a fugitive, then the paladins spent weeks messing around with their propaganda shows, and then the battle for Naxzela happened.

However, various bits of dialogue and details in S4E04 and S4E05 Begin the Blitz imply that S4E04 is presented out of order from the rest of the season:

S4E04 is clearly shown taking place over the course of multiple days, if not weeks, as the team travels from planet to planet performing shows. However, the behavior of Lotor and his generals in S4E05 Begin the Blitz indicates that very little time has passed since the ending of S4E03 Black Site, while Kolivan’s commentary at the start of S4E05 imply that Zarkon declaring Lotor a fugitive is still a new event. Furthermore, the discussion of Zarkon hunting Lotor in S4E05 has Shiro acting as if they’ve only just learned of Zarkon’s survival.

This implies that S4E04 takes place in between S4E01 and S4E02, rather than where it’s placed on Netflix and the DVDs. Which would also be consistent with the fact that Coran states that Keith’s departure from the team at the start of the season is not common knowledge yet in S4E04.

Haggar Waking Up Zarkon

S3E07 ends with Haggar waking Zarkon up, yet we don’t see him up and around until S4E02, which takes place several months after the end of Season 3. Which raises the question of why Zarkon waited so long to get back into action? And why was Haggar pushing Lotor to be more active and visible in ruling the empire if Zarkon was awake to retake the throne?

On top of that, S4E03 opens with Haggar look at her old apperance as Honerva like it's the first time she's seeing her true face since the got her memories back:

What I think is that while S3E07 leads us to believe that Haggar's scenes at the opening and close of the episode were taking place at the same time as Coran telling the current paladins the story of what happened to their predecessors, those scenes were actually taking place during the events of S4E02.

After all, which sounds more logical? Haggar wakes Zarkon up in December 2414 and he spends the next 3-4 months sitting on his ass doing nothing while his empire keeps crumbling under rebel uprisings?

Or Lotor’s lack of involvement in the empire for months as seen in S4E01 Code of Honor making Haggar desperate enough to tap into Zarkon’s mind, at which point he immediately gets out of his bed and takes the throne back from Lotor in S4E03?

The latter would certainly be a logical sequence of events. And it would better explain why she’s suddenly looking at her old appearance as Honerva at the beginning of S4E03 if her recollection of her past was just yesterday than if she remembered months ago and is only now deciding to look at her old face.

Timeframe of Oriande and the start of Season 6:

The framing of S5E05 implies that the team went to see Lotor the same day that Sam Holt returned to Earth after the Kral Zera, however, the dialogue of other characters in the episode implies that some time does pass after the Kral Zera. What solidifies it is that S6E01 Omega Shield reveals that Lotor has almost entirely completed the construction of the third Sincline ship.

Since S3E06 established that it only took Lotor about a week for his forces to construct the first one, enough time needs to pass between the Kral Zera and S6E01 to allow for Lotor to transport the comet from his own ship aboard the Castle of Lions and construct the third ship at Galra central command, as the scene were he and Allura discuss the ship is indicated to take place the same day as his briefing upon their return to the throneship from Oriande, as evidenced by Lotor giving his speech to the empire after discussing it in the earlier briefing.

Assuming they spent a night recovering from oxygen deprivation like Shiro did in Season 3, then they would’ve returned to central command the day after Allura and Lotor completed their visit to Oriande. And when the castle lost power thanks to the White Lion, we’re told that they only have another quintant of air left.

It’s unclear whether the team headed to Oriande on the same day as their visit to central command in S5E05 or the day after, but I’m inclined to go with the later due to the amount of time that Pidge, Lance, and Hunk are shown goofing around central command while Allura and Lotor look through Haggar’s lair.

So depending on whether construction of the Sincline ship was completed before or after they left for Oriande, that gives us between 3 and 7 days passing between Sam’s return to Earth and the team’s arrival at Galra central command. This also allows time for the civil war to begin and for factions to pledge allegiance to Lotor as he moves his things into central command.

Since Sendak’s attack on the Omega Shield begins shortly after Lotor’s speech, that battle occurred on the same day. And Hunk indicates in S80E3 that Keith and Krolia had already started their trip through the Quantum Abyss by the time the Paladins came to the aid of the Omega Shield, so Keith’s scenes in Bloodlines also happened during this time.

To keep things simple, I’ll be putting the events of these first three episodes in early May 2419 between Sam being woken up from quarantine and his debriefing.

Monsters & Mana:

When Monsters and Mana takes place within the six month gap between Sam’s briefing and the final battle of Season 6 is not precisely stated, but Lotor’s message to Allura at the end of the episode that the Sincline ship is ready to begin testing indicates that it’s close to the final battle and they’re almost ready to test the rift gate with it. So this episode likely takes place in late October or mid-November 2415.

Warlord Lahn Raiding Ranveig’s Base:

In S8E03 The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Warlord Lahn says that he sent Klytax V-3 and 14 other cruisers to scout Warlord Ranveig’s base from S5E05 for weapons six phoebs ago. Since the episode implies that his base was one of, if not, the first Galra base that the Paladins struck after they left Earth, putting the events of the episode in September 2419, this would put his fleet’s scouting mission in March of that year.

Section V: The Complete Timeline

When you add everything together, the timeline of the VLD universe looks like this:

10,585-11,584 B.C.E.: The Galra Empire is formally established on the planet Feyiv with the coronation of Emperor Brodar in the first Kral Zera.

8186 B.C.E.: Coran’s grandfather builds the Castle of Lions. Coran accompanies him to a Balmera during the construction.

7614 B.C.E.: Kova is born

7606-7613 B.C.E.: A Trans-Reality Comet crash lands on the planet Daibazaal and a rift between realities is discovered at the crash site.

7604-7605 B.C.E.: 1 year before Allura’s birth, Honerva and Alfor initiate their first Quintessence experiment.

7603-7604 B.C.E.: Princess Allura is born, and Voltron makes its debut defending Daibazaal from the Rift Creatures.

7586 B.C.E.: Daibazzal and Altea are destroyed. Lotor is born

1414:

The Galra Empire battles a technologically advanced species known as the Zel and decimates their population, but are unable to locate the Zelthronian homeworld.

The Galra Empire conquers the planet Cubserion.

2392, February 29: Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane is born

2394, May 25: Matt Holt is born

2396, January: Krolia crash lands on Earth

2396, October 23: Keith is born

2397, January 13: Hunk is born

2397, July 28: Lance is born

2399: Galaxy Garrison maps the human brain.

2399, April 03: Katie “Pidge” Holt is born

2400: Galaxy Garrison manages to map the human brain.

2406, August: Shiro begins taking classes at the Galaxy Garrison.

2408, August: Matt begins taking classes at the Galaxy Garrison.

2410, May: Shiro graduates from Galaxy Garrison’s cadet program

2410, August: Shiro continues his education at the Garrison

2411, March-May: Shiro visits Keith’s middle school as a recruiter for the Garrison sometime in the spring

2411, August: Keith, Lance, Hunk, James Griffin, Nadia Rizavi, Ryan Kinkade, and Ina Leifsdottir begin taking classes at the Galaxy Garrison

2412, May: Matt and Shiro graduate from their respective programs at the Galaxy Garrison.

2412, August: Shiro and Matt are selected to be part of the Garrison’s mission to Kerberos.

2413, July: The Garrison’s mission to Kerberos launches

2413, September: Sam Holt, Matt, and Shiro reach Kerberos and are captured by the Galra Empire.

2413, December: Galaxy Garrison publicly announces the disappearance of the Kerberos mission.

2414, April 28: Rebel forces battle the Galra Empire on the planet Marchanda, resulting in 127,098 rebel casualties while the planet is reduced to a barren wasteland. Matt uses this battle to fake his death and go into hiding in a hidden rebel listening post.

2414, May 11: A rescue mission from Galaxy Garrison arrives on Kerberos to retrieve the equipment left behind after the original mission’s disappearance.

2414, August: Classes begin at the Garrison for Pidge, Hunk, and Lance.

2414, September 01: Shiro lands on Earth and is rescued from quarantine by Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge.

2414, September 02: Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge find the Blue Lion and leave Earth.

2414, September 03: The Paladins train to figure out how to form Voltron outside of combat.

2414, September 04: The Paladins meet the Arusian natives and defeat the Myzax Robeast. Sendak attacks the Castle of Lions that night.

2414, September 05: Pidge and the paladins retake the Castle of Lions from Sendak while Hunk and Coran retrieve a new Balmeran crystal.

2414, September 06: The Castle of Lions takes off from Arus and liberates Shay’s Balmera later that day following an encounter with Rollo and Nyma en route.

2414, September 07: Hunk takes Shay to watch her first sunrise. After leaving the Balmera, Coran takes the Paladins to the Karthulian system for a training exercise.

2414, September 07-08: The Paladins travel to the planet Krell to retrieve a Yalexian Pearl to trade for Coran’s safety.

2414, September 09-31: Sometime in August, Team Voltron investigates a Zelthronian distress signal.

2414, November 15-30: The Paladins coordinate with the Blade of Marmora to attack Central Command, grievously wounding Zarkon in the process. Shiro disappears and Lotor is summoned from exile to lead the empire while his father recovers.

2414, December 01-14:

Keith becomes the new pilot of the Black Lion and leads the team in their first battles against Lotor on Puig and Thayersix.

The Paladins find an Altean exploration ship caught in a rift between realities and recover the trans-reality comet stored in its cargo hold after visiting the Altean Empire reality.

Shiro makes his way back to the team after awakening aboard a Galran research vessel.

In the process of searching for the trans-reality comet, the Paladins come upon Lotor’s generals attacking a Galran outpost in the Ulippa system to steal a fragment of their Teludav.

Coran tells the Paladins the story of Voltron's origins and Zarkon's descent into tyranny.

2414, December 15-2415, March 31: Bandor is chosen to travel to the second Altean Colony and perishes while returning to his sister

2415, February 15-28: Keith and Kolivan discover a new strain of Quintessence being shipped across the Galra empire through a network of secret supply routes.

2415, March: 

Keith leaves the team in order to focus on his work with the Blade of Marmora.

Voltron misses performing their air show at the planet Drazan’s Clear Day celebration, leading Coran to ingest a brain worm to help him do a better job coming up with ideas for their propaganda shows.

2415, April:

Pidge finally tracks down Matt and brings him back to the Castle of Lions.

Haggar uses her magic to reawaken Zarkon, in the process regaining some of her memories of her life as Honerva.

Zarkon learns that Lotor is building ships from a trans-reality comet and declares his son a fugutive.

Voltron launches an attack on Naxzella and other key planets to seize control of 1/3 of the Galra Empire’s territory in a single strike.

The Paladins finish liberating planet Pintos Sentos.

Voltron dismantles the Galra shipbuilding facility known as SPRAWL using intel provided by Lotor.

Voltron rescues Sam, and Zarkon is killed by Lotor in the process.

Lotor becomes the new emperor of the Galra in the thirty-fourth Kral Zera.

Sam returns to Earth and is placed under quarantine at Galaxy Garrison’s main base in Arizona.

2415, May:

Sam is released from quarantine and reunited with his wife Colleen. Keith extracts Krolia from Ranveig’s base and they enter the Quantum Abyss in search of the origins of the new mystery Quintessence.

Lotor, and Allura enter Oriande, where Allura passes the trials of the White Lion and gains further knowledge of Altean Alchemy.

Team Voltron assist Commander Bogh and Lieutenant Lahn when their planet is attacked by Sendak’s Fire of Purification.

Sam is debriefed by Galaxy Garrison’s Joint Chiefs regarding his experiences in space.

2415, October-November: The Paladins sit down to play their first game of Monsters & Mana.

2415, November: After spending at least 2 years in the Quantum Abyss, Keith and Krolia return to the Castle of Lions with Romelle. The Paladins battle Lotor and are forced to sacrifice the Castle of Lions to seal off the Quintessence Field and save their entire reality.

2416, January-April: The Druids and other factions of the Galra Empire begin a campaign of retaliation against the Blade of Marmora and the Voltron Coalition.

2416, May: Matt contacts his parents on Earth to inform them of Voltron’s disappearance and warn them of the rebellion’s losses.

2416, June-November:

Sendak invades Earth.

The Blade of Marmora make their last stand against the Druids. Both factions suffer heavy casualties, and Kolivan is taken captive by Macidus.

2418, November:

Allura merges Shiro with his clone and the Paladins gather Fonatonium to help recharge their lions.

2418, November-December:

The Paladins set off for Earth and are captured by Zethrid and Ezor’s pirate crew while investigating an abandoned Blade of Marmora outpost.

The Paladins encounter Macidus and rescue Kolivan. Krolia leaves with Kolivan to search for other surviving Blades.

The Paladins attempt to recharge their lions.

2419, March: Warlord Lahn sends Klytax V-3 and 14 other cruisers to salvage weapons from one of Warlord Ranveig’s bases.

2419, May: The Paladins reach Earth and quickly liberate the planet from Sendak’s occupation.

2419, September 01-14:

The Paladins enjoy their last day on Earth before returning to space.

The IGF Atlas launches from Earth to liberate planets that remain under Galra rule.

The Atlas attacks Warlord Lahn’s base on the planet Ryker.

2419, November 10-30:

The Paladins battle Honerva in Oriande

Voltron and the crew of the Atlas attend planet Drazan’s Clear Day festival.

The Paladins confront Honerva at the source of all realities.

2420, November: The lions fly away to parts unknown.

Note: This timeline will be updated whenever I uncover further information.

Sources:

[1] Creating Voltron: Legendary Defender; June 10, 2016. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/creating-voltron-legendary-defender/

[2] Tweet by Joaquim Dos Santos; October 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20200723131054/https://twitter.com/JDS_247/status/1050905860728213506

[3] The Ending of 'Voltron' Season 7, Explained by the Showrunners; Eric Francisco; August 10, 2018. https://www.inverse.com/article/47977-voltron-legendary-defender-season-7-netflix-ending-explained-by-showrunners-interview  

[4] Joaquim Dos Santos & Lauren Montgomery Talk Voltron at Wondercon '17; When Nerds Attack; April 2, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZW1V2dYHgs

[5] High School in the United States - wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school_in_the_United_States 

[6] K-12 Education in the United States - Wikipedia.

Assumption 

We could list down the possible birthday accordingly to below information:

1. Public information for their birthday (copy from ilovelocust’s post

Keith, age 18, 10/23; Lance, age 17, 7/28;Shiro, age 25, 2/29;Pidge, age 15, 4/3;Hunk, age 17, 1/13

2. fourMain assumptions as :

  The ONE YEAR start to count from ‘Shiro get caught’ and ‘Shiro returned to earth’      (may I know if any interview showing the year begin at Shiro reported to death and Shiro returned to earth? which would be the most different calculation gap)

 The story happened in Year 2029 (Just to make the calculation easier. )

  The age is counted at the same date Shiro returned the the earth. (where S1E1 begin)

  Only if they pass the 'Birthsday' they would be aged one more (For Shiro, he could be marked as 25 after 2/29 while 24 before his birthsday)

3. All possible birthday meet age requirement at different starting month

(For working file with formula please ask me via message...just list them out without explanation)

So happening at all time could be possible same as the post said

Timeline Evidence

I reviewed the timeline mainly from S1E1, S1E5 (Pidge memory) and S4E2, and found more clues as below.

My conclusion is that Pidge may meet Lance and Hutt around Sep  and the launch date would be around Apr 

Please see my analyst as below:

1) List down all events related to the timeline

(catch from S1E1, S1E5,S4E2)

Thus we have clear for Time 0 (Shiro got caught), Time A (Pidge saw the news), and don’t know the exact how many months pass for Time B (Pidge joined Galaxy Garrison) and Time C (Shiro returned to the earth)

2) List down possible time based on above table

As we know for time B, it was “The fist day of school” where Lance was selected to fighter class for first time, and Pidge joined the Galaxy Garrison.

Normally the new semester started around Jan and Sep (correct me if I am wrong)

so we have another sheet:

And I would want to prefer the option one as normally the toally new semester began at Sep. 

And also, considering the weather change (Time 0, warm, Time A, warm, Time B, cold), Time B happened at Sep would be more reasonable.

Then accordingly to the table we made before for birthday

Conclusion

I believed that:

1)the story happened around Apr - May

2) Lance vs Keith as 0.8 months

3) Keith stayed in his house for about 7-8 months (no matter time B happend at Sep or Jan....)

Okay, the last part, how long Keith been kicked off from galaxy Garrison is the most important part for me for creating the fanart comic....(LOL)  you may check my homepage for more details or tag #howtheyfallinlove

Thanks  @ilovelocust for the post though we have different options