Timeline

This time line is intended to put the known events of the Critical Role universe in as close to chronological order as possible.

Notes and Explanations
This time line uses the official calendar on page 41 of the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting.

Most dates outside the stream are approximate. For example, sources will often say something like "400 years ago" or "a millennium ago," which obviously isn't meant to be exact. Likewise, many dates are described as "less than" or "more than" or "nearly" some number of years ago. A character's birth year is generally their age subtracted from the year when the age is mentioned, though of course that could be off by one year if, for example, the age is mentioned earlier in the year than that character's birthday. This language should be included in the citation for clarity.



Conflicting Evidence
Many dates in this time line are based on evidence that the streamed events of The Campaign of Vox Machina took place between 810 and 812 PD. That evidence includes the following: That said, The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount contradicts all of the above: it repeatedly states that the Chroma Conclave's attacks on Tal'Dorei and Draconia occurred in 815 PD. The guide also notes that the Myriad set up a satellite group in Tal'Dorei twenty years ago (i.e. 815 PD), and it is amply established that they had a foothold in Tal'Dorei by the time Vox Machina began.
 * In, Vincent Clor specifically noted that the date was 12 Misuthar 812 PD, which was the same day Vox Machina fled from a bad battle with Vecna into the Feywild.
 * Winter's Crest offers a convenient marking of time: there was one in the pre-stream adventures (a ruined festival in Westruun, but Emon threw another festival to make up for the spoiled one), there was another just days before the Chroma Conclave attack (the thin barrier between planes on that day helped Thordak escape the Elemental Plane of Fire), and there was one during Vox Machina's long break from adventuring right before the final days of the campaign.
 * The map accompanying the Tal'Dorei Campaign SettingTyriokTalDoreiMap.jpg was inscribed with the year 812 P.D. ("Post-Divergence"), and was created by Tyriok Gadsworth, who was in the process of creating the map in, which took place at the beginning of the year following the Chroma Conclave's attack on Emon. The Campaign Setting was set roughly one year after the fall of the Chroma Conclave.
 * Matthew Mercer said on Twitter that, in relation to Campaign 1, Campaign 2 was "over 20 years later." Campaign 2 starts in Sydenstar 835 PD.

This was reinforced an episode in 836 PD: Beauregard Lionett recalled that Delilah Briarwood was ousted from the Cerberus Assembly "25, 26 years" earlier, which would be 810 PD. She fled and eventually took over Whitestone five or six years before Vox Machina led the rebellion against them, suggesting that Whitestone was liberated in 815 PD.

Slightly less straightforward evidence of conflict: Allura Vysoren appeared to be in her mid-fifties in 836 PD. If the Chroma Conclave attacked in 810 PD, and Allura led a group of adventurers who sealed Thordak about 15 or 16 years before that, then Thordak was sealed in 794 or 795 PD, when Allura would have been a young teenager.

Another specific date doesn't seem to fit either scenario well: in, set in 826 PD, Matt starts the episode by saying it has been "just over a decade since Vecna's ascension and subsequent banishing." That doesn't fit with Vecna's ascension being in 817 PD, as it would have been if the Chroma Conclave attacked in 815. And it's a slight stretch to say 14 years is "just over a decade."

Vincent Clor's date contradicts another couple of pieces of canon, in a smaller way. He stated that the date was 12 Misuthar, but a previous episode indicated that Vox Machina was taking a full one-year break that would have ended weeks after 12 Misuthar. One could treat that "one year" as approximate, but that one-year break included the creation of a permanent teleportation circle in Whitestone, which would take exactly one year. It's not a big adjustment, so this time line simply treats the 12 Misuthar date as correct.

The Founding
See The Founding for an overview.

The Age of Arcanum
''See The Age of Arcanum for an overview. The Age of Arcanum includes the Calamity and ends at the Divergence.''

The Calamity
See The Calamity for an overview. The war that came to be called the Calamity wiped out most of civilization.

Post-Divergence
See Post-Divergence for an overview.

Between The Campaign of Vox Machina and Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein
1 Dualahei 812 PD to 15 Sydenstar 835 PD

Miscellaneous Dates and Times

 * Kashaw and Vesh consummated their marriage on his fifteenth "name-day" (the same as a birthday?). Kashaw also tried to kill her at that time.
 * As ancient dragons, Thordak, Vorugal, Umbrasyl, and Raishan were all over 800 years old.
 * Thordak was not yet ancient when he attacked Ank'Harel.
 * Brimscythe was between the ages of "young" and "adult", meaning he was less than 100 years old.