User blog:Aquamarinesandopals/eah's timeline: thoughts

okay so i know i do Literally have a page for this already, but i'm not yet ready to post this officially and felt getting my thoughts on paper (or... page) would be helpful. i'm also using this to help me get back into the swing of editing things because i've been absent lately due to my mental health :')

so here is an analysis of ever after high's timeline that i will update as i watch, maybe, before converting this to a page when i am done.

in advance: this is messy and i hate mattel

issues with a linear timeline
eah's timeline is not (and cannot) be linear. sort of.

upon looking at the series through the lens of 'what happens when', it becomes abundantly clear that the episodes are in a fine enough order, but that mattel didn't account for time progression in the series. because of this, when applying what we have to a four year structure, you literally run out of years.

i firmly believe mattel would have done something to celebrate apple and raven's graduation had they wanted to stop the series at graduation, but they didn't, which really lends me to believe that they lost track of years or didn't care that they had. either way, plotting this linearly doesn't work. (it also all falls apart after way too wonderland, just like most eah things).

what we know: timeline
so if linear timelining doesn't work, what do we know?

glad you asked!

note: i am only up to thronecoming in my rewatch !

chapter 1

 * Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale
 * Fact: This is their first day ("I don't wanna miss a minute of our first day!").
 * Issue: The books tell us there is an orientation week. The webisodes don't back that up, as their first day sees them moving in and attending classes and rehersals.
 * Briar's Study Party
 * Fact: Pupils are upset at the prospect of a test for things they haven't studied yet ("We've only studied up to Chapter 2.").
 * Analysis: This probably takes place near the beginning of the year, as there is apparently a lot they have yet to study.
 * Catching Raven
 * Fact: Briar is having a party ("Y'know, Briar's having that party on Friday.").
 * Analysis: in Apple's Tale, Briar mentions having a party on Friday when she is practising signing the Storybook of Legends. Also in Apple's Tale, Briar says "I mean, this year's Legacy Day after party is gonna be a page ripper." - it isn't unlikely that all of these refer to the same party. If so, Catching Raven must happen before the end of the first academic week. Equally, it seems safe to assume that Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale take place on Monday. Note: the books also discuss a Legacy Day after party.
 * The Tale of Legacy Day
 * Fact: This takes place on Legacy Day.
 * Analysis: If Briar's after party is on a Friday, apparently "this" Friday, then Legacy Day takes place on the first Friday of second year.
 * The Day Ever After
 * Fact: This takes place the day after Legacy Day.
 * Analysis: If Briar's after party is on a Friday, apparently "this" Friday, then Legacy Day takes place on the first Friday of second year. That would mean this takes place the day after, on Saturday.

chapter 2

 * Blondie's Just Right
 * Fact: This takes place after Legacy Day ("Following the unfortunate events of Legacy Day").
 * True Hearts Day - Parts 1, 2, and 3
 * Fact: These take place in the Spring ("Welcome fairytale friends, to Spring at Ever After High.").
 * Class Confusion
 * Fact: Apple and Raven are choosing classes to take.
 * Issues: Why are Apple and Raven choosing classes in February? Put a pin in that, we're coming back to it.
 * Fact: Raven says "Since destiny is now mine to write [...]."
 * Analysis: This happens after Legacy Day.
 * Apple's Birthday Bakeoff
 * Fact: This takes place on Apple's birthday.
 * Analysis: Apple's birthday is on May 13th, according to Mattel.
 * Poppy the Roybel
 * Fact: It is Poppy's first day at Ever After High ("Look, it's Poppy O'Hair [...] and it's her first day at Ever After High.").
 * Analysis: "Her first day" implies it may not be the same "first day" as everyone else.
 * Fact: Madam Yaga tells Poppy, "You must choose [your classes] today. Classes start tomorrow.".
 * Issues: Why has Poppy begun attending EAH and choosing classes, which apparently start tomorrow, in May? Put a pin in that, we're coming back to it.

special: thronecoming

 * Fact: This takes place on/around Thronecoming.
 * Analysis: In the real world, Homecoming typically takes place at the end of September or start of October. The events related to Thronecoming (a big sports game, the importance of alumni and tradition) heavily parallel those of IRL Homecoming. Therefore, it is safe to assume it is an expy for it and would take place in September or October.
 * Fact: Ashlynn freely speaks about her and Hunter, Blondie vocally calls them "Huntlynn" in a broadcast and seems enamored with their romance.
 * Analysis: This has to take place after True Hearts Day, as people openly discuss Hunter and Ashlynn and are supportive towards them.
 * Fact: We see the Well of Wonder used as a wishing well by Raven. It then has the Storybook of Legends lobbed into it by Briar.
 * Analysis: Thronecoming sets up the events of Spring Unsprung, so must take place before it.

analysis in general
get ready to ackwnoledge all those pins i told you to keep an eye on.

after chapter 1, none of ever after high's webisodes rely on the overaching plot (that being the one about destiny and royals/rebels) in a linear way. this plot, after chapter 1, is exclusively explored through the specials. excluding dragon games (to a point) and epic winter (with no doubt), all the specials follow the same pattern. they explore something brought up in the previous one and set up something for the next one. therefore, it is safe to assume all the specials are in chronological order. they rely on the ones before and after to tell a story and make no sense when not observed in that order.

that means our timeline, at a base level, looks like this:
 * 1) Legacy Day
 * 2) True Hearts Day
 * 3) Thronecoming
 * 4) Spring Unsprung
 * 5) Way Too Wonderland
 * 6) Dragon Games
 * 7) Epic Winter

now, lets slot in dates we know these must have. (i will only do up to spring unsprung, as i've yet to go past thronecoming, but spring unsprung has an obvious date!)

thronecoming cannot take place prior to true hearts day, so cannot be their second year thronecoming. it must be their third year one. this explains how raven like... actually gets votes.
 * 1) The Tale of Legacy Day - September, Apple and Raven's 2nd year of EAH
 * 2) True Hearts Day - Spring (presumably February), Apple and Raven's 2nd year of EAH
 * 3) Thronecoming - Late September or early October, Apple and Ravens's 3rd year of EAH
 * 1) Spring Unsprung - Late Winter or early Spring, Apple and Raven's 3rd year of EAH

the chapter 1 webisodes were plot filled and made perfect sense in the order they were in. many mention the same events over and over, so are easy to plot. let's add the ones with definitive (or relative) dates in.


 * 1) Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale - September, the first day of 2nd year. Monday.
 * 2) Catching Raven - September, 2nd year. Before the first Friday of the term.
 * 3) The Tale of Legacy Day - September, 2nd year. The first Friday of the term.
 * 4) The Day Ever After - September, 2nd year. The first Saturday of the term.

now lets fill in the other webisodes/specials.


 * 1) Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale - September, the first day of 2nd year. Monday.
 * 2) Stark Raven Mad, True Reflections, Maddie-in-Chief, Briar's Study Party, Here Comes Cupid, The Shoe Must Go On, The Cat Who Cried Wolf, Cedar Wood Would Love to Lie
 * 3) Catching Raven - September, 2nd year. Before the first Friday of the term.
 * 4) The Tale of Legacy Day - September, 2nd year. The first Friday of the term.
 * 5) The Day Ever After - September, 2nd year. The first Saturday of the term.
 * 6) Replacing Raven

here is when we run into issues. the following webisodes/specials also have definitive dates


 * 1) True Hearts Day - February, 2nd year. The actual events of True Hearts Day (the celebration) are a Valentines expy and so, presumably, take place on the 14th exactly.
 * 2) Apple's Birthday Bakeoff - May 13th, 2nd year.

but were released with webisodes that do not. they were also released with things that should happen at the start of a new school year, not in february through may, such as poppy joining and apple and raven picking classes. there is also a notable time jump between september and february, missing at least 5 months, which seems odd.

please note: mattel produced true hearts day and chapter 2 in a different order than they were presented in. also, chapter 2 is (near) entirely non-linear and is incredibly slice of life compared to the chock-a-block plot of chapter 1. there is minimal mention of destiny, royals or rebels, or people not being happy about legacy day.

to me, this can mean one of two things. either, a) mattel produced all the plot related stuff first, knowing they wanted to start with legacy day and 'end' with true hearts day. they then produced chapter 2, slice of life content made to slot in anywhere between the beginning of chapter 1 and true hearts day. this means the 'beginning of school year' events take place at the beginning of second year.

or b) it was after true hearts day that mattel decided it wanted to tell the plot largely though specials, not webisodes. as such, there was no intention of retroactively adding things, like in a), meaning chapter 2's 'beginning of the school year' events take place in apple and raven's third year, not the beginning of second.

i honestly believe the answer is a mix of the two. considering that the episodes that should take place at the start of a school year include raven saying 'she is now free to write her own destiny' and an incredibly familiar, friendly relationship between apple and raven, i don't think these can realistically happen prior to the tale of legacy day. they must be at the start of third year. as an example, apple's objection to raven taking princessology is not that it isn't destined, but that it is apple's favourite class and that raven taking it "isn't fair".

however, some of the chapter 2 webisodes refer to legacy day as if it were just yesterday, such as blondie's just right. because of this, i'd suggest these either take place in third year, near the time legacy day is occuring for the new second years, or near legacy day in 2nd year. perhaps mattel realised this, as blondie's just right was the one webisode from chapter 2 to be released pre true hearts day. (for clarity: this is how i will be treating it. chapter 1 was chronological and true hearts day is chronologically after it, so i don't see why blondie's just right shouldn't be chronologically between them, considering it was released between them).

either way, i do not believe chapter 2 as a whole is chronological. otherwise the timeline is: >pretty soon after legacy day >february 14th >start of 3rd year >may 13th which is stupid (and produces problems with timelineing spring unsprung).

lets fill in our timeline accordingly:


 * 1) Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale - September, the first day of 2nd year. Monday.
 * 2) Stark Raven Mad, True Reflections, Maddie-in-Chief, Briar's Study Party, Here Comes Cupid, The Shoe Must Go On, The Cat Who Cried Wolf, Cedar Wood Would Love to Lie
 * 3) Catching Raven - September, 2nd year. Before the first Friday of the term.
 * 4) The Tale of Legacy Day - September, 2nd year. The first Friday of the term.
 * 5) The Day Ever After - September, 2nd year. The first Saturday of the term.
 * 6) Replacing Raven
 * 7) Blondie's Just Right - Legacy Day seems to be recent.
 * 8) True Hearts Day - February, 2nd year. The actual events of True Hearts Day (the celebration) are a Valentines Day expy and so, presumably, take place on the 14th exactly.
 * 9) Apple's Birthday Bakeoff - May 13th, 2nd year.
 * 10) Poppy the Roybel - September, the day before the first day of 3rd year.
 * 11) Class Confusion - September, the first day of 3rd year.
 * 12) Thronecoming - Late September/early October, 3rd year.

i was hesitant to place poppy the roybel down, as new students can join at any point in the year and while madam yaga says that classes will start tomorrow, she could just mean that it is sunday, the next day is monday, and poppy shouldn't miss more term time than has already passed. however, schools try to get new pupils in as close to the start of the year as possible, and this placement reads nicely with apple and raven arguing about classes in the very next episode.

all the other webisodes (the beautiful truth, mirrornet down, rebel's got talent, once upon a table, blondie branches out, o'hairs split ends, maddie's hat-tastic teaparty, lizzie heart's fairytale first date, apple's princess practice, lizzie shuffles the deck, duchess swan's lake, cerise's picnic panic, kitty's curious tale, cupid comes clean... kinda) could happen literally anywhere between the tale of legacy day and thronecoming.

in my mind, the following three have likely placements:
 * rebel's got talent - after september in 2nd year
 * who does an annual talent show one month into the school year, when said month has legacy day and thronecoming in it? while only second years do legacy day, i still think it'd be random to have in that schedule. i reckon this happens between the day ever after (at least) and true hearts day.
 * once upon a table - pre-thronecoming in 3rd year
 * there is a desire to hide wonderland-esque things and the culture related to them, for the sake of appearing proper. wonderland is heavily celebrated following thronecoming and way too wonderland, so i'd bet it happens before both.
 * maddie's hat-tastic teaparty - pre-thronecoming in 3rd year
 * there is no mention or discussion of the well of wonder, which we know has to do with wonder and how ever after functions (though this could be an accidental inconsistency, due to not deciding what the well would do in spring unsprung). you could read that the wonderland grove losing wonder foreshadows issues with wonder (and the lack of it) later in the story.
 * duchess swan's lake - after true hearts day
 * we see hunter and ashlynn hanging out and not being bothered by duchess seeing that, where they were bothered by it pre-true hearts day.

those are all entirely my readings though, and are largely conjecture with no basis in much of anything.

i can't analyise further than this yet as i'm not there, so stay tuned! :') TL:DR outside of chapter 1, none of the webisodes are related to plot and can be entirely disregarded when working out the timeline of the story.

what we know: worldbuilding

 * Apple's Tale/Raven's Tale
 * Fact: There are repeated mentions to the previous year ("I'm rooming with Maddie this year.") and most of the interactions we see are preestablished, as is the social atmosphere, as are things like Blondie having a MirrorCast show.
 * Analysis: This isn't their first year. This aligns with the set up in the books.
 * Class Confusion
 * Fact: Home Evilnomics' curriculum includes: finding an animal in the Enchanted Forest and turning it evil (their "first project" of the term) and growing evil plants. Madam Yaga is the teacher.
 * Fact: Princessology's curriculum involves smiling practice.
 * Maddie's Hat-Tastic Teaparty
 * Fact: The Wonderland Grove is losing magic.
 * Analysis: This is straight up the plot of Spring Unsprung, but before Spring Unsprung. The Wonderland Grove may be prone to losing magic.
 * Rebel's Got Talent
 * Fact: There is a yearly talent show.
 * Poppy the Roybel
 * Fact: Hero Training involves sparring with a dragon.
 * Fact: Magicology involves "literal" blasts/explosions.
 * Duchess Swan's Lake
 * Fact: Each dorm room has their own mail box placed in a tree trunk next to their room.