If you’ve ever tried to piece together the Wheel of Time timeline, you’ll know it feels like trying to map a jigsaw puzzle that keeps spinning itself into new shapes. The series spans thousands of years, several Ages, and more world-shattering events than any historian could hope to keep straight.
Robert Jordan built an entire cyclical universe where time is a wheel, history repeats, and destiny is both fixed and flexible. So let’s walk through it all, starting with the Breaking of the World and ending with the Last Battle. No need to have the Pattern weave it for you, I’ve done the heavy lifting.
The Breaking of the World (Approx. 3,000 years before the main series)
The Age of Legends ends in cataclysm. The male Aes Sedai, driven mad after sealing the Dark One’s prison, unleash chaos that literally reshapes continents.
Key events:
- Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon, leads the Hundred Companions to seal the Bore.
- Saidin becomes tainted, driving all male channelers insane.
- The Breaking devastates civilisation. Oceans shift, mountains rise, entire cultures vanish.
- Surviving Aes Sedai stabilise what’s left of the world.
This is the Age that becomes legend, then myth. But its ruins are everywhere, from the Ogier stedding to the lost technology hinted at in Rhuidean.
The Rise of Nations (Between the Breaking and the Trolloc Wars)
When the Breaking finally settles, humanity starts rebuilding. Out of scattered survivors rise the first great nations, guided by Aes Sedai.
Highlights:
- The White Tower is founded in Tar Valon.
- Manetheren, Aridhol, and Almoren become powerful kingdoms.
- The first prophecies of the Dragon’s Rebirth are recorded.
- Aridhol, consumed by paranoia, becomes Shadar Logoth.
If you ever wonder why everyone in the main series keeps quoting dead kings and vanished realms, this is why. The early Ages are practically a graveyard of once-great nations.
The Trolloc Wars (1,000 years after the Breaking)
Darkness rises again. The Dark One’s forces, led by Trollocs, Myrddraal, and Dreadlords, sweep across the Westlands.
Turning points:
- Manetheren holds the line until betrayal and annihilation.
- Aes Sedai armies fight back but suffer massive losses.
- Humanity eventually wins, though the continent is scarred.
It’s the first real “Last Battle” that isn’t the Last Battle. Generations later, songs of Manetheren’s stand still echo in the Two Rivers, even if no one remembers what they mean.
The Free Years (Post-Trolloc Wars)
A fragile peace follows, recorded as the “Free Years.” It’s a time of relative stability, though the Shadow never truly sleeps.
Notable developments:
- New nations like Andor and Cairhien rise from the ashes.
- Aes Sedai influence declines as kings and queens assert power.
- Artur Hawkwing unites the continent under his banner, creating the greatest empire since the Age of Legends.
But power, as usual, doesn’t last.
The Fall of Artur Hawkwing’s Empire (FY 994–FY 1000)
Hawkwing’s death plunges the world back into chaos. His heirs and generals tear apart his empire while his armies sail west and never return.
Consequences:
- The continent fractures into dozens of rival nations.
- The Seanchan empire begins across the Aryth Ocean.
- Wars of succession and Aes Sedai meddling destabilise everything.
This is the calm-before-the-storm period, the world order that eventually births Rand al’Thor, Mat Cauthon, and Egwene al’Vere.
The New Era (War of the Hundred Years to the Main Series)
The War of the Hundred Years turns the remnants of Hawkwing’s empire into the nations we know in the books.
Key moments:
- Tear, Illian, Andor, and Tarabon take shape.
- The Children of the Light emerge as a zealous military order.
- The Karaethon Cycle (Prophecies of the Dragon) spreads across the lands.
When the books begin, the world is already holding its breath. The Pattern is twisting. Taveren are stirring. The Dragon is about to be reborn.
The Third Age and the Rise of the Dragon Reborn
Rand al’Thor’s birth marks the beginning of the end.
Major events:
- The Eye of the World and the fall of the Forsaken.
- The rise of the Dragon Reborn and the cleansing of Saidin.
- The Seanchan return to reclaim their “lost lands.”
- Nations fracture as Tarmon Gai’don looms.
If you read it all in order, this is the section where the Wheel stops spinning slowly and starts doing doughnuts.
The Last Battle (Tarmon Gai’don)
The Pattern tightens. Every prophecy, betrayal, and vision converges here.
Highlights:
- Rand confronts the Dark One at Shayol Ghul.
- Mat leads the armies of the Light in open battle.
- Egwene’s sacrifice restores balance to the Pattern.
- Perrin slays Slayer in the wolf dream.
- The Dark One is sealed once again, but not destroyed.
The Age ends, the Wheel turns, and what was once a distant myth becomes legend again.
Aftermath and the Next Turning of the Wheel
The Fourth Age begins quietly, as all new Ages do. Heroes are reborn, stories twist, and somewhere down the line, another Breaking waits to happen.
The beauty of The Wheel of Time is that it doesn’t end. The story might, but time doesn’t care. As Moiraine says, “The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills.”
And if you ever feel lost in the timeline, just remember, everyone else is too. That’s half the fun.
Complete Wheel of Time Timeline Table
| Era / Approx. Date | Event / Period | Key Figures & Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Age of Legends | A utopian, technology-driven era powered by the One Power. | Lews Therin Telamon, Latra Posae Decume, and the Aes Sedai lead a global civilisation. The Bore in the Dark One’s prison is drilled, beginning the end. |
| The Breaking of the World (Approx. 3,000 years before the books) | Male Aes Sedai go mad after sealing the Dark One’s prison. The world is reshaped by earthquakes, floods, and fire. | Lews Therin kills his family before being slain by the Creator’s power through Rand’s later reincarnation. The world’s geography changes entirely. |
| Rebuilding and Early Nations | Humanity rebuilds after the Breaking. Aes Sedai help stabilise society. | Tar Valon and the White Tower are founded. Early kingdoms like Manetheren, Aridhol, and Almoren emerge. |
| Trolloc Wars (Approx. 1,000 years after the Breaking) | Armies of Shadowspawn wage war across the Westlands. | Manetheren falls heroically. Aes Sedai unite nations to push back the Shadow. Eventually the Trollocs are defeated, but at great cost. |
| Post-Trolloc Wars / Free Years Begin | Recovery and reformation across the lands. | Recorded as Year 1 of the Free Years calendar. New nations arise, though smaller and weaker than before. |
| Age of Aridhol’s Fall | Aridhol becomes Shadar Logoth after being consumed by evil from within. | Mordeth’s corruption spreads; the city is abandoned. |
| Age of Hawkwing (FY 0–FY 994) | Artur Paendrag Tanreall (Artur Hawkwing) unites nearly the entire continent. | His reign brings peace but ends with rebellion and fragmentation. His western fleet vanishes, later forming the Seanchan Empire. |
| Collapse of Hawkwing’s Empire (FY 994–FY 1000) | After Hawkwing’s death, civil war engulfs the continent. | Multiple claimants to his throne. The Aes Sedai reassert power. The War of the Hundred Years follows. |
| War of the Hundred Years (Post-FY 1000) | The continent fractures into the modern nations seen in the books. | Nations like Andor, Cairhien, Tear, Illian, and Tarabon are formed. The Children of the Light emerge as a militant order. |
| Prophecies of the Dragon | The Karaethon Cycle predicts the Dragon’s rebirth to face the Last Battle. | The world awaits the Dragon Reborn, fearing both salvation and destruction. |
| Third Age Begins | The main setting for the Wheel of Time books. | The Pattern begins weaving taveren, Rand al’Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, into place. |
| The Dragon Reborn Era (Book Events) | Rand al’Thor discovers his destiny and unites nations for Tarmon Gai’don. | Key events include: The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, Falme, Tear, Rhuidean, Dumai’s Wells, and the Cleansing of Saidin. |
| Return of the Seanchan | The Seanchan Empire invades the Westlands to reclaim the “lost lands.” | Led by the Daughter of the Nine Moons, Tuon. Creates political chaos. |
| Tarmon Gai’don (The Last Battle) | The Dragon faces the Dark One at Shayol Ghul. The Pattern is preserved. | Rand defeats the Dark One through understanding rather than annihilation. Egwene dies sealing the cracks in reality. Mat leads armies of Light. Perrin defeats Slayer in Tel’aran’rhiod. |
| Beginning of the Fourth Age | The world rebuilds. The Wheel turns anew. | Rand lives on in another body, disappearing into legend. The Pattern resets for the next Age. |
