THE LEIJIVERSE INTEGRATED TIMELINE Third Edition ================================== by Richard Mandel VERSION 3.05 (final edition) INTRODUCTION -----------"For me, all my works are one big work in a sense. When I write, I am aware of it as a single story. Therefore, I will bring it all together when I write my last story. However, if I begin to write that now, I'll get the feeling that I'm approaching my own demise. [That's why] I don't want to do it yet ...." - Leiji Matsumoto from his 2010 interview with Tim Eldred (courtesy starblazers.com) Welcome, friend, to the third edition of this most singular, and perhaps controversial, of fan efforts regarding the works of legendary Japanese manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto. It is an attempt to come up with an artificial linear chronology - a de facto integrated timeline, if you will for most of the major related science fiction anime titles on which he has been the creator or chief writer, as well as many of the related manga (i.e. Japanese comics) he has penned. A lot of fans prior to this work claimed this was impossible. Some still do. So, before we get down to the nitty-gritty of this document, let me explain its nature and what it is all about. There is an obvious continuity running through many of Leiji Matsumoto's major works - or M-san, as I will refer to him in this document. All of you who are fans of M-san know what I'm talking about. This is that wide-ranging group of his science fiction stories, both major and minor, that we have collectively come to call the "Leijiverse." The same characters, stories grouped around certain events in time, or the rise and fall of certain technologies, and so forth. Even so, whenever a fan actually tries to line these stories up and put them in some sort of chronological order, they never quite fit together. The dates are always a bit off. Key events sometimes change from story to story. Characters who are supposed to have lived and died in a certain era suddenly pop up in another, and no answer is given as to why. Sometimes key technologies themselves, such as starships or the Mechanization process, will inexplicably change their appearance or ownership ... and so on, and so on. There are three main reasons for this state of affairs. First, like any good author, M-san occasionally revises his tales. He has had any number of reasons for doing so - new publishers who request certain changes, new ideas that come to him, or the conceiving of a new approach to an old tale, and so on. Perhaps the best known example of this are what are collectively known as the "revival Leijiverse" stories - partial or in some cases almost complete rewrites of many of his classic science fiction tales done for a new generation of his fans. This was one of only two times he has apparently ever attempted to unite any of his works in some sort of grand scheme. Second, the transition from manga to anime often results in any number of changes - not all of which have been with M-san's approval or blessing. The initial appearance of the little girl Mayu Oyama in the 1978 TV series SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK is one of these. She never appears in the original manga (1), nor in any of M-san's older Harlock tales, but was put there at the insistence of director Rin Taro (with whom M-san has had any number of creative differences) in order to humanize the tale, and make it more accessible to mainstream audiences. Yes, she is based on some of M-san's own creations in other manga stories (DAIFURINDEN), but Maya as a character in her own right is NOT part of the original Harlock mythos - as shocking as this may sound to some fans. She's an afterthought, forced upon M-san by Rin Taro, and with whom he has had to reluctantly come to terms with over the years - even though she was not part of the original Harlock mythos as such. In retrospect, it's hard for us Leijiverse fans to think nowadays of Captain Harlock without thinking of little Maya - but she was not there to begin with. She is an addition to the tale, not part of the original concept. Third, M-san personal writing philosophy, which he summarizes in the Japanese phrase "toki no wa," actively works against any cohesive chronology. What does this mean? The concept behind the phrase is difficult to translate into English in just a few words, but I'll try. One way of putting it is this: all possibilities exist at all times for all people in any tale. Confused? Let me try again, but from a different angle. M-san's writing philosophy treats his creation, the Leijiverse, more like a looping multiverse - a universe of multiple concurrent possible realities - than one single dimension. He justifies changes to his works over the years, however large or small, by claiming that each tale or group of tales has its own unique chronology that folds in on itself, like a ring or moebius loop. Parallel timelines with repeating characters and events if you will - or as the old Western saying goes, "What goes around comes around." Identical characters can be born, live their lives, and die at different times. The same goes for key events and technologies. The philosophy of "toki no wa" also helps explain in part the big break between M-san's older anime stories and his later "revival Leijiverse" stories, beginning with HARLOCK SAGA. He essentially rebooted his entire Leijiverse into a new and unique chronology in order to fulfill the grand unifying concept he had for it at that time. There are those who see this claim as intriguing, even something wonderful and unique in its own right. On the other hand, critics rightly point out that it conveniently saves him from ever having to rewrite any of his works - from straightening out the multiple myriad continuity issues that have cropped up over the years. Which position is right? Who knows? "Toki no wa." "I've many times seen, in various articles, publications, websites, etc., the idea put forth that the various stories featuring Captain Harlock and assorted attendant characters don't fit into any proper chronology that could make any sense at all. After this declaration, which is significant and utterly true, the writer will then proceed to elaborate on some form of overarching continuity, as if they had suddenly been struck with a flat iron and were unable to remember their own prior assertion. Failure dogs their heels throughout the ill-fated attempt, and finally catches them and eats them. They have blown it." - unknown spokesman, Corn Pone Flicks I am not going to pretend to even try to sort out and discuss all of the different variations and permutations of everything in the Leijiverse. Such a task is beyond my skill, and would make this document far longer than it already is. I'll leave that to the critics and the true scholars of this field, and not opinionated fan spokesmen like the above. What I have chosen to do - and I wish I had made this more clear in the second edition of this work - is to come up with an artificial construct and make a chronology of that. What this document does is to attempt to make a timeline of what the Leijiverse would be like IF it were internally consistent and everything - or almost everything - fit neatly into place. I can't stress the word "artificial" hard enough. This is not an integrated linear chronology of the so-called "real" Leijiverse, and on that one point (and one point only) I will concede to my critics. Such a thing is indeed impossible, and I admit that, for the three reasons I outlined above. Thus the artificial model. This is an integrated linear chronology of an artificial Leijiverse - a model based on M-san's multiple realities in which everything exists in a single reality, has a set place, and the flow of time is linear - not running together on multiple possible tracks or looping through a bunch of rings in multiple space-time continuums. What I am ultimately trying to describe is an idealized place. It is not Leijiverse reality. Over the past few years, I have heard from and read the comments of fellow fans who have seen the previous edition of this work. That includes any number of critics - and all of them take the same general approach. They almost always denounce my efforts at establishing a linear chronology and then make the mistake of trying to paint their own coherent picture of the actual Leijiverse with all of its rings, loops, twists, and everything. I myself prefer to keep things simple, but I honestly can't criticize these folks. After all, thanks to "toki no wa," all of us are permitted to have our own unique notions of the Leijiverse. We can accept whatever part of it we like and that is both "true" and "real," because "toki no wa" makes it so. For instance, we can accept only the original manga stories as "true" and reject all else. We can accept only the world of the "revival Leijiverse" anime and even reject its manga, which was written at the same time, because "toki no wa" allows us to do that. However broad or limited you want your scope or interpretation of the Leijiverse to be, "toki no wa" says that you are always right no matter what your perspective. So what serves as one of the chief impediments to a consistent Leijiverse also gives us an unlimited amount of freedom in interpreting it. All of us are both right AND wrong at the same time. "Toki no wa." By this same line of reasoning, I am permitted my so-called "fantasy" of a timeline for an artificial eijiverse, where everything fits like it should, just as much as my staunchest critics are permitted to claim there can never be a consistent chronology, because "toki no wa" says both of us can do that. In my case, however, my timeline - or ring, or loop, or sphere, or Leijiverse subset, or whatever you want to call it, is just a lot larger and more intricate than most fans. I try to integrate as many data points as I can, not just the ones that are the most obvious. Remember, my effort is just as much "true" and "real" as anybody else's interpretation - even if it IS just a model - because of "toki no wa." I guess, in a way, this makes me the James Dixon of the Leijiverse. Fans continue to argue over his STAR TREK fandom chronology to this day, which was very much his own creation and based on his own perceptions of what the TREK multiverse "should" be, as opposed to the official Okuda chronology. Even so, that hasn't stopped these same people from using - and mining - Dixon's extensive research for their own purposes. I accepted that from the moment I began this work ... and it was partially for that reason that I began it. I expect this to be used and data-mined - or in some cases partially reworked by my fellow Leijiverse fans just as much as serious Trekkers do to Dixon's work. Why? I've saved you a lot of research into the finer details of the Leijiverse - or at the very least, have pointed out most of the major (and minor) places where you can start researching on your own. It was with this idea firmly in mind, way back when, that I began .... "It's no surprise that there are fans out there trying to provide for a larger continuity [of the Leijiverse] that can account for multiple universes, parallel timelines, etc. We actually know that Matsumotosensei is interested in time and physics, so this is a legitimate approach (or as French fans say, 'leijitime' - which breaks down into 'leiji'" + 'time.')" - animekritik (a.k.) from the Kritik der Animationskraft Internet site. "So if I'm allowed to interpret the Leijiverse however I want, why do I need this work? There's no reason for it -- is there?" Fair point. Fans can view M-san's works however they please. That's how he has set up the Leijiverse. I think the best illustration of this was by Tim Eldred in his STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH web comic, where Trelana gives Wildstar a vision of the infinite possibilities of time. He is given the briefest of glimpses of these parallel concurrent realities - including one in which he never existed, and the Yamato (nee Argo) was commanded by a woman. As I noted before, and to borrow one fan's notion of continuity, you can grab whatever subset of the Leijiverse you want built around whatever unifying principle or principles you chose and make it work for you. "Toki no wa" permits that. At the same time, however, there is a definite need for some kind of guide that you can use in building your own concept of the Leijiverse. That's what I'm trying to do with this revised timeline - this model, this oversized subset, this integrated linear chronology of an artificially "perfect" Leijiverse. You can use it to begin getting a grasp on how the tales (or subset of tales) you like that relate to the rest of the Leijiverse (the superset), or relate to tales that share similar elements (other subsets). In other words, this work is a RULER, not a RULE. It is a guidebook to your road, not the road itself. I have made it as broad and as encompassing as possible in order to cover as much of the Leijiverse as I can - and where I speculate I try to say so - but never forget that what I describe is NOT the actual Leijiverse. It is an artificial Leijiverse that has been made in such a way as to conform, for the most part, to what most fans' concept of the Leijiverse might be like if it were a linear and internally consistent place. It is not. The actual Leijiverse is not linear, as is this model (2). The so-called "real" Leijiverse loops in on itself multiple times - almost to the point of redundancy, one might say. Even so, "toki no wa" permits me my linear model just as much as it does the real thing, or you and whatever your own personal interpretation might be. Remember learning about Mercator projection maps in high school? That big "Map of the World" that the teacher would occasionally use when talking about world geography? Remember how funny all the continents looked, with Greenland being larger than North America when it's actually smaller? That's one way to think of this timeline. A Mercator projection map is a mathematical means of mapping the curved, continuous surface of a sphere onto a flat rectangle. The farther you move away from the equator, the more and more things get distorted. It doesn't have to be a Mercator map, either. Any attempt at mapping a sphere onto a flat surface ultimately fails because you can't accurately map a curved surface onto something flat. Something always gets distorted in the process. Think of my artificial model, my integrated timeline, as that flat map of the various and sundry "Rings of Time" that make up the actual Leijiverse. There's no way I can accurately map them all. Too many iterations, and too many data points within those different and unique iterations. With this artificial linear timeline, however, I can give you a useful tool by which you can measure and plot out whichever of those rings you choose for yourself. By showing you what the "Center Ring" might look like, if such a thing existed, and if it were made linear - or "mapped flat," if you will - with almost everything fitting nicely into place, you can then use this model to measure against your own interpretation of the Leijiverse, or whatever subset thereof that draws your particular interest. Mine is a "best fit line" through most of the known data points that will help you along the way towards developing your own theory about the Leijiverse. After all, a ring is nothing more than a line joined at its endpoints ... isn't it? "Mr. Matsumoto doesn't much care if all the pieces fall conveniently into place. He has always been more interested in telling a good story than pleasing continuity buffs." - Robert W. Gibson Eternity Comics "But why all the dates and the notes and comments and such? I though you said I could interpret the Leijiverse any way I want." They're there for the sake of convenience. They are there for research purposes - so you will know "when" something is supposed to happen and why. They are there so you can look up for yourself the sources I consulted for any given "date" (nee data point), as well as some of my reasoning for inserting it where I did. That's why. Not only do serious researchers do this sort of thing, they insist on it. "Show your work," as my high school math teacher used to say. It's a maxim I've never forgotten. "But you make it way too complicated, and I don't agree with <insert data point(s) of contention here>. I think that <insert argument here>." There's another way to look at this, you know. Pretend the dates and commentary aren't there. Just the events. Pull out the events in which you're interested and write them down, in the order that I give them. Now take them and compare them to your idea or concept of what you think the Leijiverse should be. Certain things almost always happen in a certain order in almost every incarnation of the Leijiverse, no matter in which of the infinite Rings of Time you find yourself. Captain Harlock is born on Earth. His parents die. He and Tochiro become friends. He becomes a space pirate and captain of the space galleon Arcadia. Captain Harlock eventually becomes one of the leaders in mankind's fight against the Machine Empire. And so on. Establishing the general pattern of events is actually quite easy. It's dating everything that's the real bitch, thanks to the way the Leijiverse is set up. That too I have tried to keep in mind as I developed my artificial reference model, and this document to explain it. You can "fix" my dates however you want. The general patterns must remain the same, though, if your own personal model is to be true to the Leijiverse itself. "A wonderful piece of fanwank." - Leijiverse fan reviewer. I decided to do this third edition once the "revival Leijiverse" period finally began to wind down. It was as much a matter of necessity as desire. The release of the second season of GALAXY RAILWAYS threw some of my initial dating assumptions for that anime out of whack, and this needed to be fixed. Also, in the past few years, I have gained access to more translations and summaries of many Leijiverse manga, and this new data also needed to be incorporated. Finally, I wanted to do what I had contemplated doing back then and convert this entire document to plain vanilla text form. That would make it easier on my many overseas readers, particularly in Japan and Europe, who wanted to make translations of it for their friends. Just feed it into the appropriate translation software and push the button, then go back and make the many necessary idiomatic and formatting corrections (urgh!), and there you go. For what it's worth, you have both my permission and blessing to do so. I want to thank author Tim Eldred for encouraging me in my start down this long and strange path. This never would have happened had it not been for his initial encouragement and advice. I also want to thank everyone across the Big Pond on the TokiNoWa web site. You were kind enough to post the second edition of this work, even damaged as it was due to an unrecoverable hard drive crash. You comments and criticisms have been appreciated. I hope your regulars and visitors enjoy this edition as much as they did the earlier one. While I'm at it, I should not forget the efforts of Kana Press in France and the American fan scanlating groups Rabbit Reich and Offtopia, for translating many previously unavailable Leijiverse manga into French and English respectively. You both helped clear up a lot of misinformation and incorrect assumptions I had made with regard to these titles. Finally, I'd like to give special praise the animekritik ("a.k.," as he is better known in the blogopshere) over at the Kritik der Animationskraft website for two things: writing the most fair criticism of the older edition of this work I have yet read, and for opening my eyes to new avenues of research I had not or was unable to pursue before - such as the MIRAIZER BAN connection to the Rings of Time view of the Leijiverse, for example. While we may differ in our interpretations about certain things - a perfectly human thing to do - I have nonetheless found your insights valuable on more than one occasion. You will see echoes of your own research and information within these pages. I hope you and your friends profit from this new edition, too - as I hope for all read and use it. In closing, lest I forget, I want to make special mention of the people at Corn Pone Flicks, the original fansubbers of the CAPTAIN HARLOCK TV series, for stubbornly continuing to insist that any attempt at Leijiverse continuity is impossible, and for attacking me (by implication) a few years back for daring to even attempt such a thing. I took your words as a challenge to meet, as you can see. I consider myself fortunate enough to have seen my efforts bear the fruit that I had hoped they would, and more. Go ahead and continue to broadcast your closed-mindedness to everyone who visits your website, if you insist. I'm glad I didn't listen to you - and so are millions of Leijiverse fans worldwide. - Richard Evan Mandel 7 December 2011 A BROAD BREAKDOWN OF THE LEIJIVERSE ----------------------------------When most fans talk about periods of M-san's works, they are almost inevitably referring to his anime stories - but let's not forget he is an author and illustrator of hundreds of manga tales. M-san has been writing manga almost continuously since his career began. Unfortunately, most of his manga stories have yet to receive proper translations here in the West, so fan perceptions of his creative output have been shaped, for good or worse, by his anime tales or adaptations of his manga works for anime. Fans generally group these into three broad periods, as follows: THE CLASSIC PERIOD (1968-1978) This is the period in which the four great "classic" anime TV shows by M-san began production. These are STAR BLAZERS (aka UCHUU SENKAN YAMATO), SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK, QUEEN MILLENNIA, and the original GALAXY EXPRESS 999 television series. (3) There is also a large body of early science fiction manga by M-san that belongs in this era, in which you can see glimpses or early efforts at characters and concepts that eventually wound up in these four shows. This is the period that propelled M-san to initial fame, and made him second only to Osamu Tezuka as one of the founding fathers of Japanese anime as we know it. Although its first anime is STAR BLAZERS (1974), I date the start of this period to 1968 and the release of the first volume of M-san's classic sci-fi manga series SEXAROID - the story that made him famous. It was the first he wrote where his creativity was allowed free reign, and it was the first to get him major attention in Japan. It is also the first major "Leijiverse" work per se - with concepts, characters, and a graphic style that is instantly recognizable to fans of M-san's works even today. I would daresay it is one of the great classics of Japanese science fiction, despite its status as a manga, and its influence on the anime industry can be seen in everything from "hardcore" works such as Masamune Shiro's GHOST IN THE SHELL and Suzuki Toshimichi's BUBBLEGUM CRISIS to such lighthearted fare as the Personicoms of CHOBITS. Save for assorted earlier manga shorts, SEXAROID is the TRUE beginning of the Leijiverse and its classic period, in my opinion - not STAR BLAZERS. This period actually lasts until 1981, when the last episode of the GALAXY EXPRESS 999 TV series was aired, but for purposes of this document I date it to 1978 and the release of the first GALAXY EXPRESS 999 feature film. A lot would be changed and reworked for that effort - and that movie would also mark the beginning of a new period in the development of the Leijiverse. There is a LOT of chronological confusion regarding this era. This is due to the fact that most of the Leijiverse stories created during this time - save for certain works such as QUEEN MILLENNIA and CAPTAIN HARLOCK, and military manga such as the BATTLEFIELD series (aka THE COCKPIT, HARD METAL, et al), are set around the beginning of the 23rd century (the 2200s), or have no date at all - although the "near future" is usually implied. One of the more obvious exceptions to this is the TV adaptation of SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK, where a date of 2977 is given right at the start of the show. Of course, the gimmick there was that the date was exactly 1000 years after the start of production but that date would stick when it came time for the next period of M-san's anime works. Some of the dates in his other "classic" works - GALAXY EXPRESS 999 in particular - would have to be adjusted upward to better fit the new continuity that was being envisioned for this next era of M-san's creative genius. THE HEYDAY PERIOD AND FALL FROM GRACE (1979-1982, 1983-1995) This era marks when M-san was the height of his original popularity and creativity, before changing trends in anime and its audience base forced him to the sidelines. The four great Leijiverse feature film adaptations - GALAXY EXPRESS 999, MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA, ADIEU GALAXY EXPRESS 999, and QUEEN MILLENNIA - were all made during this period, as was a fifth (a TV special) that is almost unknown here in the west - MARINE SNOW NO DENSETSU, aka THE LEGEND OF MARINE SNOW. This was also the first time that M-san attempted to unify his various works into something of a consistent whole. Sadly, that original effort went unfinished - as would so many of his efforts over the years, and as his second such effort wound up being almost a decade later. Bits and pieces of this first effort still survive, though - such as KAIZOKU KIKAN ARCADIA, the original pilot for the ENDLESS ROAD SSX anime TV series, and both the ARCADIA ROMAN ALBUM and SSX GUIDEBOOK - that give us an important glimpse into what might have been. The "heyday" era is generally held by fans to have ended in 1981 with the release of the feature film ADIEU GALAXY EXPRESS 999: FINAL STATION ANDROMEDA. In truth, the last anime title based on an M-san work during this time was AREI NO KAGAMI (aka THE WAY TO VIRGIN SPACE), which was released in 1995. Between these two are a smattering of TV specials and educational films, but nothing in the way of popular anime TV series or feature films as there had been only two decades before. Public perceptions had changed, and M-san's work was seen as "old school" at this time - shunned in favor of giant transforming robots and oversexed pre-teen girls with pie eyes. A virtual "fall from grace," if you will. Even in AREI NO KAGAMI, though, you can already see certain changes taking place in Leijiverse anime - such as integrated computer graphics and some revising of the old themes that so used to dominate Leijiverse tales. Nevertheless, all of the old ideas and concepts regarding the Leijiverse appear to have remained in place during this "fall from grace" period. It was not until the next major period in Leijiverse evolution that things significantly changed. FYI, the first-ever linear timeline for the Leijiverse was published during this period, and can be found in the MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA Roman Album. The dates it contains - and there are only four of them, albeit extensively annotated represent the only chronological glimpse we have into how M-san viewed his creation - the Leijiverse - at this point in his career. They reflect M-san's revised dating of his classic science fiction stories, using the 2977 date from the anime version of SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK as the new anchor point for this adjusted chronology. This new continuity, albeit with several significant alterations for his "revival" period, has remained essentially the same since this time. THE REVIVAL PERIOD (1998-2010) Fortunately for us and the rest of the world, the Leijiverse was not about to roll over and die. M-san had never stopped writing manga, for one thing. Also, during that long hiatus where the only Leijiverse shows on TV were all reruns, an entire generation of anime writers and producers were gaining access to the industry - ones who had grown up on and fondly loved their "classics." M-san's works were among those revered by them. It should then come as no surprise that once some of these people finally gained enough power and prestige in the anime industry to begin revisiting "the classics," then the Leijiverse was swept back into the public eye along with them. These "revival period" shows are probably the works of M-san most familiar and accessible to Leijiverse fans today. They represent something of a reboot of the Leijiverse, with M-san altering or in some cases completely changing the backstories of most of his major characters in an effort to weave a new (and grand) unifying theme throughout his stories. This theme is a new threat to the universe in the form of the Metanoids - who are not as overt or as crude as the older Mechanoids, but in their own unique ways are perhaps even more terrifying. They are "too human" to be machines, for one. Mechanoids are said to have no souls, while early on Metanoids are established as having them. The Metanoid threat appears in every one of M-san's "revival" tales (to varying degrees) starting with GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ETERNAL FANTASY and HARLOCK SAGA, and continued until DAI YAMATO ZERO GO - his own unfinished effort at rebooting the revered YAMATO (STAR BLAZERS) franchise. Also part of this "revival" period are MAETEL LEGEND, SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL, COSMO WARRIOR ZERO, and more. In an odd parallel to his "heyday" period (AREI NO KAGAMI), the standalone short "Out of Galaxy Koshika" (based on the online manga of the same name and done as an interpretation of the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen) most likely marks the end of the "revival Leijiverse" period. For me, the 2011 live-action YAMATO movie, the soon-to-come CGI CAPTAIN HARLOCK feature film (2013?), and the standalone anime TV miniseries OZMA (2012, but based on an older "classic" story that is not part of the Leijiverse proper) probably mark the beginning of another period in M-san's onscreen works - one I am tentatively calling the "neo-classic" period (i.e. "new" classics), and one that has yet to be explored. It should also be noted that most of M-san's manga works in this period also reflect the "revival Leijiverse" view of his creation. The unfinished 10-volume HARLOCK SAGA manga (out of 11 planned; the concluding volume was never written), which goes well beyond what we saw in the anime OVA series, is one of these. It is the foundation work off of which the rest of the "revival" manga and anime stories are keyed. Also belonging to this period are the mangas GREAT YAMATO and THE ULTIMATE TIME SWEEPER MAHOROBA, both of which found their way via a long a torturous path into having parts of them adapted for the aborted DAI YAMATO ZERO GO anime OAV series. The unfinished "new" GALAXY EXPRESS 999 third manga series keys directly off of the ETERNAL FANTASY anime OVA - itself a pilot film for a new anime TV series that never materialized - and also shares common themes with the HARLOCK SAGA manga. COSMO WARRIOR ZERO, SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL and GALAXY RAILWAYS all have their proper places in the "revival" period. And so on, and so on ... but their most basic underlying theme - that of the Metanoids - can be traced directly back to the HARLOCK SAGA and GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY mangas. Thus, any fan who wants to get a better grasp on how M-san was intending to reboot and unify his most famous works around the theme of the Metanoid threat needs to pay as much attention to the manga (and other related manga of this period) as well as what anime titles were eventually produced. Finally, one must take into account two of the many Leijiverse-based videogames produced during this period. These are COSMO WARRIOR ZERO and STORY OF GALAXY EXPRESS 999. ZERO started out as a videogame before it was adapted as an anime series. Some of the material in the game didn't make it into the anime. No surprise there - this happens a lot, as any fan of Japanese videogames will tell you. STORY OF GE999 is useful as more of a reference tool than anything else. For example, neither Tochiro's nor Tetsuro's mothers had names until this videogame gave them ones - Setsuko Oyama and Kanae Hoshino, respectively. The game itself is forgettable, but there are other such odd little bits and nuggets of trivia and lore tucked here and there within for hardcore Leijiverse fans to find. Many younger fans tend to ground their own personal interpretations of the Leijiverse squarely in the "revival" period. It's easy to see why. It's more fleshed out and has more of a unified feel to it than any other period in the development of the Leijiverse across the years. Even so, I favor the somewhat older "heyday period" attempt at continuity and use it as the basis for this document, despite what few sparse clues are available. Perhaps it reflects the fact that I grew up watching the older works, both "classic" and "heyday." My first Leijiverse anime was STAR BLAZERS, which I first saw during its original television run in the United States back in 1980. The first full-blown Leijiverse movie I ever remember watching was the Roger Corman English-dubbed adaptation of the first GALAXY EXPRESS 999 feature film. Both made quite an impression on me - and I still smile whenever I hear "Captain Warlock" say, "Bartender - milk!" That's probably why the "heyday" period works better for me for bringing both the "classic" and "revival" periods into some sort of shared continuity. It's what I know best. I also point out that since it lies being between the "classic" and "revival periods, spanning the gulf between them, as it were, then it's more of a natural to adapt the rest to it than trying to shoehorn all of the older "classic" and "heyday" stories into the quite different continuity of the "revival" period. Of course, you'll have your own opinion, and I respect that - but this is what works for me. To be fair, there are those fans that say you should just take everything at face value and deal with it as you get to it. Corn Porn Flicks, for example, who have been rather stridently vocal on this point. "Toki no wa," I respond. Whatever works for you. Remember, this is just your Baedeker your guide - and not the path itself that you might choose. I am showing you how all the data points COULD relate to each other as a whole in an IDEAL situation. How they all actually fit, or whatever subset of those data points you chose to interpret for yourself ... well, that's up for you to decide. The would-be Leijiverse restrictionists stand at one end of the timeline debate spectrum. I stand firmly at the other end. You, and other readers like you, will probably fall somewhere in between. That's your right, and more power to you, I say. "Toki no wa." REGARDING LEIJIVERSE MANGA -------------------------Dedicated Leijiverse fans will soon notice that I have not included all of M-san's many manga in this linear model. The reason is fairly obvious. M-san has written a wide variety of manga over the years on many subjects. Not all of them can be considered part of the Leijiverse as most fans regard it - that is, there's nothing in them that have any relation to his most famous works aside from the art style and maybe a side reference or two. Thus, you can have a M-san manga series such as the two MACHINERS CITY volumes (MACHINERS CITY and NEW MACHINERS CITY), both excellent reads in their own right, without once ever alluding to ANYTHING belonging to the Leijiverse proper (although "acknowledged" Leijiverse works sometimes reference THEM, like HARLOCK SAGA does with MACHINERS CITY and the "Dr. Harlock" character in same). You can have parodies - as M-san does in parodying his own beloved GALAXY EXPRESS 999 with the raunchily funny DRIFTING EXPRESS 000 - all done in good fun and having no impact on the Leijiverse proper. You can even have a complete "serious" standalone manga adventure like V2 PANZER SERAZARD - the story of three people engaged in a DEATH RACE 2000 style motocross race across the deserts of Mars - and not once come across ANYTHING bearing on the back history of the Niebelungen, or the Mazone, or where exactly was the base where Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture were stationed in STAR BLAZERS, and so on. It's just a entertaining story and nothing more. Aside from the names and M-san's easily recognizable art style and stock character models, there's nothing else in here that connects with the common fan notion of the backstory of the Leijiverse. It can be "made" to fit, of course, but most fans would agree that it's no more a part of the Leijiverse as they perceive it to be than is, say, CRISIS III or TORIYAMA NO MII - or even DANGUARD ACE (4). On the other hand, there ARE a lot of M-san's manga - both old and new that have a direct bearing on this unique fan notion of the Leijiverse. There are the older Harlock stories - "Great Pirate Harlock," "Space Battleship Deathshadow," the "Duel! Emeraldus vs. Herlock" comedy short, the DIVER ZERO manga anthology, and so on - where we see M-san developing the concepts and backstory for one of his greatest creations. Somewhat in the same vein is his most famous manga series - THE COCKPIT (aka the BATTLEFIELD series) - from which selected elements of the Harlock backstory were drawn, and most of which fits nicely into almost any model of a consistent Leijiverse, linear or curved, that you care to make. Both SEXAROID and MYSTERY EVE have their places here, too - and even his most funny and self-introspective work, OTOKO OIDON (aka I AM A MAN!) has its own unique connection to Harlock's times. There are also many of what I call the "parallel manga" - done in conjunction with whatever anime projects M-san had going at the time, and often exploring side tangents that were never touched upon in the anime proper. The list of these is too numerous to give here; suffice it to say that these are the manga that most fans immediately recognize and state to be part of the Leijiverse. It goes without saying that this third and last group have their proper place in this linear Leijiverse model of mine. So too do the second group, insofar as what data and insights they can provide that do not directly contradict anything in the first group, or in the anime proper. As for the first group, I discount them entirely - not out of disrespect, but out of practicality. They were meant to be standalone stories. They were never meant to be part of a consistent Leijiverse as we fans might conceive of it. LEIJIVERSE INTRUSIONS BY OTHER CREATORS --------------------------------------I have already alluded to the fact that there are others, such as director Rin Taro, who have had a significant impact on the way that Leijiverse anime have been shaped and is now viewed by fans. Another of these is artist Syd Mead, who was called in by Yoshinobu Nishizaki as a replacement for M-san for the ill-fated YAMATO 2520 anime OVA series. Not that I have anything against Mr. Mead - he's a great artist, and his work on the designs for the classic science fiction feature film BLADE RUNNER have made him justly famous. He's not M-san, though. He's an outsider. Nevertheless, he made his own particular mark on the Leijiverse with YAMATO 2520 - just as Rin Taro did with the original CAPTAIN HARLOCK TV series, and would later do again with ENDLESS ODYSSEY. Fans were split on Syd Mead's particular "intrusion" into the Leijiverse until some of his spaceship designs also turned up - in of all places - in the 2009 YAMATO RESURRECTION anime feature film. That pretty much closed that particular issue. Syd Mead's contribution to the Leijiverse is now an integral part of it, whether some fans like it or not - just as YAMATO 2520 is itself part of the Leijiverse proper, due to its connection with the YAMATO franchise, and whether fans like it or not. (5) It should come as no surprise that intrusions are also true for the manga side of things - or "comics," as we call them here in the West. The first three primary contributors in this regard are Comico Comics, Argo Press, and Eternity Comics. All of them created Western-style comic books for the Leijiverse under license at various times. These tales fill significant gaps in the Leijiverse - just as the YAMATO 2520 anime OVA series does on the anime side of things - and no model of the Leijiverse, linear or not, would be complete without them. The fourth is comic book author and illustrator Tim Eldred, whose hand can be seen in both the Argo Press and Eternity Comics series, and who has since gone on to produce a number of online STAR BLAZERS web comics for Voyager Entertainment. These deserve special mention, and I will get to them in due course. Comico and Argo both created original comic book stories for the STAR BLAZERS franchise at different times. Comico's two series fill in important gaps between the three seasons of the show - and in the case of the latter, provide significant backstory on the history of the Comet Empire. Argo Press mainly fills in the gaps between the Comet Empire story arc and the third and fourth Yamato feature films - THE NEW VOYAGE and BE FOREVER YAMATO. Argo Press also contributed an original story in this regard, the "Icarus" arc, which fills in an important gap regarding the youth of Sasha, daughter of Starsha and Alex Wildstar. As for Eternity Comics and their long-running yet ultimately aborted CAPTAIN HARLOCK series ... well ... the sad story of how they came by and ultimately lost their license is best told elsewhere. It's a shame that the series was never finished, because Eternity's stories fill in a major gap in the adventures of Captain Harlock, his fight against the Illumidas, and the eventual rise of the Machine Empire that has been barely touched upon in M-san's own works. There's events and data points of backstory in these tales that are found nowhere else, and help explain some of the things happening in other Leijiverse tales around the same time. Yes, there are some issues with other Leijiverse works, especially ENDLESS ROAD SSX, but no worse (or better) than M-san's own contradictions. I have include these three "outside intrusions" - as one fan called them for the same reason I included YAMATO 2520 and other such anime works. They have their place in my linear model of an artificially consistent Leijiverse. They fit nicely into slots where there would otherwise be major gaps. They have no major contradictions with M-san's own stories, and what minor contradictions exist can easily be adjusted for in the same manner that I do for his relevant manga tales. In other words, they help make this linear model of mine more complete than it would otherwise be. That is why they are here. If you don't like or want them, then don't include them in your own interpretation. Easy enough? Tim Eldred has been doing yeoman's work with the official STAR BLAZERS website for Voyager Entertainment, as the many who have visited there will attest. I got to chat with him briefly (via email) way back when at the start of the STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED project, and he's quite a guy. Have I mentioned his hand in helping to create the Eternity Comics and Argo Press comic book series? His latest - and some say greatest - contribution is to release a number of STAR BLAZERS web comics. At present there are two main series of these. The first is STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH, and the second is THE BOLAR WARS EXTENDED. Eldred had no idea that things were about to come together for Yoshinobu Nishizaki's long-delayed YAMATO REBIRTH feature film project when he began his own web-comic take. Using existing art designs and write-ups, he crafted his own version of how the Yamato (nee Argo) was rebuilt and relaunched in the 2220s to deal with an apparent black hole moving towards Earth. It's easy to accuse him of "jumping the gun" now, since the 2009 release of YAMATO RESURRECTION, but it's still an enjoyable read. The two stories are actually quite similar in many places. Even if their endings are different - and Eldred's concept and resolution of the situation is quite different than Nishizaki's - Eldred's effort still stirs the soul. His actually rings more true to the old spirit of the franchise and strives for continuity, while Nishizaki is once again on his "new uninspiring crew in new ship saves the universe at the expense of the most beautiful women around" theme that seems to permeate most of his works. STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH actually made it into the second edition of this work - as much of it as was available at the time, anyway - because back then it was the only available material that dealt with the "end," so to say, of the STAR BLAZERS era. YAMATO RESURRECTION has since been released ... and now we have a problem. Which "take" of these events is the proper one? Eldred's or Nishizaki's? Eldred's current project is THE BOLAR WARS EXPANDED. With this, he takes most of the ideas that were intended but ultimately abandoned for the third season of STAR BLAZERS (it got cut in half, remember?) and attempts to reconstruct the intended story in web comic form. It is quite a read, to say the least, and highly recommended for all STAR BLAZERS fans in particular, as well as Leijiverse fans in general. As much as I love Eldred's work - and I still don't regret including STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH in the earlier edition of this timeline - I have to reluctantly treat it as a "second group" work, like I do certain of the relevant Leijiverse manga by M-san. In the first case, YAMATO RESURRECTION is the official on-screen continuing of the story of the Star Force. It represents Nishizaki's original intent, and his hand can seen in it throughout (for better or for worse). As for THE BOLAR WARS EXTENDED, its story does not match what ultimately ended up on-screen - even as truncated as that was. It represents an alternate take on events for the back half of the series, just as much as FAREWELL TO SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO represents an alternate take on the Earth-Cometine War. That doesn't stop me from sourcing Eldred's tales for selected data points, but ONLY when what he presents doesn't conflict with what's on screen or in "first group" print sources. I still recommend Eldred's web comics to anyone who wants to read them (I mean that, Tim, and you can quote me on it!), especially fellow STAR BLAZERS fans. Unfortunately the Rings of Time that he is depicting in these tales are too divergent from the artificial "center ring" I am trying to extrapolate to include his tales as a whole. That is why I treat them like a "second group" manga source - only cherry-picking what I can from them without going "off the plantation," as it were. I hope you understand ... and I hope Tim does, too. ABBREVIATIONS ------------The following abbreviations are used for Leijiverse works, both manga and anime, in this document: 2199 ARA BFY BWE CHR CHEO CHQ1K CHP CWZ DNA DZ DYZG Eldred FSY FY GE999 GE999A GE999F GE999P GF Gibson GPH GR GRA1&2 "2199" remake of the first season of STAR BLAZERS (2012) MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA ROMAN ALBUM BE FOREVER YAMATO THE BOLAR WARS EXTENDED (web comic by Tim Eldred) CAPTAIN HARLOCK comic book series by Eternity Press CAPTAIN HARLOCK ENDLESS ODYSSEY (aka OUTSIDE LEGEND) CAPTAIN HARLOCK AND THE QUEEN OF 1000 YEARS (HGM hack job) SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK official program book by Toei COSMO WARRIOR ZERO FIRE FORCE DNA SIGHTS 999.9 DIVER ZERO DAI YAMATO ZERO GO Tim Eldred of Voyager Entertainment (various materials) FAREWELL TO SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO FINAL YAMATO GALAXY EXPRESS 999 GALAXY EXPRESS 999 FINAL STATION ANDROMEDA (aka ADIEU GE999) GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ETERNAL FANTASY GALAXY EXPRESS 999 official program book by Toei GUN FRONTIER Robert Gibson, author of the CHR stories for Eternity Comics "Great Pirate Captain Harlock" manga short GALAXY RAILWAYS TV series (both seasons and the OVA series) GALAXY EXPRESS 999 feature film ROMAN ALBUMS (both movies) GY HS HS1 HS2 HS3 HS4 I5555 KKA Lewis ME ML MSD MYA MYAR OO QE QEC QES QM QRA S99 SB1 SB2 SB3 SBC1 SBC2 SBC3 SBD SBR SPCH SBR SBTM SBY SR SSM SSX SZ TASY TC TSM TT1 TT2 TTB UTSM Y2520 YNV YPA1&2 YR YT GREAT YAMATO (the DAI YAMATO managa) HARLOCK SAGA (in general ...) HARLOCK SAGA: THE RHINEGOLD (manga) HARLOCK SAGA: THE VALKYRIE (manga) HARLOCK SAGA: SIEGFRIED (manga) HARLOCK SAGA: GOTTERDAMERUNG (manga) INTERSTELLA 5555 KAIZOKU KIKAN ARCADIA (aka the SSX pilot film) Bruce Lewis, "History of the Star Blazers Galaxy" MYSTERY EVE MAETEL LEGEND MARINE SNOW NO DENSETSU (aka THE LEGEND OF MARINE SNOW) MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA Roman album OTOKO OIDON (aka I AM A MAN!) QUEEN EMERALDAS QUEEN EMERALDAS 4-part comic book series by Eternity Press "Queen Emeraldas" manga short (aka the "Death Herlock" short story) QUEEN MILLENNIA QUEEN MILLENNIA feature film ROMAN ALBUM SUPER SUBMARINE 99 STAR BLAZERS SEASON 1 (the Iscandar story arc) STAR BLAZERS SEASON 2 (the Comet Empire story arc) STAR BLAZERS SEASON 3 (the Bolar Wars Story Arc) STAR BLAZERS Comico comic book series 1 (the Callisto story arc) STAR BLAZERS Comico comic book series 2 (the Eurythmia story arc) STAR BLAZERS Argo Press comic book series "Space Battleship Deathshadow" manga short STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH (web comic by Tim Eldred) SPACE CAPTAIN PIRATE HARLOCK STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH online Internet comic by Tim Eldred STAR BLAZERS TECHNICAL MANUAL and ROLE PLAYING GAME SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO (live action feature film) (6) SEXAROID SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL CAPTAIN HARLOCK ENDLESS ROAD SSX STATION ZERO (Internet radio drama) THIS IS ANIMATION: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO THE COCKPIT (aka BATTLEFIELD) THE ULTIMATE TIME SWEEPER MAHOROBA "The Tochiro (Part 1)" manga short "The Tochiro (Part 2)" manga short THE TALE OF A TIME GONE BY manga anthology THE ULTIMATE TIME SWEEPER MAHOROBA YAMATO 2520 YAMATO THE NEW VOYAGE YAMATO PERFECT ALBUMS 1 & 2 YAMATO RESURRECTION (aka YAMATO REBIRTH) YOZIGEN TOKEI manga anthology Since many of the works in question exist in multiple incarnations, smallcase letters following the abbreviation are used as needed to distinguish among them: -a -f -g -m anime TV series or OVA version anime feature film version videogame version manga version These can be used to mark specific distinctions among the various versions of a given title, as follows: QMa QMf QMm Footnotes (1) SPCHm Volume 2 mentions that the late Tochiro Oyama had a daughter, but she is never seen nor named. The visual depiction of Mayu Oyama as seen on screen is apparently based on the character of the little girl Hotaru, sister of the philanderer Utamaro (a Tochiro Oyama look-alike), from the manga serial DAIFURINDEN. (2) The best way to visualize the Leijiverse is as an n-dimensional toridal spiral or Master Ring of Time in the general space-time continuum, with the pocket universe of Valhalla at its center. There are an infinite number of bisects you can do of the Leijiverse to create an infinite amount of smaller Rings of Time, each of which is distinct in its own right. They can run in parallel, they can be cut at an angle (to make an ellipse, which is a type of ring), and they can even intersect or cross multiple other rings depending on your bisect(s). Parallel Leijiverses, if you will. You can even do perpendicular bisects to create a ring or set of rings around one or more fixed points in time. The "revival Leijiverse," the heyday period, the early Harlock tales, the original GE999 TV series, the world of the SEXAROID manga, et al. Here's the goofy part - since we're dealing with an n-dimensional construct, then any Ring you pick may not "look" like a ring from your perspective. It might look like an infinity sign, or a moebius loop, or so on. That's the nature of the beast we're dealing with. Follow so far? The term "ring" is just a convenient point of reference - since the n-dimensional "rings" we're talking about are more like rubber bands, able to bend and flex and twist in time and space wherever and however the story or set of stories go. Clear so far? Good! Let's go on. Now take any point on any Ring of Time, itself a subset of the Master Ring, and it will have an infinite number of analogs on an infinite number of similar Rings. Since each Ring is unique, and has its own unique place within the Master Ring of Time, then that point on that particular ring may appear to be in a different location when viewed from the ring in which you are currently located. It depends on how far out on the Master Ring it is from you - how much removed from your chosen perspective than its Ring of Time in which it properly belongs is located. Since you can only perceive the Master Ring from within your smaller Ring of Time, everything else beyond it - including the Master Ring - is distorted by your chosen perspective. Nothing in any other ring can ever quite look right because you can never get a true picture of the n-dimensional nature of the Master Ring. Any model, including my own artificial one, will always be distorted because of the curved nature of the Rings of Time. Also, if it helps, remember to think of my timeline as a linear depiction of the one Ring of Time that's running in the exact middle of the Master Ring - save that it's been cut and unrolled from a curved Ring into a "flat," straight line. Here's an example from relativity physics to help you try to picture this. Imagine two train tracks running parallel to each other, and two trains running at the same speed on both rails. Parallel "Rings of Time," as it were. Now, make one of those tracks veer away from the other, and then back. The train on that "bent" track will now be running behind the other one because it had to cover more "real" distance even though both tracks run side-by-side. The train on the "bent" track is no longer in sync with its parallel counterpart because of that "bend". Either it has to speed up or the train on the "straight" track will have to slow down for the two to be able to sync back up again. anime TV adaptation of QUEEN MILLENIA anime feature film adaptation of QUEEN MILLENNIA manga version of QUEEN MILLENNIA I didn't come up with this definition of "toki no wa." It's M-san's own, as described in MYA, HSm "The Rhinegold," and the MIRAIZER BAN manga. Another good alternative is the animekritik's "nested Time Sphere" concept, which he discusses on his website - Kritik der Animationskraft. (3) There is also STARZINGER to consider, a "Power Ranger type" anime TV series on which M-san played an important creative role, if one wants an honest picture of this era - as well as DANGUARD ACE, M-san's only "robot" show. Most fans discount both entirely as belonging in separate continuities apart from the Leijiverse proper, since they contain no common elements with his other, more recognizable science fiction works - the Yamato, Captain Harlock, the ThreeNine, et al. (4) Some fans have argued rather vociferously for the inclusion of MIRAIZER BAN in my model, since it does a better job of defining M-san's "toki no wa" philosophy than any other of his works. The actual story, however, creates so many problems with regards to continuity issues that I've had to exclude it from my linear model on practical grounds. I do recommend it, however, as a necessary read for anyone wanting to understand how the concepts of time and "toki no wa" work with regards to the Leijiverse proper. There's also a lot of excellent fan discussion on MIRAIZER BAN out there on the Internet animekritik's in particular - and you might want to look that up, too. (5) While we're at it, let's not forget the major part played by anime mecha designer Kazutaka Miyatake in creating most of the new ship designs for YAMATO's Comet Empire story arc - most notably that of the Andromeda, one of the all-time great anime starship designs and a perennial fan favorite. It is said that when M-san saw Miyatake's proposal, he was quite impressed. The only part of the design he changed was the upper bridge structure - to the form we know today. The original upper bridge design can be found in several YAMATO art books of the period. Miyatake's work is as much part of the Leijiverse as is Taro's, Mead's, Eldred's, and many others. Try to imagine YAMATO without the presence of the mighty Andromeda, and you will see what I mean. (6) There are elements of the 2010 live action YAMATO feature film that are unique to that particular interpretation of the tale; hence its place here. ----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X TIMELINE OF EVENTS -----------------c.15 billion BCE - The "Big Bang" (creation of the Leijiverse). [CHE0, Y2520] - The Leijiverse is formed from a zero-point singularity by the event known as the "Big Bang." [CHEO #03, "The Voice Calling For Noo From Afar"] - Two distinct universes, each the metaphysical opposite of each other, are created the moment the universe is born. One of these is the universe we know, whereas the other is dominated by the Noo and their master, the Lord of Darkness. At the exact center of our universe, lit by the star Ultimate, is the planet Eternal - where all life began. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle;" also various scattered references in HSm] - The Noo, the original primordial demons, manage to controls the known universe - the "universe of light" - during the fleeting microseconds known as Planck time. [CHEO #03, "The Voice Calling For Noo From Afar"] - The high energy element monopole is formed in the chaos following the Big Bang. It will be the rarest member of its family of energy-yielding ores, as well as the most powerful. In normal circumstances, only one particle of monopole exists in any given galaxy. [Y2520 #01, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." Best evidence seems to indicate that it was formed while the Noo were in control, per CHEO #03. That might account in part for its unusual energy properties. I believe it to be from the same family of energy-yielding ores as cosmonite and iscandarium, although this is conjecture on my part.] - The Twisted Rope, the first sign of order in the universe, is formed. Noo domination of the universe is put to an end by the Descendants of the Twisted Rope in an event later known as the Ancient War. The Noo are forced through the Hourglass Nebula through "the edge between dimensions" and back into the negative universe that is their home. The Seal of Yedar is placed over the interdimensional portal at the heart of the Hourglass Nebula to prevent the Noo from ever returning to this universe again. [CHE0 #03, "The Voice Calling For Noo From Afar" and GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle." Comparison with HSa appears to imply that the gods of Valhalla and the Descendants of the Twisted Rope might be one and the same. Both are claimed to be the oldest intelligent species in the universe in their respective tales. The term "Ancient War" comes from my personal translation of HSm. Maetel briefly alludes to this with Tetsuro during their journey together to the Eternal Galaxy in 2974.] - The turning point of the Ancient War occurs when the Noo and their allies construct a giant, galaxy-sized weapon known as the Sword of Heaven in order to destroy Valhalla, the home of the ancient gods. At its heart is the planet Ultimate, whose unique energy properties are being tapped to serve as the lens or focus of the Sword of Heaven's power. From what evidence now exists, it appears that the gods of Valhalla attacked the Sword of Heaven in order to destroy it, but not before it was fired one time. That blast destroys half of Valhalla, and would have destroyed it all had not the attack of the gods knocked off the weapon's aim. Very shortly thereafter, the gods succeed in shattering the planet Ultimate, thus rendering the Sword of Heaven inert. The pieces of Ultimate are scattered throughout the known universe with one of them later becoming the planet Rhine, and another winding up in the Sol System and later named Asteroid 6565 Reiji. Prophecy foretells that if one or more of these pieces of the former planet Ultimate are ever returned to the Sword of Heaven, it can be re-powered and used to finish off the destruction of Valhalla. [HSm Part 4, "Gotterdammerung," Volume 1. There is reason to believe that the Sword of Heaven and GE999EFm's Eternal Galaxy are one and the same, but this is surmise on my part based on scattered references in the latter.] - The evil entity known as Darqueen - or more properly the Dark Queen - who will eventually be worshipped by the Metanoids as a sort of god, dates back to this time. [HSm Part 8, "Siegfried," Volume 3. She is "as old as the gods themselves." See also GE999EFm Volume 5.] - A city is built on the surface of the Rainbow Planet. Its ruins represent the oldest known construction of any kind in our dimension of the known universe. [CHE0 #07, "The Moon Waits in the Promised Land" and #08, "In the Depths of the Shadow of the Soul." See also SPCH #29, "Struggle for Survival on the Rainbow Planet". The Ninth Sol System Expedition will visit these ruins in their quest to find the Gate of Yedar. Comparison of the dialogue among these episodes of both series would seem to suggest that this unnamed city came into existence either at the same time as or not long after construction of the Gate of Yedar.] c.10 billion BCE - The Elder Race arises on the planet Akwaar. They are the oldest of all intelligent species in our universe and also the oldest known spacefaring civilization. [Lewis. Comparison with HSm and HSa appears to imply that the Nibelungen and Elder Race are one and the same; however, conclusive proof is lacking.] c.5 billion BCE - The Elder Race embarks on a eons-long project of creating worldships scattered across the known universe. Within each worldship is a Guardian Spirit, a non-corporeal entity of great power and intelligence. The main purpose of each Guardian Spirit is to oversee the evolution of all forms of life on its worldship. Among the countless number they create over the next billion or so years are nine worldships within the Milky Way galaxy. [Lewis] - The first two Elder Race worldships ever created are the binary planetary pair Iskanda and Desla of the Sanza Star System within the Greater Magellanic Cloud. They serve as a titanic monument to the struggle between the forces of light and dark in the universe. [Lewis. It is possible that the Elder Race and the Nibelungen are one and the same, when Lewis is compared with HSa and HSm. If so, then this monument may have been created by them (or more likely the giants of Risenheim) as a tribute by the gods of Valhalla in order to commemorate their victory over the Noo, per CHE0 #03.] c.4 billion BCE - The Elder Race discovers a cooling planet, the third of nine orbiting a newborn yellow star, in the outer edge of the western spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. They decide it has the potential to become the greatest of all the worldships they have ever made. They alter the course of their own world Akwaar so that it will make a close pass of this new world. The gravitational attraction between the two will cause large volumes of water to be transferred from Akwaar, bringing with it the seeds of life to this newly born planet. According to legend, this planet is the last worldship that the Elder Race ever creates. [Lewis] - On its lonely journey through the heavens, the rogue pelagic planet Aquarius makes a close pass of the newborn Earth. The titanic tidal forces between the two during the pass pull huge amounts of water from Aquarius to Earth. This forms the Earth's oceans and is the beginning of life as we know it on our world. [FY. Date as given on the Babylonian clay tablet Dr. Sane submits for his review concerning the legend of the planet Aquarius. See also Lewis.] c.3.8 billion BCE - Having traveled back through time with the help of Mystery Eve, one of the first things done by a young Japanese man named Mamoru is to relieve his bladder on a nearby rock. His urine provides the primal spark of life on Earth in the Leijiverse. [ME Volume 2] c.2 billion BCE? - The Elder Race successfully ascends to the next level of existence. They entrust the care of "their children" on their many worldships to their respective Guardian Spirits. [Lewis. My date is conjecture. Lewis gives no specific date for this event. If the implications of HSa and HSm are correct, and the Elder Race is the Nibelungen, then this might have been when they abandoned Akwaar and "ascended" into Wotan's service on Valhalla itself.] - This is the oldest date that the Queen Emeraldas gives for its own construction by the Mosgalut. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," Volume 2. The ship is guessing, and says that it can't honestly remember the exact date due to partial degredation of its oldest memory circuits. It does say that it was built specifically for Emeraldas as one of the last acts of the Mosgalut, per QEm Volume 1 and intimated in HSm Part 7. That would appear to pin its date of construction to the collapse and eventual extinction of the Mosgalut - whenever that was, which might be as late as c.960 - the date it left its own home system for our galaxy.] 650 million BCE - Alberich leads the Nibelungen in a failed revolt against Valhalla. As their punishment, the Nibelungen are banished to the remote world of Nibelheim at the ends of the universe. Only those Nibelungen who did not take part in the revolt - such as Alberich's younger sister Freya - are permitted to remain on Valhalla. [HSa, HSm Part 1, "The Rhinegold," Volume 1] c.200 million BCE (?) - The Gorda, one of the oldest civilizations in the annals of known history, construct their intergalactic warp wormhole transit network. Parts of this system will still be functioning as late as the 26th century in the Terran measure of time. [Y2520 #4, "Ancient Mysteries." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. NOTE - The ancient Gorda warp wormhole network and GE999's "hyperspace tunnels" may be one and the same. It would certainly explain how intergalactic travel in a year or less is possible later on in the Leijiverse. Everybody's using those parts of the old Gorda warp wormhole system that are still functional, or have been repaired. My date is a best guess based on what extremely limited data is available.] c.180 million BCE - The Mazone pay their first visit to our Sol System. They establish a temporary base on Venus during this stay. The base will be expanded and made more permanent in subsequent visits. They also establish their first base on Earth, somewhere on one of the land masses that today make up Antarctica. [SPCHa #12, "Mother Be Eternal" and SPCHm Volumes 2 and 5. We see the base on Venus in this episode. Yattaran also conjectures bases on Mars and Jupiter, although these are never shown. In SPCHm Volume 2, Doctor Zero states that the Mazone have been on Earth "since the dawn of the human species - probably much earlier." Later on in the same account, Harlock asks, "Why did they stay hidden for tens, hundreds or even millions of years?" The fact that the first Mazone base on Earth was in what is today Antarctica comes from SPCHm Volume 5.] - As they settle Venus, the Mazone wipe out the native humanoid population already established there. They save a handful for use in genetic experimentation. [DZ Chapter 3, "The Queen of Venus;" CHP; SPCH Volume 2. CHP makes the incredible statement that humanity originated on Venus. We now know otherwise, but we now know the sources - DZ Chapter 3 and SPCH Volume 2 from where that statement came. I have chosen to re-interpret CHP rather broadly; that is, some of the genetic material the Mazone used in their later experiments on humanity might have been culled/farmed from the surviving natives of Venus. Harlock himself shows evidence to Diver Zero of ruins on the surface of Venus, which he ascribes to "an alien invasion that killed everyone." We also see similar ruins at the end of SPCHm Volume 2, for which the same reason for their state is ascribed by Harlock.] - The Mazone also do the same with the planet Mars - wiping out its natives save for the few they enslave or use as experimental subjects. [DZ Chapter 6, "Tragedy of the Tenth Planet." See also above data on Venus and SPCHa Episodes #12, "Mother Be Eternal" and #22, "Space Graveyard Deathshadow;" as well as SPCHm Volume 3.] 100 million BCE - The servants of Noo are successful in bringing about the downfall and destruction of the homeworld of the original Descendants of the Twisted Rope. Eons later, this will become the Planet of the Rubbish Heaps. The only survivors of this disaster in our universe are the various guardians of former Twisted Rope bases and worlds scattered throughout the heavens. One of these happens to be hidden deep under the surface of Luna, Earth's moon. [CHEO #03, "The Voice Calling For Noo From Afar" and #07, "The Moon Waits in the Promised Land." The tomb that Harlock and company visits is part of the planet itself and not part of the archaeological rubble that had been dumped there. The date is from the English dubbed dialogue. The subtitles say "several millennia" but this is probably a translation error. The guardian of Luna gives the same date for her people's demise in both sub and dub as does the English dub for the guardian of the Planet of the Rubbish Heaps. If the sparse implications from HSa and HSm hold any weight, then this planet may have been the original homeworld of the gods of Valhalla. The "downfall" that the guardian talks about might be the corruption of the gods of Valhalla by their sense of absolute power over creation, as is evident by Wotan's behavior in HSa and HSm. This could also be the date that half of the artificial world of Valhalla was blown away by the Sword of Heaven, as depicted and discussed in HS4. There is reason to believe, based on Mimay's (aka Melody's) dialogue in CHQ1K that the Mazone might have numbered among the servants of Noo at this time.] 98 million BCE - A large meteor hits the main island of Japan at present-day Tokyo. Its massive impact crater is dozens of miles wide and several miles deep. The course of the Kanto River is altered to flow through the crater itself. As millions of years, pass the crater will eventually be filled in by sediments deposited by the Kanto River. [QMa #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion"] 65 million BCE - A planet-wide cataclysm causes the near-simultaneous eruption of every active volcano on Earth. The net result of this massive discharge of ash and dust into the atmosphere will significantly lower Earth's surface temperature, leading to the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. This environmental change is brought about by a near passing of the planet LaMaetel during its thousand-year orbit through the Sol System. [QMa #07, "Invitation to the Underground." Yukino Yayoi shares this fact with young Hajime Amamori during his first visit with her to the secret LaMaetelian base beneath Tokyo. An alternate account is hinted at in HSm Volume 2, "The Valkyrie," in which Wotan himself implies he might have been the one behind it.] - The Mazone base in Antarctica is wiped out during this cataclysm. The Mazone base on Venus is abandoned not long after, and the Mazone leave the Solar System. They will not return for hundreds of millions of years. [SPCHm Volume 5. The actual date estimate given by the Director of the Science Bureau for the hunk of Antarctic ice with dozens of frozen Mazone inside is "70 to 100 million years." I have erred on the short side because this data point fits better with the extinction of the dionsaurs than it does with the closest other event on record - the meteor impact that created Tokyo Bay (QEm, QEa). That was a local event that would probably had little effect, if any, on what became Antarctica - whereas the later meteor impact shook the entire globe. Remember, the date given in SPCHm Volume 5 was just an estimate. The Mazone departure from the Sol System at this time is implied by the various SPCH materials. In SPCHa #12, "Mother Be Eternal," Captain Harlock states that it looked like the original Mazone base was destroyed by a volcanic eruption.] 26 million BCE - A Nibelungen colony is established on the planet Tiamat, the fifth in our Sol System. It is located at the present location of the inner asteroid belt. [HSa. Miime talks of having lived on the Sol System's mythical fifth planet prior to its destruction. I have yet to find a name for this planet in any Leijiverse source, so I borrowed Zechariah Stichin's name for it.] 8-5 million BCE - The Guardian Spirit of Akwaa, greatest of all such Spirits, determines that the humans of Earth, the last Elder Race worldship, holds the greatest potential for becoming a new Elder Race. It is the culmination of billions of years of subtle genetic experimentation and manipulation on all of the humanoid life forms evolving on all of its worldships scattered throughout the universe. To that end, groups of these early humans are taken from Earth and seeded on all other Elder Race worldships, including the nine in the Milky Way galaxy. To further enhance the experiment, the evolution of these seed groups is either augmented or retarded to varying degrees. Only the humans of Earth are left alone in their evolution. They will be the unaltered master template by which the development of the others can be measured. The nine major humanoid seed groups within the Milky Way galaxy will be known collectively as the Nine Daughter Races of the Elder Race. [Lewis. My date is probable conjecture. Lewis gives no specific date for this event.] - A group of humans from Earth are deposited on the planet LaMaetel and their evolution accelerated to such a degree that they become a technologically advanced civilization within two million years. Their primary responsibility is to watch over the Earth and see to it that the natural evolution of humanity and its development towards civilization is not altered or hindered in any way. This original mission will become obscured and corrupted over the passing of many millennia. [Lewis and QMa. Yukino Yayoi's younger sister claims that the LaMaetel are the oldest and most advanced humanoid civilization in the known universe, having existed for "millions of years." This would imply that the LaMaetel are one of the oldest offshoots of the Nine Daughter Races, since the Elder Race and its contemporaries (the Mazone, the Nibelungen, et al) predate the LaMaetel by eons.] - The Iskandaa, humanoid inhabitants of the worldship Eurythmia, are the first of the Nine Daughter Races to achieve spaceflight capability. They are the Milky Way galaxy's first spacefaring civilization. The Iskandaa will become known as great explorers, bringing their knowledge and advanced technology to all worlds that they visit. [SBC2 and Lewis] - The Iskandaa visit our Sol System for the first time. They find human life on both LaMaetel and Earth. They leave Earth alone at the request of the LaMaetel, who share with them their special trust from the Spirit of Akwaa regarding the humans of Earth. From this the Iskandaa learn of Earth's unique place in the cosmos. This will become a carefully guarded secret known only to the Iskandaa ruling elite. They decide to give the people of LaMaetel advanced spaceflight capability in order to aid in their guardianship of the humans of Earth. [Probable conjecture based on QMa and Lewis. This would help explain the obvious technology gap between the humans of LaMaetel and the humans of Earth as depicted in the various QM materials. It also helps explain how Starsha of Iscandar knew so much about Earth, as depicted in SB1.] - Rise of civilization on the planet Jura. [CHQ1K. "Melody" (aka Mimay) says in the series that her people's culture had existed "for millions of years." The Japanese original of SPCHa makes no reference to this. Oddly enough, Jura is depicted as already being an old world in QEm Volume 1, albeit under different circumstances and with human colonists - the indigenous humanoid population having died out long before. Two different locations are given for the planet location. One is "a small and really strange planet near the star Antares, in the constellation of Scorpio," per SPCHm Volume 1. The other is "the third planet of the Ammonite star system ... located in the constellation of Orion within the Horsehead Nebula," per QEm Volume 1 and SPCHa #20, "The Dead Planet Jura." The latter is considered the canon location by most Leijiverse fans, since it is the one used on screen, and due to the fact that the name "Jura" is never used for the planet described in SPCHm Volume 1.] c.5 million BCE - The ancestors of the Cometine leave their homeworld on the planet Arishna, located on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, and depart on a multigenerational voyage across the void towards the Andromeda galaxy. It is the first step on their path to a long history of deep space conquest. Arishna becomes a dead world with their departure. The only traces left behind of its former inhabitants are stripped, abandoned cities on its surface and semi-sentient satellites in orbit monitoring the demise of its shrinking and dimming sun. [SBC1 #2, "The Prisoner and the Power" and #4, "Sacrifice." See also SBTM, "White Comet History."] - The Mazone encounter the Jura for the first time - and come away much the wiser for it. [CHQ1K. One of the first things Melody (Mimay) says when she encounters her first Mazone in person during the series is, "It has been many eons since last our people met. An aeon is one million years. Later, when Harlock and his crew analyze the Mazone message capsule, and see their first image of the Mazone fleet, Melody (Mimay) remarks that "it was like this when they invaded my world."] c.2 million BCE - Dawn of intelligent human life on Earth as we know it. [Contemporary archaeological accounts and CHQ1K. In Harmony Gold's version of events, Olivia (Yukino) implies that the LaMaetel were on Earth at the dawn of humanity "over two million years ago." Miime seems to also imply the same in HSa, stating that the Nibelungen were fully aware of the dawn of humanity and may have been more than just observers to the event.] - The Domoh, the original humanoid species of the planet that will later be known as NewTokarga, develop their first primitive civilization. [CHQ1K. In the HGM English dub, Zoroh says his people have been around for "eons." He also claims his people had long known about the Mazone.] - The Mazone build up a powerful space fleet in order to solidify their off-world holdings in the Milky Way. [SPCHa, SPCHm. In the original, the Mazone claim to have been warriors "for two milion years." I am reinterpreting this to mean that this is when they built up their second invasion fleet of the Milky Way. The Mazone had been around and fighting wars for a lot longer than two million years.] - The Mazone return in force to establish a permanent presence in the Sol System. Their first and largest base is on the planet Brumus. Their second base is on the planet Venus. Their third is on the Sidonia plain of Mars. Their fourth is in the jungles of South America on Earth. The fifth and largest is on the central southwest coast of Japan. [CHP; SPCHa #09, "The Fearsome Plant Lifeform" and #12, "Mother Be Eternal." See also SB2 #06, "Rescue on Brumus" and DZ Chapter 6, "Tragedy of the Tenth Planet." Perhaps the legendary face on Mars and the purported alien ruins on its Sidonia plain have something to do with the Mazone, but this is sheer conjecture on my part. Brumus was once inhabited and the surviving architecture bears striking similarities to Mazone artifacts. This too is conjecture on my part, but the material in DZ Chapter 6, "Tragety of the Tenth Planet," hints that my guess may not be so far off ....] - From their initial footholds, the Mazone fan out over all the Earth. They discover that the indigenous human population makes excellent slave labor. They will use them as such for thousands of years to come. Their presence on Earth does not escape the detection or concern of the planet's guardians on LaMaetel. [CHP, SPCHa #09, "The Fearsome Plant Lifeform," and CHQ1K. CHP states that the Mazone brought humanity's ancestors from Venus but this contradicts all other sources regarding humanity's origins in the Leijiverse. The interaction between the Mazone and the LaMaetel comes from CHQ1K.] c.600,000 to 35,000 BCE - Several near-misses by LaMaetel as it swings through the Sol System in its eccentric thousand-year orbit are the cause for the starting and stopping of all four of Earth's major Ice Ages. [QMa #07, "Invitation to the Underground." Yukino Yayoi shares this fact with young Hajime Amamori during one of his visits to the secret LaMaetel base hidden under Tokyo.] c.500,000 BCE - The people of LaMaetel begin sending their Millennial Queens to Earth. Their original orders are to watch over the humans of Earth as they climb the road towards civilization. Eventually this will become corrupted into a new mission: to rule over Earth and restrain the more barbaric impulses of its human population. [QMa, CHQ1K, Lewis. There are hundreds of mummified bodies within the ancient tombs of the secret LaMaetel base. If each of them ruled for a thousand years, well ... do the math. 500,000 BCE is the earliest date conjectured by many authorities for anything resembling primitive human cultures. It is also highly probable that the Millennial Queens were sent to Earth in order to combat the rising influence of the Mazone.] - The LaMaetel establish a major colony on the planet Venus. This development does not go unnoticed by the Mazone. [QMa #28, "Showdown on Venus." The date is a guess based on the apparent age of the ruins and Miray's dialogue in the episode. The part about the Mazone is conjecture, given the fact that the Mazone already had a base on Venus.] c.380,000 BCE - The Mazone and the LaMaetel clash over the fate of humanity. It is the first great war between two technologically advanced cultures on the Earth's surface and will later become known as "the war of the gods" in human legend. Open warfare is waged with advanced technology beyond the comprehension of early humanity. [CHQ1K. It stands to reason that both cultures must have interacted at some point, since both were on Earth at the same time in mankind's past - even if you discount CHQ1K as an acceptable source and go with "straight" Leijiverse sources. As to the war, there are certain historical and archaeological anomalies in human history across the globe that might point to advanced technology and the use of nuclear weapons on Earth in ancient antiquity.] c.300,000 BCE - The war between the Mazone and the LaMaetel eventually ends in stalemate and ceasefire. A compromise of sorts is achieved between the Mazone and the LaMaetel. The Mazone are allowed to continue to use humans as slaves so long as the majority of humanity is left alone to continue its evolution. The Mazone will be allowed to continue their "godlike" interaction with humanity under the watchful eye of the Millennial Queens. The LaMaetel apparently excuse this as a necessary means of advancing human civilization without having to actually become directly involved. This marks the start of a tenuous and often uneasy relationship between these two disparate advanced humanoid species. Each apparently intends to use the other for its own secret purposes. [CHQ1K. It stands to reason that both cultures must have interacted at some point, since both were on Earth at the same time in mankind's past - even if you discount CHQ1K as an acceptable source and go with "straight" Leijiverse sources. As to the war, there are certain historical and archaeological anomalies in human history across the globe that might point to advanced technology and the use of nuclear weapons on Earth in ancient antiquity. At one point in CHQ1K, Selen states that hers is a fallen people and that the once-great civilization of the LaMaetel was drawing to its end. Perhaps their truce with the Mazone, thus compromising their noble values, marked the beginning of that fall.] - The LaMaetel permit the Mazone to interact to varying degrees with almost all of humanity's great pre-Diluvial civilizations. These will include the mystery civilizations of Central and Southern America, the lost civilization of Mu in the Pacific Basin, the lost civilization of Atlantis in the present-day Bahamas and central Atlantic, the lost civilization of Lemuria in the Indian Ocean, and the pre-dynastic civilization of Egypt. [CHP and SPCHa #09, "The Fearsome Plant Lifeform." It is intimated that the the Mazone were either the builders of or assisted in the building of the Great Pyramids of Egypt. It is also intimated that surviving remnants of their still-functional technology are responsible for the mysteries surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, long thought to be part of the legendary lost continent of Atlantis. The so-called "underwater pyramids" off the coast of Japan are often cited as evidence of the lost civilization of Mu, which again was supposedly influenced by the Mazone. I should note in all fairness that in the original Japanese sources the LaMaetel and the Mazone never knew or came into contact with each other. Even so, they must have at some point given their advanced technology. The Harmony Gold materials developed for CHQ1K, dreadful as they may be, are currently the only source of information on this extraordinary relationship. ADDENDUM - Kei's analysis of the underwater pyramid in the Bermuda Triangle, in SPCHm Volume 1, reveals it to be "tens of thousands of years old" - which lends some weight to the date I have assigned for the end of the "war of the gods." In my interpretation, it would have been built sometime after this war. See also SPCHm Volume 2, where a direct connection is made between "ancient places" on Earth and the Mazone's involvement in Earth's ancient past.] - Rise of homo sapiens, i.e. "modern man," on Earth. [Contemporary accounts. Certain modern scholars (Stichin, et al) have suggested that homo sapiens was genetically engineered from homo habilis, which was the dominant humanoid lifeform on Earth at the time. There is circumstantial evidence to support that this was the case in the Leijiverse. Miime alludes to the possibility that this was done by the Nibelungen in the various HS materials. The technology of both the LaMaetel and the Mazone were also capable of this as well, per the various QM and SPCH materials.] c.130,000 BCE - Rise of homo neanderthalis, aka "Neanderthal Man," on Earth. [Contemporary accounts. Certain modern scholars (Alford, et al) have suggested that this interesting variant of homo sapiens was genetically engineered. There is circumstantial evidence to support that this was the case in the Leijiverse. It is a fact that the Mazone enslaved humans during their time on Earth per the various SPCH materials. Perhaps the Mazone did a little genetic engineering of their own in order to breed a more suitable ... "pack animal?" See also SPCHm Volume 2. Wotan had always found the Neanderthals intriguing because of their great strength and simple minds, and says as much in HSm Part 3, "The Valkyrie," Volume 1. He also ruefully regrets having brought about their eventual extinction.] c.95,000 BCE - Establishment of a dedicated elite warrior caste among the Mazone specializing in subterfuge and covert operations. [CHQ1K. The Mazone "civilians" who deal with Tadashi Daiba (aka "Terry") tell him that they've been a warrior people for "a thousand of your centuries." The Japanese original establishes that the Mazone have been warriors for at least two million years. It could either be a translation error or some inventive dialogue on the part of Macek and company. I'm taking it to mean the founding of an elite or covert group of Mazone warriors, much like our special ops teams of today. After all, it was a similar group of Mazone who laid that elaborate trap for Tadashi and Harlock on the Rainbow Planet.] c.70,000 BCE - Approximate date of the dawn of Lemuria, the greatest and most enlightened of mankind's pre-history civilizations. [James Churchward, THE LOST CONTINENT OF MU. The LaMaetelians probably had direct contact with the people of Lemuria at some point in the Leijiverse if the legends, are true but this pure conjecture on my part.] c.50,000 BCE - Approximate date of the dawn of the other great pre-history civilizations of mankind: Atlantis (Atlantic Basin), pre-history Egypt, and Yu (China/Tibet). All are founded as colonies of Lemuria with "... the blessing of the gods." [Contemporary accounts. "The gods" in question may have been the Millennial Queen of LaMaetel and her people, but this is pure conjecture on my part.] c.11,500 BCE - Tiamat, the legendary fifth planet of the Sol System, is destroyed in an event that brings about the First Cataclysm on Earth. The Nibelungen colony on Tiamat manages to evacuate to Earth before the planet's destruction. The Mazone base on Mars likewise manages to evacuate before the final destruction of Tiamat. The atmosphere of Mars is ripped away and large portions of its surface are devastated by the explosion and flying rubble, rendering it a lifeless and barren world in a matter of minutes. Part of the rubble of Tiamat eventually becomes the inner asteroid belt of the Sol System as we know it today. [HSa, HSm "The Rhinegold," and contemporary accounts. The planet is never named in the various Leijiverse materials so I'm going with the name Stichin gives. The destruction of Tiamat may have been triggered by a close passing of the planet LaMaetel (QM), because just such an event is recorded in ancient Middle Eastern and Chinese historical records that claim to survive from the era. Miime directly references the event and the evacuation of her people in both HS sources. She claims that Wotan caused the destruction of this planet for no other reason than pure spite. Contemporary scholars (Hoagland, Flandren, et al) theorize that the so-called "city" on the Sidonia plain of Mars was laid waste and half-buried in a cataclysm that happened about this time. By the way, some past scholars also theorized that the rings of Saturn were formed from the ejected oceans of Mars during this spectacular interplanetary event. True or not, it's an interesting tangent ....] c.11,000 BCE - The Van Dern meteor stream passes the location where Central Station will exist in the year 2973. [GR1 #15, "Joint Forces." The Van Dern meteor stream is described as being in an eccentric orbit lasting "several thousand years." I have not mentioned it until now because my timeline views things largely from the human pointof-view. It is safe to assume, though, that it appears regularly "every several thousand years" prior to this date as well - 18,000 BCE, 25,000 BCE, 32,000 BCE, etc.] c.7800 BCE - The ancestors of the humans later known as the Lugal are born in one of Earth's first great advanced civilizations. [FY. This would be the Middle Eastern empire overseen by the former Lemurian colony centered around pre-history Egypt.] c.7500 BCE - Mankind's first great advanced civilizations on Earth are at their zenith when they are almost completely destroyed by the passage of the rogue planet Aquarius. The entire surface of Earth is completely deluged with water up to and over the tops of the highest mountains. Among the few survivors is a large group evacuated by an alien race known only as the Lugal and relocated to the planet Dinguil, where they continue to grow and flourish. A handful of other humans ride out the cataclysm in a giant ark complete with full supplies and samples of all living life forms. Human civilization is forced to start again from scratch. This event will later become known as the Great Flood and is the major event in the Diluvial Age on Earth. [FY. The event is described in the movie. This is the current Leijiverse take on the Great Flood myths that are part of every major culture, present and past, on Earth. It is also quite probable, although never explicitly stated, that the current Millennial Queen and her people may have had their part to play in the legend of the Great Flood as well. Yukino Yayoi seems to imply as much in QMa #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion," although she attributes the Great Flood to a close passing of LaMaetel. Since FY was produced after both QMa, and QMf makes no references to the Great Flood, I have chosen to go with FY's account of the event.] - One of the results of the Great Flood is the underground diversion of one of the Kanto River's main tributaries. It swiftly hollows out a great cavern complex in the pre-Diluvial sedimentary rock beneath the Kanto Basin. By the time the underground river has done its work the Kanto cave complex has become the largest in the world. Its main feature is a central chamber approximately ten miles wide with a ceiling about two miles high. It is discovered by the people of LaMaetel after the flood waters recede, and hidden from prying human eyes by advanced technology. It will serve as their main base of operations on Earth over the next ten millennia. [QMa #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion." The sediments of the Kanto River basin are about one-and-a-half miles deep, per the anime, so the Kanto cave complex must be deeper than that. Must have been one helluva meteor strike! Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, the LaMaetel normally reach their underground base via a series of standard and anti-grav lifts, elevators, and such. Hajime falling all the way down into it in QM #05, "The Vast Underground Complex," is just dramatic license on the part of the TV show. There's all kinds of ways to explain or hand-wave that bit away.] c.7000 to 1500 BCE - The Mazone are once again allowed to intervene in human affairs on Earth by the LaMaetel. Among the many human cultures that they influence at this time are the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the Aryans of India, and the great Amerind cultures of Central and South America. Almost all of these cultures have arisen at or near pre-Diluvial Mazone bases. For reasons of their own, the LaMaetal choose not to interfere with these latest Mazone activities. [SPCHa #41, "Duel: The Queen vs. Harlock" and material suggested by CHQ1K. I should not in all fairness that in the original Japanese sources, the LaMaetel and the Mazone never knew or came into contact with each other. Even so, they MUST have at some point given their advanced technology. The Harmony Gold materials, dreadful as they may be, are currently the only source of data that deals with this possibility. ADDENDUM - The pottery vase that gets so much attention in SPCHa #09, "The Fearsome Plant Lifeform" and SPCHm Volume 2 is described in the original Japanese sources as having been made in Japan's Jomon Era - between 8000 and 250 BCE, and dating back to the origins of Japan itself.] - Also assisting humanity's return to civilization unseen is Miime the Nibelung sorceress. Her main base of operations is in present day Scandanavia. She apparently manages to avoid contact with and protect her charges from both LaMaetelian and Mazone influences. All cultures that she influences come away with the stories of Valhalla embedded as legends and myths in their culture. [HSa. Miime shares this information with Captain Harlock shortly before they visit the real Valhalla. She never mentions any contact with the people of LaMaetel or the Mazone, but that doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility. The mythlore of the cultures Miime influenced is quite different than those affected by either the Mazone or the LaMaetel.] - The Eurythmians establish a thriving colony on the planet Iskandaa. [SBC2 #04, "A Blast From The Past." It is my conjecture that the colony was established at the future location of Mother Town, the chief city of Iscandar in later millennia as depicted in SB1 and YNV.] c.5000 BCE - The Dinguil, the blue-skinned descendants of those humans who survived the Great Flood, overthrow their Lugal benefactors and exterminate them. In short order, they both master Lugal technology and ally themselves with two other interstellar powers, the Bolar Federation and the Dezarium Empire. Together these three embark on the first known campaign of interstellar conquest in the recorded history of the Milky Way galaxy. [Lewis] c.5000 - 4980 BCE - The First Interstellar War, aka "The Yin-Yang War." The interstellar civilizations of Eurythmia, Telezart, and Shalbart unite with their allies against a confederation of the Dinguil, Bolar, and Dezarians for control of the known universe. Historians will later call these two sides the Yin Federation and the Yang Alliance respectively. It is the first known interstellar war in recorded history and will last for approximately two decades. [Lewis] - The peoples of Galman and Bimeria elect to remain neutral during the First Interstellar War. This does not save them from being attacked by the Dezarians. Many of the Galmans and Bimerians are successful in escaping before both worlds are conquered and claimed by the Yang Alliance. A few survive under Dezarian rule and attempt to preserve what remains of their ruined culture and history as best they can via oral tradition. [Lewis] - The survivors of the planet Bimeria relocate to an isolated world located approximately halfway between the Milky Way galaxy and the Greater Magellanic Cloud. They abandon their advanced technology and revert to a primitive lifestyle. In this fashion these Bimerians, later known as the Bee People of Beeland, will survive the First Interstellar War. They will eventually forget everything about their past save for distorted legends passed down by the families of their hive elders. [Lewis] - The refugees from the planet Galman who successfully escaped their conquered homeworld appeal to the Yin Federation for assistance. The Eurythmians direct them to the planet Desla within the Sanza Star System. It is the only other planet in the known universe with an environment almost exactly like that of Galman. The delighted Galman refugees decide to relocate to Desla at once. They claim the planet as their own and rename it Gamilon in memory of their lost homeworld. They are both welcomed and given assistance by their new neighbors, the Eurythmian colony on Iskanda, as they settle on their new world. The Gamilons will eventually lose touch with their homeworld Galman due to the great distances involved. [Lewis. Leader Desslok could be indirectly referencing this event in one of his speeches in SB3. Eldred describes the colonization of Gamilon by the Galmans in his supplemental materials for the SB1 DVD boxset. This happened around the same time as the colonization of Iscandar, according to Gamilon Science Officer Vixor in the SBC3 #04, "A Blast From The Past."] - The Gamilon Codices are written around this time. They preserve the story of the true origin of the people of Gamilon and how they came to their homeworld. Many copies are made, but few survive the passing of the years. [Lewis] - Scientists on the planet Eurythmia develop wave motion technology. It will prove to be to the First Intergalactic War what the atomic bomb was to World War II on Earth. Some within Eurythmian society see it as the war's final solution, while others argue that it should be used only for peaceful purposes. The necessities of wartime decide in favor of the former. The dissident faction on Eurythmia loses the debate and abandons its homeworld for a new start on the distant colony world of Iskanda. They rename themselves the Iscandar after their new homeworld. They break all ties with their Eurythmian brothers and strive to build a peaceful society isolated from the conflict around them. Over time, the true origins of the people of Iscandar will pass into legend, and their ancient past all but forgotten. [SBC2 #4, "A Blast From The Past" and Lewis. The date given in the comic comes out to approximately 2800 BCE. I have taken the liberty of moving it back a few thousand years so it will better fit with the data from Lewis.] - A team of Eurythmian scientist is successful in trapping, imprisoning, and harnessing the immense power of the Guardian Spirit of Eurythmia. This is done in order to achieve their greatest technological triumph. It is the Planet Crusher - a mobile wave motion gun platform of immense power and proportions. It remains to this day the single most powerful weapons platform ever created by one of the Nine Daughter Races in the known history of the universe. Subsequently, the military forces of the Yin Federation sponsor the building of an entire fleet of Eurythmian planet crushers for the war effort against the Yang Alliance. [Lewis. It is possible that the trapping of the Spirit of Eurythima is what caused the Iscandarian faction on Eurythmian to finally give up hope and abandon their homeworld to the militarist faction. Lewis does not say one way or the other.] - The Yin Federation's new fleet of Eurythmian planet crushers proves to be the deciding factor in winning the First Interstellar War. The Yang Alliance is defeated once and for all. The Dinguil are confined to their homeworld and "reduced to a primitive state of existence." The Bolar Federation survives, but is forced to retreat to the isolation of New Bolar, a harsh colony world buried deep within the Milky Way's galactic core. The Bolar homeworld is destroyed and the Bolars lose most of their advanced technology in the process. The Dezarians are the most severely punished for their policy of attempting to systematically exterminate the cultures of the peoples that they conquered. They are banished along with their homeworld into an empty parallel universe dominated by the giant, galaxy-shaped Black Nebula. It will take millennia for the three leading cultures on the losing side of the First Interstellar War to rebuild their respective civilizations and return to the Sea of Stars. [Lewis. New Bolar will become the new homeworld of the reborn Bolar Federation, as depicted in SB3. The banishment of the Dezarians to the universe of the Black Nebula is briefly alluded to in BFY. Their descendants became the Black Nebula Empire as depicted in both YNV and BFY.] c.4980 - 4900 BCE - This is the period in galactic history know as the Inward Turning. Revolted by the rampant bloodshed forced upon them in order to win the First Intergalactic War, the Yin Federation abandons the very technology that enabled it to defeat its foes. Wave motion technology in all forms is either destroyed outright or hidden away in secret repositories - in the event that it is ever needed again. [Lewis; see also SB1, SB3 and SBC2 #4, "A Blast From The Past." The Eurythmian and Shalbart technology caches are uncovered in the STAR BLAZERS era. Starsha of Iscandar's gift of wave motion technology to humanity was what helped them defeat the Gamilons in 2199-2200 and caused such a monumental leap forward in human spaceflight capability. The Shalbart cache is revealed near the end of SB3, from which the Star Force is granted the gift of the Cosmo Penultimate Cannon.] - The planet Eurythmia is abandoned when its remaining inhabitants leave their world to join their more peaceful brethren on distant Iscandar. They carefully hide all traces of their past on both worlds. The inhabitants of Iscandar then revert to an agrarian lifestyle with their history preserved in legends and oral tradition. It will be thousands of years before they regain their "lost" advanced technology. Meanwhile, back on Eurythmia, its Guardian Spirit remains trapped within her hyperspace prison, unable to break the bonds her own people placed upon her. [Lewis and SBC2 #5, "Crescendo." The Guardian Spirit of Eurythima will remain imprisoned for almost six millennia before being freed by the Star Force in 2202.] - The Shalbart Empire collapses under a series of Wars of Secession. At the same time, the ruling house of the Shalbart Empire, located on the planet Gardiana, begins a selective breeding program to enhance its psychic powers. This is to ensure its survival in the millennia to come. They convince the people of Gardiana to abandon and hide away their advanced technology, and revert to a pastoral lifestyle. Even so, and unlike their contemporaries from the Yin-Yang War, the inhabitants of Gardiana never forget their past and their knowledge of the advanced technology they have hidden away on their world. The Shalbart Empire will eventually dissolve as the planet Gardiana turns inward, abandoning what few off-world holdings it has left. The memory and legacy of the last days of the Shalbart Empire is reserved by the rest of the Milky Way galaxy in the (distorted) legend of Queen Gardiana. [Lewis; see also SB3. In that series, the old man who explains the legend of Queen Gardiana to Wildstar and Nova says that her rule ended "thousands of years ago."] c.4500 BCE - Lady La Lela Promethium, the ruling matriarch of LaMaetel, authorizes the successive cloning of three identical daughters to be her children and heirs. [QMa, QMf, SSM - implied. The TV series establishes that the LaMaetel reproduced by cloning (as opposed to sex) in order to maintain the genetic purity of their species, and we see these cloning chambers in QMm, QMf, and SSM. Selen is the eldest twin per the original source materials. Her facial features are slightly different and her hair somewhat darker than her two younger sisters. All three had ankle-length hair as adults; however Selen cut hers to a more manageable length while on Earth, per QMf. Andromeda and Miray, the two younger sisters, were physically identical and almost impossible to tell apart with the untrained eye. Miray, like her elder sister Selen, also changed her appearance per the feature film (QMf) - dying her hair a deep blue and cutting it to shoulder length.] - Birth of La Selene Promethium (aka Selen), eldest daughter of Lady La Lela of LaMaetel. [QMa, implied. Selen appeared to be 19 or 20 in human years when she was removed from her position as heir to the Millennial Throne of Earth. The humans of LaMaetel appear to age one year for every 300 or so human years, as opposed to the more poetic description of "every thousand years" given in QMf. The exact minimum ratio I have calculated from the various associated LaMaetel source materials is 1:285. Even so, I'm not being exact in order to allow some leeway given M-san's "toki no wa" philosophy regarding the Leijiverse.] c.4000 - This was approximately the last time that the Van Dern meteor stream, one of the most destructive roving asteroid fields in the Milky Way galaxy, passed the location where Central Station would exist in the year 2973. [GR1 #15, "Joint Forces." The Van Dern meteor stream is described as being in an eccentric orbit lasting "several thousand years."] c.3500 BCE - Birth of La Andromeda Promethium (aka Promethium), second daughter of Lady La Lela of LaMaetel. [QMa, implied. See also the entries for 4500 BCE regarding LaMaetel.] 3114 BCE, 12 August - The planets of Jupiter and Saturn almost collide and the orbits of Venus, Mars, and Earth are changed. All settle into an approximation of the orbits we know today, with one major exception: the new orbit of Mars now crosses that of Earth. The resultant environmental upheavals and global disasters cause the various civilizations of Earth to go through the first recorded "Dark Age" in current human history. Also, the Mayan calendar begins. [From material suggested by Russian scholar Immanuel Velikovsky (WORLDS IN COLLISION) and American scholars Donald Patten and Samuel Windsor (THE MARS-EARTH WARS). In the Leijiverse, this would have most likely been caused by a passing by the rogue planet LaMaetel through our Sol System. The Mayans are significant in explaining the Mazone and their origins in both SPCH sources. This date is also the oldest one in any historical annal accepted by contemporary scholars, per ancient Mayan and Chinese sources.] c.3000 BCE - The First Gamilon Civil War. The Galman colony on the planet Desla becomes cut off from its neighbors on Iscandar as its people fight each other in a centuries-long civil war over Desla's scarce planetary resources. The winning faction emerges on the other side of the conflict as the Gamilons, a hardened and militant people bent on conquest. [Lewis] - It is known that at this point in time the Mazone continue to maintain bases or garrison forces in or near many of Earth's major human civilizations. They maintain a presence in an old undersea base in the Atlantic in what is today known as the Bermuda Triangle. It is also known that a major Mazone colony exists at this time above ground in and around the coastal forests of the main island of Japan. The seeming indifference of the LaMaetel to these bold moves by the Mazone remains a mystery to this day. [SPCHa #07, "The Sunken Pyramid." The age of the Mazone colony in Japan roughly corresponds with the existence of the Ainu, the original inhabitants of Japan. We know from QMa that the LaMaetel were also in contact with the Ainu, because Yukino Yayoi says as much. We also know that the LaMaetel had a relationship with the Mazone for many years, per CHQ1K.] c.2600 BCE - The Mazone garrison in Egypt hides a powerful energy weapon inside the chest of the Sphinx. [SPCHa #14, "The Sphinx's Tombstone." It is stated that the Mazone weapon was placed inside the Sphinx during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, "founder of the Fourth Dynasty" of the Egyptian Old Kingdom.] c.2500 BCE - Birth of La Miria Promethium, aka Miray, the youngest and last daughter of Lady La Lela of La Maetel. [QMa, implied. Her name in QMf is Senjoo, which is Japanese for "new queen." She appeared to be 16 in human years when she was ordered to replace her sister Andromeda and ascend to the Millennial Throne.] c.2000 BCE - Queen Mariposa, the last living descendant of the ruling house of the Shalbart Empire, is captured by the Bolar Federation during a goodwill tour of the Milky Way galaxy. She is exiled to the planet Phantom and left there to die. The Bolars had left her there believing it to be an icy and lifeless world. In truth it is a living planet in the service of Queen Gardiana. It hides Mariposa deep inside itself and puts her to sleep (i.e. places her in suspended animation) until such time as either peace returns to the galaxy or a new guardian to protect her can be found. [SB3. Planet Phantom says Queen Mariposa was entrusted to its care "thousands of years ago." The implication is that Phantom was made during the time of the Shalbart Empire's greatest influence over the Milky Way galaxy and that it had gone into hiding during the Wars of Secession. Interestingly enough, Bolar Prime Minister Bemlayze claims he personally banished Queen Mariposa. His claim is confirmed by the Elder of Gardiana. This would seem to imply that the lifespan of both races is measured in thousands of years.] c.1000 BCE - Most of the Mazone leave Earth and the Sol System for reasons that are today unknown, and depart for a dark world somewhere beyond the Milky Way galaxy. They leave behind a "small" contingent to await the day when they will return. [SPCHa #02, "A Woman Who Burns Like Paper." CHQ1K implies that the Mazone and the LaMaetelians eventually had a falling out and turned on each other. Historically this roughly corresponds with the fall of the Olmecs, the first significant human civilization in South America. It may have also been tied to the cataclysm caused by the then-current passing of the planet LaMaetel through the Sol System. c.680 BCE - Mars has its last near passing of Earth as well as a spectacular near-passing of the planet Venus, before settling into the orbit we know today. The Earth likewise settles into its current orbit and axial tilt as a result of this encounter. The event is recorded in the legends and annals of humanity worldwide at the time. [Historical accounts. This depends, of course, on how you interpret the data. This date would correspond with some scholars believe to have been a massive plasma discharge from the atmosphere of Venus, which was noted in the legends and historical records of every major civilization on Earth at the time. The best known example of these records are the Babylonian "Venus tablets," which were sourced by Russian scholar Immanuel Velikovsky for his various works on the origins of Venus. The event was also recorded in the Jewish Old Testament, the astronomical observations of both Egypt and China, and the histories of the Central and South American civilizations.] - The LaMaetel are forced to abandon their colony on the planet Venus. Their ruins are preserved under a force shield, however, due to the former colony's significance as a dueling ground for the LaMaetel royal house. [QMa #28, "Showdown on Venus," implied. The date is a guess based on the apparent age of the ruins and Miray's dialogue. In the Leijiverse, the plasma discharge recorded in Earth history might have been tied to the event that left the LaMaetel colony on Venus in ruins. The "force shield" is necessary to explain how Yukino and Miray can have their duel without protection of any kind in the dense, 800 degree, carbon dioxide rich atmosphere of Venus as we know it today. For some of M-san's other treatments of an ancient civilization on Venus see CHP; SPCHa #12, "Mother Be Eternal;" TTB Chapter 2, "Venus Transformed;" DZ Chapter 3, "The Queen of Venus," and SPCHm Volume 2.] c.50 BCE - The inhabitants of the Armor Planet begin constructing an armored shell around their world, as well as metal exoskeletons for both themselves and all life forms on its surface. [GE999a #017, "The Armor Planet." Maetel states this happened "over three thousand years ago."] c.5 BCE - Clan warfare sparked by the new religion of Kabrill Minoxas Gamilas rages across all of the planet Gamilon. This conflict becomes known as the Second Gamilon Civil War. [Lewis] c.4 BCE - The birth of Christ. [Anchor point for the Earth Gregorian calendar. It was off by approximately four years due to a computational error on the part of Pope Gregory's mathematicians.] (date uncertain) - The Comet Empire constructs Gatlantis, a mobile space fortress of great power and armament. within the hollowed-out half-shell of a small moon. It is constructed in such a manner that its protective energy fields give off the appearance of a white comet as it traverses the Sea of Stars. Over the many years and multiple Tours of Conquest in which it is used, Gatlantis becomes "the de facto symbol of the Cometine race." It is largely from this symbolism where the Comet Empire (aka White Comet Empire, Cometine, et al) gets its name. [SBTM, "The Star Fortress Gatlantis"] - The Cometine begin construction of more Gatlantis-type mobile star fortresses. [SBTM, s.v. "The Star Fortress Gatlantis."] c.AD 100 - A vigorous young feudal culture arises on New Bolar. [Lewis] c.300 - The discovery of steam power brings about an Industrial Revolution on New Bolar. [Lewis] 333 - An advanced alien spacecraft crashes at the Darkwood Villa in England. The crash kills the current Lord of Darkwood and his wife. Their young son survives, but his mind is altered and lifespan extended by "strange energies" coming from the downed vessel. With the help of the villa's servants, he contrives to hide the ship under a giant barrow (mound) lest it be discovered by the local villagers and fall prey to their primitive whims or fears. The ship, its contents, and technologies will be the source of his intense scrutiny for the next two centuries. [I5555. We neither learn from where the ship came nor what it was doing in Earthspace at the time. ADDENDUM - "a.k." suggested I correct my earlier terminology from "estate" to "villa," to reflect Roman Britian of the era instead of using the medieval terms implied by I5555 itself. Good catch!] 555 - The current (and last) Earl of Darkwood implements his "5555" plan on hapless musical acts both on Earth and across the galaxy. He is able to do this using the technology and tools of the now-repaired spacecraft that crashed into his father's estate two centuries before. [I5555. Look carefully at the star map shown in the Earl's book, VERIDUS QUO. Does that double galaxy motif look familiar? You're going to see it again in QM, FY, and HS4.] c.960 - The Queen Emeraldas, last surviving ship of the Mosgalut, departs its homeworld on its last mission for the last surviving Mosgalut pilot in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Its destination is the planet Jura, in our galaxy. [QEm Volume 1, HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," Volume 2. The destination comes from the former, and the date comes from the latter. I note in passing that in the "revival" version of events, per HSm, the pilot of the Queen Emeraldas is dead by the time the ship arrives in our galaxy - apparently having died enroute. In QEm Volume 1, the pilot lives long enough to see Emeraldas herself arrive to claim the ship.] c.980 - The Vikings one of the earliest non-Amerind visitors to the New World, establish a colony in "Vinland;" aka present-day Newfoundland. [Contemporary historical accounts. I mention this in passing because Norse mythology was influenced (or possibly created) by Miime the Nibelung sorceress during her stay on Earth, per HSa and HS1.] - Height of the Toltec civilization in Central America. [Contemporary historical accounts. The Toltecs were one of Earth's ancient civilizations supposedly influenced by the Mazone per SPCHa.] - The Mazone underwater base in the Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic Ocean is abandoned. Over time, most of it will become buried under a deep layer of sediment. [CHQ1K. Doctor Zero estimates the date of the underwater Mazone pyramid at "over two thousand years." The Japanese original, SPCHa, never gives a date. All Captain Harlock says in it is that the body in the tomb appears to have been there "since time immemorial." Since at least one other Mazone construct appears in the same area later in the series, I have surmised the the existence of a former Mazone city or colony there - much like the purported ruins on the Sidonia plain of Mars.] 999 - La Andromeda Promethium, the second daughter of Lady La Lela of La Maetel, celebrates her coming of age. [QMa #25, "A Bond Between Old Enemies". Like her daughter Maetel in MLa, Andromeda (or "Promethium," as I will come to call her in subsequent entries and as most fans know her later incarnation) appeared to be about sixteen when her life changed and the Millennial Throne of Earth passed to her instead of her elder sister Selen.] - LaMaetel's moon is destroyed by gravitational tidal forces on its current pass through the Sol System. Most of the rubble is captured by LaMaetel's gravity, joining a series of thin rings around the planet. [QMa #04, "The Vanishing Meteorites." These are the asteroid rings you see circling the planet in the feature film. The Earth passes through at least one of these rings as LaMaetel approaches Earth, resulting in the devastating meteor shower depicted in the feature film. They are present in MLa but not in GE999A. Yukino Yayoi told Hajime Amamori that her people heavily mined them for raw materials, and their unusual energy properties feature prominently in several of the television series episodes. It is quite probable that the LaMaetel mined them out of existence during their long journey across the cosmos while establishing the technology of the Machine Empire. See also SSM.] - Selen, the eldest daughter of Lady La Lela of LaMaetel, falls out of favor with her mother and the ruling elite. She has become disgusted with the way her people treat their human slaves of Earth and no longer wishes to be a part of it. For this she is disowned by her mother, stripped of her position as the heir designate (and next Millennial Queen) and then sent to a forced labor camp. Selen and a small band of followers will eventually flee to Earth and in secret set up the organization known as the Millennium Thieves. Its ultimate aim is to free mankind from any and all LaMaetelian influences. The Millennium Thieves also begin construction of a space battlecruiser to defend Earth, in the event LaMaetel ever attempts to take the planet by force. [QMa #25, "A Bond Between Old Enemies" and QMf. The feature film plays this story somewhat differently than does the television series. We never learn Selen's background; only that her relationship with her sister Promethium is a strained one. Selen herself discusses the building of the battlecruiser with Promethium about halfway through QMf. By the way, Selen's apparent age in human years is about 19 or 20, give or take a few years, when this event takes place.] - La Andromeda Promethium is appointed Millennium Queen of Earth in her exiled sister's stead. She assumes an Earth identity as a Japanese maiden named Yukino Yayoi. [QMa #25, "A Bond Between Old Enemies." Yukino Yayoi told Hajime Amamori that she was brought to Earth in her youth. Her "parents" on Earth were actually LaMetalians whose memories had been erased so as not to reveal Promethium's (or their) true origins. She and her adoptive parents must have pulled the TUCK EVERLASTING bit many times, moving from place to place during her thousand year rule on Earth, so that no one could discover their long LaMaetelian lifespans truly were.] sometime during the 20th century (exact dates uncertain) - La Andromeda Promethium, the current Millennium Queen of Earth, becomes concerned that the rubble of LaMaetel's moon could pose a great danger to Earth on LaMaetel's next pass through the Sol System. To that end, she secretly orders the construction of a giant space ark in the Kanto cave complex beneath present-day Tokyo. The ark is intended to evacuate as many humans as possible, should disaster befall. [All QM sources. In QMa the space ark is a large spacecraft that was built inside the cave complex. Its size is never given but it appears to be about the size of a contemporary naval vessel. In the movie the spaceship is built around the cave complex itself, and appears to be 10-15 miles in diameter.] - At some point during her time on Earth, the young La Andromeda Promethium begins thinking about having a family of her own. [GE999Em. Maetel implies that she might have been born on Earth but this is clearly impossible, per MLa. I have chosen to interpret Maetel's remark rather broadly. After all, Promethium did seem awfully eager to be reunited with Fara in QMf. Perhaps this explains why.] c.1100 - Arcadia, the future baronial estate of the Harlock family, is granted to them. This fiefdom is located in the old Germanic kingdom of Franconia, somewhere near what will become the present day town of Heilgenstadt in Oberfranken. [MYA and actual German historical records. The kingdom of Franconia (modern day Oberfranken) was an active supporter of the Knights Templar and their German successors, the Teutonic Knights. If there was a pirate-knight Harlock, per MYA, then his family must have already held a fiefdom or estate for his support. There are several Heilgenstadts in Germany and Austria, but the one that best fits MYA's description is Heilgenstadt in Oberfranken, deep in the heart of old Franconia. The World War II flashback scene of Arcadia, as shown in MYA, is a fair match for Schloss Griefenstein, the estate of the Stauffenberg family (yes, THAT Stauffenberg!). NOTES - M-san confirmed the German location of Heilgenstadt in a 2010 interview with Leijiverse uber-fan Tim Eldred. It appears to derive from its use as the setting of the 1955 French film MARIANNE OF MY YOUTH, which M-san saw in his youth and became particulary fond of - and which also influenced the creation of the Leijiverse in many other ways! He later repeated confirmation of the German location in a 2011 interview with Tomonobu Ikegachi, the man who created the videogame DEAD OR ALIVE and an avowed Leijiverse fan since childhood. There is an interesting visual confirmation of this in the second episode of the nonLeijiverse anime TV series OZMA, and we can thank the animekritik for finding this. In the scene where the doctor is standing in front of the map of old Germany in the captain's office, look where her pendant lines up on the map. That is no mere coincidence!] c.1120 - The first historical record appears of a "Captain Harlock." He is a respected German knight in the service of the Knight Templars during the Crusades. He is known for fearlessness in battle and skill on the high seas. [Conjecture based on actual historical records and events referenced in MYA. In the movie, Captain Harlock refers to his family as the "pirate-knight" Harlock clan. This is probably an indirect reference to a Knight Templar ancestor, given their history. The Jolly Roger, the traditional flag of the pirate, is said to have been derived from the flags that the Knight Templars flew on their ships at the end of the Crusades. Captain Harlock seems to have been drawing on the origins of the Jolly Roger in making it the flag of freedom for his time. BTW, most historians say that the Jolly Roger was first used on a red flag, not a black one - which matches the flag of Emeraldas. M-san certainly did his homework with regards to the origins of both Captain Harlock and the Jolly Roger!] c.1210 - A descendant of the Templar pirate-knight Harlock joins the newly formed Teutonic Knights. [Conjecture based on actual historical records and events referenced in MYA. The Teutonic Knights originated as a German satellite group of the Knight Templars. They actively recruited members from among the "poor" German nobility. Captain Harlock's ancestors were probably among these, given what slim clues we have.] 1291 - A Teutonic sea-knight named Harlock assists in the evacuation of Acre, the last Crusader stronghold in the Holy Land. [Conjecture based on actual historical records and events referenced in MYA. According to some writers and historians, this was the first time that the Knight Templars flew the Jolly Roger. In the Leijiverse, this act would have doubtless been performed by Captain Harlock's ancestor. No such tale exists in "canon" literature, though ... yet! Perhaps he was accompanied by Tochiro the Moor and the Lady Selen? *grin* There's been a fan artwork piece or two on aspects of this conjectured event over the past few years, though, and hopefully we'll see more.] 1526 - The Harlock family is formally recognized as one of the established members of the new Prussian nobility. [Conjecture based on actual historical records and events referenced in MYA. The Teutonic Knights disbanded as an order in 1525. Practically all of them became part of the new Prussian nobility the following year. Baron - yes, BARON - Phantom F. Harlock II was "paying the rent" when he joined the Luftwaffe in the 1930s, per the World War II flashback scene in MYA.] 1666 - Saint Maetel, a beautiful blond woman, has a profound impact on the life of classical musical composer Franz Schubert. [GE999Em Volume 4, Chapter 2, "The Unfinished Symphony of the Blank Belt Planet." In the English-language Viz release this is Volume 4, Chapter 3, "Blank Belt Symphony." A distant descendant of Schubert's, living on an asteroid far from Earth, shows Maetel and Tetsuro a drawing in a dusty old volume from his library that used to belong to his ancestor. The drawing resembles Maetel, dark furs and all. Mr. Schubert tells them that "Saint Maetel" visited his ancestor on Earth in the year 1666. Maetel never disputes his claim. The manga implies that they are one and the same. Since Maetel claims to be "a woman who has traveled through time," then Mr. Schubert's assertion might be correct, per one interpretation. A more likely answer is that the drawing is of Maetel's mother, La Andromeda Promethium, during her time on Earth as its last Millennial Queen per the various QM sources. Maetel was not even alive when the meeting between "Saint Maetel" and Franz Schubert took place. Also, the black furs Maetel wears during her journeys in the various GE999 and GR stories were a parting gift from her mother, per MLa. It should be noted that Maetel bears an uncanny likeness to her mother when Promethium was young (and still human). See the various QM materials, SSM, and GE999A.] 1791 - Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the most gifted musical composer and performer of his era. [Actual historical event. I5555 implies that the Earl of Darkwood was one of Mozart's sponsors, and was thus ultimately responsible for his death at an early age.] 1838 - An young American frontiersman buys a "fairly new" muzzle-loading rifle and powder horn. [GFa #01, "Welcome to the Gun Frontier." See also GFm Chapter 1, "To the Gun Frontier!" Franklin Harlock and Tochiro Oyama briefly come into possession of these in 1876, when they kill the man after he tries to hold up a pawnbroker's shop.] 1865 - Sea captain Franklin Harlock and samurai warrior Tochiro Oyama meet in a raid by Western pirates on a town on Japan's eastern seaboard. Tochiro scars Harlock's face in the ensuing sword duel. It is only stopped when the burning vessel's gunpowder stores start exploding. Tochiro helps Harlock escape his doomed ship and thus saves his life. As payment for his debt of gratitude, Harlock will bring the inquisitive Tochiro back to the United States with him shortly thereafter. "I've always wanted to explore your Wild West," the samurai tells the bemused Harlock. [GFa #09, "Caught between Winchester and Midland City." Japan was in a state of civil war from 1863 to 1866 as the various shogunates fought with the Emperor on how best to deal with rising Western influences. In 1865 a joint Anglo-French fleet was sent to Japan on the order of their respective governments to bombard Japanese ports. This was in retaliation by an attack on a British delegation by the Choshu shogunate. Japan remained in a state of civil war until the ascension of Emperor Meiji in 1867. The date for Franklin Harlock's raid is never given in GFa, but it best fits here given other internal evidence in the anime and historical data from the period. This might imply that the Tochiro Oyama of the various GF stories could have been a Choshu samurai and that Samurai Creek was settled by a Choshu contingent; however, conclusive evidence is lacking. NOTE - This version of events is unique to GFa. It is not part of GFm proper; rather, it is derived from the manga short "Tenshi no Jiku-sen." That tale takes place somewhere at the turn of the 19th century (c.1910-ish?) - and in that tale, the captain of the "pirate ship" off Japan's coast and Tochiro the samuari NEVER meet! Per M-san, this manga short was the genesis for what eventually became GFm, and this is probably why the producers of GFa adapted and reworked it as part of their revised storyline.] 1866 - Samurai Creek, the first full-fledged Japanese settlement in the United States, is established somewhere in the American Wild West. [GFa #11, "Shitalnen." Tochiro Oyama says that his sister and the others in the settlement left Japan in order to live a life free of the restrictions of Japanese society. This implies that they left before the reforms of Emperor Meiji, who ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 1867. GFa also implies that this event happened not long after Tochiro Oyama and Franklin Harlock became acquainted.] 1868 - The Japanese settlement at Samurai Creek is attacked by a gang of outlaws disguised as U.S. Army cavalry. The outlaws are unsuccessful in their goal to seize the inhabitant's cache of imported gold. Many of the outlaws are killed by samurai warrior Yukikaze and his fellows before they are gunned down. The outlaws then massacre the settlement's inhabitants in retaliation. What survivors remain, mostly women and children, flee for their lives into the desert. The outlaws themselves are force to flee when a contingent of real U.S. cavalry show up, led by Tochiro and Harlock. Sadly, many of the surviving women who fled the massacre are captured by the escaping outlaws, taken with them, and raped before eventually being sold into prostitution. The few who manage to successfully escape murder and slavery are cared for by a U.S. Army doctor named Modorovichi, who is part of the cavalry detachment. After the conclusion of the affair, what few survivors return and spirit away their hidden gold, leaving only memories and charred timbers behind. Tochiro swears vengeance over the affair, and will spend the next several years attempting to track down both the survivors and the backers of the Samurai Creek massacre. [GFa #04, "Duel in the Rain" and #05, "The Song of Bowlegs." Tochiro's former girlfriend Maya Yukikaze (the daughter of the samurai Yukikaze) says that the massacre at Samurai Creek happened five years before the events depicted in the series.] 1872 - Sinunora, a new recruit to the mysterious Organization, is detailed to keep an eye on the whereabouts of samurai Tochiro Oyama. [GFa #11, "Shitalnen." Sinunora tells Harlock and Tochiro about this during their encampment together on Bone Peak. She was in Europe at the time of her assignment. Intercontinental travel times in the 19th century were on the order of months.] ------------------1876 - GUN FRONTIER ------------------c.1880 - Birth of Phantom F. Harlock I in Germany at the Harlock family estate in Heilgenstadt in Oberfranken. He is the first member of the Harlock family to bear the traditional name of the family's male heirs in the centuries to come. [MYA and TTB Chapter 08, "The Birdman of Kilimanjaro," implied. I am interpreting that the Harlock of this manga tale and Phantom F. Harlock I of MYA are one and the same. The father appears to have been about the same age his son was (i.e. late twenties) during the adventure depicted in the manga tale. The "F" probably stands for Frank, which is a common German name. CORRECTION - I now doubt that this has any connection with Franklin Harlock of the various GF materials. For all we know, HE might have been named for Benjamin Franklin! Even so, since Franklin Harlock is related to Phantom F. Harlock I through his mother, he could have conceivably gotten his first name that way - although this is sheer conjecture. c.1900 - An ancient city of incredibly advanced technology is uncovered during a strong earthquake on the planet Iscandar. Its first visitor is a young woman named Starsha. She soon encounters the Guardian Spirit of Iscandar within its ruined walls. Starsha learns the true history and heritage of her people, then willingly unites with the Guardian so it can speak to her people. In this manner Starsha becomes the living embodiment of the Guardian Spirit of Iscandar. The transformed Starsha returns to her people with the truth about the ruined city and its significance. She will become the prime mover behind Iscandar's Great Renaissance. The grateful people of Iscandar eventually appoint Starsha as their first ruling queen, and her first act as Queen of Iscandar will be to rename the newly rebuilt ancient city Mother Town - in honor of the Guardian Spirit of Iscandar. [Lewis] 1914-1918 - Phantom F. Harlock I becomes a noted German fighter ace during World War [TTB Chapter 08, "The Birdman of Kilimanjaro," implied. Harlock appears cameo at the end of the story in question, when he shoots down and kills the main male and female protagonists. Later, in another manga, his son briefly mention the fact that his father fought in World War I.] c.1916 - Phantom F. Harlock II, firstborn son of the famed aerial explorer, is born on Earth in Germany at the family estate in Heilgenstadt. [Probable conjecture based on MYA. This presupposes that Phantom F. Harlock II was 29 and a squadron leader in the Luftwaffe in 1945 during the events depicted in the World War II flashback sequence.] ------------------------------------------------c.1920 - "The Birdman of Kilimanjaro" manga short ------------------------------------------------1920 - Birth of one Tochiro Oyama, grandfather of the famous late 20th century news photographer of the same name. [UTSM] 1923 - Queen Starsha of Iscandar gives birth to her daughter Sasha. [Lewis] 1924 - Sasha of Iscandar reaches young adulthood in one year, after which she resumes aging normally. It is a side effect of her mother's union with the Guardian Spirit of Iscandar, to which she also has access. This rapid aging phenomena will become a trademark of the ruling house of Iscandar. [Lewis] -------------------------------------------------c.1925 - "Duel! Emeraldus vs. Harlock" manga short -------------------------------------------------c.1930 - Phantom F. Harlock I writes a book that is part personal diary and part life philosophy. In detailing his aerial exploits in the years following the First World War, he also recounts his outlook on life and the factors he feels are I. in a both will important in becoming a true man of honor, independent in both mind and spirit. The book becomes an underground hit with men of similar caliber or those aspiring the same path in life. It also becomes a bible of sorts for Harlock's descendants and admirers down the years. [MYA; see also TCm Volume 1, Chapter 9, "The Owen Stanley Witch"] c.1935 - In an act he will later describe as "paying the rent," Phantom F. Harlock II becomes a fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe. He rises to the position of squadron leader during World War II, and establishes himself as one of Nazi Germany's top fighter aces. [MYA; see also TCm Volume 2, Chapter 12, "Eternal Arcadia." Harlock seems to imply in the movie that he was coerced into enlisting in order to keep the Nazi government from seizing the family estate at Heilgenstadt.] 1939-1945 - World War II [Actual historical event. The war actually began in the Far East long before the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Imperial Japan's bloody conquest and occupation of Manchuria in 1933 was an ominous portent of things to come.] 1938 - A native Orion archaeologist named Zangels will publish a book in this year that will still be known in the 30th century. Its most famous quote goes something like this: "People are often not conscious whenever their path through life crosses that of destiny. Because of this, they are completely unprepared for fate when it throws something sinister in their way. They only realize that they could have avoided such encounters long after they have passed." [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 1, "Competing Destinies." Maetel shares Zangel's book with Tetsuro shortly before they arrive at planet Destiny, in preparation for his meeting with Galaxy Railways chief operating officer Layla Shura.] ----------------------1933-1945 - THE COCKPIT ------------------------------------------------------------------c.1942 - "The Fangs of an Aurora" manga short --------------------------------------------1942, 19 February - The Mahoroba (i.e Hull I-112), third and last of Japan's super dreadnoughts, is launched from the Kure Naval Yard. It is basically an enlarged version of the Yamato class, with an extra 18" triple gun turret both fore and aft. Completion of the unfinished superstructure will be delayed two years due to lack of resources and the outbreak of World War II. [UTSM. In our universe the Imperial Japanese Navy actually ordered Hull I-112. The main difference between the Mahoroba and the real-world I-112 was in the armament. The Mahoroba design as posited by M-san was considered at one time, but ultimately rejected due to lack of resources and the estimated blowback effects on both ship and crew when engaging in rapid fire of the ship's main battery. Eventually, a simplified version with two 20" guns in three turrets, very similar to the original Yamato design, was finally approved. Construction was cancelled before it began due to the outbreak of the war.] --------------------------------------------c.1942 - "The Owen Stanley Witch" manga short --------------------------------------------1944, 13 March - In their only surface naval action together as a unit, the Japanese battleships Yamato, Musashi, and Mahoroba are dispatched to attack American forces at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. They easily smash their way through U.S. Carrier Task Force 38 off Samar Island and proceed to wreak havoc on unprotected American landing operations and support operations. They are eventually chased back through the Philippine Sea by overwhelming numbers of American carrier planes under the command of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey. The Yamato escapes with only minor damage, as does the Mahoroba. The Musashi is not so fortunate. It is successfully torpedoed while retreating, causing it to fall behind its escorts and protective air cover. It takes over 14 direct hits from American dive bombers and torpedo planes before it finally sinks. Admiral Halsey is later court-martialed for allowing the Japanese battleships easy access to Leyte Gulf. He had initially taken his fleet northwest - away from the Philippines and chasing a successful Japanese decoy fleet of carriers. [UTSM implied; selected data also sourced from studies conducted by numerous military and civilian groups concerning alternate outcomes of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The subject of the sunken Musashi is one of the significant plot points regarding UTSM.] sometime during mid- to late 1944. - The WWII-era Tochiro Oyama, now a military combat photographer, is reported to have died during one of the land battles on Leyte Island in the Philippines. [UTSM. This "revival" Leijiverse story apparently ignores the events of MYA, which places him in southern Germany in 1945 near the end of the war. I have decided to leave this data point "as is" for future Leijiverse scholars.] ---------------------------------------------1944 - "Knight of the Iron Dragon" manga short ---------------------------------------------1944, late October or early November - A Japanese soldier and former motorcycle racer duels an American 1st Cavalry reconnaissance scout, using their respective motorcycles, in the jungle of the Philippine island of Leyte - not far from the battlefield at Celabanka. [TCa; see also TCm Volume 1, Chapter 13, "Knight of the Iron Dragon." At the start of the story, the Japanese are having to abandon their newly arrived artillery pieces, which "came all the way from Japan." This fits reasonably well with the end of the U.S. Army's Ormoc Valley campaign against Japanese ground forces. Large numbers of these "newly arrived" pieces were captured at that time. There is a blatant historical goof in M-san's story, however (not surprising; the tales of TCm are more about telling the story than niggling over small details). The 28th Imperial Regiment had been ground up two years earlier on Guadalcanal at the Battle of Edson's Ridge.] 1944, 8 December - A plan to send the Mahoroba to assist Japanese forces on Iwo Jima against a landing by U.S. Marines is scrubbed due to lack of air cover. It will eventually be hidden in a secret underground complex, thus surviving the war intact and undetected. [UTSM, implied. Date based off of real-world events.] -----------------------------------1945 - "Eternal Arcadia" manga short -----------------------------------1945, first week of April - Luftwaffe captain Phantom F. Harlock II and Japanese optical designer Tochiro Oyama have a fateful meeting on an autobahn outside of Wiesbaden, Germany during the closing days of World War II. [MYA; see also TCm Volume 2, Chapter 13, "Eternal Arcadia." The attacking Allied tank corps in the movie is coming from the southwest, which according to Oyama is "from the other side of Wiesbaden." The U.S. Army captured Wiesbaden on 28 March 1945, which according to Oyama happened "last week" per the English dub. BTW, in the original manga story, the optical engineer's last name is Daiba - not Oyama. There is also a blatant historical goof in M-san's tale (not surprising; the tales of TCm are more about telling the story than niggling over small details). The Revi C-12D gunsight didn't come into service in the Luftwaffe until 1944. If Harlock had been using a Revi all through the war - or at least since the Battle of Britain, as he says in the movie version, then he must have been using an older model Revi. The C-12D's immediate predecessor, the C-12C, first entered service in 1942 and was in planes that fought in the Battle of Britain. The C-12D was essentially an enhanced version of the C-12C, so perhaps Harlock actually had a C-12C that had been upgraded to a C-12D.] - Captain Harlock is shot and captured by French maquis (partisans) on the German-Swiss border after helping Oyama flee to Switzerland. He is blinded by them shortly after his capture, when he is struck in the head with a rifle butt. He survives the war but will remain blind for the rest of his life. [TCm Volume 2, Chapter 13, "Eternal Arcadia." The manga story was the basis for the World War II flashback scene in the movie. The movie version omitted Harlock being blinded by the maquis after his capture.] - Tochiro Oyama successfully escapes Germany via Switzerland. He survives the war and eventually dies a natural death in his native Japan. [MYA; see also TCm Volume 2, Chapter 13, "Eternal Arcadia." This contradicts his fate as related in the "revival" manga UTSM, where he mysteriously disappears and is never seen again. Whichever account works for you ...] 1945, 7 April - The U.S. Navy successfully sinks the Japanese super dreadnought Yamato in the waters between Kyushu and Okinawa, some fifty nautical miles southwest of Cape Boga. [SB1 #02, "The Giant Awakens"] ---------------------------------------------1945 - "Sonic Thunder Attack Unit" manga short ---------------------------------------------1945, 5 August - In what may be the last action of Japan in World War II in the Leijiverse, prior to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese "Ohka" rocket plane succeeds in hitting and sinking an Essex-class fleet aircraft carrier serving on the American naval picket line off the coast of Japan. [TCa #02, "Sonic Thunder Attack Unit;" see also the original manga short in TCm. Date as given at the start of the story. There is a blatant historical goof in M-san's story, however (not surprising; the tales of TCm are more about telling the story than niggling over small details.) There was never a successful Ohka attack on any American aircraft carrier, large or small - much less at the end of World War II. The Ohka was used in several successful efforts to sink other ship types of earlier that year, though, which might have inspired M-san's story.] 1945 (other events) - Iscandarian technology begins to approach the same level as its ancestors, whom they call the Ancients. From plans and ancient machines discovered beneath Mother Town's central tower Iscandarian scientists reconstruct Cosmo DNA technology. Iscandar also rediscovers space flight and begins exploring its local area of space. [Lewis] - Contact between Iscandar and its neighboring planet Gamilon is accidentally renewed when an advanced Iscandarian space probe lands on the planet and is promptly captured by Clan Desslar. They successfully reverse-engineer it and apply the technology gleaned from it to develop advanced weapons. With this edge Clan Desslar soon defeat their enemies and unites the planet Gamilon under its rule. [Lewis] c.1950-2020 - The Gamilon Holy Wars (aka the Gamilon Unification War) [Lewis] c.1950 - The people of the planet Gardiana rediscover the Vaults of Yesterday, inside of which the ancient technology of their forbearers has been safely hidden over the long millennia. They study it along with the records preserved there, but heed the warnings of their ancestors regarding its use. The people of Gardiana eventually decide to reseal the Vaults and erect their royal tombs over them, in order to keep them hidden from outside eyes. They then resume pastoral ways once again, resolving never to invoke the legacy of their ancestors except in times of direst need. [Lewis] - The people of the planet Dezarium discover that the world on which they are living is actually an artificial construct with a hollow core. A journey to the center of their planet, lead by a man named Skaldart, chances upon the Guardian Spirit of Dezarium. It has been hiding at the center of their world ever since the end of the very first Intergalactic War. Skaldart is possessed by this Spirit, and within a few short years becomes the supreme leader of his people. Under his guidance, his people regain spaceflight capability. They soon turn their efforts towards escaping the Black Nebula and returning to the universe from which their ancestors were banished. [Lewis. Perhaps, per CHEO, the Guardian Spirit of Dezarium was corrupted by the Noo? Conjecture, yes - but that would account for its turning from good to evil within the context of the Leijiverse.] c.1955 - Birth of Phantom F. Harlock II's daughter. [TCm Volume #2, Chapter 12, "My Youth in Arcadia"] 1964 - The Queen Emeraldas arrives at Jura. It lands, then promptly buries itself beneath the planet's surface so it cannot be detected. It will remain so hidden until its destiny catches up with it. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," Volume 2. The ship tells the youthful Emeraldas that it arrived in our galaxy "a thousand years ago."] - By this time in the "revival" Leijiverse, the pet cat of the late pilot of the Queen Emeraldas has accidentally trapped itself inside the ship's temporal matrix chamber. This keeps it alive without aging in physical reality, while at the same time allowing it to "walk the infinte pathways of time" for the next thousand years - until Tochiro Oyama finally finds and releases it in 2964. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," Volume 3). The cat's name is Nanika, which in Japanese literally means, "What is that?" (nani ka). This scruffy red-haired tabby also shows up in QEa Episode 2, "Friendship," where it is eventually adopted by Hiroshi Umino for a time. The text of HSm makes clear that Nanika was "a time-travelling cat," so they're probably one and the same. This also might account for the appearances of other red-haired cats in other Leijiverse tales - such as the red-haired cat encounted by Tetsuro Hoshino on Heavy Melder in GE999m, for example (movie timestamp 1:05:24).] 1967 - Death of the famous rock musician Jimi Hendrix. [I5555. We see an alien get transformed into someone resembling Jimi Hendrix by the Earl of Darkwood. The supposition is that Hendrix was one of the Earl's "protégés" and that his untimely death was also due to the Earl's influence.] 1968 - A teenaged Nobotto Oyama moves to Tokyo in the hope, like many of his generation in Japan, of being accepted as a student at a reputable university. He fails miserably at every attempt over the next 3-4 years because he is at heart a slacker and doesn't dedicate himself hard enough to his studies. The next time we see him, in 1972, he will be attending night school in one final effort to enter any kind of university and earn a college degree - and he will be living in a run-down boarding house with only the very basic necessities. [OO Volume 1, Chapter 1, "The Four-and-a-Half Tatami Mat Room of My Youth," and Volume 5, Chapter 1. In the latter, Nobotto celebrates his first anniversary of getting kicked out of night school, which happens in the very first story of the series. He then goes on to say that he has now been living in Tokyo for the past four years and eight months. Working backwards gives an approximate date of 1968. Nobotto is best described as the "black sheep" of the Oyama family tree. Most of his ancestors and descendants are famous scientists, fighters, adventurers, and he is ... well ... who he is. He only does things whenever he has to ... and he often finds a way to screw them up in the process ... which is one of the reasons why the OO manga series is so hilarious. He's a nice enough guy in his way - but he has a lot of trouble applying himself to any task.] -----------------1970 - MYSTERY EVE ----------------------------------------------------1972 - OTOKO OIDON (aka I AM A MAN!) ------------------------------------ - Nobotto Oyama obtains his pet bird Tori - given to him by an erstwhile lady friend. The bird is of an unknown exotic species and comes from South America. It is so foul-mouthed, having spent most of its life with rough sailors, that Nobotto has to bind its beak to keep it from offending visitors. Its daily diet reflect Nobotto's impoverished state - regular doses of mushrooms (grown in the rotting pile of underwear inside Nobotto's closet)] and crotch rot lotion (bought to address aforementioned issue). Nobotto winds up keeping the bird for two reasons: it's his only live-in companion, and he can always eat it if his situation gets too bad. [OO Volume 2, Chapter 7. This was the official introduction of the bird we know as Tori-san into the Leijiverse. That's one of the two reasons for this entry. Another is that OO explains a lot of the Leijiverse in-jokes seen in CWZ #14 & #15, "Follow Young Harlock (Parts 1 & 2)." The "eating pets when desperate gag" is not uncommon in Japanese comedies of this type. A similar one is used to great effect in the anime parody series EXCEL SAGA.] 1973 - This was the last time that anybody attempted to destroy Sybil, the central control computer of the planet Glowbright. [GE999a #035, "The Witch of the Plated Planet (Part 2)." This would imply that the native humans of the Plated Planet are not Earth colonists, but were put there by other intelligences in an event that is now lost to history. Either that, or Sybil survived the attempt by the planet's natives to destroy her and ensnared the human colony that was eventually established on her world. This alternate explanation fits with the "alien tech" notion that was postulated in GE999a #003, "Titan's Sleeping Warrior" - see related entry for the First Wave of human colonization. The episode visuals imply that Sybil was a Mechanoid in origin - but her being a Metanoid would fit better, given M-san's later revisions to the Leijiverse. The Mechanoid conversion process did not yet exist at this time, whereas M-san established the Metanoids as an old race - at least as old as humanity, if not older - in various ML, HS, and GE999F related materials.] 1975 - Former World War II optical designer Tochiro Oyama dies of old age in his native homeland. Before his death, however, he asks his son - now a young man - to go in his place on a trip to Germany he had been planning for years. He wanted to be reunited with the German pilot who saved his life at the end of the war, and to return something to him .... [TCm Volume #2, Chapter 12, "My Youth in Arcadia." This contradicts Oyama's fate as given in UTSM, where he supposedly died in the Phillipines during the war. The first is a "classic"-era tale (from which the "heyday" account in the MYA movie was derived, while the UTSM manga is a "revival" tale. Toki no wa, I say - whatever works for you. In the original manga story from TCm, the character's name is Daiba, not Oyama.] 1976, late April - The son of the late Tochiro Oyama travels to Germany to fulfill his father's wishes. [TCm Volume #2, Chapter 12, "My Youth in Arcadia." Per the "revival" UTSM manga, his name would be Nobotta Oyama - and Nobotta's presence here would contradict another "classic" period tale - the OO manga series! Gotta love those twists and turns in the Leijiverse! Perhaps this is another branch of the Oyama family tree? A different son? Then again, I suppose one might say that this event happens "between the cracks" in OO, as it were especially if his father were paying for the trip - but that's stretching things quite a bit.] ----------------------------------------------------------1976, April - "Eternal Arcadia" manga short - framing story ----------------------------------------------------------1976, late April or early May - Phantom F. Harlock II, former World War II figher ace, dies peacefully in his sleep. [From a November 2011 discussion between M-san and DEAD OR ALIVE videogame creator Tomonobu Ikegachi, an avowed Leijiverse fan. Ikegachi discussed the manga story with M-san as part of a wide-ranging interview. At the end of this particular part, he noted his impression that Harlock died soon after the events of the story. M-san said nothing in the interview to contradict Ikegachi's assertion.] 1976, late October or early November - Nobotto Oyama finally secures a decent job as an entry-level sailor on a whaling ship. He uses the cash advance on his new job to pay off all of his debts. He leaves behind his bird Tori-san in his old apartment when he leaves, confident that his landlady - with whom he has become good friends over the past few years - will keep both bird and room for him until his return at the end of whaling season. [OO Volume 9, final chapter. Nobotto's fate is seemingly left open-ended in the actual manga but was made clear by M-san in later interviews. He also described the numerous clues in the story that point towards this resolution. Whaling season in Japan usually starts in November.] 1977, spring - Nobotto Oyama returns from whaling season to reclaim both his room and his bird Tori-san. He will lead a somewhat successful life from now on, at least evoking (if not always living up to) those of his other family members and ancestors. [OO Volume 9, final chapter, and later interviews on OO given by M-san.] 1979 - The LaMaetel begin building a modern housing complex, made of multiple multi-story apartment buildings, for the thousands of humans they expect to shelter in the Hidden Land during the upcoming passing of the rogue planet LaMaetel. Construction does not finish until sometime in the 1990s. The entire complex is the size of a city. [QMa #06, "The Vast Underground Complex." The Caretaker says the building where she and Hajime are currently located, which is on one end of the complex, is "based on a twenty-year old design. You can find more modern buildings farther on." She points Hajime to some futuristic-looking buildings far in the distance, which she says "were built this year (1999)."] c.1980 - Practically all humanoid life on the planet Jura is wiped out in an environmental holocaust. The sole survivor, a young Juran woman named Mimay, will lead a desperate fugitive existence for the next millennia hiding from the giant, semi-sentient plants that exterminated her people. Credit for this catastrophe goes to the Mazone, who had created the giant plants via genetic engineering. [SPCHa #20, "The Dead Planet Jura" and the corresponding footage from CHQ1K. The narrator in HGM's English dub says that Mimay's homeworld was destroyed "nearly a thousand years ago." QEm Volume 1 depicts Jura as a barren, windswept wasteland. This might have been elsewhere on the planet where the plants had either died out or could no longer survive, but this is conjecture on my part. The date given in the English dubbed dialogue might support this notion, but this is admittedly reaching a bit. SPCHm Volume 5 confirms the notion that the Mazone were behind the giant plants.] c.1985 - Hajime Amamori is born in Tokyo, Japan. [All QM sources. Hajime was "about 14" in 1999 when the planet LaMaetel made its final pass of Earth, although he is consistently played younger and less mature than this age might suggest - especially in CHQ1K. Then again, preteens are rather unpredictable ....] c.1990s - Agents working on behalf of Lady La Lela begin spreading rumors among the inhabitants of Earth that the end of the 20th century will bring about the end of the world. These rumors eventually take hold and are perpetuated in various ways. Collectively they are known as "millennium fever" and are often the subject of ridicule by humans who don't take them seriously. [Conjecture inspired by all QM sources and contemporary events of the era.] - Professor Amamori, father of Hajime Amamori, is secretly recruited by La Andromeda Promethium to develop an antimatter engine for her space ark. He promises to keep his work a secret from everyone, including his wife and son. To aid in his efforts, he is given access to technology and research materials that are light-years ahead of anything that human technology on Earth possesses at the time. [All QM sources] - Cloning technology becomes a reality on Earth. [UTSM, implied; see also current events of the era, such as the successful cloning of "Dolly" the sheep.] sometime during the late 20th century - The planet Brumus, eleventh planet in our Sol System, is discovered. [SB2 #06, "Assault on Brumus;" see also DZ Chapter 6, "Tragedy of the Tenth Planet." The original Japanese dialogue says Brumus was discovered "in the 20th century." Per the DZ manga, it was discovered late in the 20th century and the name given to it by its previous inhabitants was Juban (lit "number ten" in Japanese - ed). DZ also says that the frozen remains of its people will be discovered by Captain Harlock near the end of the 30th century - all perfectly preserved, buried deep under the ice at one of its poles, in a scene that seems to anticipate CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet" - and that they had something to do with humanity's past evolution.] - Commissioning of Project Time Sweeper under the auspices of the Japanese government. It is a secret effort to develop time travel technology. The head of Project Time Sweeper is Dr. Sazeko Sado. His assistants are Dr. Jiro Sanada and Dr. Toshiro Oyama. Also apparently involved in the project, although what sources are available never make clear in what capacity, is one Nobotto Oyama. The subject of Project Time Sweeper is the aged Japanese super battleship Mahoroba, which is currently being kept in a secret underground naval base. It has been there ever since the end of World War II, undiscovered and unknown by the United States. [UTSM and on-line background materials "Google-ated" from Japanese sites. Dr. Sanada is the direct ancestor of Steven Sandor, the chief science officer of the Star Force in Star Blazers. Toshiro Oyama is a direct ancestor of Tochiro Oyama, the famed starship engineer and sidekick of Captain Harlock, and is the same as the Japanese photographer who supposedly died in World War II. How he can exist at this point in time is explained in the manga. The early invention of time travel, via the Time Sweeper of other similar technology, is a recurrent theme of early Leijiverse manga. ADDENDUM - Although it is not considered part of the Leijiverse proper, the final story in the WADACHI tales points to Time Sweeper technology first being realized in the early 21st century. This is somewhat consistent with UTSM and other Leijiverse manga works touching upon time travel, such as ME and HSm. WADACHI also implies that OO's Nobotto Oyama was part of the team that invented the Time Sweeper.] ------------------------------------------1993 - THE ULTIMATE TIME SWEEPER MAHOROBA ------------------------------------------1993 - Toshiro Oyama, grandson of WWII photographer Tochiro Oyama, mysteriously disappears and is never seen again. [UTSM. The events of this tale take place in a reality quite different from the 1990s as we know them, which is why I originally dated this tale to the early 21st century. There are plot threads which might connect UTSM to the later "sea stories" of the Leijiverse - S99 and MSD - and most certainly connect it to Captain Harlock's era in the late 30th century. BTW, Toshiro Oyama is apparently the son of OO's Nobotto Oyama. These three Oyamas are all apparently ancestors of the Tochiro Oyama of Harlock's day, per various printed interviews and conversations with M-san. The reason for Toshiro disappearance, per M-san himself, is that he was picked up by the Mahoroba and carried into the future of Harlock's day. Toshiro is in fact the "Oyama" that appears in GR1 #16, "Sexaroid."] ----------------------1997 - INTERSTELLA 5555 ----------------------1997 - Discovery of the Darkwood stargate on the far side of Earth's moon. [I5555. The Darkwood stargate is the interstellar portal by which the Earl of Darkwood (and later the Crescendolls) travel from Earth to other parts of the universe. The significance of its existence will become clear in the era of the Star Force. See also SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant."] 1997, August 7 - Date on one of the dedication plaques of a piece of equipment built by Dr. Ammamori for Yukino Yayoi's secret LaMaetel base on Earth. [QMm Volume 2. The equipment ends up inside one of the many space arks built to evacuate the chosen from Earth during the passing of LaMaetel in 1999.] 1997, September 28 - Date on one of the dedication plaques of a piece of equipment built by Dr. Ammamori for Yukino Yayoi's secret LaMaetel base on Earth. [QMm Volume 2. The equipment ends up inside one of the many space arks built to evacuate the chosen from Earth during the passing of LaMaetel in 1999.] late 1998 - Professor Amamori family buys a modest home for his family on the outskirts of Tokyo. He immediately converts his oversized garage into a sophisticated electron accelerator lab, complete with the newest and most modern equipment. [All QM sources. According to QMa, the Amamori family had only lived at their home for a few months prior to the explosion that killed Hajime's parents. Visuals in both QMa and QMf suggest that it was near an industrial district in the outlying sections of the city.] ---------------------1999 - QUEEN MILLENNIA ---------------------1999, March - Astronomers on Earth first detect the return of LaMaetel, as it approaches the rest of the Sol System in its 1000-year orbit around Sol. [QMa #01, "September 9, 1999" and #02, "Look to the Vast Universe, Hajime!" Accordind to the second episode, it was the 167,889th planet discovered by Earth astronomers up to that point.] - Hajime Amamori's parents are killed by an explosion from the high-tech electron accelerator business his father runs from the building next to their house. His mother is killed instantly. His father passes away at the hospital, early the next morning. His father's brother, the noted astronomer Professor Amamori of the Mount Tsukuba Observatory, takes in the orphaned boy as his own. [QMa #01, "September 9, 1999" and #02, "Look to the Vast Universe, Hajime!"] 1999, April - Hajime Amamori learns Yukino Yayoi's true identity as La Andromeda Promethium, the reigning Millennial Queen of Earth. He begs her to save his world from destruction by the imminent passing of her own planet LaMaetel. [QMa #07, "Invitation to the Underground" and #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion"] - A giant explosion resembling a volcanic eruption opens a large, unobstructed two-mile deep geological vent near the Mount Tsukuba Observatory. The facility receives minor damage from the blast but remains operational. It is soon learned that the blast is not volcanic, but artificial in nature. The vent leads straight down into a vast and previously unknown cavern complex beneath the Kanto River basis (and Tokyo itself). [QMa #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion." The Kanto basin cavern complex will later serve as the site for the underground city beneath Tokyo in the 22nd century, per SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant."] 1999, May - The Millennium Thieves reveal themselves to Professor Amamori - much to the consternation of Yukino Yayoi. Also, by this time, over 100 of Earth's top scientists and researchers have mysteriously disappeared - kidnapped by the LaMaetel contingent in the Hidden Land. [QMa #11,"The Millennium Thieves: Friends or Foes?" Hajime says it's been two months since his parents died.] - A special long-range interplanetary satellite sent to observe the approach of Planet LaMaetel is destroyed. This provides the first conclusive proof to the humans of Earth of two things: first, that LaMaetel is inhabited; and second, that its inhabitants are not friendly. [QMa #11,"The Millennium Thieves: Friends or Foes?" Hajime says it's been two months since his parents died.] - LaMaetelian advance scout ships destroy a number of Earth's energy transmission and spy satellites. This act catches the attention of Earth's ruling elite, who are by now fully aware of the real danger that the passing of LaMaetel poses. They plot to save themselves, while leaving the rest of humanity behind to deal with the LaMaetel and threat they pose. [QMa #x, "X"] - Astronomers and military space observers worldwide witness an incredible sight. The approaching rogue planet LaMaetel tears a large chunk out of the rings of Saturn while on its way. The event sends the various world governments into shock, since this event can neither be hidden nor explained away to private astronomers. The public is now aware of the approach of LaMaetal. This also causes certain members of the ruling elite and industrial cabals to accelerate their own private plans to evacuate Earth post-haste. [QMa x, "X"] - The city of New York in the United States acts on its own accord to save the elite of its population, along with most of the city's resources. Over the next three months, it will at its own expense encase one of its islands in a giant space ark - not unlike that which the LaMaetel are building under Tokyo in Japan, only less sophisticated. Other major cities around the world will embark on similar ventures; however, only New York's space ark - which is name NOAH 66 - is ready to launch when LaMaetel begins its final approach towards Earth. The tales of its building, as well as of those who boarded it and took off for space, will become a millennial epic in their own right. [Based on events depicted in the back half of QMm Volume 2 and the first twothirds of QMm Volume 3. We know Manhattan Island wasn't encased because we don't see any of its landmark buildings within NOAH 66's vast interior. I hope to update what appears to be an incredible Leijiverse side story once a proper translation of QMm becomes available. Judging from the various manga images, the NOAH 66 space ark is about 6-8 miles long and about 1 mile in diameter, and looks like a black lozenge with lots of "greebles." It pulls a cameo in SSM as the "rescue ark" by which the human slaves of LaMaetel escape destruction.] 1999, June and July - La Andromeda Promethium comes to grip with her mother Lady La Lela's plans to invade and conquer Earth on LaMaetel's next pass. She is also unexpectedly reunited with her exiled elder twin sister Selen - who turns out to be head of the Millennial Thieves organization on Earth, dedicated towards thwarting the plans of the LaMaetel at any cost. The two form an alliance and pool their various resources on Earth to stop the impending LaMaetelian invasion. [All QM sources. This encounter gets all of about fifteen minutes in the film but is dealt with across several installments of the TV series and manga. The activities of the two reunited sisters, Selen and Promethium, has interesting parallels with the later activities of Promethium's twin daughters, Emeraldas and Maetel, in the centuries to come - per ML, HSm, and GE999. Selen even eventually gets a facial scar not unlike that of her niece Emeraldas per QMm - whom she never meets, by the way, in any Leijiverse source available to me to date (2012).] 1999, August thru September - A daring plan is offered to the United Nations Security Council by the Japanese government to save Earth from LaMaetel's approach. It is based on a old United States NASA contingency plan to divert incoming asteroids. Three rockets tipped with multiple megaton thermonuclear warheads are to be fired at the planet and detonate at selected precise coordinates in LaMaetel's path. The projected effect of the resulting explosions is calculated to change LaMaetel's trajectory enough so that it will miss Earth. Despite attempted sabotage by Lady La Lela's agents, the rockets are launched on schedule. The explosion from the rockets has only a minimal effect on LaMaetel's trajectory; however, it succeeds in avoiding any possible collision between the two. They will come close enough to skirt each other's Roche limits - causing all kinds of natural disasters on each due to the tremendous gravitational tides involved - but they will not collide. [QMa. This concept is an old one among the various national space agencies. Japan has its own space program with excellent rockets for satellite launches. In the television series the warheads are based on LaMaetelian technology that Yukino Yayoi covertly provided for the effort. - Petty bickering and covert tactical strikes against each other - and by undercover LaMaetelian forces - prevent the elite of Earth from building a spacegoing evacuation fleet in time to escape Earth before LaMaetel makes its final approach. [QMa #x, "x." New York City was the only exception, per QMm Volumes 2 & 3.] - Death of Miray, youngest daughter of Lady La Lela. She dies in a duel with her elder sister Promethium on the planet Venus, while fighting over the Millennial Throne of Earth. [QMa #x, "x." In the movie she is named Senjoo and Miray is the name of the Guardian of the Tombs (the golden female humanoid). Senjoo in Japanese means "new queen." The death of Yukino's younger sister is not depicted in the feature film.] 1999, first full week of September - The arrival of the planet LaMaetel in Earthspace is marked by a devastating meteor shower that rains fire and destruction upon the cities of Earth. The shower is caused by Earth's passage through LaMaetel's asteroid rings. [QMf] 1999, 9 September - On this date, as predicted, the rogue planet LaMaetel has its final encounter with Earth. The reason it is the final one is that LaMaetel has been pulled off of its thousand-year orbit by the dark star Ra. It will fly out of the Sol System and into interstellar space once this encounter is complete. The LaMaetelians attempt to evacuate their planet and invade Earth as planned, but are repelled by the combined forces of humanity, Selen and the Millennial Thieves, and La Andromeda Promethium and her supporters. [All QM sources.] - Death of Selen, eldest daughter of Lady La Lela, in the "heyday" timeline. She dies defending Earth from the invasion fleet her mother has sent to Earth. [QMf and QMm. She survives in QMa, and it is implied that she and her associates aid in the rebuilding of Earth. She dies defending Earth and its surviving humans in both QMf and QMm, although the details differ.] - Death of La Elisu Milu (aka Daisuke Yamori), head of the LaMaetelian mission on Earth and Promethium's chief assistant. [All QM sources - although his death is portrayed differently and for different reasons in QMf.] - Death of Dr. Fara, chief minister of LaMaetel and Promethium's longtime love. He sacrifices himself trying to save LaMaetel from her mother's wrath. [QMf] - Lady La Lela survives the assault on her person by the former Millennium Queens of Earth. [SSM #05, "Promethium's Magic Flute.". Maetel is escorted to a secret chamber hidden deep beneath the surface of LaMaetel. There, much to her surprise, she finds her grandmother Lady La Lela apparently alive and well. This implies that Lady La Lela must have survived the events depicted at the end of the Queen Millennium feature film. In QMm, she is with her daughter at the end of the story, once Promethium decides to return to LaMaetel. This part of SSM was inspired by material from QMm Volume 2.] - Death of La Andromeda Promethium, second daughter of the Queen Mother, Lady La Lela. She dies defending Earth from the invasion fleet her mother has sent to Earth. Her body is returned to her homeworld before it leaves the Sol System for good. [QMa and QMf. She lives in QMm, returning to LaMaetel with her mother Lady La Lela at the end of the tale. Her fate is neither addressed nor explained in CHQ1K. Both ML and SSM can be interpreted as implying that the later Promethium was a clone of the original with most of her memories. Lady La Lela had been recording her captured daughter's memories in an effort to edit and revised them in QMf, and the process had almost been complete when she was interrupted. Multiple clones of Promethium figure in more than one episode of SSM, each with a copy of her memories. In QMm Lady La Lela reveals she has a large "bank" of hundreds of clones of her "daughters," which she could revive and bring to life with up-to-date copies of her daughter's mind as needed. Queen Promethium herself will put this giant "clone bank" to good use in SSM.] - Large numbers of LaMaetelians refugees, revolted by the ways of their leaders, flee their homeworld. They are welcomed by the humans of Earth. With them they bring not only portions of their technology but their compatible genetic structure. Intermarriage and cross-breeding between these two compatible species will introduce a new random gene factor in humanity's genetic structure. This random factor extends its bearer's lifespan a hundred years or more. This factor pops up wherever the LaMaetelians have settled and intermingled with the local population, most notably Japan and Germany. [Probable conjecture. This is an attempt to explain a number of time and character related inconsistencies that are known to exist in the Leijiverse over the next two millennia. Humanity appears to have extended lifespans later in the Leijiverse, particularly in the 30th century and the era of Captain Harlock. This would help in explaining why.] - The legend of Queen Millennia and what she did for the sake of Earth will pass into the legends and lore of humanity, and they will take it with them whenever they finally move out onto the Sea of Stars for good. [GR #09, "Memory." David carries a lucky 1-gable coin with the image of Queen Millennia around with him, and tends to flip it when making decisions. He also directly alludes to the legend of Queen Millennia, although he does not discuss it. The viewer is assumed to already know her story.] 2000 - The first Queen Starsha of Iscandar dies. Her daughter Sasha assumes the Crystal Throne of Iscandar. [Lewis] - The Dinguil rediscover their past when they uncover the legendary lost ancient Lugal Space Fortress buried deep under the ancient sediments of their world. Within a decade they begin unlocking the secrets of its advanced neutrino-based technology. An industrial revolution of unprecedented scale and speed takes place among the Dinguil. Within a century they have mastered all of the secrets of the Lugal once known to their ancestors. [Lewis; see also FY] sometime during the early 21st century - Humanity begins the slow process of recovering from the passing of LaMaetel. The most immediate effect is to strengthen the power of the United Nations. It takes complete charge of the recovery process worldwide. This is mankind's first significant step towards a united Earth government. [Probable conjecture suggested by the various QM materials and the background materials for SB1. I note in passing that the logo of the UEG in the days of the Star Force looks suspiciously like that of the United Nations. Only a planetwide cataclysm, such as that of the close passing of LaMaetel, would have prompted the founding of a worldwide government. The Gamilons were, of course, the icing on that particular cake.] - Some parts of Earth will not recover from the close passing of LaMaetel for decades - even centuries. Their inhabitants quickly revert to a primitive lifestyle amid their ruined cities just to stay alive, fighting and foraging for whatever food they can find or steal. A few areas revert all the way back to barbarism - and even cannibalism. [Based on events depicted in QMm Volumes 2 and 3] - Lady La Lela creates a clone of her dead daughter Promethium and imparts to it all of the memories she had copied before Promethium's death. She then abdicates her throne to the new Promethium and exiles herself to a lonely, isolated existence deep within LaMaetel's inner core. [SSM #06, "La Lela's Requiem;" see also QMf, QMm Volumes 2 & 3, and MLa.] - Promethium becomes romantically involved with Dr. Ban, the new chief scientist of the LaMaetel. She eventually choses him as her royal consort. [ML, SSA, and all GE999 sources. ML is the chief source; the others refer to this relationship either obliquely or briefly.] - According to at least one source, the twin sisters Emeraldas and Maetel are conceived on Earth shortly before LaMaetel departs the Sol System for good. [QEm Volume 1. This only applies to the "classic" period of the Leijiverse, or to any interpretation where La Andromeda Promethium somehow survives the events of QMm and returns to LaMaetel before it leaves the Sol System - such as QMm, for example. QEm Volume 1 specifically states that Emeraldas claimed Earth as her birthplace, but that her memories of it were few and dim. It is not difficult to retcon this into an integrated timeline - she was conceived on Earth, and what memories she has of it come largely from her mother's recollections, recorded images and videos, and perhaps even an infant's dim impressions. Some people claim to remember events from their infancy - such as the famed sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, for example. Just exactly when this "conception" took place ... well, I'll leave that interpretation open for the rest of you to think about. An alternative interpretation is that Dr. Fara from QMf is the father of Emeraldas and Maetel - which would put the year of their birth in mid-2000. The only time their parents could have gotten together in this case - per QMf - would have been the fall of 1999.] - The new Queen Promethium of LaMaetel and her royal consort Dr. Ban become the proud parents of twin sisters. The elder is named La Emeralda Promethium because of her red hair, which reminds her mother of the rare red emeralds of Earth. La Maeter Promethium, the younger, is named after her homeworld. The two will become known in future years as Emeraldas and Maetel respectively. [Probable conjecture inspired by MLa, GE999Em, and SSM. We know Maetel was on or near Earth in the early 21st century because she speaks of it to Tetsuro in GE999Em. While discussing the subject of helium-3, she shares the intriguing fact that she was an eyewitness to the final mission of the original Star Force aboard the Yamato - which would have been FY (or SBR, if you prefer Eldred's story over YR, the "official" continuation movie). This contradicts the ML press kit, which says that Maetel was 16 when the events depicted in MLa take place. It and other "revival" sources - such as the various HS materials - failed to properly take into account the extreme longevity of LaMaetelians, to whom "a thousand years is as but a day," per QMf. My interpretation is that Maetel only appeared to be 16 in Earth years at that time that ML takes place. Calculating backward and taking her self-proclaimed presence during FY into account gives Maetel an approximate birthdate near the start of the 21st century. This makes her a little girl at the time of FY and a young teenager during the events of ML, which makes a kind of sense. Then again, if you're a "revival" Leijiverse fan, you'll have to come up with your own dating/aging scheme ....] - LaMaetelian scientists create an artificial sun to keep portions of the planet habitable as it makes its lonely journey through the cold voids of space. [ML and SSM #06, "La Lela's Requiem"] - Hajime Amamori becomes one of Japan's most famous early space pioneers. [Conjecture inspired by QMa.] 2007 - This was the last year that the Earth produced a decent space navigator as far as the chief navigator at the Space Cadet School in 2198 was concerned. [SBC1 #2, "The Prisoner and the Power." Wildstar remembers this while trying to decide how to deal with the situation on Callisto.] c.2010 - Helium-3 is discovered to exist naturally in large quantities on Luna, Earth's moon. It is also found to exist in large quantities on other similar bodies throughout the Sol System. The largest concentration is on Europa, the water-bearing moon of Saturn. This discovery makes cheap nuclear fusion power a reality for mankind. It is also the solution to mankind's growing energy crisis on Earth. [HSm Part 3, "The Valkyrie," Volume 1; and GE999Em Volume 3, Chapter 3, "Double Planet Guillotine;" see also SBTM. Maetel gives an approximate date of the early 21st century for this discovery. I place it here because all of the Earth warships used in the early years of the Earth-Gamilon War (2186-2199) used Kelvin-type fusion power plants. Fusion powered spacecraft has long been a "near-future" dream of current space scientists. HSm makes it clear that while humanity had known about helium-3 for a long time, they had always encountered difficulties in shrinking to the technology to a portable level.] -----------------------------2020 - MARINE SNOW NO DENSETSU ------------------------------ 2020 - Desslok the First, leader of Clan Desslar, puts a bloody and violent end to the Gamilon Holy Wars by exterminating his foes to the last man, woman, and child. With his world united behind him he embarks on a campaign of galactic conquest. The only world he spares is neighboring Iscandar, Gamilon's ally and unwitting benefactor of old. [Lewis] - The Gamilons reveal to their worried neighbors on Iscandar that they now possess the secrets of interstellar spaceflight technology. Warships powered by a rare and volatile ore that is common to both planets form the basis of the Gamilon fleet. Desslok the First plans to use this fleet in his conquest of the galaxy. The Iscandarians choose not to interfere, fearing that they might invoke the wrath of the Gamilons and bring destruction to their own world. [Lewis; see also YNV. The rare ore is iscandarium, which appears to be of the same family of energy-bearing ores as cosmonite. Cosmonite is a frequent power source for starships in the Leijiverse, especially in the manga sources. TT2 is the best example of this, but there are many others - such as the Japanese original of SB1 #06, "The Ghost of Recent Past."] ---------------------------------2024 - FIRE FORCE DNA SIGHTS 999.9 -----------------------------------------------------------c.2030 - SUBMARINE SUPER 99 --------------------------2030 - Kokoda Base is built on the far side of Luna. [DZ Chapter 1, "The Birth of Diver Zero"] 2033 - The planet Gamilon begins a period of violent seismic activity. Its scientists ascertain that its core has become unstable and will collapse within a few centuries. Inevitable mass panic and religious upheavals are brought about by the revelation of this discovery. Clan Desslar uses these events to further cement its power among its people and the last of the "undesirables" are eliminated. Emperor Desslok the First decides that the best way to save the Gamilons is to return to the stars from whence they came and find a new homeworld to claim as their own. [Lewis] 2040 - Gamilon forces attack and occupy the planets of Balan and Beeland. These are to be used as staging areas in its search for a new homeworld within the Milky Way galaxy. Queen Sasha of Iscandar puts up an impenetrable barrier barrier around her world in protest. This effectively cuts all ties between Iscandar and Gamilon save for a special communications link. The mystified Gamilons see this as an ill omen for the future of their world and accelerate their plans of interstellar conquest. [Lewis] 2041-2201 The Earth-Gamilon War. [Lewis; see also SBC3 issue #1 and the rare "special" issue that focused almost exclusively on the war. It's the one with the profile of Captain Avatar on the cover, and the last one listed on the official starblazers.com Internet site. Rather rare and hard to find nowadays ....] 2041 - A fleet of deep space probes from the Gamilon Empire conducts a detailed survey of the Sol System. The results of the survey cause the Gamilons to decide almost immediately that Earth is the ideal choice for their new homeworld. An Earth Expeditionary Force begins forming back on Gamilon for the purpose of conquering (or destroying, if need be) the planet's native inhabitants. In the meantime, however, a special task force arrives in advance in the Sol System, seizes Pluto, and begins construction of an advance base for future operations against Earth. Their primary goal is to complete their Pluto base as fast as possible; however, they take the time to monitor the Earth and its fledgling interplanetary colonies via automated space probes. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History: The Gamilon War" and Lewis. SBTM says it was a Gamilon fleet while Lewis says they used automated space probes. I defer to Lewis, as his account makes more sense. The Gamilons would want to know what they were dealing with first in detail before beginning their campaign against Earth. As Sun Tsu said in THE ART OF WAR, "Know thine enemy."] - A number of automated alien space probes are discovered and destroyed by United Nations spacecraft after they attempt to survey Earth's defenses and military capabilities. Shocked by both the action itself and analysis of the debris, a special UN conference is called to deal with this new threat to mankind. [Lewis] - Founding of the United Nations Space Patrol Force (UNSPF), also known as the Earth Space Navy. Its immediate goal is to deal with the newfound alien threat to Earth. Almost all UN member nations unite under its banner and contribute materials, manpower, resources, and locations for bases. [SBTM, s.v. "EDF Force Structure and Command Chart." In the 2012 live-action SBY movie, this organization is known asthe UNSA - United Nations Space Administration. In the "2199" remake of SB1, it is the UNCF - the United Nations Cosmo Fleet.] c.2041-2059 - Gamilon plans to dispatch its Earth Expeditionary Force are delayed for about two decades. The main reasons for this are the massive distances involved, the logistics of both executing and maintaining such a long-range assault, and the continued need to keep other subjugated areas of the Gamilon Empire in line. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History."] - The Space Cadet School, the primary training and educational facility for the officers and NCOs for the UNSPF (and later the EDF), is founded sometime during this period. [SB3; also SB1, YNV, SBC1 #2, "The Prisoner and the Power," and SBC2 #1, "The Jackals Come to Feed." The name is mistranslated as "the Space Institute" in SB3, but the Japanese original makes clear that it is the same institution referenced in the other sources I have named.] 2045 - The United Earth Government (UEG) is formed. A handful of dissident nations refuse to join. They claim it is a power grab by a worldwide military dictatorship using the farce of an impending alien invasion as a convenient excuse. These dissident nations will engage in a number of "bush wars" against the UEG for the next 150 years. [Lewis and SBC2. General Singleton has vivid memories of one of the later bush wars, and one of its unexpected consequences figures prominently in the storyline.] - Alexander Wildstar moves his family from the United States to Japan. He settles in a small village near the port city of Yokohama, and ends up "going native" to a large degree. [SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy." Lewis says they settled on Okinawa - which is where the background materials for the official Voyager DVDs puts them but this is in error. In the Japanese original of the episode referenced (and in the later fan-remastered print), we learn that Yokohama was within bus riding distance from the home where Alex and Derek grew up. This is completely in accordance with the English dub's "Great Island" reference (a literal translation of "yamato," the ancient name for Japan). Do not discount Lewis entirely, however, as he provides important family data found nowhere else. Per him, Alexander Wildstar is the grandfather of Alex and Derek Wildstar. Alex was named for him.] 2059 - The first detachment of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force arrives in the Sol System. It takes over control of the completed Gamilon base of operations on the remote planet of Pluto. Its mission is twofold: gather intelligence and test Earth's defenses. This detachment will have numerous encounters with the UNSPF over the next one hundred years. Most of them will end in defeat or disaster for the humans. The outmatched and outgunned humans continue to fight on, however, much to the amazement of the Gamilons. The UNSPF's only gain from these battles is valuable (yet costly) experience in space warfare tactics. In the meantime, the Gamilons continue to build their interstellar empire and gather resources for the inevitable assault on Earth. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History."] 2069 - A lull in the Earth-Gamilon War ensues as the Gamilons redirect resources towards a massive and unprecedented buildup in their various Deep Space Fleets. Included among these is the second detachment of the Earth Expeditionary Force, which is still in Gamilon space awaiting deployment. Based on reports from his advance force in the Sol System, Emperor Desslok the First has come to the realization that the humans of Earth will prove to be a more resolute foe to conquer than first believed. He is determined to crush them completely with his next offensive. The UNSPF uses this lull to begin a massive upgrade of its spacefighting capabilities based on technology reverse-engineered from wrecked Gamilon ships. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart" and Lewis] - Civilian spaceflight in and around the Sol System resumes during this lull in the Earth-Gamilon War. Many use the excuse to flee Earth and the Sol System for some other world less threatened by imminent attack. By this time, humanity's leaders know that their foes are an alien race of humanoids named the Gamilons. It is hoped that some of the fleeing civilians will escape the Gamilons, thus preserving humanity's presence on the Sea of Stars. [Lewis] 2075 - The United Earth Government Underground City Program begins in view of the continued Gamilon threat to Earth. [Lewis. See also QM #08, "Mayday! An Underground Explosion;" SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant" and #02, "The Giant Awakens;" and SB3 #19, "The Way to Planet Phantom."] - UNSPF advance bases are built on both Luna (Earth's moon) and Mars to serve as staging areas in the next round of hostilities with the Gamilons. [Lewis. Both are referenced various times in the SB franchise proper.] 2081 - In a parallel universe, the space pirate battleship Arcadia is spotted as part of a massive flotilla of craft assaulting the Mu, a robotic race bent on the total extermination of mankind. How the Arcadia got there, much less how it returned to our dimension, remains a mystery to this day. [SUPER DIMENSION CENTURY ORGUSS anime TV series #34. You can clearly see the Arcadia on the right flank of the Emaan merchantman Glomar, shortly before the Emaan vessel is destroyed by the Mu. This was an easter egg slipped in by the show's animators. ORGUSS originally aired on Japanese television during the heyday of M-san's feature film period in the 1980s. Two different theories have been proposed as to how Captain Harlock and the Arcadia wound up in the world of ORGUSS. The first is that he was pulled in by the detonation of the space-time oscillation bomb (like all the other stuff from other parallel universes). The second involves the use of Time Sweeper technology, much like Harlock and the Arcadia's cameo in DNA. The tale of the Arcadia's adventures in the world of ORGUSS would make for one helluva crossover story!] 2096 - Desslok of Gamilon, aka Desslok the Second, eldest son of Emperor Desslok the First, is born on the planet Gamilon in the Sanza Star System. [YRA1; see also the feature film edited from the Japanese original of SB1. The narrator in the movie states that Desslok was 103 in Earth years when the Star Force undertook its epic voyage to Iscandar. This contradicts Lewis, who asserts that Desslok of Gamilon was the great-grandson of the original Desslok. I defer to the original Japanese source material.] ---------------------------2099 - OUT OF GALAXY KOSHIKA ---------------------------c.2100s - The second detachment of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force arrives in the Sol System. Once again fighting resumes between UNSPF and Gamilon warships. This time around, the UNSPF manages to hold its own, albeit at great cost. All civilian spaceflights are brought to a standstill with the resumption of hostilities. [Lewis] 2116 - Assassination of Desslok the First, Emperor of the Gamilon Empire. His son Desslok the Second, aka Desslok of Gamilon (Desslar Soto, Leader Desslok, et. al), succeeds him as supreme ruler of the Gamilons. [Lewis. The term "Leader Desslok" is a literal translation of the original Japanese phrase "Desslar Soto."] - One of Leader Desslok's first orders is to appoint Sarjant Masterson, a prominent general from Clan Talan, as his personal aide. General Talan, as he is better known in Gamilon political circles, is a longtime friend of Desslok. Their clans have been allies ever since the Gamilon Civil War. Leader Desslok also uses the occasion to commission General Talan's son as an officer in the Gamilon Imperial Space Fleet. [SBC2 #1, "The Jackals Come To Feed." This character is called by both Talan (SB1 & SB2) and Masterson (SB3) in the series proper. Lewis provides a reasonable answer for this seeming contradiction in that Talan was his clan name.] 2119 - Queen Sasha of Iscandar dies while giving birth to twin daughters named Starsha and Astra. A Regency Council rules Iscandar for eighteen months until Starsha, the elder daughter, is mature enough to assume the Crystal Throne of Iscandar. [Lewis. Remember, hyperaging from infancy to adult within one year was a trademark of the ruling house of Iscandar, per BNY and the "Icarus" story arc from SBC3. I have also taken the liberty of eliminating a number of other Queen Starshas, Astras, etc. that Lewis lists, since this contradicts certain statements in SB1, YNV, and BFY about the longevity of the Iscandarians.] 2121 - A Black Nebula scouting expedition is the first to return to its original home universe. Not long after it encounters and destroys a small Gamilon task force. It is forced to flee once Gamilon reinforcements arrive, but take the wrecked hull of at least one Gamilon ship with them. From it they learn about the rare ore that the Gamilons use as a cheap power source for the FTL drives of their starships. [Lewis; see also YNV.] - Leader Desslok of Gamilon makes his first contact with Queen Starsha of Iscandar. He is enamored of her despite her resistance to his warlike ways. [Lewis; see also SB1 #23, "A Shocking Surprise" and YNV.] Sometime during the mid- to late 2100s - Cosmonite is discovered. It is a naturally occurring ore that when refined yields extremely high energy producing properties. A small amount of refined cosmonite can power a starship's sub-light or near-light engines for months at a time. It will also be adapted to serve as the most basic of all fuel sources for human FTL engines, once the technology becomes available. Refined cosmonite eventually becomes one of the preferred choices of fuel for almost all sub-light (and many inexpensive FTL) starships within the Milky Way galaxy - although its relative rarity makes it an expensive commodity. [SR Volume 1, TT2. The discovery of cosmonite is a key plot device in the first major story arc of SR. Cosmonite pops up now and again in Leijiverse stories set farther down the timeline, most notably in TT2. That tale states that Harlock's pirate starship was originally fueled with cosmonite, and that Harlock managed to scrounge up 10 tons (!) of cosmonite ore to help Tochiro. The energy yield of refined cosmonite must have been astronomical in comparison to fusion power, for example - given the fuel requirements of long-term space travel. It would have been a perfect fuel source for the massive colonization fleets we see leaving Earth in various classic Leijiverse manga, such as SR and ME. Incidentally, in the Japanese original of SB1, it is cosmonite and not titanite for which the Star Force is seeking on Titan. It also states that cosmonite was the primary fuel source for its auxiliary engines - not its wave motion engine, which worked on wave energy - and is thus in agreement with the other Leijiverse sources mentioned above on the subject. Finally, when I say "relative rarity," I mean as opposed to other potential fuel sources. Cosmonite was far more common in the universe than other ores of its family, such as the even rarer iscandarium or the extremly rare monopole. I mean "relative rarity" as in given all the planets in an average-sized solar system, you might find just one or two veins on one of its planets or moons - or none, more often than not.] 2143 - Patrick John Orion is born on Earth somewhere in Ireland, United Kingdom. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official YAMATO source materials. Orion's birthplace is never given but the accent is a dead giveaway.] 2150 - Iscandarian scientists working on an immortality gene for the common people accidentally create a deadly mutagenic pathogen. It escapes confinement and wipes out almost all life on the planet Iscandar in a matter of days. Leader Desslok of Gamilon tries to render aid and assistance but is stopped by his own people. He can only watch helplessly from afar as the Iscandarians die by the thousands. In the end, the only survivors are Queen Starsha and her younger sister Astra. Both are protected from the virus by their link with the Guardian Spirit of Iscandar. Much to the chagrin of the Gamilons who opposed Desslok, and hoped to claim Iscandar as their own, Starsha and Astra are still quite capable of operating the planet's ancient defenses against invasion. Desslok is soon able to force them to back down and let Iscandar be. From this point on it will have a unique place within the Gamilon Empire - the only world it claims where there is absolutely no Gamilon presence, either on the surface or in orbit. [SB1 #25, "Welcome to Iscandar," and Lewis.] 2151 - The military exploits of Colonel Dommel Lysis attract the attention of Leader Desslok. [Lewis. In SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy," Desslok spoke very highly of General Lysis. He called him "one of my brightest generals" and alludes to his earlier successful military career.] 2153 - Sazeko "Dr. Sane" Sado is born on Earth somewhere in Japan. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official YAMATO source materials.] 2154 - Abraham Avatar is born on Earth somewhere in Colorado, United States. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official YAMATO source materials.] - Draco Gideon is born on Earth, location unknown. [YNV. Sandor tells Wildstar that Gideon was in the same graduating class as Captain Avatar at the Space Cadet School. That would make them about the same age, give or take a year.] - Keisuke Yamanami is born on Earth somewhere on Great Island (Japan), exact location unknown. [YNV. Sandor tells Wildstar that Yamanami was in the same graduating class as Captain Avatar at the Space Cadet School. That would make them about the same age, give or take a year. 2159 - The lull in the Earth-Gamilon War ends as the Gamilons attack across a broad front. This attack marks the beginning of the third Gamilon campaign to conquer Earth. Once again the UNSPF is able to hold its own despite grievous losses. The Gamilon offensive will eventually grind to a halt at the Sol System's inner asteroid belt within a few years. [Lewis] c.2170 - As an adult, Dr. Sane once remarked that he had developed an allergy to certain "pretty flowers" while dating a girl in his youth. [SB2 #13, "Trap on Telezart"] 2171 - Terence Webster Knox, aka "T.W. Knox" or "Hard Knox," is born on Earth, location unknown. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. The YPA sources state that Knox had already been in the service for 12 years prior to the Cometine War. This would make him at least 30 years old when the forces of the Comet Empire attacked the Space Marine base on Brumus.] 2172 - Alexander "Alex" Wildstar, elder brother of Derek Wildstar, is born on Earth in the family home near Yokohama, Japan. [YPA1&2, TASY, SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy," and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official YAMATO source materials.] - Steven Sandor is born on Luna, Earth's moon, in the colony city of New Sweden. [YPA1&2, TASY, SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy," and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official YAMATO source materials. We learn in SB1 #11, "The Desslok Mines" that Sandor and Alex Wildstar were both classmates at the Space Cadet School in their youth.] - Sho Yamazaki, future chief engineer of the Yamato (after Patrick Orion), is born on Earth somewhere in Japan. [Probable conjecture based on YNV. He appears to be a contemporary of Sandor's but this is conjecture on my part. We know he was one of the older crewmembers aboard the Yamato during its trip to Iscandar because Wildstar says so in YNV. There is a character in SB2 who may very well be Yamazaki and bears at least a passing likeness to him. He is one of the first people injured aboard the Argo during the final phase of the Battle of Saturn, being badly burned in an engine room fire. His being put off the ship at Ganymede due to his injuries is what saved his life, and allowed him to come back later as the Argo's second chief engineer. In the "2199" remake of SB1, we see him right off the bat working as Orion's assistant aboard Avatar's flagship at the Battle of Pluto - which somewhat confirms my initial hypothesis. ADDENDUM - This character is known as "Commander Meyers" in the SBC3 "Icarus" miniseries. It too emphasizes his close relationship with Sandor, and his return to duty aboard the Argo after the events depicted in SB2.] - This year marks the official end to the third attempt by the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force to conquer that world for the Gamilon Empire. "By 2172, the [UNSPF] had been able to turn back most of the Gamilon raids and recon operations. It even began mounting its own attacks against the Gamilon bases .... Between 2172 and 2185 the campaign became stalemated by continual attacks and counterattacks by both sides." [SBTM, s.v. "The Gamilon War of 2041-2199."] - The UNSPF takes advantage of the current lull in the Earth-Gamilon War to complete construction of a new space fleet. It is one that can finally fight the Gamilon ships on their own terms. Even so, the lack of FTL drives still puts the UNSPF craft at a decided disadvantage. [Eldred and SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History: The Gamilon War." Eldred gives the date as 2191 but this appears to be in error. A Yukikaze class destroyer is depicted as taking part in the Battle of Lake Victoria in 2184, per SBC2. It is possible that the Yukikaze class was an older design that predated construction of the new space fleet.] c.2175 - Dr. Sane works his way through medical school as a barber. [SB2 #14, "Eyes for the Prize." Dr. Sane mentions this while trimming Mark Venture's hair for him, prior to Venture's first in-person visit with Trelana.] 2177 - Adam Avatar, the only son of Abraham Avatar, is born on Earth, location unknown. [Lewis is the only source for this date. I have yet to find a birthdate listed in any of the official YAMATO background materials. Adam Avatar died as a young officer aboard the Paladin doing the Battle of Pluto in 2199. That would put his age in the early twenties, which agrees with Lewis.] 2178 - Steven Sandor is badly injured and his older sister Mio killed in a rocket car accident at an amusement park on Luna, Earth's moon. He survives to become a quadruple amputee. Due to his condition, his parents volunteer to have him fitted with experimental bionic limbs. He will use bionic limbs in one form or another for the rest of his life. [SB1 #11, "The Desslok Mines." Lewis first gave the date as 2171 in his chronology, but he later adjusted it to October 2177 for SBC3's "Icarus" story arc. My source is the Japanese original of the episode in question.] 2179 - Peter "Pete" Conroy is born on Earth somewhere in the United States. [Probable conjecture based on SB1, SB2, and FSY. Pete Conroy seems a bit older than most of the Star Force (save for Sandor, Yamazaki, Dr. Sane, and Captain Avatar). His status as Black Tiger squadron leader implies that he has already spent more than a few years in military service. His younger brother Cory has a pronounced twang in his accent that might imply childhood in the Midwest or Southwest United States. Pete Conroy's accent could have been softened by his years in the service (as was mine and my brother's, during our respective stints in the U.S. Navy - ed.)] c.2180 - Captain Abraham Avatar turns down a promotion to rear admiral. It is the first time, but not the last, that he refuses an admiral's stripes. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed." Colonel Shannon shares this fact with Derek Wildstar while touring the bridge of the Argo.] - Colonel "Cosmo" Shannon turns down his first chance at a promotion to brigadier general. His stated reason is that he feels such a promotion would cause him to lose touch with the men and women under his command. His promotion is instead given to Colonel Ian Helms, the next officer in line. The fact that his promotion was secondhand in nature will become a constant source of irritation and eventually a lifelong obsession with Helms. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed"] 2181 - Derek Wildstar is born on Earth in Japan somewhere in or near Yokohama. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis; see also SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy." I defer to the birthdate given in the official Yamato source materials. These have been confirmed by YR, which states on screen that Wildstar (Kodai) was 18 when he first boarded the Argo in 2199. Lewis incorrectly gives his birthdate as 2179. SBR states that his mother's first name was Mia. I have yet to find a source that gives his father's first name.] [NOTE - In the new 2199 remake, Wildstar's birthday has been changed to July 7, 2178. He's three years older than the original, and already a lieutenant by the time the show begins - not a green officer straight out of the Space Cadet School.] - Nova Forrester, daughter of Yuki and Leslie Forrester, is born on Earth in Austin, Texas in the United States. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official Yamato source materials. Lewis gives the date as 2179 and gives the first name of Nova's mother as Karen, but both are now considered non-canon. The original Japanese character name for Nova Forrester is Yuki Mori, which raises an interesting point. Both Nova and her mother have distinct Oriental facial features, which implies Japanese ancestry. I consulted about this with Tim Eldred, author of the Star Blazers DVD supplemental materials and the Star Blazers comic books by Argo Press. We both agreed that Nova probably had Japanese ancestry. My original suggestion was that Nova named her daughter Miyuki, as featured in SBR and subsequently YR, after "a beloved Japanese relative." Who better than her own grandmother? Eldred played off this notion in SBR, where Miyuki is named after BOTH grandmothers. After all, the maiden name of Nova's mother is Mori ... which makes her original name Yuki Mori. Where have we heard that name before? -_^ Thanks, Tim, for using part of my idea in SBR!] [NOTE - In the new 2199 remake, Nova's birthday has apparently been pushed back to 2178. She's three years older than the original, and already a staff officer at UNSPF Headquarters - not a nurse in the military wing of Central Hospital.] - Marcus "Mark" Venture, Jr., eldest son of Marcus and Anna Venture, is born on Earth in Brooklyn, New York in the United States. [YPA1&2, TASY, and Lewis. I defer to the birthdate given in the official Yamato source materials. Lewis gives the date as 2179. Mark Venture's curly hair implies Italian ancestry; hence the first name Marcus and the family ties to New York. The Ventures appear to have relocated to Great Island (Japan) at some point during the Earth-Gamilon War. Mark visits with both his parents and his younger brother Giordi several times at their home on Great Island during his tour of duty with the Star Force.] [NOTE - In the new 2199 remake, Venture's birthday has been changed to August 15, 2178. He's three years older than the original, and already a lieutenant by the time the show begins - not a green officer straight out of the Space Cadet School.] - Joseph "Chief" Hardy is born on Earth, location unknown. [TASY. He was a classmate of Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture when the Yamato was commissioned into the Star Force in 2199, per SB3 #03, "Argo Target Mars," and succeeded "Slops" Mulligan as chief cook of the Argo. He is not to be confused with Black Tiger pilot Jefferson Hardy.] - Homer Glitchman is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB1 #3, "Departure From Earth." He appears to be about the same age as Derek Wildstar. I have yet to find an official birthdate in any of the Yamato background materials. NOTE - Homer's birth date seems to have been pushed back by up to three years in the "2199" remake of SB1.] - Dashell "Dash" Jordan is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB1 #3, "Departure From Earth." He appears to be about the same age as Derek Wildstar. I have yet to find an official birthdate in any of the Yamato background materials. NOTE - Dash's birth date seems to have been pushed back by up to three years in the "2199" remake of SB1.] - Christopher Eager is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB1 #3, "Departure From Earth." He appears to be about the same age as Derek Wildstar. I have yet to find an official birthdate in any of the Yamato background materials. NOTE - Eager's birth date seems to have been pushed back by up to three years in the "2199" remake of SB1.] - Jefferson Hardy is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB1 #3, "Departure From Earth." He appears to be about the same age as Derek Wildstar. I have yet to find an official birthdate in any of the Yamato background materials. NOTE - Hardy's birth date seems to have been pushed back by up to three years in the "2199" remake of SB1.] 2182 - A coalition of African states led by Tanzania refuses to be part of the new United Earth Government, and attacks United Nations forces stationed on their borders. With approval from its member states, a UN military force from Euroland attacks and invades the Tanzanian coalition. Open warfare ensues as the UN Euroland forces attempt to beat the rebellious African states into submission. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed" and Part 4, "A Blast from the Past."] 2182-2185 - The Euro-African War. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed" and Part 4, "A Blast from the Past." The Euro-African was the last of mankind's great wars on the planet Earth prior to the Gamilon planet bomb campaign.] 2183 - Patrick John "Tim" Orion, Jr. is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on YNV. He was a fresh graduate from the Space Cadet School when recruited by the Star Force in 2201. SB1 infers that the age of 18 is the median age for Space Cadet School graduates. "Tim" appears to have been his nickname or common use name per Lewis, and Eldred often refers to this character as "Tim Orion" in his various works.] - Cory Conway, younger brother of Peter "Pete" Conroy, is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB3 #2, "The Great Battle in the Milky Way". He was a fresh graduate from the Space Cadet School when recruited by the Star Force in 2201. SB1 infers that the age of 18 is the median age for Space Cadet School graduates. Cory has a pronounced twang in his accent that might imply childhood in the Midwest or Southwest United States.] - A pilgrim ship full of followers of the Gardiana cult begins a multigenerational voyage across interstellar space searching for the mythical Queen Gardiana. [SB3 #19, "The Way to Planet Phantom." The pilgrim elder states that they have been journeying through space for twenty years. - A large refugee colony attempts to flee Bujumbura, Tanzania, where some of the worst fighting in the Euro-African War is taking place. Lieutenant General Charles Singleton, commander of all UN Euroland forces fighting in the war, is ordered to attack the convoy in violation of the Geneva Convention and prevent it from leaving the area. The justification is that the resources required to care for these refugees would place added strain on the already taxed Tanzanian coalition resources. Singleton details Brigadier General Ian Helms, the local UNSPF field commander, with the dirty job of actually attacking the convoy. Helm's forces are routed when the refugee convoy turns out to be a fully armed and armored force of Tanzanian shock troops attempting to escape. Their escape is successful, and the Tanzanians destroy most of Helm's air support in the process. An enraged General Helms pursues the fleeing Tanzanians all the way to their stronghold at Lake Victoria, where they dig in and prepare to make their stand from a well-fortified stronghold. [SBC2 Part 4, "A Blast from the Past."] - The Battle of Lake Victoria is fought between the UN ground forces of General Ian Helms and the besieged Tanzanian shock troops who successfully ambushed him at Bujumbura. Helms attempts to sustain an offensive attack at all points on the Tanzanian defensive lines even though he lacks the manpower, air cover, and resources to successfully pull it off. Within days, the UN casualty rates mount to such an appalling number that one of his subordinates, Colonel "Cosmo" Shannon, charges him with dereliction of duty and forcibly removes Helms from command. Shannon then orders a retreat and withdraws the surviving UN forces from the field. The Battle of Lake Victoria ends in victory for the Tanzanian forces. They will remain uncaptured and unconquered at Lake Victoria for the rest of the war. [SBC2 Part 4, "A Blast from the Past."] - A UNSPF military tribunal is convened in the wake of the failure of the Lake Victoria campaign. General Helms charges Colonel Shannon and his followers with mutiny. The tribunal, under the leadership of General Singleton, clears Colonel Shannon and makes him their chief witness against his former commanding officer in court-martial proceedings. General Singleton contrives things so that no word about the illegal order to attack the Tanzanian refugee colony is ever entered into the official record. General Helms is found guilty on all counts, stripped of his rank, and given a dishonorable discharge from the UNSPF. He chooses exile from Earth rather than life in a military prison as his final punishment. [SBC2 Part 4, "A Blast from the Past."] 2185 - Leader Desslok, supreme ruler of the Gamilon Empire, decides on a radical change in tactics in order to defeat the humans of Earth. He is both angered and frustrated that his (and his father's) superior forces have been held at bay for so long by an inferior foe. He orders preparations to be made to bombard the entire surface of the Earth with "planet bombs," i.e. asteroids soaked with a hyper-lethal dose of radiation. What life on Earth does not die outright by the impact of the asteroids is expected to eventually die from the ever-increasing radiation being deposited on Earth's surface. To that end, most of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force is temporarily recalled in order to gather the equipment and materials necessary for Leader Desslok's new campaign. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History."] - Colonel Dommel Lysis is promoted to the rank of general by Leader Desslok. [Lewis] - Flash Contrail is [Conjecture based pulled out of the reassigned to the born on Earth, location unknown. on SB1 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction." He was Space Cadet School a year ahead of graduation when he was Star Force in 2203.] - Jason Jetter is born on Earth, location unknown. [Conjecture based on SB1 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction." He was pulled out of the Space Cadet School a year ahead of graduation when he was reassigned to the Star Force in 2203. By the way, BWE asserts that Jason's last name is properly spelled as "Jehter" (pronounced jee-ter, not jet-ter), but that it was so frequently mispronounced that he had to learn to live with it. It's a situation to which Giordi "Jordy" Venture could have probably related.] 2186-2199 - Dates for the Gamilon's fourth and final campaign against Earth in the Earth-Gamilon War. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History" and Lewis] 2186-2188 - The last lull in the Earth-Gamilon war occurs as most of the Gamilon forces remaining in the Sol System withdraw beyond the orbit of Neptune. There will be only scattered skirmishes between UNSPF and Gamilon forces during this time. [Probable conjecture based on SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History" and Lewis] c.2189 - The Gamilons destroy Minerva, the tenth planet in the Sol System. The rubble forms a new outer asteroid belt beyond the orbit of Pluto. UNSPF observers do not know what to make of this move, since Minerva had no strategic value whatsoever. [SB1 #09, "Gantz's Last Stand." The exact date of the destruction of Minerva is never given, only that it was done by the Gamilons. The Japanese original implies that the reason for the destruction of Minerva was so the Gamilons could mine the rubble for their planet bombs. This means that the destruction of Minerva had to happen between 2185 (the date of Desslok's decision to start using planet bombs on Earth) and 2191 (the date that the first planet bombs began to fall on Earth). I split the difference.] 2190 - Giordi Venture, younger brother of Mark Venture, is born on Earth in Brooklyn, New York. [Lewis. Many early STAR BLAZERS sources give his first name as "Jordy." See my earlier entry on Jason Jetter for more insight into this issue.] - Alex Wildstar graduates from the Space Cadet School. His first assignment as an officer is to a UNSPF warship operating in the Earth-Gamilon combat zone. As such he becomes directly involved in two space battles with the Gamilons over the ensuing months. [SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy." Alex briefly recalls his first tour of duty when visiting his younger brother Derek while on leave. The various original Japanese source materials seem to imply that Alex Wildstar graduated from the Space Cadet School in December of 2190. - Steven Sandor graduates from the Space Cadet School. He is a member of the same class as his good friend Alex Wildstar. Sandor's first assignment as an officer is as an engineering supervisor at the main UNSPF shipyard at Yokosuka on Great Island (Japan). [SB1 #11, "The Magnetron Wave." Sandor recalls this while chatting to Wildstar during the episode. The various original Japanese source materials seem to imply that Steven Sandor graduated from the Space Cadet School in December of 2190.] - Over the next decade, Sandor will be married twice - to women named Mary and Bethany respectively - during what he later calls his "listless years." Neither marriage lasts for very long. [SBR] 2191 - The Gamilons complete the construction of the planet bomb launching and guidance facilities on Pluto. [SBTM, s.v. "Pluto Base." It had five massive silos capable of launching a total of 20 planet bombs every 24-hour cycle.] - The first Gamilon planet bombs hit Earth. They are targeted at major cities, industrial complexes, military bases, and spaceports of the world's most powerful nations: the United States, Euroland, the Russian Consortium, the Indian Ocean States, and China. Millions die in the first wave of attacks. Millions more will die in the months to come. There is little that the UNSPF can do to stop the planet bombs, despite their best and most valiant efforts. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History." These began to hit while Alex Wildstar and Steven Sandor were still in the Space Cadet School per their recollections in SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy" and SB1 #18, "The Magnetron Wave". The various original Japanese source materials, in particular the rare Yuki Hijiri manga, name the following cities as among those first destroyed: New York, Moscow, Paris, Berlin, Beijing, and Calcutta. It also lists Tokyo, but that was not destroyed until the following year per SB1.] 2192, 21 April - Alex Wildstar takes a month's leave to spend some time with his family. [SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy." This was Alex's first leave since graduating the Space Cadet School and joining the fleet as a UNSPF officer. Alex himself indicates in his dialogue that several months have passed since he graduated.] 2192, 22 April (early hours of the morning) - The city of Tokyo is completely destroyed by the first ever planet bomb strike on Great Island (Japan). The magnitude of the impact is so great that it causes Mount Fuji to erupt for the first time in centuries. [SB1 #13, "Know Thine Enemy." It is stated in the episode that Japan had only escaped targeting up to this point by the Gamilons because they were busy attacking the Earth's more powerful nations first.] - Alex Wildstar's duty in wake of [SB1 #13, "Know the planet bomb mid-2192 leave is cancelled and his squadron is recalled to active the Gamilon planet bomb strike on Tokyo. Thine Enemy." This happens within minutes of his witnessing strike on Tokyo.] - Launching of the Great Fleet from Earth. This represents the UNSPF's largest and most powerful space fleet ever deployed to combat the Gamilon menace in the Solar System. Its ultimate goal is to reach and destroy the Gamilon base on Pluto, which is directing the planet bomb attacks against Earth. [SB1 #18, "The Magnetron Wave" and Eldred's DVD set feature article, "Planet Earth 2199 AD". Sandor was present at the launch of the Great Fleet and later described it to Derek Wildstar during the Star Force's mission to Iscandar. Per the new "2199" revamp of SB1, Avatar's flagship was the SB-224 class battleship Kirishima - after the WWII Japanese battleship of the same name. This revamp also adds two additional "middle" classes of warships to the Great Fleet - a heavy cruiser and a light cruiser. Eldred's starblazers.com is a good place to start for data on these new designs.] - Fleet Captain Abraham Avatar leads the Great Fleet on the UNSPF's last offensive against the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force. Captain Keisuke Yamanami is in charge of the UNSPF forces guarding his rear. Avatar will later describe it as "a hellish two-year-long campaign" to sweep the Sol System's inner asteroid belt free of the Gamilons. The biggest success of the campaign is capturing a fully intact and functional Gamilon advance base on the asteroid Icarus before the Gamilons have time to destroy it. The capture of this base represents a technological coup for the UNSPF and gives them, among other things, the technology for near-instantaneous interstellar communication. [Lewis. Yamanami's presence inferred by SBC3's partial comic adaptation of BFY, in particular the issue "Prelude." Icarus Base plays an important role in both BFY and the prequel "Icarus" story arc in SBC3. Only Lewis records the base's origins. In the "2199" remake of SB1, Yamanami is Avatar's first officer aboard the Kirishima, and not in command of his own squadron.] - The retreating Gamilons fall back to the Jupiter and build a new base there to replace the loss of their one on Icarus. It is constructed on a floating continent deep within the dense atmosphere of Jupiter. Because of its location and lack of sufficient technology to withstand Jupiter's powerful gravity, Captain Avatar's fleet is unable to get close enough to this new base to destroy it. This base will eventually prove to be the Grand Fleet's undoing, as it is in a perfect position to gather forces for cutting Avatar's supply lines. [Lewis] - The Bolar Federation conquers the planet Berth. [SB3 #12, "The Penal Colony in Space."] - Humanity moves en masse into underground cities as the mounting radiation on the Earth's surface from the incessant Gamilon planet bombs begins to take its toll there. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon History."] 2194 - A surprise Gamilon ambush destroys an entire UNSPF squadron near Mars under the command of Captain Yamanami. This effectively cuts Captain Avatar's supply lines, and he is forced to withdraw the Great Fleet from Gamiloncontrolled space. This ambush signals the beginning of the end for Great Fleet operations, as well as those of the beleaguered forces defending Earth. Captain Yamanami is relieved of field command by his superiors following his defeat, and ordered to return home with his dead and wounded. [Lewis; see also SBC3's "Prelude." The date is listed as 2192 in the online version of Lewis' timeline but this might be a typo. Placing this event here makes more sense from a continuity point-of-view. Captain Yamanami's presence as squadron commander at Mars is conjecture on my part; however, we do know that he fought and lost a major battle against the Gamilons during the war. According to SBC3, which is the source for this data, the only ship to survive in Yamanami's squadron was his own, and he returned to Earth with 372 dead among his own crew.] - The United Earth Government, upon hearing the news of the UNSPF ambush at Mars, realizes that it is going to lose the Earth-Gamilon War no matter what it does. To this end it authorizes Project Argo, a proposal by the Interstellar Committee, to build a new space battleship to serve as a "space ark." This will save a carefully chosen group of young men and women and send them into the Sea of Stars to find a new home, and thus escape extinction by the Gamilons. Along with them will go a genetic databank containing samples of the DNA of every plant and animal lifeform on Earth, past on present, for reconstitution upon finding a new homeworld. Great Island (Japan) provides both the leadership and a protected site for the construction of this new space battleship. In deference to Great Island's leadership in this matter, the new ship is to be rebuilt from the wreck of the Yamato, the famous World War II battleship. The site of construction for the new Yamato is directly beneath the wreck of the old Yamato, some fifty nautical miles southwest of Cape Boga. In an ironic twist, a last-minute change of plans causes the new Yamato to be built just below and partially inside the ruins of its namesake. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant;" see also Eldred and Lewis. Lewis gives the date of 2194 for the inception of Project Argo. Eldred gives 2198 as the date construction of the new Yamato actually began. The extra four years were needed for the gathering of materials and resources, as well as the construction of the underground complex at the Bogasaki sub-annex.] [ASIDE - I5555 raises the possibility that the original goal of Project Argo was for the Yamato to escape the Sol System via the Darkwood stargate. This was the only guaranteed safe route of escape past the Gamilons, who apparently knew nothing about it. This is pure conjecture on my part, of course, but consider that the Yamato as originally designed did not have wave motion technology. As a sublight vessel it would not have been able to escape the Gamilons. I shall revisit the subject of the Darkwood stargate again when discussing events related to SB2. [ADDENDUM - The live action SBY confirms much of what I had originally postulated with this entry, including the original purpose of the Yamato and the fact that it was originally designed as a sublight vessel. The new "2199" revamp of SB1 goes even further. The wreck of the old Yamato is being used as cover for the new one - a situation not unlike that which I first described in this document.] - Adam Avatar graduates from the Space Cadet School [Lewis. The various original Japanese source materials seem to imply that Adam Avatar graduated from the Space Cadet School in December of 2194.] 2195, 8 January - General Lysis issues a new battle tactics manual for the Gamilon Imperial Space Fleet with the blessing of Leader Desslok. "Its fundamental purpose was to reorganize the Gamilon fleet into a unified force capable of delivering coordinated assaults from its light and heavy ship assets, its battlecraft fleet, mine warfare arm and special weapons capabilities. These latter include the Desslok Cannons, the reflex cannon, and the SMITE transportation device." [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Tactical Fleet Doctrine."] 2195, sometime later in the year - Steven Sandor is assigned to Project Argo. His job is to supervise the design and construction of the rebuilt Yamato. [FSY; see also Lewis. In FSY Sandor states unequivocally that he both designed and built the revived Yamato.] - Battlefield Analyzer IQ-9, one of the first mobile artificial intelligences in the Leijiverse, is created. His purpose as designed is to serve as a mobile animated interface to the main computer of the rebuilt Yamato. [Lewis. SB1, SB2 and Lewis appear to imply that it was Sandor who also designed and built IQ-9, although this is nowhere explicitly stated. What we see on screen tends to support this, as Sandor is always the first one consulted whenever there is any problem with IQ-9.] 2196 - The Audacious class of Gamilon space battleships, designed by General Dommel Lysis, enters service. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Fleet Battleship." The Audacious is the name of the rather unique-looking vessel that General Lysis uses as his fleet flagship throughout most of the back half of SB1.] - General Lysis of Gamilon and his personal battle fleet, the largest ever assembled under the authority of a single independent field commander, leave Gamilon to conduct a successful three-year campaign against rebellious races in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Imperial Space Fleet."] - Gamilon forces overrun the major UNSPF bases on both Mars and Mercury. The survivors are forced to retreat to remote observation posts. [Lewis; see also SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant." Cadets Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture were completing their deep space training at a UNSPF observation post on Mars about the same time that the Battle of Pluto took place.] - The Fist of Gamilon, the largest planet bomb ever constructed during the Earth-Gamilon War, is launched at Earth. It reaches its target despite the best efforts of the UNSPF to stop it. At some point before entering Earth's atmosphere it breaks into two large pieces and multiple smaller ones. The first large piece destroys most of the southeastern portion of Can-Am (the United States and Canada), devastating the landscape from southern Pennsylvania all the way to eastern Texas. Major southern cities such as Washington DC, Raleigh, Atlanta, Knoxville, Memphis, Mobile, Little Rock, and New Orleans are either vaporized or wrecked beyond repair. Miami is one of the few southernmost major cities in CanAm to escape major damage. The second piece leaves a continent-sized crater in the middle of what was once eastern Euroland. All life both above and below ground in both of these areas is wiped out almost instantly. The other fragments wreak their own damage on the helpless Earth on other parts of the globe, albeit on a smaller scale. Almost all surface water still remaining on Earth is vaporized by the force of these blasts, and it will be years before the oceans of Earth reform themselves. The worldwide rain of debris from the Fist of Gamilon turns the entire surface of the Earth into a radiation-soaked, crater-marked desert. [Lewis plus some conjecture on my part; see also SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant." New York apparently survived the impact of the Fist of Gamilon per BFY, as did Paris. This appears to imply that the original target of that particular piece of the Fist of Gamilon was Washington DC, and that the UNSPF was able to knock it off-target - as they do with some of the planet bombs in the live action SBY. The actual impact point appears to have been somewhere in the state of Tennessee or even in northern Mississippi. The other was probably aimed at either Paris or Berlin, although Geneva is a strong possibility due to Switzerland's importance in the Common Market. Since we know that Paris survived, though, then it was probably knocked offtarget, too - and Homer's line in SB2, "The Giant Awakens" about the Ukraine might be indicative as to where the second half of the Fist of Gamilon eventually hit. One shudders to think what might have happened had the Fist of Gamilon succeeded as originally designed and aimed.] 2197 - Prince Zordar the Fifth, heir to the Comet Empire, launches his fortress Gatlantis, aka "the White Comet," from the Andromeda galaxy on his own personal Tour of Conquest on the Sea of Stars per Cometine royal tradition. His stated intent is to conquer the Milky Way galaxy for the Comet Empire. Despite the advanced technology at his disposal, it will take the White Comet four years to reach the Rim Territories of the Milky Way. Prince Zordar uses this time to conquer and establish a string of supply bases along his intended route through the intergalactic void. [SBTM, s.v. "White Comet History." The exact date comes from SB2 #15, "Trelana."] - The Comet Empire conquers the Black Fox Nebula. [SBTM. "Timeline of the Earth/Comet War." See also SB2 #15, "Trelana." This happened in the first year of Prince Zordar's reign, per General Dire.] - The prototype of the Desslok Cannon undergoes its first successful test firing at the proving grounds of the Gamilon Imperial Ordinance Division. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart."] - A single Earth vessel carrying a family of three manages to flee the Sol System. The Gamilons choose not to pursue it, deeming the ship too small and worthless a target to worry about. The vessel eventually makes it to a habitable world orbiting Barnard's Star and lands there. This vessel and its occupants will go unnoticed and forgotten by everyone for the next five years. [SB3 #08, "The Pioneer's of Barnard's Star". Tomono, the daughter of the old man per BWE, says they left five years ago. This puts their departure from Earth one year before the end of the Earth-Gamilon War. This raises a couple of interesting questions. How many other humans successfully fled the Sol System during the Earth-Gamilon War, and whatever happened to them?] 2198 - The Comet Empire conquers the Magma Star Cluster. [SBTM. "Timeline of the Earth/Comet War." See also SB2 #15, "Trelana." This happened in the second year of Prince Zordar's reign, per General Dire.] sometime prior to the 2200s - The Metanoids are created when their homeworld is threatened with extinction by a negative energy void - which turns out to be the Dark Queen herself. [GE999EFm] -------------------------------------------------2199-2224 - STAR BLAZERS (aka UCHUU SENKAN YAMATO) -------------------------------------------------2199, January - The White Comet conquers the rogue planet Petronia. It is located in a lonely star cluster approximately three-fifths of the way between the Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies. [SB2 #14, "Eyes for the Prize" and SBTM, s.v. "Timeline of the Earth/Comet War." This happened in the third year of Prince Zordar's reign, per General Dire.] 2199, February-April - The battered UNSPF plans its last attack against the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force. It amounts to little more than a kamikaze strike against its Pluto base. Fleet Captain Abraham Avatar argues unsuccessfully against the plan. Instead, he is appointed overall commander of the fleet that will be making the attack. [Lewis. Per the "2199" updated version of SB1, Orion also went along as the chief engineer of Avatar's flagship, the Kirishima. Also, in the revamped account, this mission was not a suicide strike. Its purpose was to open a hole in the Gamilon blockade of the Sol System so Astra's ship could get through.] - Commander Alex Wildstar and his ship, the Paladin, is among those assigned to take part on the assault on Pluto. Assisting him will be Lieutenant Adam Avatar, only son of Captain Abraham Avatar. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant," and #06, "The Ghost of Recent Past;" see also Lewis. In the Japanese original the name of his ship is the Yukikaze, after the famous WWII Japanese destroyer.] - Lt. Commander Steven Sandor takes personal charge of repairing and refurbishing all of the UNSPF ships to be used in the assault on Pluto. Among these is Alex Wildstar's destroyer Paladin. [SB1 #18, "The Magnetron Wave"] - Forward elements of the Comet Empire encounter Gamilon patrol ships on the borders of the Gamilon Empire. Prince Zordar, upon hearing the news and to the surprise of his own people, befriends the Gamilons and quickly enters into a strategic alliance with them. The White Comet is thus allowed to pass through Gamilon-controlled space unmolested. Prince Zordar, unlike his advisors, realizes that he will need allies of like mind and heart in this strange new galaxy he intends to conquer - for the time being, anyway. [SBTM, s.v. "White Comet History." It is intimated in various scenes in SB2, in particular SB2 #11, "The Star Flies," that Prince Zordar and Leader Desslok had been aware of each other for some time.] - Astra of Iscandar, younger sister of Queen Starsha, leaves to undertake the dangerous journey to Earth through the Gamilon lines. Her mission is to deliver the plans for Iscandarian wave motion technology and Queen Starsha's offer of the Cosmo DNA to save Earth. [SB2 #01, "The Sleeping Giant," and #25, "Welcome to Iscandar"] -----------------------------------------------------------2199-2201 - STAR BLAZERS: THE QUEST FOR ISCANDAR SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO (both the anime and live-action feature films) -----------------------------------------------------------6 May 2199 - Captain Avatar's fleet is defeated by elements of Colonel Gantz's Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force fleet in the Battle of Pluto. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant." In the first and second editions of this work, I got a fair amount of grief over this date from English speaking fans that had access to the DVD boxed set or other American source materials. Most of these, including SBTM, give the date as 6 August 2199. Eldred gives the date as 21 August 2199 in his DVD materials. The original Japanese sources say May of 2199. My choice of the exact day is a nod to SBTM. Per the new "2199" revamp of SB1, Captain Avatar's flagship was named the Kirishima after the WWII Japanese battleship of the same name.] [NOTE - In the new "2199" remake, this date has been changed to 17 January 2199. The revamp also makes clear that this battle was a diversionary tactic, in order to open a hole in the Gamilon blockade for Astra, and that none but the senior fleet officers (such as Avatar) were aware of this.] - Adam Avatar is killed during the Paladin's final suicide run at the Gamilon fleet. His body is never recovered. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant" and #06, "The Ghost of Recent Past." Wildstar is the one who has to tell Adam's father, Captain Avatar, that they found no bodies inside the wreck of the Paladin. SB1 never says what happened to the crew, aside that everyone save Derek's brother Alex, the Paladin's captain, were killed in action.] [NOTE - In the new "2199" remake, this date has been changed to 17 January 2199. Adam is the one in the pit console beside Alex Wildstar who starts the singing aboard the ship, immediately prior to its suicide run.] - Astra of Iscandar's ship is shot up by the Gamilons while attempting to bypass the Battle of Pluto. Injured, her vessel rapidly losing power and control, she attempts to make a crash landing near a manned UNSPF observation post on Mars. The attempts fails - and Astra is killed - when her ejection pod malfunctions due to battle damage sustained in her attempt to skirt the Gamilon fleet. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant."] [NOTE - In the new "2199" remake, this date has been changed to 17 January 2199.] - As it turns out, Astra did not die - as humanity knows the term - when she crashed on Mars. Her spirit transmigrated to the next phase of existence. It will take her the next 25 years to figure out what has happened to her, as well as how she can now both interact with the physical universe and cause change within it. She will be the one behind all of the seemingly miraculous things that will happen to the future Star Force during the next five turmoil-laden years - from the snowfall on Mars all the way to the Argo seeming to fly itself after being ambushed by the first Dezarium fleet ... and more. Thus, in one of her many infinite possible incarnations available to her new existence, Astra becomes the "spirit" of the Argo in every sense of the word. [SBR] - Cadets Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture find Astra's body and the message capsule from Queen Starsha of Iscandar. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant."] [NOTE - In the new "2199" remake, this date has been changed to 17 January 2199.] 2199, 7 May - Commander Alex Wildstar is captured by the Gamilons. [SB1 #25, "Welcome to Iscandar"] - The Interstellar Committee orders Cadets Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture to keep Astra's message capsule safe until they can be picked up by Captain Avatar's battleship, which is en route from Pluto back to Earth. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant"] 2199, 9 May - Captain Avatar picks up cadets Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture from Mars on his way back to Earth after the Battle of Pluto. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant"] [NOTE - In the new "2199" remake, this date has been changed to April 2199 - "3 months later," per the on-screen caption. This is a more realistic measure of the time involved for the trip at high sublight speed.] 2199, 10 May - Captain Avatar's space battleship returns to Earth. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant." We learn in FSY that an Earth vessel traveling at top sublight speed (in this case the Yamato/Argo) can make the trip from Jupiter to Earth in three days. It then stands to reason that a trip from Pluto to Earth at top sublight speed is about five days, give or take a day.] 2199, sometime in late May or early June 2199 - The wreck of the Paladin is abandoned on Titan by the Gamilons. [SB1 #06, "The Ghost of Recent Past," implied. It couldn't have gotten there by itself and we know Alex Wildstar was captured by the Gamilons; therefore the Gamilons must have left it there. - The starship transporting the captured Alex Wildstar back to Gamilon is caught in a space storm and crashes on Iscandar. All aboard are killed except for a badly injured Wildstar, who is washed up on the shore near Mother Town. Queen Starsha finds him, realizes he is a human from Earth, and begins the long and delicate process of nursing him back to health. [SB1 #25, "Welcome to Iscandar"] - Using Starsha's gift of wave motion technology, Steven Sandor and his engineering team begin converting the almost-completed Yamato into mankind's first faster-than-light (FTL) starship. The original mission for the Yamato is scrubbed by UNSPF fleet commander General Charles Singleton. Its new mission is to make the long journey to Iscandar and retrieve the Cosmo DNA in order to save Earth. [SB1 #02, "The Sleeping Giant" and #02, "The Giant Awakens." The actual construction/conversion of the Yamato/Argo is never shown, save for a brief scene in 2010's live-action SBY movie. It agrees with the original anime in that the message capsule contained only the plans for the engine, and that building and installing it in the Yamato/Argo took a fair amount of time. The alternate version Lewis gives in his account must therefore be considered non-canon, where the engine itself (in miniaturized form) was contained within the message capsule.] 2199, 6 August - Captain Phantom F. Harlock XII, the last remaining UNSPF commander in the field, violates orders and "turns pirate," going after the Gamilons on his own. Harlock begins conducting a series of hit-and-run raids on the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force between the outer planets of the Sol System and the Oort Cloud. This draws away the bulk of the Gamilon fleet. By doing this, Harlock hopes to provide an opening through which the Yamato can eventually escape from Earth, once it is able to launch. [Based on material from Matsumoto-san's manga Cosmoship Yamato and the official SB1 managa adaptation by Akira Hio; see also SB1 #09, "Gantz's Last Stand." My date is a nod to Musashi's dating for the Battle of Pluto. Although this use of the Captain Harlock character never made it on screen (it was planned, but cut due to time and production restrictions), it helps explain why Colonel Gantz was able to assemble such a large fleet so quickly against the Star Force in the Minervan asteroid belt. It was already out there hunting for Captain Harlock. My inclusion of Captain Harlock in this timeline is my homage to Matsumoto-san's original story outline for the SB1 TV series.] 2199, 21 August - A specially modified Gamilon fleet command cruiser is fitted with the new Desslok Cannon. Shortly thereafter it is appropriated to serve as Leader Desslok's personal flagship. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart"] 2199, 22-23 August - A Gamilon Prowler class recon plane is spotted monitoring the Cape Boga area off of Great Island. Its location puts it directly above the Bogasaki underground complex where Project Argo is nearing completion. Acting against orders, Cadets Derek Wildstar and Mark Venture unsuccessfully attempt to bring it down. They crash instead near the wreck of the old Japanese battleship Yamato when their engine fails. They are eventually picked up by a rescue team without learning about the hidden base beneath their feet. [SB1 #01, "The Sleeping Giant." According to SBTM, this was the first time that the UNSPF had ever seen the Prowler in action.] 2199, 5 October - The rebuilt Yamato fires its first shots in anger, as it defends itself from a surprise attack by a Gamilon space carrier. [SB1 #02, "The Giant Awakens"] 2199, 6 October - The rebuilt Yamato is rechristened as the Argo by its first commander, Fleet Captain Abraham Avatar. [SB1 #03, "Departure from Earth." It is never renamed in the Japanese original (and some of the other foreign dubs), thus retaining the name of Yamato in these versions of the franchise.] - The Star Force departs for Iscandar aboard the rebuilt Yamato. [SB1 #03, "Departure from Earth"] 2199, 7 October - The Argo performs its first space warp. It is a small jump from the Earth to Mars. [SB1 #04, "Space Warp." The Earth-Mars jump later became a routine test for all EDF warp-capable starships, as is shown in YNV and SB3.] - Captain Keisuke Yamanami is promoted to to the needs of the war than any desire at the hands of the Gamilons at the end 2192-2194. With the departure of Fleet Fleet Captain. This is done due more of the UNSPF, due to his "disgrace" of the Great Fleet's campaign of Captain Avatar, Yamanami is one of the few remaining experienced senior space officers remaining on Earth. The newly promoted Yamanami is given a desk job overseeing fleet operations, where he will be stuck for the next three years. [SBC3's partial adaptation of BFY, Part 1, "Prelude." Which begs the obvious question - where was Captain Gideon all this time? Answer - he was working as the senior staff officer at EDF Headquarters, per the "2199" remake of SB1.] 2199, 8 October - The Gamilon advance base in Jupiter's atmosphere is destroyed by the Star Force. This marks the first successful use of the Argo's wave motion gun. [SB1 #05, "The Floating Continent." 2199, 10 October - The Star Force discovers the abandoned wreck of the Paladin on the Saturnian moon of Titan while mining for titanite. [SB1 #06, "The Ghost of Recent Past." See my earlier entry on the discovery of cosmonite for an alternate interpretation of this event, as described in the original Japanese source materials.] 2199, 13-15 October - The Star Force engages and destroys the Gamilon base on Pluto. This puts an end to the constant rain of planet bombs on Earth. This small victory comes too late to reverse the cumulative effects of the accumulated radiation on Earth from almost a decade of constant planet bombing by the Gamilons. [SB1 #07 and 08, "The [Second] Battle of Pluto (Parts 1 and 2)"] 2199, 16 October - Colonel Gantz, former commander of the Gamilon base on Pluto and field commander of the Pluto Garrison Fleet of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force, recalls his entire force of 225 vessels from the outer reaches of the Solar System. Gantz's intent is to intercept and destroy the Star Force at all costs. [Implied by SB1 #09, "Gantz's Last Stand." The Gamilon fleet strength comes from SBTM. It is my belief, based on the contextual evidence, that his fleet had already been deployed because it was chasing after Captain Harlock - as mentioned in an earlier entry. Harlock's decoy action apparently did its job in giving the Star Force a chance to escape Earth - just as Avatar's decoy action at the Battle of Pluto helps Astra slip past the Gamilons, in the "2199" remake of SB1.] 2199, 17 October - The Gamilons abandon all of their surviving bases in the outer Sol System on the orders of Colonel Gantz. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon-Earth Timeline"] 2199, 31 October - The Battle of the Minervan Asteroid Belt. The Gamilon Expeditionary Force is wiped out in pitched battle with the Star Force. This marks the first use of Steven Sandor's asteroid ring to defend the Argo. [SB1 #09, "Gantz's Last Stand"] - The Star Force is the first Earth unit to engage (and defeat) a Gamilon Conqueror class battleship. [SB1 #9, "Gantz's Last Stand") and SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon S-Type Space Battleship." This was Colonel Gantz's flagship. It rarely appears again for the rest of the SB franchise, save for the occasional cameo - such as at the end of SB2 #2, "Blackout;" however, it appears almost immediately in the "2199" remake of SB1 as the flagship of the Gamilon fleet at the Battle of Pluto. This would appear to imply that Gantz led his forces in the field during that battle - which would be expected of a man of his character.] 2199, 23 November - The Star Force leaves the Milky Way galaxy. [SB1 #10, "Farewell to Earth."] - Elements of a huge Cometine advance task force under the command of General Naska notes the Star Force's departure from the Milky Way while assembling at the planet Redella. Naska begins monitoring the activities of the Star Force on behalf of Prince Zordar. However, he refuses to engage his forces in support of the Gamilons, in accordance with his standing orders. [SBTM, s.v. "White Comet Force Structure and Command Chart"] 2199, 25 November - The Star Force reaches the outer defense perimeter of Gamilon controlled space. It is protected by the Desslok Mines, a large mobile minefield. [SB1 #11, "The Desslok Mines"] 2199, 26-27 November - The Star Force makes the passage of the Desslok Mines. [SB1 #11, "The Desslok Mines"] 2199, 28 November - The Gamilon 2nd Mobile Attack Fleet is organized under the command of General Zorka, as the Star Force continues its advance into Gamilon-controlled territory. Additional Gamilon battle fleets are redeployed or reorganized as the full danger that the Star Force poses begins to be understood. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart"] 2199, 30 November - 2 December - The Star Force makes the passage of the Alpha star of Orion. [SB1 #12, "The Sea of Fire." My source for the name is the Japanese original. In the English dub, this is mistranslated as the "wishing star of Vultan."] - Captain Avatar collapses on the bridge of the Argo. It is the first public indication of his failing health. [SB1 #12, "The Sea of Fire"] 2199, 3 December - The Star Force captures and interrogates a Gamilon pilot. This is the first time that UNSPF has ever captured a live Gamilon. He is later released unharmed as a show of goodwill. [SB1 #13, "Farewell to Earth"] 2199, 6-28 December - The Star Force is held up at the Octopus Star Cluster for three weeks, until it finds a safe passage through the dangerous starfield. [SB1 #14, "The Worst of Times"] 2199, 29 December - General Kort, overall field commander of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force, is dismissed by Leader Desslok for incompetence. Desslok personally selects General Dommel Lysis as his replacement. [SB1 #14, "The Worst of Times"] 2200, January - An improved version of the Desslok Cannon is mounted on a second generation Gamilon fleet command cruiser for field testing. Due to the ongoing demands placed on the fleet by the actions of General Lysis, this ship and its new weapon are never deployed. This helps obscure the fact that this new weapon is at best only a marginal improvement over the original Desslok Cannon. [SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart."] 2200, 2 January 2200 - General Dommel Lysis of Gamilon arrives on Balun to officially assume overall field command of the Gamilon Earth Expeditionary Force. His primary objective is to deal with the problem posed by the Star Force's mission to Iscandar. [SB1 #15, "The Galactic Whirlpool"] 2200, 4 January - The first attempt by General Lysis to ambush the Star Force ends in failure, thanks to the unexpected intervention of Queen Starsha of Iscandar. [SB1 #15, "The Galactic Whirlpool"] 2200, 10 January - The Star Force reaches the planet Bimeria, aka "Beeland." [SB1 #16, "Tin Wit's Tale"] 2200, 14 January - The attempt by General Vulgar to attack the Yamato with his pseudobalanosarus ends in spectacular failure. [SB1 #17, "The Burdens of Command"] - Captain Avatar is forced to undergo a dangerous operation in order to save his life. [SB1 #17, "The Burdens of Command"] 2200, 17 January - An unexpected encounter with a Gamilon magnetron wave space fortress nearly destroys the Yamato. [SB1 #18, "The Magnetron Wave"] 2200, 22 January - The Star Force destroys a Gamilon long-range communications satellite. [SB1 #19, "Little Boy Lost"] 2200, 24 January - Captain Avatar's health begins to fail as his ongoing radiation sickness becomes more pronounced. To this end he promotes Derek Wildstar to lieutenant commander and names him as deputy captain (i.e. executive officer) of the Argo. This eases the burden of command on the weakened Avatar. [SB1 #20, "The Battle of Balun." The part about the promotion was probable conjecture on my part at the time; however it has been somewhat confirmed by the 2011 live-action SBY - in which Wildstar was a somewhat older officer who already held the rank of full commander. For those of you not familiar with military protocol, here's the logic. There were at least two, possibly three other senior officers available on the Star Force during the trip to Iscandar (Steven Sandor, Chief Engineer Orion, and maybe Assistant Chief Engineer Sho Yamazaki) who outranked the young Lieutenant Derek Wildstar and could have been named as deputy captain in his place. They weren't because they could better serve the Star Force where they were, and Wildstar had proven he had command ability. All he needed was the rank and experience. It stands to reason, per current military protocols, that Wildstar must have been promoted at this time by Captain Avatar in keeping with his new duties. That's why he was advanced a full grade to lieutenant commander via a field (or possibly "brevet") promotion. He kept his promotion after the Star Force returned to Earth, per the on-screen evidence. By the time SB2 rolls around, Wildstar has apparently been promoted to the rank of full commander - as per the 2011 live-action SBY. I note in passing that in FSY's alternate version of events, Wildstar was made the captain of an Arione class frigate following the Argo's return from Iscandar. This confirms, at least from the anime point-of-view, that his rank was at least that of lieutenant commander at the time - since such a posting and rank is in keeping with current naval tradition in most present-day surface navies.] - The Star Force reaches planet Balan, the halfway point between Earth and Iscandar. General Lysis accidentally destroys his own base on Balan when he drops the planet's artificial sun on it in a failed attempt to destroy the Star Force. [SB1 #20, "The Battle of Balun"] 2200, 27 January - General Lysis is court-martialed for his actions in the destruction of the Gamilon base on Balan. He is sentenced to death by a military tribunal led by General Krypt, Gamilon chief-of-staff. [SB1 #21, "The Battle of the Rainbow Cluster (Part 1)"] 2200, 28 January - The life of General Lysis is spared by the personal intervention of Leader Desslok, who gives him one last chance to defeat the Star Force. [SB1 #21, "The Battle of the Rainbow Cluster (Part 1)"] 2200, February - The planet Telezart enters into a long and deadly war with its interstellar neighbors for control of its local area of space [SB1 #15, "Trelana." Trelana briefly describes this conflict when speaking to Mark Venture in private.] 2200, 3 March - The reinstated General Lysis challenges the Star Force to a final showdown at the Rainbow Star Cluster. [SB1 #21, "The Battle of the Rainbow Cluster (Part 1)"] 2200, 7-10 March - The Battle of the Rainbow Star Cluster ends in victory for the Star Force. General Lysis takes his own life by blowing up his command ship under the Argo, hoping to take down the Star Force with him. The explosion blows the keel off of the Argo and kills many of its crew, but fails to destroy the ship outright. The Gamilons are so shocked by the absolute defeat of their best field general and best-equipped space fleet that they fail to take advantage of the Argo's helplessness. They leave the Star Force alone and unmolested for the rest of its journey toward the Greater Magellanic Cloud. As for the Star Force, it will take them weeks to repair their badly damaged vessel, salvaging whatever materials they can from the battle wrecks around them. [SB1 #21 and 22, "The Battle of the Rainbow Cluster (Parts 1 and 2)." The manner in which the Argo is eventually repaired is probable conjecture on my part. There weren't enough raw materials on board the ship to do the job and they had to get them from somewhere. All they would have had to do, per SB1 #3, "Departure From Earth," is feed the "raw" material into the ship's Dynamic Do-All and have it produce whatever finished parts/products they needed. Other repair techniques seen in other SB1 episodes could account for the rest of the work.] 2200, 13 April - The Star Force is surprised to meet Captain Harlock in the Small Magellanic Cloud, en route to the Sanza Star System. From him they learn much about the state of affairs on both Earth and in Gamilon space at this time. Harlock also takes the time to meet privately with Derek Wildstar. He gives him some helpful advice about the burden of command then has been placed on his young shoulders. Harlock then departs once again, still pursuing his self-appointed mission of drawing as many Gamilon forces away from the Yamato as possible. [Derived from both of the SB1 Japanese manga adaptations by Leiji Matsumoto and Akira Hio respectively. Eldred has done extensive research on the role Harlock was to have played in SB1 as originally intended, and you can find the fruits of his labor on the official STAR BLAZERS web site. Hio also adds a few other times that the Star Force encounters Harlock en route, most notably right after the Battle of Balun. My inclusion of Captain Harlock in this timeline is my homage to Matsumoto-san's original story outline for SB1.] 2200, 23 April - The Star Force arrives at the Sanza Star System - where they discover, much to their surprise, that Gamilon and Iscandar are a binary planetary pair. [SB1 #23, "A Shocking Surprise"] 2200, 23-25 April - The Battle of Gamilon. [SB1 #23, "A Shocking Surprise and #24, "No Quarter"] - Death of General Krypt. He is shot to death by Leader Desslok for daring to suggest that the Star Force is unbeatable. [SB1 #24, "No Quarter." This was censored out of the original English adaptation back in 1978. The scene was restored in the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED edit of 2008.] 2200, 26 April - The Star Force reaches Iscandar. [SB1 #24 "No Quarter" and #25, "Welcome to Iscandar"] 2200, 26 May - The Star Force leaves Iscandar with the Cosmo DNA. [SB1 #25, "Welcome to Iscandar"] 2200, June-August - Large sections of the Gamilon Empire rise up in revolt upon receiving news of the Battle of Gamilon and the apparent death of Leader Desslok. Most of the military might and resources of the Gamilons are tied up in putting down these revolts, leaving nothing with which to go after the Star Force. In the meantime, Leader Desslok - who managed to survive the Battle of Gamilon - has become obsessed with the destruction of the Star Force and pursues the Argo in warp after warp, always looking for the right opportunity for a final decisive attack. His leaderless subordinates do their best to hold his empire together in his absence. [SB1 #26, "Journey's End" and SBTM, s.v. "Future Course of Action by the Gamilon Empire"] - Taking advantage of the unrest within the Gamilon Empire, Cometine surveillance craft begin probing both of the Magellanic Clouds and the edges of the Milky Way galaxy. [SBTM, s.v. "Further Course of Action by the Comet Empire"] 2200, 5 September - Leader Desslok of Gamilon fails in his final attempt to ambush the Argo within the Sol System itself. His ship is destroyed and presumed lost with all hands. His body is never recovered. [SB1 #26, "Journey's End"] - Death of UNSPF Fleet Captain Abraham Avatar. His had been a long struggle with radiation sickness, acquired from injuries sustained at the Battle of Pluto in 2199. [SB1 #26, "Journey's End" 2200, 6 September - The Star Force returns to Earth with the Cosmo DNA. [SB1 #26, "Journey's End" and SB2 #3, "Choices" (restored print)] - A Cometine Scorpion fighter on routine reconnaissance of the Sol System discovers and recovers the still-living body of Desslok of Gamilon. He is taken back to Gatlantis for immediate medical treatment. [SB2 #11, "The Star Flies," and SBTM, s.v. "Insights into the Gamilon-Comet Empire Alliance of 2200." Only in the latter do we learn that the recovery of Desslok's body apparently occurred almost immediately after the destruction of his ship. This would make sense given the twin facts that Cometine patrol craft were already probing the Milky Way on recon missions at this time and they were also monitoring Desslok's actions against the Star Force.] 2200, 7 September - A UNSPF medical team makes the surprising discovery that the late Captain Avatar's brain is still functioning, albeit at a very low level. His body is immediately placed in cryostasis while General Singleton is contacted for further instructions. His orders are to come up with a way to revive Captain Avatar. The Star Force is not informed for fear that the effort will prove unsuccessful. The revival eventually proves successful; however, the lack of oxygen to Avatar's brain for a prolonged period means that he is revived as a "tabula rosa" - with no memories of his past life. He has to be taught who he was and of what he was capable all over again, and the process will take years - during which time he is kept in isolation. [SBC3 adaptation of BFY; FY implied] 2200, 10 September - The Cosmo DNA is activated on Earth. The planet's surface is freed completely of deadly radiation and life-sustaining conditions are restored. The reconstruction of Earth begins. [SB1 #26, "Journey's End" and SB2 #03, "Choices." In the Icarus story arc of SBC3 (Part 2, "Waxwing") the Cosmo DNA is activated on the 13th - a full week after the Argo's return to Earth.] 2200, 10 October - Hero's Hill is dedicated. It is a monument to the fallen of the Star Force. It is located on the highest coastal hill on the outskirts of Megapolis City. [First featured SB1 #02, "Blackout," and then seen again on various occasions throughout the rest of the franchise. In the original Japanese dialogue, the narrator notes that the Star Force met at Hero's Hill "on Captain Okita's [Avatar's] memorial day." That meeting took place on the evening of 10 October 2201. The anniversary of Captain Avatar's death was 5 September, so the 10th must have been the date of the dedication of the statue of Captain Avatar and the Star Force monument at Hero's Hill - Avatar's "memorial day," as it were. 10 October was also the earliest day Wildstar could have made it back to Earth, per both SB2 #01 "A New Enemy" and FSY. If the intent of the Star Force was to hold regular meetings at Hero's Hill on the anniversary of Captain Avatar's death (per Eldred's SBR) - which was 5 September - and Wildstar couldn't make it due to his patrol duties, then it stands to reason that Dr. Sane would have chosen some other significant day to reschedule the memorial ceremony so Wildstar could attend. The anniversary of the dedication of Hero's Hill would have been such a date.] 2200, 10-12 October - The Argo undergoes the first part of a two-part major rebuilding and overhaul. The major feature of this part of the overhaul is the replacement of the ship's wave motion gun system with a new design. Although the power of the charge is the same, the Yamato's wave motion gun can now fire a short-range, wide-dispersal beam. It is a prototype of the next-generation wave motion gun to be fitted in the EDF's next two classes of space battleships - the Borodino and Andromeda classes. [Eldred's SB2 DVD supplement "Inside the Argo" and SBTM, s.v. "Space Battleship Argo." Personally, knowing something of naval construction techniques, I would tend to think that this took the better part of a month, but since SB2 says the Argo was on space patrol during the time between SB1 and SB2, well ... that leaves only a few days for a refit and overhaul, per SBTM. I have to go with what's on screen and what the officially licensed source materials say. Oh, well ....] 2200, 12 October - The Argo completes the first part of its overhaul and is relaunched on schedule. It will be serving as the flagship of the 15th Intersystem Patrol Fleet. The fleet's mission is to police the outer edges of the Sol System and beyond. The EDF fears attempted reprisals by the Gamilons and wants its best field commander (and most feared warship) on the front lines in the event of an attack. [Eldred's DVD supplement "Inside the Argo," FSY, and SBTM, s.v. "Space Battleship Argo."] between October 2200 and August 2201 - Lieutenant Commander Derek Wildstar is promoted to the rank of full commander. This is in recognition of his services during the Iscandarian campaign. He retains his status as deputy (i.e. acting) captain of the Argo. [Probable conjecture, as implied by SB1 #20, "The Battle of Balun," FSY, SB2 #01, "A New Threat," YNV, BFY, and SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction." - The construction of Megapolis City (later known as Megalopolis) begins over the ruins of Tokyo on Great Island (Japan). It will serve as the seat of the United Earth Government. In time it will become the largest city on Earth. [Eldred's DVD supplement "Earth AD 2201;" see also BWE, where a direct connection is finally made (in an officially licensed publication!) between the two names. According to M-san, Megapolis City from STAR BLAZERS and Megalopolis from GE999 are one and the same. SBC3 put Megapolis City on Okinawa, but this has since been tacitly acknowledged as an error by at least one of its creators.] - Major reconstruction efforts begin to reclaim the portions of Can-Am and Euroland devastated during the Earth-Gamilon War. [Implied by BFY. In the scenes involving the Black Nebula Empire's "fake Earth," the Star Force comments that some things seemed different than what they knew. What they are shown around, per the visuals, is a recreation of Earth before the devastating effects of the Earth-Gamilon War.] - A new spaceport named Gideon Field is built at the EDF Kadena Base on Great Island. [SBC3's partial adaptation of BFY, Part 1, "Prelude." This would seem to presuppose that Captain Gideon made a name for himself during the EarthGamilon War if they named a major military base after him. His role in the war with the Gamilons is (finally) documented in the "2199" remake of SB1.] - The United Nations Space Patrol Force (UNSPF), aka the Earth Space Navy, is reorganized as the Earth Defense Force (EDF). [Implied by SB2 #1, "A New Threat" and FSY. The term "Earth Defense Force" is actually used right off the bat in the Japanese original of SB1, but appears here for the first time in the various English dubbed materials. This is one of the rare cases in which I defer to the SBTM.] - The terraforming of Mars begins. [SBC1 Part 3, "Target: Argo!"] - The EDF builds a new major interplanetary base on Mars. It also builds new bases and expands (or rebuilds) existing ones at Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and Brumus - in particular, on the Jovian moon of Ganymede and the Saturnian moon of Titan. [SB2 #1, "A New Enemy," #6, "Rescue on Brumus," #18, "Gideon's Trumpet, #22, "Aftermath," and SB3 #05, "SOS Legendra."] - The EDF establishes a uniform naming policy for future warships based on historical naval vessels of Earth's past. All nations that currently or once fielded major naval vessels will have ships named for them in the new EDF. The only exception is the new super space battleship class, which will carry names based on constellations in Earth's nighttime skies. [SBTM, s.v. "EDF Force Structure and Command Chart." The last sentence explains the seeming anomaly of the names for the Andromeda class super space battleships of SB2.] - Construction begins on the Pluto Observatory on Charon, the planet's only moon. It is seen as a monument to mankind's first tenuous steps on the Sea of Stars. [CHEO #05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet"] - Captain Yamanami takes on the task of a guest lecturer at the Space Cadet School in addition to his headquarters duties. [YNV. Most of the senior Star Force officers claim to have never heard of Captain Yamanami prior to his reassignment to the Argo. This means that he couldn't have lectured at the Space Cadet School until after they had graduated and been away from Earth for a while.] - Advance forces of the Comet Empire monitor a tremendous energy surge that originates from and covers the entire surface of the planet Telezart. Cometine forces rush to the scene to investigate. What they find is a world where all life has been completely destroyed in a matter of minutes. The sole survivor is Trelana, a being of incredible psionic powers. She is hiding in a spaceship parked deep within a cave beneath Telezart's surface. They seal the only access to the cave before continuing their mission of conquest, thus rendering Trelana a prisoner within her own homeworld. [SB2 #12-14 and FSY. Both Trelana and Sandor assert that the destruction on Telezart happened fairly recently. SBTM asserts that the Cometine assault on the planets of Ceresis, Probain, and Brumus happened about the same time as the Comet Empire's first visit to Telezart.] - Desslok of Gamilon is restored to full health on the direct order of Prince Zordar. As the crafty Cometine leader has foreseen, the grateful Gamilon emperor swears allegiance to the Comet Empire as a mercenary general. This gives Prince Zordar his first "conquest" in the Milky Way. In other words, he can now claim dominion over a sizeable portion of the Milky Way galaxy without having had to fire a shot. The truth of the matter is kept from Leader Desslok, although some of his subordinates remain suspicious. [SB1 #01 "A New Enemy" and #02 "Blackout," and SBTM, s.v. "The Gamilon-Comet Empire Alliance of 2201."] - The warship Spirit of Gamilon is delivered to Leader Desslok by his subordinates. It is the same Gamilon command cruiser that was used to field test the new version of the Desslok Cannon, and as such is the only one of its kind in the entire surviving Gamilon fleet. [Eldred, DVD supplement "Desslok and the Gamilons;" see also SBTM, s.v. "Gamilon Force Structure and Command Chart."] - Derek Wildstar finds the time to write a book on deep space battle tactics. It is the first of its kind on Earth and quickly becomes popular within military circles upon publication. Not long afterward it becomes required reading at the Space Cadet School. [SBC1 Part 2, "The Prisoner and the Power." Colonel Fenalon told Wildstar that he had read his book.] 2200, 5 December - Prince Zordar holds a council of war with his command staff about the plans for his conquest of the Milky Way galaxy. Of particular interest to him is the planet Earth. A surprise guest to this council is Leader Desslok of Gamilon, who is in attendance at the personal invitation of Prince Zordar. [SB2 #01, "A New Enemy." The date is from the original Japanese dialogue. The arrival time at Earth by Gatlantis is estimated to be "about 6660 Gatlantean hours." This comes out to about 278 days, provided a Gatlantean hour is the same as our own, although there is no way to know for sure. Zordar and his generals also comment on the wide technology gap between Earth and the Comet Empire at this point in time. Cometine intelligence apparently hadn't detected any major buildup in Earth's defensive capability at this point. This means that Zordar's council had to have happened before the EDF Fleet Replenishment Plan was underway; otherwise, the buildup in Earth's space forces would have been noted as part of the conference briefings. The fact that later in the series Zordar admits a measure of respect for the potential combat capabilities of "the mighty Andromeda," even when he was making fun of it, tends to supports an early date for this particular conference. The date reference was inadvertently omitted in the English dub.] 2201, 8 January 2201 - The EDF, with the approval of the United Earth Government, puts into action its Fleet Replenishment Plan. Authored by Fleet Captain Draco Gideon, with the assistance of Commander Steven Sandor, this plan represents the most ambitious ship construction effort in Earth's history. Its intent is to replace the entire EDF fleet with new, modernized, wave motion engine equipped warships within two years. Also included in the plan are new supply bases, support facilities, and fleet staging areas. [SBTM, "EDF Force Structure and Command Chart."] 2201, August - September - By the end of August 2201, the combined shipyards of Earth and its various interplanetary colony bases have produced over 600 brand new warships of eight different major warship classes and multiple minor ones. These range in size from patrol cruisers all the way up to the first of the super space battleships of the Andromeda class. Another 300 are in various stages of construction and will be completed by the end of the year. [SBTM, s.v. "EDF Force Structure and Command Chart." You might find this timetable a bit hard to believe unless you study the American naval construction effort during World War II and also take into account possible future techniques. American shipyards built 78 escort carriers in only 46 months - in addition to work on hundreds of other military and civilian vessels of every size and description during the same time period (June 1941 to April 1945). These included the largest class of main fleet aircraft carriers ever built (the Essex class), America's only purpose-built class of battlecruisers (the Alaska class), hundreds of heavy and light cruisers (the Baltimore and Cleveland classes and their derivatives), hundreds of destroyers and destroyer escorts, and completion of the four Iowa class battleships - not to mention the legendary Liberty civilian ships and their follow-ups, as well as many other ship classes I haven't even named. 600 new ships in only eight months? Quite believable, given historical precedent and what we know about the EDF's production capabilities at this point in time in the Leijiverse. Prince Zordar himself seems impressed by this fact, and says as much in the original Japanese dialogue of SB2 #07, "A Clash of Perspectives."] - Fleet Captain Draco Gideon is assigned command of the Andromeda. It is the first in a new class of super space battleships, and is designed to replace the Argo as Earth's premier ship-of-the-line space battleship class. Gideon's assignment is a reward for the success of the Fleet Replenishment Plan. Ten more Andromeda class vessels have already been authorized for construction by the Defense Committee. [SB2 #03, "Choices") and SBTM, "EDF Force Structure and Command Chart."] -----------------------------------------2201 - STAR BLAZERS: THE COMET EMPIRE FAREWELL TO SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO -----------------------------------------2201, 7 October - The 15th Intersystem Patrol Fleet is attacked by spacecraft of unknown origin. They are in fact patrol ships from an advance fleet of the Comet Empire. [SB2 #01, "A New Enemy"] 2201, 10 October - The 15th Intersystem Patrol Fleet, headed by the venerable space battleship Argo, returns to Earth after a year patrolling the outer reaches of EDFcontrolled space. [SB2 #01, "A New Enemy." The exact date is never mentioned in the English dub but is stated twice in the dialogue of the Japanese original. This event is the anchor date for all events in the Earth-Cometine War. Eldred's dating agrees with this and it is also the date used in the Star Blazers comics by Argo Press (with which Eldred was involved). SBTM places the event about a month earlier, on 5 September 2201, in keeping with the dates used in FSY. This is because there was no English translation of the original Japanese series proper in existence when SBTM was written.] - Launching of the EDF super space battleship Andromeda. [SB2 #01, "A New Enemy" and FSY. Only in FSY do we see the actual launch ceremony.] - The Argo and the newly launched Andromeda almost collide in Earth orbit. [SB2 #01, "A New Enemy" and FSY. In FSY it almost collided with Wildstar's Arione class frigate in Earth's upper atmosphere.] - Cometine forces attack and conquer the planets Ceresis and Probain. [SB2 #05, "The Chase." The conquest is mentioned as having just occurred in the opening narration of the episode in the original Japanese version. This narration was cut from the English version of the series.] 2201, 10-12 October - The Argo undergoes the second part of a two-part major overhaul. Major improvements added at this time include offensive armaments with longer range, a new and more powerful sensor suite that includes a first-generation time radar, and side-mounted depth charge racks for anti-space submarine warfare. [SB2 #02, "Blackout." This portion of the refit was only supposed to take two days; however it was put behind schedule by General Naska's second electronic warfare attack. The new depth charge racks are never mentioned by Sandor in his briefing; however, they are shown in use for the first time against the Cometine space submarines in SB2 #07, "Fine Tuning,". The racks are not shown on any of the original Japanese materials for SB1; therefore they must have been added at this time. These early side-mounted racks are later replaced by a vertical launch "hedgehog" system just aft of the aft main gun turret per SB3 #14, "The Galman Wolf."] 2201, 11 October - General Naska launches his second massive electronic warfare attack against the Sol System. [SB2 #02, "Blackout"] - Leader Desslok leaves Gatlantis, with the blessing of Prince Zordar, to seek and destroy the Star Force by any means necessary. [SB2 #02, "Blackout."] 2201, 12 October - Derek Wildstar and Nova Forrester quietly cancel their wedding plans. [SB2 #03, "Choices" and FSY. General Singleton comments to Nova in FSY that he intends to be a guest at the wedding, which will take place in three days. He says this while the Argo is still a day out from Earth. This would have made their planned wedding date 13 October 2201 (and not 7 September 2201, per FSY's dating system.)] 2201, 13 October - The mutiny of the Star Force. The Argo is seized and stolen for an unauthorized mission to the planet Telezart. Joining in the mutiny are the ship's former Black Tiger fighter squadrons, now stationed on Luna. [SB2 #04, "Mutiny." The original Japanese dialogue for the series gives a date of 4 November 2201 for this event, almost a month after Wildstar's return to Earth aboard the Argo per FSY dating - which is the same as the Japanese original for SB2. The rewritten English dialogue implied that only three days had passed since the Yamato's return to Earth. Eldred also appears to agree with the "short overhaul" dating in the materials he helped develop for the Argo Press comics. The Japanese dating is more realistic; however, this is one of the rare instances where I defer to another source (in this case Eldred and the English dub) over the Japanese original, solely for the sake of consistency for English fans.] 2201, 17 October 2201 - The Star Force has a showdown with the new super space battleship Andromeda near Jupiter. [SB2 #05, "The Chase"] 2201, 18 October 2201 - The 11th Outer Perimeter Patrol Fleet is wiped out by the forces of Comet Empire, under the command of General Naska, while attempting to defend planet Brumus from a Cometine invasion. [FSY. The Star Force sees the wreckage of this fleet as it approaches Brumus. The telling absence of the 11th Fleet in the original TV series also implies its destruction, although it is never shown. This event was retconned into the STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED version of the episode by use of selected FSY footage.] 2201, 20 October - The Star Force engages and destroys part of General Naska's fleet at Brumus and then evacuates all surviving Space Marines from its surface. [SB2 #06, "Rescue on Brumus." The original Japanese dialogue mentions that only ten Space Marines, including Sergeant Knox, survived the Cometine assault.] 2201, 23 October - The United Earth Government finally recognizes the serious nature of the threat of the Comet Empire. The Star Force is cleared of all charges of mutiny and sedition. Their mission to Telezart is now given official sanction. Based on the Star Force's reports from Brumus, General Singleton orders the EDF Second and Third Fleets to Brumus to further investigate the activities of the Comet Empire. [SB2 #06, "Rescue on Brumus"] 2201, 26 October - Major Hirath's Cometine missile cruiser squadron engages and is wiped out by the Star Force. [SB2 #08, "The Sargasso of Space"] 2201, 28 October 2201 - General Tobruk's full battle fleet engages the Star Force after several days of initial sparring. It is completely destroyed by the use of the Argo's wave motion gun. [SB2 #10, "Carpe Diem"] 2201, 29 October - Leader Desslok's grand scheme to destroy the Star Force is foiled at the last minute due to the political scheming of Princess Invidia, royal consort of Prince Zordar. Desslok and his fleet are immediately recalled to Gatlantis. [SB2 #12, "Cause and Effect." NOTE - The original English dub bowlderized the relationship between Invidia and Zordar, making her his sister (and causing for several scenes which might be interpreted as incestuous!). This was corrected, per the Japanese original, for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED prints.] 2201, 30 October - The Star Force arrives at Telezart. It defeats the Cometine forces stationed there and rescues Trelana, who provides them with critical intelligence on both the Comet Empire and the space fortress Gatlantis. [SB2 #13, "Trap at Telezart" and #14, "Eyes for the Prize"] - Leader Desslok is falsely placed under arrest by Princess Invidia for treason against the Comet Empire. [SB2 #14, "Eyes for the Prize"] - Both EDF Fleet Commander Singleton and Fleet Captain Gideon urge the UEG Defense Committee to accelerate construction on all Andromeda class vessels currently building in order to better face the danger posed by the Comet Empire. The Defense Committee readily agrees in light of the intelligence on the Comet Empire forwarded by the Star Force. Construction on all other vessels on Earth is suspended, in order that their resources can be redirected for the effort. [SB2 #14, "Eyes for the Prize." Only five of the ten additional Andromeda class ships that were authorized had actually started building, according to Captain Gideon. At least one of these (the Fornax, per fan accounting) is shown partially completed at two different times in the series. The effort proved to be too much even for the ample resources of the EDF. The Andromeda was still the only one available to assist the fleet at the Battle of Saturn. The other Andromedas were eventually completed, though, if their cameos in the YR movie are any indication.] 2201, 31 October - The Star Force departs Telezart. [SB2 #15, "Farewell to Telezart"] 2201, 2 November - Trelana of Telezart attempts to stop Gatlantis by destroying her own planet Telezart directly in its path. The Comet Empire battle fortress is severely damaged but not destroyed as had been hoped. It resumes its course at reduced speed while effecting repairs en route to Earth. Trelana's fate is unknown at this time. [SB2 #16, "Confrontation"] 2201, 6 November - Prince Zordar orders his Cometine forces to begin the conquest of Earth. [SB2 #17, "Gideon's Trumpet"] 2201, 7 November - Acting on his own personal authority, EDF Fleet Captain Draco Gideon assumes command of all EDF space fleets in the field. He stages all of them at the Saturnian moon of Titan, in preparation for an expected showdown with the main invasion fleet of the Comet Empire. [SB2 #17, "Gideon's Trumpet"] - Leader Desslok escapes confinement with the assistance of his aide General Talan. He takes Princess Invidia as hostage and uses her to escape Gatlantis. He is picked up by his own fleet once he is free. Desslok's actions cause Prince Zordar to reconsider the circumstances surrounding his former ally's confinement, and he soon exposes Invidia's schemes. Zordar returns the Spirit of Gamilon, Desslok's command cruiser, to him as a sign of good faith and to show that he personally was not part of Invidia's plotting against Desslok. The Gamilon leader accepts Zordar's gift and departs to resume his vendetta against the Star Force. [SB2 #17, "Gideon's Trumpet"] 2201, 8 November - The Star Force discovers and destroys a secret Cometine supply base on Brumus during an unscheduled layover. [SB2 #18, "Requiem for Brumus"] 2201, 9 November - The returning Argo is the last major EDF capital ship to join the combined EDF space fleets under Captain Gideon's command at Titan. [SB2 #18, "Requiem for Brumus"] 2201, 10-11 November - The Battle of Saturn [SB2 #19 & #20, "The Battle of Saturn (Parts 1 & 2)"] - Death of Fleet Captain Draco Gideon, and almost all EDF personnel aboard their respective ships, when the EDF fleet is annihilated by the mobile space fortress Gatlantis at the end of the Battle of Saturn. [SB2 #20, "The Battle of Saturn (Part 2)"] 2201, 12 November - The United Earth Government surrenders unconditionally to the Comet Empire, following the complete rout of the combined EDF fleets in the Battle of Saturn. The Star Force is presumed lost or destroyed during the battle. [SB2 #20, "The Battle of Saturn (Part 2)." It is important to note that the entire active EDF fleet in the field, save for the Argo (and possibly a handful of ships that didn't or couldn't answer Gideon's orders for whatever reasons) was wiped out at the Battle of Saturn. Earth had nothing left with which to defend itself save its automated satellite systems. These were easily destroyed by the Comet Empire once it arrived at Earth. Other EDF ships will survive this era, however, because they appear in other tales later down the timeline (SB3, BWE, YR, et al). Most are probably new builds, but some may actually date back to the Earth-Cometine War and might be salvaged battle wrecks, or even the few ships that were unable to report for duty under Gideon's command for any number of reasons. I base this surmise on the visual evidence of the later stories - plus the fact that at least one Cometine fleet survived the Battle of Saturn. This is the small one that delivers Zordar's surrender ultimatum to Earth in SB2 #21, "Aftermath."] - Prince Zordar orders the destruction of the main EDF base on Mars as Gatlantis passes on its way to Earth. There are only a handful of survivors. [FSY timeline only. This same footage was retinted and recycled for the destruction of Luna in the television series. The events of SBC1 match those of the English-dubbed series, in that Gatalantis did not attack Mars as it passed by.] - Prince Zordar turns Luna, Earth's moon, into a flaming ball of fire as a show of power. [SB2 #21, "Aftermath." NOTE - This act probably collapsed the Darkwood stargate on Luna's dark side (I5555) - which would explain why it never appears again in other Leijiverse stories. My guess is that this was one of the reasons why Prince Zordar targeted Earth's moon specifically, instead of bombarding Earth's surface right away - as he does later on. He stated in the anime that his act was a show of power against Earth. By collapsing the Darkwood stargate, Prince Zordar removed mankind's last hope of escape from his dominion. This is just surmise on my part, of course, but it has gained a fair amount of support among Leijiverse fans over the years since I first proposed it.] - Desslok of Gamilon and his forces ambush the Star Force near Luna, Earth's moon. The battle ends only after a dramatic personal showdown between Desslok and Derek Wildstar. After the confrontation the Gamilon leader suddenly withdraws and abandons the field, leaving behind his former alliance and a puzzled Star Force. [SB2 #23, "Desslok's Revenge" and #24, "Old Scores Settled."] - Death of Black Tiger fighter pilot Jefferson Hardy. [SB2 #25, "A Desperate Gamble." Hardy did NOT die in the original English dub, but his death scene was restored - for the most part - for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED print of this episode.] - Death of Space Marine Corporal Joseph "Killer" Kane. [SB2 #25, "A Desperate Gamble." He's the one doing the death dance after the Cometine soldiers turn the floodlights on Wildstar's boarding party and start shooting.] - Death of Black Tiger squadron leader Peter "Pete" Conroy. [SB2 #25, "A Desperate Gamble." Conroy did NOT die in the original English dub, but his death scene was restored - for the most part - for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED print of this episode.] - Death of Space Marine Sergeant T.W. "Hard" Knox. [SB2 #25, "A Desperate Gamble." Knox did NOT die in the original English dub, but his death scene was restored - for the most part - for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED print of this episode.] - Death of Neville Royster. [SB2 #26, "End Game." He dies in episode 24 in the Japanese original, when the Argo's second bridge is hit during the search for the hangar port doors at the bottom of Gatlantis. This was moved for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED prints to better fit with the available English-dubbed footage. Royster's death was cut from the original English dub.] - Death of Star Force Chief Engineer Patrick Orion. [SB2 #26, "End Game." Orion did NOT die in the original English dub, but his death scene was restored - for the most part - for the fan-produced STAR BLAZERS REMASTERED print of this episode. This is why you see him again in a brief cameo in SBC2, in which he declines to join the Star Force mission to Eurythmia due to his advanced age. The SBC2 cameo is not considered canon anymore, but is here noted for those interested.] - The Star Force, along with the unexpected last-minute intervention of Trelana of Telezart, engages and destroys the Comet Empire. There are only twentyeight survivors, both whole and wounded, from the entire Star Force. [SB2 #26, "End Game." In BFY, Wildstar states that 96 members of the Star Force died during the Earth-Cometine War. This apparently does not count casualties among the wounded, but does include all ten of the Space Marines from Brumus who joined the Star Force and were killed in action during the course of the Earth-Cometine War.] - Trelana transmigrates to the next level of existence while in the process of destroying Zordar's gigantic superdreadnought. [SB2 #26, "End Game" and SBR. In the episode, Trelana's last words to Zordar are that she is going to show him "a new way." SBR makes clear what that new way was, as well as how the deaths of everyone on both sides during the Five Years of Fire affected it.] 2201, 14-21 November - Most of the surviving elements of the Comet Empire fleets that took part on the assault on the Milky Way galaxy regroup at Redella under the command of General Radnar. [SBTM, s.v. "Further Course of Action by the Comet Empire" and SBC1, Part 1, "S.O.S. Argo." Radnar is named as the senior commander of all surviving Cometine forces in SBC1. His dreadnought is based on production sketches (which can be found in YPM1&2) of an unused design for Prince Zordar's dreadnought. - The current rulers of the Comet Empire decide that expansion into the Milky Way galaxy would be more trouble than it is worth. Their decision is to pursue conquests in other parts of intergalactic space. In this they are vociferously opposed by General Radnar. He breaks with his superiors and decides to initiate action against Earth and the EDF on his own. The Comet Empire does not forbid Radnar's actions; however, they officially break all ties with him. They leave him and his forces to whatever fate lies in store for them in the Milky Way Galaxy. Any success by Radnar will be to their advantage; any loss will be entirely his own affair. [SBC1, implied. It is stated repeatedly in the story that Radnar is violating orders and acting on his own initiative.] - The Comet Empire appoints a new heir to replace the defeated and disgraced Prince Zordar. Zordar is officially listed in Cometine records as killed in action with the Star Force. His true fate remains an official secret. [SBTM, s.v. "Further Course of Action by the Comet Empire" and SBR] -------------------------------------------------------------------------2201, 28-30 November - STAR BLAZERS: THE CALLISTO CRISIS comic book series -------------------------------------------------------------------------2201, 28-30 November - The sun in the Arishna system goes nova, destroying all of its innermost planets. The former Guardian Spirit of Arishna leaves at the same time, departing the system in a hyperlight burst of energy. [SBC1 Part 2, "The Prisoner and the Power" and Part 4, "Sacrifice"] - The EDF frigate Hanley is made spaceworthy in just three days in order to help deal with the Callisto crisis. [SBC1 Part 2, "The Prisoner and the Power." This event is significant in that the Hanley was the EDF vessel closest to completion, per on-screen evidence (we see a vessel that is probably the Hanley in SB2 #02, "Blackout"), when the impending threat of the Comet Empire was finally realized. Its construction was apparently held up for more Andromedas despite its being so close to completion.] - Mars Base is destroyed by General Radnar during the Callisto crisis. [SBC1 Part 3, "Target: Argo!"] - General Talan and his Gamilon fleet join with the Star Force to deal with the Callisto crisis. It is the first time that humans and Gamilons have allied themselves in a common cause. [SBC1 Part 3, "Target: Argo!"] - The EDF frigate Hanley is destroyed in action against General Radnar's forces during the Callisto crisis. [SBC1 Part 4, "Sacrifice"] - General Radnar and his forces are wiped out in Earth orbit, thanks to the unexpected intervention of the Guardian Spirit of Arishna. [SBC1 Part 4, "Sacrifice."] - Luna, Earth's moon, is restored to its former glory by the Guardian Spirit of Arishna. [SBC1 Part 4, "Sacrifice"] 2201, first week of December - The rebuilding of Earth begins. [YNV. Sandor tells Wildstar he watched the rebuilding begin from his hospital window.] - Steven Sandor buys himself a home on Great Island within sight of Mt. Fuji. [SBC3's "Icarus" story arc, Part 1, "The Rock." Must have done it on the Leijiverse equivalent of the Internet (called Earthnet in some tales), since he was in the hospital at the time. In BWE, Sandor tells Tomoko he has "a small place" back on Earth where she can stay when she gets back.] - Steven Sandor develops the warp supercharger. It represents the first significant improvement in human space warp technology since its gift by Starsha of Iscandar in 2199. The warp supercharger permits starships to make one long jump from origin to destination in most cases, instead of a string of smaller jumps as had been the norm. Voyages of extended duration still require a series of jumps, although such can be longer than before. [SBTM and YNV; see also SB3 and BWE. Sandor had apparently been experimenting with the idea for a while. Construction probably began while he was still in the hospital. In the first series it took about 3 1/2 months for the Argo to make the return trip from Iscandar to Earth. By the time YNV rolls around, he has reduced the time for the same trip to only a week! BWE implies that with its supercharger, the rebuilt Argo could make a jump as large as 7000 to 8000 light-years, since Mariposa extends its capability "a little longer" into the 10-12,000 light-year range. In SB3, it takes three jumps for the Argo to go from the planet Galman to the planet Phantom, so long range trips via multiple jumps weren't entirely eliminated by Sandor's supercharger.] - Lieutenant Commander Sho Yamazaki, formerly an assistant engineer with the Star Force, is reassigned as the new chief engineer of the Argo. [YNV. Yamazaki is never given a name in the English-language version of SB3, but the Japanese name of his character has since been accepted by fandom as correct for the English dub, too. This is apparently meant to be the same engineer who reported the fire in the Argo's engine room in SB2 #19, "The Battle of Saturn, Part 2") just before a big explosion throws him off-screen. When his character is first introduced in YNV, Mark Venture observes that Yamazaki had recently been discharged from the hospital. He had apparently been put off with the rest of the Star Force wounded at Ganymede, thus escaping the certain death reserved for the majority of his comrades. NOTE In SBC3's "Icarus" story arc, this character is given the name "Commander Meyers."] - EDF space probes discover the planet Eurythmia, an isolated and seemingly desolate world within the Milky Way galaxy. It is unique in that it is the only interstellar body ever encountered by humanity to have an absolutely perfect circular orbit. This is a physical impossibility and implies some form of intelligence at work. A scientific expedition is promptly dispatched to Eurythmia for a detailed study of the planet under the joint leadership of Professors Hans Schiller and Jessica Shannon. Jessica's father, EDF Colonel "Cosmo" Shannon, is put in charge of the EDF forces escorting the Eurythmia survey mission. The study goes without a hitch and the expedition eventually returns to Earth unharmed. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed"] - A new interstellar power arises to challenge the revolt-ridden Gamilon Empire in the wake of the defeat of the Comet Empire. It is the Mercenary Empire, so named because most of its military forces are made of mercenaries from various intelligent species across the galaxy. Its leader is Supreme Commander Lotar. Under his leadership, the Mercenary Empire promptly seizes control of a dozen key systems formerly occupied by the Comet Empire. Lotar's ambitions appear to be to seize control of all former Cometine holdings within the Milky Way. This also happens to include the Earth and its fledgling interstellar colonies. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed."] - Unknown and unnoticed, General Ian Helms and his followers return to Earth. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed"] -------------------------------------------2201, 7-25 December - YAMATO: THE NEW VOYAGE -------------------------------------------2201, any time between late November and early December - Sasha, daughter of Commander Alex Wildstar and Queen Starsha of Iscandar, is born. [YNV and SBC3's "Icarus" story arc. Sasha is a small, chubby baby when we first see her, no more than a year old at most in apparent age. It is established in BFY and SBC3's "Icarus" that Sasha aged a little more than one year for every Earth month; therefore, the date of her birth couldn't have been too far removed from the events depicted in YNV.] 2201, 7 December - Desslok of Gamilon, now reunited with General Talan and the rest of his fleet, orders their course set for Gamilon. He wishes to pay his respects one last time to his former homeworld. [YNV; see also SBC2 Part 4, "Sacrifice"] 2201, 8 December - Patrick John "Tim" Orion Jr. is granted his request to join the Star Force. [YNV. He was a member of the 2201 graduating class of the Space Cadet School. We first see him in the movie the day before he graduated. The Star Force was his requested duty assignment. The original Japanese source materials for STAR BLAZERS make it clear that December was the month in which the Space Cadet School held graduation exercises for its senior class. Some sources call him Orion Jr., others Tim (Timothy) Orion. Whatever works for you.] - Derek Wildstar and Nova Forrester decide to postpone their wedding again; this time, "for a while." [YNV. According to Nova, "I'm happy as things are." Their wedding will wind up getting postponed for another four years, by the way.] 2201, 10 December - A total of 59 new crewmembers (including Orion Jr.) join the Star Force. [YNV. 30 new engineers (including Orion Jr's ill-fated boatload) and 29 others in other duty sections (Kitano's report). Most appear to have been straight from the Space Cadet School graduating class of 2201 per the movie visuals. This number does not appear to have included new pilots for the famed Black Tiger Squadron, nor does it appear to have included any replacement Space Marines per se. We don't see Space Marines on the Argo again until Eldred's SBR web comic series.] 2201, 12 December - The Yamato leaves Earth on a routine training mission for the next two weeks on the Martian side of the Sol System inner asteroid belt. [YNV] 2201, 15 December - Desslok's fleet arrives at Gamilon and discovers a clandestine Black Nebula Empire mining operation in full swing. An angered Desslok orders his fleet to wipe out the aliens who are, in his eyes, desecrating the sacred soil of Gamilon. The destruction of the Black Nebula mining ships, with their holds full of high-energy ore, sets off a chain reaction that causes Gamilon to self-destruct within the hour and blows Iscandar out of its orbit. Desslok and his surviving forces immediately set off in pursuit of the helpless planet Iscandar, which is now speeding out of control across the Sea of Stars. [YNV. I note in passing that the ore iscandarium, so named in the movie, and the more common cosmonite in the Leijiverse may be one and the same, or similar ores with similar properties. Both are used to fuel FTL starships.] 2201, 16 December - Despite Desslok's pleas, both Queen Starsha and Alex Wildstar refuse to leave Iscandar. The planet is now moving fast enough to warp on its own, which it does. Not knowing what else to do and for possibly the first time in his life, Desslok calls for help. He sends a message to the Star Force, so Derek Wildstar will know what is happening to his elder brother Alex. [YNV.] - The Yamato's training exercises are cancelled when word of Desslok's distress signal is received. The Star Force is immediately dispatched to the Greater Magellanic Cloud with orders from EDF Commander General Singleton to provide what aid and assistance to Queen Starsha they can. "It's our turn to help her and yours is the closest ship," Singleton tells the Star Force. [YNV] 2201, 23-25 December - The Battle of Iscandar is fought between forces of the Black Nebula and the alliance of Desslok's Gamilons and the Star Force over the fate of the wandering planet Iscandar. [YNV] 2201, 25 December - The end of the Battle of Iscandar results in no clear winner. Instead, Queen Starsha decides to destroy her world (and herself along with it) rather than continue being a war prize. She is survived by her royal consort, EDF Commander Alex Wildstar, and their daughter Sasha. They are both taken aboard the Argo prior to its leaving the area, along with Desslok and what remains of his Gamilon fleet. As for the Black Nebula forces, they are destroyed when the planet Iscandar explodes. [YNV] - Starsha's physical death causes her to transmigrate to the next level of existence - where she is at long last reunited with her sister Astra. [SBR] 2201, 26 December 2201 - Before they go their separate ways, Desslok thanks Derek Wildstar for answering his earlier distress call. Desslok and his fleet then leave to find a new home and rebuild the Gamilon Empire. The Star Force begins the journey back to Earth. [YNV] 2203, 3 January - The Star Force arrives back at Earth ... and, far away, the Black Nebula Empire begins plotting its revenge against humanity for thwarting its designs. [YNV. It took seven days for the Argo to warp from Earth to Iscandar's new position. One more day out was the red giant star that caused them so much trouble in one of the movie's deleted scenes. It was within sight of the same red giant star where Derek Wildstar and Leader Desslok said their goodbyes at the end of the movie. You can clearly see it in the background behind their ships. Hence, the Star Force was eight days' worth of warping away from Earth at that point.] 2202, first week of January - Sasha begins to read on her own. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 1, "The Rock."] early 2202 - Wave motion gun cartridges are developed. [BFY. They are first used in this movie.] - According to one version of the legend of the Star Force, former Argo chief engineer Patrick Orion survived the end of the Earth-Cometine War. Now fully recovered from his battle wounds, Orion accepts a job as an engineering instructor at the Space Cadet School. In this version of events, this act marks his formal retirement from the Star Force. [SBC2 Part 1, "The Jackals Come to Feed." Orion mentions his new job when he politely declines Wildstar's offer to rejoin the Star Force. This event is no longer considered canon, but I have included it anyway for reference purposes.] - The Earth colony of Centarius is established on the sole habitable planet in orbit around the star Alpha Centauri. [SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction"] - Excalibur, the third and final incarnation of the Desslok Cannon, is developed. [SB3 #25, "Argo Shoot That Sun!"] - The EDF commissions its Design Board to do a study on several new classes of space warships. Some are based on or derived from current designs, while others are all-new efforts. Out of this study will come the plans for the next generation of EDF space warships to be built, including the Arizona class super space battleship and the Andromeda II class space control ship. [SBTM and SBR. SBTM notes that the first Andromeda II was "officially commissioned in 2202," but this date was revised upward to 2214 for SBR. The Arizona class, first seen in SB3 and subsequently in SBR, is clearly based on the original Andromeda design - at least as far as everything below the "waterline" is concerned ....] - The Galman Empire develops and deploys "space submarines," that achieve a form of stealth by submerging into subspace until ready to attack. [SB3 #13, "The Galman Wolf." Desslok may have gotten the idea during his alliance with Prince Zordar of the Comet Empire, per SB2 #07, "A Matter of Perspective."] --------------------------------------------------------------mid-2202 - STAR BLAZERS: THE EURYTHMIA AFFAIR comic book series --------------------------------------------------------------mid-2202 - Leader Desslok learns the location of Galman, the original homeworld of the Gamilons. He immediately begins making plans to pay a pilgrimage to the birthplace of his people. [SBC2 Part 4, "A Blast From the Past."] - The Star Force frees the Guardian Spirit of Eurythmia from its millennia of imprisonment by the hands of her own people. In the process, it also destroys all surviving Eurythmian Planet Crushers, including the one in use by the Mercenary Empire. Without the power of the Planet Crusher to back it, the Mercenary Empire quickly collapses. [SBC2 Part 5, "Crescendo"] ---------------------------------------------------------------2202, 6 September to 24 November - STAR BLAZERS: ICARUS (SBC3 three-part story arc) ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2202, 8 November - The now-teenaged Sasha goes with her "uncle," Steven Sandor, to his new posting at the EDF base on the asteroid Icarus. This is at the request of her father, Commander Alex Wildstar. His stated intent is to keep her rapid aging from prying eyes. Alex's real intent is to get her out of harm's way from the invasion from the Black Nebula Empire he knows will be coming someday. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 1, "The Rock." Sandor calculated Sasha's growth rate at around seventeen times that of a normal human.] 2202, 22 November - Sasha celebrates her "sixteenth" birthday. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 1, "The Rock"] 2202, 24 November 2202 - Steven Sandor is almost killed in a pressure suit accident at Icarus. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 2, "Waxwing" and Part 3, "Angel Too Close to the Sun"] - Commander Derek Wildstar puts in a call to on Earth from his current command, the EDF long-range patrol ship Advance. He tells Nova, "I'll be back in eight short weeks." [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 2, "Waxwing"] 2202, 30 November - Sasha's application for enrollment is accepted at the EDF Space Cadet School. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 3, "Angel Too Close to the Sun." This explains the uniform she is wearing in BFY. It is that of a first-year Space Cadet School midshipman.] 2202, 22 December - A top-secret meeting is held in the office of UEG President Fujimori. The only other attendees are EDF Commander General Singleton and Gally Forrester, the younger sister of Star Force member Nova Forrester who works as an EDF staff psychologist. The subject of the meeting is the recently revived Abraham Avatar. Captain Avatar is alive; however, he has no memory of his past. It will be Gally Forrester's job to try to revive his memories and reacquaint him with the man he once was. [SBC3 "Icarus" story arc, Part 3, "Angel Too Close to the Sun." This serves as set-up for his eventual reappearance in FY. His revival was attributed to the effects of the Cosmo DNA in restoring Earth to its glory of old. The Cosmo DNA is what kept his brain alive even though his body had died, so the logic goes. Make of it what you will. This potential story arc was never fully explored before SBC3's cancellation in mid-arc, due to a shake-up in the comic book industry at that time. In a related non-canon event, SBC3 also appears to imply that Astra's body had been retained on Earth and that it too might have been revived. This would have been at odds both with the original Japanese source materials and Matsumto-san's own manga. Both of these emphasize that Astra was taken to and laid to rest on Iscandar by the Star Force, not preserved in cryostasis on Earth and later revived.] 2202, 23 December - Captain Keisuke Yamanami assumes command of the Argo on the direct orders of General Singleton. [SBC3 BFY partial adaptation, Part 1, "Prelude"] 2202, 24 December - Yamanami orders Sandor to have the Argo repainted in keeping with its new role as the flagship of the EDF Special Defense Forces. He also assigns Cadet "Mio Sandor" (i.e Sasha) the job of actually supervising the paint job. [SBC3 BFY partial adaptation, Part 1, "Prelude"] - The Gamilons detect a Black Nebula Gorba-class space fortress de-warping just inside the Sol System. They also detect a Black Nebula strike fleet enroute to Earth. General Talan reports to Leader Desslok that the EDF has not detected either event and that humanity has no clue that they are about to be attacked by the Black Nebula Empire. Leader Desslok decides not to intervene on Earth's behalf for the simple fact that his own available forces in the area are too small to repel such a large assault. [SBC3 BFY partial adaptation, Part 1, "Prelude"] -------------------------------------------------------2202, 25 December to 2203, 5 January - BE FOREVER YAMATO -------------------------------------------------------2202, 25 December - Earth is conquered and occupied by the Black Nebula Empire. [BFY] - Derek Wildstar's patrol cruiser is shot down over Earth while witnessing the destruction of the EDF Automated Fleet by the Black Nebula Empire. [BFY] - All Star Force members save Nova Forrester successfully escape Earth and flee to Icarus Base in the asteroid belt on the orders of General Singleton. Nova is not so fortunate. She is wounded during the escape and unable to leave with her comrades. Instead, she is captured - along with General Singleton, Alex Wildstar, and many other EDF command staff officers. Nova is lucky in that her captor is Alphon, a kindly Black Nebula intelligence officer. As for the others, they are imprisoned and given one of two choices: cooperation or a very swift death. [BFY] 2202, 26-30 December - The Black Nebula invasion forces threaten to destroy all life on Earth with a hyperion bomb unless all resistance ends to their rule. The United Earth Government has no choice but to capitulate. Their first task is to reveal the location of the Argo. The only two people on Earth who know that are General Singleton and Alex Wildstar, but they refuse to cooperate. The two are subsequently dragged away for execution unless they talk. [BFY] - Death of Alex Wildstar. He kills himself with a bomb surgically implanted in his chest some months before (anticipating just such an event) so General Singleton can escape. [BFY; see also the partial BFY adaptation by SBC3, in particular the issue "Prelude."] - Black Nebula intelligence officer Alphon seizes an abandoned upper-class home in Megapolis City as his own. He moves Nova there and tends to her injuries. [BFY . According to SBC3, the former occupant of the house was none other than the recuperating Abraham Avatar, who was spirited away to the nearest underground city even as Black Nebula forces were storming the area. The house briefly reappears in SB3 as the residence of both Derek and Nova, in the short time that they lived together between the end of BFY and the start of SB3.] - In order to deceive the Black Nebula forces he knows will be waiting to intercept their ship, Derek Wildstar has Doctor Sane inject everyone aboard their escape ship with a drug to simulate death for a time. While the drug is being prepared, he and his fellow Star Force members rig their ship so that it will look like they died from an atmosphere leak due to a hatch damaged by the firefight during their escape from Earth. The ruse is successful, and the deaths duly reported to intelligence officer Alphon. After the patrols leave, IQ-9 revives the others. The Star Force quietly repairs their ship and then slips to Icarus base. [SBC3's partial adaptation of BFY. The news of the finding of the ship and the lifeless bodies inside comes as a crushing blow to Yuki in the movie proper, who doesn't know what has really happened.] - The Star Force arrives at Icarus Base - where, to their delighted surprise, they find the Argo hidden inside. They use it to successfully escape the Solar System. [BFY] - General Singleton and his followers flee to the old underground city beneath Megapolis City. There they begin organizing what resistance they can against humanity's Black Nebula masters. He also orders the Argo to find and disable the control source for the hyperion bomb that the Black Nebula has placed on Earth. [BFY] - The Argo leaves the Sol System. Its destination is the Virgo Cluster, from where the control signal for the hyperion bomb seems to be emanating. [BFY. The distance between the asteroid belt and planet Brumus is just over four days at top sublight speed, per SB2.] 2203, 31 January - The Argo is forced to lay for several hours over for minor repairs to its radar system after its first successful test of its new warp supercharger system. [BFY. I note in passing that the trip to the Virgo Cluster would have normally taken nineteen days without the supercharger.] - Derek Wildstar is shocked when Cadet "Mia Sandor" reveals herself to be none other than his own grown niece Sasha. She in turn is shocked when Wildstar tells her about her father's death. [BFY] - An Argo reconnaissance plane stumbles across a nearby Black Nebula mobile supply base hiding inside a nebula. The Star Force's Black Tigers catch the base by surprise and destroy its support fleet before it can even be launched. Captain Yamanami then orders the base destroyed with the Argo's wave motion gun. [BFY] 2203, 1 January - The Argo destroys two Black Nebula battle fleets and several Gorba class battle fortress while escaping a trap in the Virgo Cluster meant to destroy it once and for all. The ship's new wave motion cartridges prove particularly useful in this encounter. [BFY] 2203, 2-3 January - While Earth is dealing with the Black Nebula, Leader Desslok launches a successful campaign to free Galman from control by the Bolar Federation. The Galman and Gamilon peoples are reunited for the first time in millennia. Desslok makes Galman his new seat of power and quickly builds the new Galman-Gamilon Empire into one of the largest in known space. His only major contender for total control of the Milky Way galaxy is Prime Minister Bemlayze of the Bolar Federation. Their respective star empires soon become mortal enemies. [SB3 #16, "The Day of Desslok"] - The Yamato penetrates a hyperdimensional corridor into the parallel universe of the Black Nebula Empire. There, for a time, they are deceived into thinking they have arrived at a future Earth. It is actually Dezarium, the homeworld of the Black Nebula Empire, where the controls for the hyperion bomb on Earth are located. [BFY] 2203, 4 January - The Black Nebula's "future Earth" ruse is exposed. At the same time, Earth resistance forces are successful in retaking control of Megapolis City and seizing the hyperion bomb. A dying Alphon reveals the secret of the bomb's controls to Nova even as the Star Force engages the forces of the Black Nebula Empire for the last time. The Star Force eventually triumphs, Dezarium is destroyed, and the hyperion bomb deactivated; however, the price of victory is almost too great for Derek Wildstar to bear .... [BFY] - Death of Sasha, daughter of Alex Wildstar and Queen Starsha of Iscandar. With her dies the Iscandarians, one of the oldest intelligent humanoid races in the known universe. It is not her final end, though - for as the direct descendant of Iscandarians of royal blood, her physical death is merely a gateway to the next level of existence. She is transmigrated, being reunited with the spirit of her mother Starsha, and getting to meet the aunt she had met before in the presence of Astra, Starsha's sister. [BFY, SBR] 2203, 5 January - The Yamato finally returns to Earth from its journey to the former Black Nebula empire's parallel universe. [BFY] sometime in January 2203 - The Earth and its growing network of interstellar colonies come together under the banner of the Earth Federation. This represents the founding of a human oriented interstellar federation that (under various names) will last for about 760 years - and come to dominate the Milky Way galaxy for most of that time. [SB3 is the first time in the STAR BLAZERS franchise that the term "Earth Federation" is used. It is still in existence under this name for both YR and Y2520. Sometime after that it changes its name to the Solar Federation, (or a variant name thereof, depending on your source) and becomes the dominant power in the Milky Way galaxy. It will remain so until the mid-2960s, when it is finally conquered - by either the Illumidas in the "heyday" Leijiverse (per MYA) or the Machine Empire in the "revival" Leijiverse (per HSm and CWZ).] - Launching of the Arizona, the prototype for the newest class of EDF super space battleships. [SB3 #24, "Battle at the Scagaleck Star Cluster." We actually see it briefly in an earlier episode in the Japanese original, as it is leaving Earth, but this earlier scene was cut from the English dub (it is present as an Easter egg in the DVD release). The design proved successful enough, despite the loss of the class ship, that the EDF ordered more. A sister ship to the Arizona, the EDS Gideon, makes a brief appearance during SBR under the command of Captain "Dash" Jordell.] - The Argo is drydocked at a secret EDF base high in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a major refit, following its battles with the Black Nebula Empire. This is the last major refit that the Yamato will receive during its original service lifetime and the only one that takes place at a facility outside of Japan. The main purpose of this refit is to install an upgraded wave motion engine, but many other onboard systems are updated as well. [SB3. In the Japanese original the refit took place in the mountains near Angen, Japan. We know a new wave motion engine was installed per the series visuals. The new one has two main motor rotors, whereas the old one only had one. My guess, per the English dub, is that the Argo was docked at the same base at which the Arizona was built and launched; however, this is pure conjecture on my part. Oh, by the way - in the new "2199" remake of SB1, the Argo's original wave motion engine now has "one-and-a-half" rotors two, but with one twice as wide as the other. The thinner rotor spins up before the wider one, very much like a transmission going into higher gear.] ----------------------------------2203 - STAR BLAZERS: THE BOLAR WARS ----------------------------------mid to late January 2203 - The Cosmo Hound enters EDF service. [SB3 #02, "The Great Battle in the Milky Way." It first appears in this episode, and the dialogue indicates that it was new technology.] - Commander Derek Wildstar is promoted to the rank of captain. He is the youngest person ever to achieve the rank of captain in the EDF. His first assignment is a familiar one, save that this time he will be the Argo's commander - i.e. resident "old man." [SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction"] - A stray Galman planet destroyer proton missile crashes into Earth's Sun. The resultant runaway chain reaction causes the sun to begin abnormal expansion. All life on Earth will be destroyed from the heat within one year unless the reaction is stopped. [SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction"] - All available EDF vessels that can be spared are ordered by General Singleton to begin a systematic search of the Milky Way galaxy in order to find mankind a new home before all life on Earth is eradicated. Among the vessels involved in the search are the Argo, the Arizona, the experimental cruisers Bismarck and Prince of Wales, and other unnamed ships from Africa and Euroland. [SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction," #24, "Battle of the Skalagek Star Cluster," and the SB3 DVD Easter egg deleted early scene involving the Arizona. The other two ships in the deleted scene are the Bismarck and the Prince of Wales, per the original Japanese source materials. Nova mentions the additional ships from Africa and Euroland in SB3 #24. My guess is that the Bismarck and Prince of Wales represented the ships from Euroland, given their names (two famous European battleships from WWII). We never do find out anything more about the ships from Africa. NOTE - It is possible to read into the dialogue of SB3 #24 that the Arizona went missing long before the mission to find a new Earth. The original Japanese background materials make it clear that the Arizona was to have been the focus of a side story arc for SB3, as part of the mission to find a new Earth, that was abandoned when the show got cut in half. The English dubbed dialogue obscures this fact. Eldred discusses this on both the DVD and the official STAR BLAZERS web site.] 2203, 14 January - Homer Glitchman meets his future wife Wendy Singleton, daughter of EDF Commander Charles Singleton. [SB3 #03, "Star Force Embarks at Dawn"] 2203, 15 January - The Yamato launches on its new mission: to find a new Earth before the overheating Sol destroys the old one. [SB3 #03, "Star Force Embarks at Dawn"] 2203, 18-19 January - The Legendra Incident marks the first time that Earth comes into contact with anyone from the Bolar Federation - in this case, the badly damaged Berth garrison fleet flagship Legendra. [SB3 #05, "S.O.S. Spaceship Legendra" and #06, "Fierce Battle Near Planet Brumus." A good case can be made that Captain Ram and his crew are former Cometine who now work as mercenaries for the Bolar, based on their skin color - but this is strictly conjecture.] 2203, 2 February - The Star Force comes to the assistance of Earth's Centarius colony, located in the Alpha Centauri system. It had been the victim of an unprovoked Galman attack. [SB3 #07, "The Rough Seas of Alpha Centauri"] 2203, 5 February - The Star Force comes to the aid of a family of human space colonists lost during the Earth-Gamilon War. [SB3 #08, "The Last Pioneer." This is the same family of three that left Earth in 2198, as referenced earlier in this timeline.] 2203, 7 February - The Argo wins another decisive battle against General Dagon of the Galman-Gamilon Empire at Barnard's Star. [SB3 #09, "The Battle of Barnard's Star"] 2203, 28 February 2203 - General Dagon tries and fails to defeat the Star Force with his new battle fleet. Instead, his own fleet is wiped out. [SB3 #010, "Dagon's Counterattack"] 2203, 2 March - General Dagon is killed when his ship falls into the same black hole inside which he had hoped to destroy the Argo. [SB3 #011, "Danger at Cygnus"] 2203, 16-17 April - The Star Force fights its first action against the Bolar Federation at Berth, a penal planet on the borders of Bolar space. [SB3 #012, "Stellar Prison Camp" and #13, "The Dreadful Bolar Federation"] 2203, 7 May - The Argo is captured by Admiral Smirdon of the Galman-Gamilon Empire. It is soon released on the personal order of Leader Desslok, after he learns of the grave blunders his subordinates have been committing with regards to the Star Force and Earth. Leader Desslok apologizes to the Star Force and invites them to the planet Galman in order to make amends. [SB3 #014, "The Galman Wolf" and #15, "Star Force Becomes a Prisoner"] 2203, 31 May - The Yamato arrives at planet Galman. [SB3 #016, "A Festive Day for Desslok"] 2203, 1 June - The Bolar Federation attempts to destroy Galman with a wave of planet destroyer missiles warped to its location. Only the quick action of the Star Force saves Desslok and his people. [SB3 #017, "The Moment of Crisis"] 2203, 30 July - The Galman Empire's attempt to reverse the abnormal growth of Earth's sun ends in spectacular failure. [SB3 #018, "The Angry Sun"] 2203, 14 August - The Star Force chances upon a pilgrim ship full of followers of the Gardiana cult as it searches for a new Earth. [SB3 #019, "The Way to Planet Phantom"] 2203, 4 September - The Star Force arrives at planet Phantom. [SB3 #020, "The Planet Phantom"] 2203, 9 September - A Galman scientific expedition to planet Phantom discovers, almost too late, that the entire planet is a living organism. [SB3 #021, "False Hope"] 2203, 11 - The Star Force rescues Queen Mariposa, last living descendant of Queen Gardiana, from planet Phantom before it is destroyed by Leader Desslok. He is angry that the planet made a fool of him by disguising itself as the new Earth that humanity so desperately needed. [SB3 #022, "Farewell, Planet Phantom"] 2203, 10 November - The Star Force discovers the wreckage of the EDF warship Arizona, victim of a Bolar ambush, on planet Beta in the Skalagek Star Cluster. There are no survivors. [SB3 #023, "Fierce Battle at the Skalagek Star Cluster"] 2203, 15 November - The Argo arrives at the long-lost legendary planet Gardiana. With the assistance of Leader Desslok and the Gamilons, the Star Force is successful in repelling an attempted conquest of Gardiana by the Bolar Federation. The Star Force receives the Hydrocosmo Penultimate Cannon as a gift from the grateful inhabitants. [SB3 #024, "The Secret of Planet Gardiana"] 2203, sometime around 20 November - Dr. Sane is informed on a secured channel from Earth that his former patient Abraham Avatar is alive, well, in full command of his facilities, and completely cured of his radiation sickness. He is also asked to keep the news confidential for now. [FY. Dr. Sane tells Derek and Nova that he had "only found out a month ago" that Captain Avatar wasn't dead after all. I'm guessing that General Singleton or perhaps even Gally Forrester relayed the news to him during the Argo's return trip to Earth from Planet Gardiana. 2203, 1 December 2203 - The Argo fires the Hydrocosmo Penultimate Cannon at the Sun. Earth is saved once again by the Star Force. [SB3 #025, "Argo Shoot the Sun!"] - Death of Jason Jetter. [SB3 #025, "Argo Shoot the Sun!"] - Death of Flash Contrail. [SB3 #025, "Argo Shoot the Sun!"] ---------------------------------2203, 5-26 December - FINAL YAMATO ---------------------------------2203, 5 December - The collision effect between the Milky Way galaxy and a second galaxy emerging from a parallel dimension reaches a critical juncture. Many stars, solar systems, and other interstellar bodies are either destroyed or tossed about the Sea of Stars as these two galaxies pass through each other. The most seriously affected part of the Milky Way is its galactic core. Many of the key systems in the Galman-Gamilon Empire are affected and most of the populated systems in the Bolar Federation are destroyed. The EDF dispatches the Star Force on a rescue mission to pick up any survivors it finds in the affected areas. [FY. This impending collision was first noted by Professor Amamori back in 1999, per QMf. This galaxy is in all likelihood the same as that noted by the Earl of Darkwood in his book Veridus Quo, per I5555. The "intersecting galaxy" motif is a recurring one in many tales from the Leijiverse, of which these are but a few examples.] 2203, 6 December - The Star Force arrives at the Milky Way galactic core with orders to investigate the interdimensional collision and rescue any survivors. They find both the Galman-Gamilon and Bolar empires devastated. What was once Galman is now a dead world smashed to pieces by planetary rubble. There is no sign of Desslok and his people. The Star Force holds a memorial service for Desslok and his people, and then departs as fast as it can in order to escape being destroyed itself. [FY] - The Dinguil Emperor uses the power of his Uruku space fortress to accelerate the passing of the rogue planet Aquarius through the Sea of Stars. His intent is to have Aquarius wipe out all life on the planet Earth and then move in as its new master, once the waters have receded. This will spare the Dinguil a nasty war of conquest. [FY] - The Argo makes an emergency warp to escape the sheer volume of rubble being generated by the galactic collision effect. It dewarps at Dinguil, the fourth planet in the Unfa star system, which is currently suffering a planetwide catastrophe thanks to a close passing of the rogue planet Aquarius. The Star Force attempts to rescue those still alive but is unsuccessful, losing many of its own people and a Cosmo Hound in the process. The only one who can be rescued is a young Dingul boy, who proves to be human save for his blue skin. [FY] - Without warning, the Argo is attacked by General Zarl and his Dinguil space fleet. He has mistaken the Star Force for an enemy. The Argo's hull is penetrated by deadly hyper-radiation missiles. Many crewmembers are killed and even the ones who manage to don spacesuits are overcome by the radiation. For some inexplicable reason, the ship somehow manages to fly itself back to Earth with its cargo of injured, dead, and dying Star Force members. [FY] 2203, 7 December - The Argo suddenly dewarps in the vicinity of Pluto and enters the Sol System at top sublight speed. To everyone's surprise the ship appears to be flying itself. There is no response from anyone on board. [FY] 2203, 12 December - The Argo returns to Earth and docks itself at one of the surface ports outside Metropolis City. Nova, Dr. Sane, and a special EDF medical team move in to investigate - and discover the horror inside. A few of the crew are still alive, thanks to their spacesuits, but are suffering from exposure to hyper-radiation. Nova is horrified to find her beloved Derek Wildstar not breathing, having failed to don his spacesuit in time before the radiation overcame him. Fortunately for her, he is just barely alive and is rushed to the intensive care unit at Central Hospital as fast as possible. [FY] 2203, 13 December - The United Earth Government begins organizing escape convoys in order to flee the planet before Aquarius arrives. [FY] 2203, 14 December - The first escape convoy leaves Earth. [FY] 2203, 18-19 December - Derek Wildstar finally regains consciousness. He learns from Nova that most of his crew died from hyper-radiation sickness from the Dinguil attack. It was a miracle that he didn't die as well. [FY] - A Dinguil battle fleet attacks the Sol System. Its goal is to prevent any humans from leaving Earth and thus ensuring the extinction of the species once Aquarius arrives. They annihilate anything in their path. Pluto Base, the Saturn civilian science station, the first escape convoy to leave Earth, even the EDF intersystem patrol fleet - all are destroyed in short order by the Dinguil. [FY] - Derek Wildstar resigns his commission in the Earth Defense Force. He is upset about being unable to save the lives of those who died under his command during the first Dinguil ambush. General Singleton sadly accepts Wildstar's resignation, then asks Yuri to contact a certain someone for the job of commanding the Argo. [FY] - The Dinguil fleet attacks Earth. They are very selective in their targets: spaceports, landing fields, and anything that could be used to launch or service an interstellar spacecraft of any kind. The only ships to escape damage are those stored in the old underground or underwater locks, such as the Argo. [FY] 2203, 20-22 December - Derek Wildstar decides to pay one last visit to the Argo. He is left speechless when he comes face to face with the ship's new commander: the revived Abraham Avatar. Avatar's orders are to launch at once and destroy the Dinguil at all costs. Avatar "invites" Wildstar to rejoin the EDF and be part of the Star Force again. Wildstar cannot refuse the invitation, as General Singleton has rightly guessed. [FY] - The Argo launches from Earth on what will prove to be its final mission. [FY] - The Star Force links up with a nine-vessel EDF destroyer squadron commanded by Captain Mitzutani. Together, they embark on a search-and-destroy mission, seeking the Dinguil fleet that has been romping through the Sol System for the past week. [FY] 2203, 24 December - The Second Battle of Pluto. Captain Mitzutani and all but one ship of his destroyer squadron are wiped out as they put their vessels in front of the Argo to protect it from hyper-radiation missile strikes. Also killed are most of the members of the Argo's search-and-rescue units, mowed down by the Dinguil in cold blood while attempting to rescue the survivors of Mitzutani's stricken squadron. In turn the Dinguil fleet is spotted and destroyed by the Argo while in the middle of reloading its attack craft for another go at the Star Force. [FY] 2203, 25 December - The Fuyuzuki, sole survivor of Captain Mitzutani's destroyer squadron, picks up what few survivors there are in the wreckage and, along with the Star Force wounded, departs for Pluto Base. The ship itself is too shot up to continue the fight, leaving the Argo to continue on alone. The Star Force spends Christmas Day in quiet contemplation. Their only gift is a few hours' brief respite from fighting the Dinguil. [FY] - Captain Avatar orders the Argo to the coordinates for the next-to-last space warp that the planet Aquarius will make before it warps to Earth. His intent is to intercept the Dinguil and prevent them from causing Aquarius from making that last warp. [FY] 2203, 26 December - The Yamato warps to the new location of Aquarius mere hours ahead of the main Dinguil fleet. They take the time for a quick survey, marveling at this pelagic planet's floating continents and aquatic beauty. They also discover, much to the Star Force's surprise, an automated Dinguil processing facility for refining large amounts of heavy water from the seas of Aquarius for use in their spacecraft. [FY] - The Star Force receives a visit from the Guardian Spirit of Aquarius. She tells them a brief history of her world and the important part it plays in bringing life to lifeless worlds. Hers is a two-edged sword, she tells them, for the power of creation also implies destruction. She knows her world's visit to Earth is 6000 years too soon and that the Dinguil are responsible. She also tells them who the Dinguil really are before she takes her leave. Within minutes the Dinguil arrive and the Battle of Aquarius begins. [FY] - The Dinguil fleet and their mighty Urdu space fortress are destroyed by the Star Force despite tremendous odds. Even so, and despite a near-herculean effort to stop it, the planet Aquarius completes its final space warp. The Star Force has won the Battle of Aquarius but may have lost the war. There is now nothing between Earth and an impending cataclysm save the Argo. [FY] - Death of Mark Venture near the end of the Battle of Aquarius. [FY] - Both Derek Wildstar and Captain Avatar seize on a bold (and desperate) plan to save Earth from the ravages of the impending deluge. To this end, Avatar orders the Argo to return to Aquarius and has it dock at the Dinguil heavy water processing plant. He then fills every available hold and compartment with heavy water. The idea is to park the Argo between Earth and Aquarius with its wave motion gun plugged. At the right moment, a volunteer who has stayed aboard will manually fire the gun, which due to the plug will cause the ship to self-destruct. The energy from the explosion will be greatly amplified by the ship's cargo of heavy water. This in turn will create a powerful concussion wave "blowback" effect, that will cause the waters of Aquarius to be turned away from Earth long enough for the planet to pass with only "minimal" damage done. The Star Force is horrified but Avatar's word is final - as is his decision to be the one who stays aboard to fire the wave motion gun. He has no friends and no family. He is a man who has already died once. He is expendable. The others (especially Derek Wildstar and Nova Forrester) are not. "The Argo is all I have left," he tells Wildstar. "As captain, I have the right to stay with my ship." [FY] - The Argo is attacked by the surviving Dinguil forces before it can finish carrying out Captain Avatar's plan. All seems lost until Desslok and a Galman battle fleet arrive in the nick of time. Desslok had found the flowers that the Star Force had left behind on Galman in memory of his people. He destroys all remaining Dinguil vessels and then departs, leaving the Argo alone and unmolested to complete its final mission. All surviving Star Force members save Captain Avatar are then evacuated from the ship by the destroyer Fuyuzuki. The venerable space battleship Argo then takes up station-keeping between Earth and the rapidly approaching Aquarius. [FY] - Death of Captain Avatar (this time for good). He dies when he fires the Argo's plugged wave motion gun, causing the ship to self-destruct. [FY] - Captain Avatar's plan succeeds and the Earth is spared another Deluge. [FY] - Destruction of the Argo, the oldest and most famous super space battleship in the Earth Defense Fleet. Its shattered hull becomes trapped inside a large mass of ice in orbit around Earth - the remnants of its fateful encounter with the rogue pelagic planet Aquarius. This will subsequently be named Aquarius Island in memory of the event. It becomes a second moon in Earth's sky, and is held in special reverence in the hearts of mankind due to the Argo's sacrifice. [FY, SBR, YR. NOTE - A bit of trivia here. The Argo "breaks its back" during its destruction at about the same spot as did the real-life Yamato during its final hours back in 1945, when it was sunk at Cape Boga. An American armor-piercing bomb penetrated its deck and exploded inside the powder magazine for the number two main gun turret - igniting all of the powder in the magazine at once. This is the explosion you see and hear in the 1945 flashback in SB1 #2, "The Giant Awakens." It was so powerful that it blew the ship apart and was heard in Tokyo over 100 miles away. That is why the remains of the Yamato are in two main pieces today.] 2203, 31 December - Derek Wildstar and Nova Forrester are married in a simple seaside ceremony, attended by the Star Force and other close family and friends. They also finally consummate their four-year long relationship on their wedding night during which their daughter is conceived. [FY special epilogue, YR, SBR.] - At this point in time, after thirteen years of one planetary disaster after another (2192-2203), Earth's population has been drastically reduced - down to somewhere between 1 and 1.2 billion people. [YR, implied. Each Evacuation Fleet was intended to shuttle 300 million people at a time to Amarl, and there were four "fleets" all told. That means Earth's population was no greater than 1.2 billion in 2220. That includes all the people who volunteered to stay on Earth, because we know there were empty seats in some of the early evacuation ships from the movie. I'm talking about the original plan, of course - combat losses inflicted by the Interstellar Alliance kept reducing the number of Amarl Expresses available for each successive Evacuation Fleet, and Earth couldn't build new ones fast enough to keep up with its losses - but enough of that. Now flip that figure around and go by current real-world population estimates. That means some FIVE BILLION people died on Earth at the turn of the 22nd century - and most of them would have been from the Gamilon planet bomb campaigns. Just think about that number for a while. Five billion dead ....] - Some of the people who lived through the events of 2199-2203 will coin the phrase "The Five Years of Fire" to describe it. It is a term that eventually ends up in the history books. [SBR] sometime between 2204 and 2220 - The SUS Federation, a dictatorial galactic core power that has somehow survived the double galaxy collision, quickly moves in to pick up the pieces left behind by the destruction of the Bolar Federation. Within a decade it will be the leader of what it calls the Interstellar Alliance. This is made up of the major surviving coreward systems and interstellar powers, and is more of a glorified protection racket than a true alliance. The SUS Federation is the strongest of the surviving coreward powers, and thus dominates the Interstellar Alliance both politically and militarily. [YR. The Queen of Amarl notes that her planet had long been a military stomping ground for "generations" of her people due to its valuable mineral ores. Some interpret her remark to mean that wars had been fought over possession of Amarl all the way back to the Yin-Yang War, thousands of years before. Also, the Interstellar Alliance could not have existed prior to the Bolar Federation - because the Bolar had dominated the galactic core for thousands of years, per SB3.] 2204-2403 - The next two hundred or so years is what future Leijiverse historians will later refer to as the First Wave; that is, mankind's first wave of interstellar colonization and exploration. It begins after the end of the the Bolar Wars and the passing of Aquarius, and ends with the start of the Hundred Years War. [SB3 #01, "The Solar System Faces Destruction," SBR, Y2520 #01, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow;" see also MLa. This is a term I have coined to describe what's happening to mankind during this period in Earth history.] 2204 - The United Earth Government decides to begin set up human colonies on any halfway habitable world found during the 2203 planetary surveys that is either not already claimed by another galactic power or where the native population welcomes them. The idea is to spread humanity out across the Sea of Stars so that no single catastrophe can force it into extinction. The plan is opposed to no avail by General Singleton, who warns that it will be "the end of us [humanity] as a people." [SBR Chapter 01, "Time of Chaos;" see also YR. YR's Amarl would not have been one of the new worlds discovered during this period, as it was apparently located in former Bolar space.] 2204, 2 September - Nova Forrester gives birth to her daughter. She names her Miyuki by combining the first names of both of her grandmothers - Mia Wildstar and Yuki Forrester. [SBR, YR. Both agree that Miyuki was conceived on the first night of their parent's honeymoon - their wedding night, to be more exact. This event is depicted in the special epilogue of FY. As I mentioned earlier, I once discussed this problem with Eldred and we both agreed that Nova had Japanese blood on her mother's side of the family. He followed this notion in SBR.] sometime in 2205 - After much debate and political wrangling, the icy mass of Aquarius Island is moved into a higher and safer orbit around Earth. This is meant both to preserve it as a memorial and to keep it from crashing into the planet someday. [SBR] 2205-2216 - Dr. Sazeko Sane retires from the EDF, his age having finally caught up with him. He returns to his preferred calling - that of a veterinarian - and soon goes into business for himself at a private animal clinic and wildlife preserve not far from Megapolis City. Joining him in his retirement is his old Star Force drinking buddy IQ-9, who with the destruction of the Argo no longer has any function to serve - save as a companion and friend. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate. Dr. Sane started his career as a vet, per the Japanese original of SB1, and got drafted for service as a regular medic during the Earth-Gamilon War.] - Steven Sandor is promoted to the rank of captain and becomes a staff officer at EDF Headquarters, serving as Chief of the EDF Space Science Corps. At some point over the next fifteen years, he will earn his brigadier general's star and change jobs. He is eventually promoted to lieutenant general, and not long after becomes EDF Chief of Staff - the role that General Stone once held during the Earth-Cometine War and second only to General Singleton in authority over the entire EDF. He has one romance during this time - with a young and vibrant woman named Carol - but they grow apart as he becomes more involved in the Yamato Resurrection project, and they eventually break up. Sandor will later confide to Miyuki Wildstar, "I liked her too much to watch her become another ex-Mrs. Sandor." [YR, but with the English dub names and some SBR retconning as appropriate.] - One of Sandor's first acts at EDF Headquarters is to seek for and win approval for the Yamato Resurrection project. The goal is to excavate the remains of the Argo from inside Aquarius Island, and combine them with new technology to rebuild the ship. Technically it will be an all-new vessel and the second space battleship to bear the name Yamato (as the Argo was originally named), although it will be deliberately designed to look and feel as much like the original as possible. Sandor's plan is enthusiastically supported by a grateful public, and the United Earth Government gives him carte blanche approval for the project. His only regret is that he cannot be directly involved in the work himself due to his duties at EDF Headquarters. However, he assigns former Star Force engineer Patrick "Tim" Orion Jr. as project leader and coordinator. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate. YR's version of events stand in stark contrast to Eldred's SBR - where approval to resurrect the Argo was a tough political and budgetary fight from day one. Oh, and if any fellow STAR BLAZERS fans out there want to argue the point about whether or not the new Yamato (nee Argo) was an all-new ship, as opposed to the old one rebuilt, you need to re-watch YR and the end of FY more closely. It couldn't have been anything BUT a new ship, albeit built in part from the remains of the original - since the original was so badly damaged as to be unsalvageable by any reasonable standard. Built almost exactly like the old girl, yes but still a brand-new ship, nonetheless. There ARE subtle differences, if you watch YR closely, and this was something Nishizaki intended even back when YR was still just a proposal.] - Three of the chief people Orion Jr. gets to be on his Yamato Resurrection team are the twins Shou and Tou Tenma, acknowledged engineering geniuses, and Sakuri Kobayashi, one of the best of the EDF's new crop of starship pilots. All three will be hip-deep in work on the new ship - the Tenma twins in particular, who design and build its new transition wave motion engine. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate. The new Yamato's power plant has a multi-chambered wave motion gun that can hold up to six charges, as opposed to the single shot arrangement of the original. This is part of the Tenma design. Sandor somehow finds the time to tweak and improve upon their work, so that all six chambers can be fired at once in an emergency. Just such an event happens late in the movie, BTW ....] - Captain Derek Wildstar will consistently refuse combat commands for the next fifteen years. Rumor has it that he is waiting for the day when the Argo is resurrected from its icy grave inside Aquarius Island, and that command will be his once that happens. He will spend part of this time lecturing at the Space Cadet School, where he will meet a bright and promising young female cadet named Maho Orihara. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - Upon graduation from the Space Cadet School, Maho Orihara is immediately assigned to the Yamato Resurrection project as the ship's chief navigator. This is due to her special knowledge of the ship's new ECI navigation suite, which is located inside the old third bridge and includes a 360 degree virtual reality display. Maho helped develop the ECI while still a cadet and proved to be the most adept at using it. The new Yamato will be the first EDF vessel fitted with the ECI. [YR. This probably happens quite late in this period, but this is just a guess. No firm date can be established from the data we have so far, other than the fact that Maho appears to be quite young for a bridge officer.] - The Cosmo Pulsar space superiority fighter is developed. [YR] - Wave motion torpedoes are developed for the EDF equivalent of the space submarine - the "Shinano-type" attack boat. The first of these is to be fitted to the new Yamato in a special hangar under its bow. [YR. NOTE - Shinano was the name of the third Yamato class battleship in WWII. It was converted to a carrier in mid-construction, and remained the world's largest aircraft carrier until the American Forrestal class of the 1950s.] - Advancements on Earth in cybernetics lead to the creation of the first "sexaroid." These are sophisticated androids built in the likeness of beautiful female human women. The original designation means "sexual service android," with obvious design purposes, but the project soon evolves beyond its questionable origins. A whole series of sexaroids is eventually created and put into service for various and sundry purposes (few of them of the sexual service variety). To the surprise of many, including her own husband, EDF Captain Nova Forrester consents to being the model (and supplies both the basic neural net and empathic patterns) for the "Yuki" series of sexaroids. [SBR Volume 1 and GR1 #16, "Sexaroid." Matsumoto-san has stated for the record that SDF Officer Yuki, the triage nurse from Galaxy Railways, is a sexaroid patterned after the likeness of Nova Forrester (aka Yuki Mori) of STAR BLAZERS. The visuals of Yuki-7 from the original SR manga also suggest a likeness to everyone's favorite female Star Force officer - or maybe that's just Matsumoto-san's penchant for broomstick blonds with big hair. The reasons behind Nova's decision to be the model for the "Yuki" series would make for one helluva story! The truth behind this tale is implied in GR1 #16, "Sexaroid." Yuki tells Mr. Oyama that she was patterned after a beautiful woman "long ago." The reason she feels attracted at times to Manabu Yuki is because he resembles the image of the man loved by the woman whose mind served as the basis for her own neural net. That would be Nova Wildstar and her husband Derek - or Yuki Mori (note the name!) and Susumu Kodai in the Japanese original. ADDENDUM - Per GR2 #12, "The Wings of the Soul," sexaroids carry their personality boot data on a special biochip that is inserted into a push-slot directly behind and a little below the left ear. This is common to most high-level androids - not just sexaroids. It is supposedly impossible to boot them up without one. These are interchangeable among models, per DZ and SR, so that it is possible to transfer (or even copy) one sexaroid or regular android's personality from one body to another simply by swapping biochips.] 2206 - The United Earth Government and the Galman-Gamilon Empire sign the Reparation Act Treaty. This makes the Gamilons the de facto protectors of the fledgling Earth Federation, drawing a virtual line across the interstellar sand of the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The Gamilons will not allow any other interstellar power in the Milky Way galaxy to cross that line. [SBR. Which explains why YR's SUS Federation never attacked Earth directly with its fleet, but used the indirect means via the cascading black hole! If the Interstellar Alliance had come in guns a-blazin', they'd have had to deal with Desslok - and you know how bad-ass an enemy HE can be.] 2208 - Giordi Venture, following in his late brother's footsteps, graduates from the EDF Space Cadet School. [YR and SBR, implied] 2214 - By now, former Star Force chief engineer Sho Yamazaki has been promoted to flag rank and serves as Chief of the EDF Engineering Corps. His current pet project is the experimental super space battleship Andromeda-II. [SBR. Yamazaki was Orion's successor as of YNV, and served in the role until FY.] - By now, former Star Force officer Christopher Eager has risen to the rank of captain and is in command of the space battleship EDS Mitzutani (SB-23). His executive officer is former Star Force member Tatsu Kitano. [SBR. This is a EDF FY-type space battleship. Kitano is from YNV.] - By now, former Star Force officer "Dash" Jordell has risen to the rank of captain and is in command of the space battleship EDS Gideon (SSB-21). His executive officer is former Star Force member Ben "String" Bean. [SBR. This is a SB3 Arizona-type super space battleship. Bean is from SB3.] - By now, former Star Force officer Cory Conroy has risen to the rank of captain and is in command of the space battleship EDS Yamanami (SB-22). His executive officer is former Star Force member Shigeru Sakamoto. [SBR. This is a EDF FY-type space battleship. Sakamoto is from YNV.] - By now, former Star Force chief nurse Penny Aycur has become a full-fledged doctor and a section chief in the EDF Medical Corps. She also continues in part-time role as an EDF chaplain. [SBR, BWE. Aycur is from SB3.] - By now, former Star Force member Goro "Buster" Block has risen to the rank of Commander and is serving as chief engineer aboard the Andromeda-II. [SBR. Block is from SB3.] - By now, the young Giordi Venture has seen five years of duty as an EDF officer in the field, serving aboard various warships in Earthspace. He will be be assigned to the ill-fated experimental battleship Andromeda-II, but a a freak illness causes him to miss the launch. He will be the only crewmember not aboard when the Andromeda-II disappears on its maiden voyage. This gives him the traditional reputation of being bad luck, as is commonly associated with such survivors. He is soon forced to leave the ranks of line officers, and eventually winds up at EDF Headquarters as Sandor's adjutant. [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account. There is a long standing military tradition that anyone who is unable to go into combat with their unit, and their unit subsequently gets wiped out, is considered to be bad luck. It sounds silly, but it's true - and there are all kinds of stories and military folklore from services around the world regarding this belief. There is at least one other example of such a person in the Leijiverse, and that is GR2's Ariavenus.] 2214, 5 September - All surviving Star Force members assemble for their yearly meeting at Hero's Hill to honor the late Captain Avatar and the fallen among their ranks. As it turns out, this will be the last such meeting of the Star Force. Their various duties, assignments, and responsibilities will prevent them from ever coming together like this all at once ever again - although groups of them will continue the tradition as they are able and for long as they live, and they will all keep in touch with each other as best they can. [SBR, somewhat retconned] - The experimental super space battleship Andromeda II passes the last of its space trials and is declared "spaceworthy and ready for service." It has been built to serve as the EDF's new flagship. [SBR] 2214, 6 September - General Charles Singleton officially retires from the EDF. He relinquishes his role as EDF CinC to his hand-picked successor, Lt. General Steven Sandor. His daughter Wendy continues in her job as chief CinC aide, still being groomed for the top slot (as Sandor's successor when the time comes). [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account. The promotion in rank is implied but supported by the YR visuals. Sandor has two stars on his uniform collar. Recall that in SB2 Singleton's chief aide, General Stone, was a two-star general.] 2214, 7 September - The EDS Andromeda-II is officially commissioned into the service of the EDF. Its first mission a simple one - an "inspection tour of the Solar System." This amounts to little more than serving as a glorified taxi for most of the EDF's top brass and UEG's most self-serving politicians. [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account. This "original" mission of the Andromeda-II is mentioned on p.67.] 2214, 5 October - The new EDF flagship, the EDS Andromeda II, is lost with all hands when it disappears inside a freak wormhole. No bodies are ever recovered, nor is the ship. Its captain and crew are listed as "missing, presumed dead" on the books by the UEG and the incident is quickly hushed up. Private - and quiet - memorial services are eventually held in honor of its crew. This public loss-of-face will cause the EDF to discontinue its research along similar starship design lines, and instead head in a completely different direction based around proven designs and engine technologies. As for the Andromeda-II, her true fate and that of her crew will not be discovered for another decade. [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account. The "new design direction" is that of YR and Y2520, as seen in the EDS Blue Noah and the various Cometine-based "Block II" EDF warship designs.] - Among those lost aboard the Andromeda-II is Homer Glitchman, husband of Wendy Singleton Glitchman, daughter of former EDF CinC Charles Singleton. His loss comes as a heavy blow to Wendy, leaving a hole in her heart that she finds impossible to fill over the next few years. [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account] 2214, second week of October - The anti-militarist faction within the UEG Council uses the loss of the Andromeda-II to ramrod through a series of laws changing the organization of the EDF, as well as reducing its active fleet strength. More emphasis is to be placed on the construction of civilian and survey ships, at the expense of EDF warships and long-range patrol units. EDF efficiency is further hampered by the appointment of civilian commissioners to oversee almost every aspect of its operations - in particular its budget. Time and again, as cooler heads try to prevail on both sides, the anti-militarists will invoke the "reckless" example of the Andromeda-II's loss and get their way. This situation will have a cumulative degrading effect on the overall operational capabilities of the EDF - not noticeable at first, but one that comes to a head some ten years hence during the Separatist Crisis. Years later, in writing her memoirs, Miyuki Wildstar will record, "Sandor and Orion [Jr.] did everything they could - legally and otherwise - to keep the [EDF] fleet going. The [UEG] Council made their lives miserable, too. Every time they got a ship into the air, it was like winning a war - and then starting a new one the next day." [SBR, but retconned to take the events of YR into account. Perhaps that's why we see so many "old" EDF designs in YR. Perhaps that's also why the EDS Blue Noah from YR appears to be a one-of-a-kind ship.] 2213-2217 - The Wildstar family goes on a "world tour," visiting places of cultural significance both old and new. Years later, in her memoirs, Miyuki Wildstar will recall that it was during this time that she and her father began to grow apart. She felt like he was becoming obsessed with waiting for the Argo to be rebuilt, and this became a sore point between them. Aggravating matters is the breakup of the old Star Force, as its members move on to new duties and assignments. "Dad watched every one of them get promoted and then go off to do his new job," she would write years later. "It was like watching him slowly die." [SBR, but dates retconned one year back to take the events of YR into account. Nova is probably present in the YR version of this event, which adds a whole new dimension to the SBR's conflict, and the parallel one indicated in YR.] 2217 - A cascading black hole is spotted on approach to the Sol System. Computer projections indicate that it will cross the orbit of Earth and swallow it in three years. The decision is made to evacuate the entire remaining population of Earth to a suitable colony world in order that humanity might escape imminent extinction. Amarl, an inhabited moon of the planet Sairam, is the most likely candidate and its government secretly agrees to the evacuation - without first seeking approval from its partners in the Interstellar Alliance. Construction begins at once on a fleet of giant evacuation ships, dubbed "Amarl Expresses," for the effort. The original plan calls for only one fleet of Amarl Expresses to be built, but that it be reused in four successive waves, or "evacuation fleets." This will be enough to evacuate Earth's entire population - some 300 million people per "wave" or "fleet" at a time. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - Derek Wildstar leaves Earth as captain of the combat support ship Yuki (in other words, a glorified freighter). He will spend the next three years in space. The only contact he has with his family are the eagerly awaited letters, "care" packages, and occasional comm calls (as their duties permit). He rarely speaks to his daughter Miyuki during this time. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate . The movie seems to imply that she wouldn't talk to him because he refused a combat command, thus forcing her mother to take this more dangerous job ... and apparently dying because of his choice three years later.] - Kosaku Oomura is assigned as Wildstar's executive officer aboard the Yuki. The two get to know each other quite well during the next three years, and Oomura will follow Wildstar to his next command in the same role. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - Nova Wildstar is given command of one of the EDF's new "Block II" Andromeda class super space battleships - where she will serve for the next three years. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate. The "Block II" design is not the same as that seen in SBR. Instead, it's essentially a Cometine-era Andromeda souped up with Y2520-like extras, but still recognizable in its basic shape and design. SBR's Andromeda-II is a different beastie altogether, but you have to consult Eldred's SBR for more on that subject.] - The elderly Dr. Sane agrees to be Miyuki Wildstar's guardian in the absence of both her parents. She lives by herself in the family home, but spends as much of her spare time with Dr. Sane as possible, training as a vet's assistant. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate. In the original movie proposal, and in Eldred's SBR, Miyuki instead trains to be a medical nurse as her mother before her.] 2220 - The EDF launches the EDS Blue Noah, its newest fleet flagship and meant to be the forerunner of a new generation of super space battleships. Its first mission will be to spearhead the escort forces for the Third Immigration Fleet to Amarl. [YR. The Blue Noah's name is a direct reference to the anime TV series of the same name, produced by STAR BLAZERS co-creator Yoshinobu Nishizaki. Its design heritage to the 17th Yamato from Y2520 is painfully obvious, right down to the layout of its main gun battery. This may have been meant to help bridge the gap "mecha-wise" to this later series, since almost every EDF warship in YR sports selected Y2520-like design features. NOTE - One of the major differences between YR and SBR is the ship that Nova commands. In Eldred's SBR she is given command of the Andromeda II. In Nishizaki's YR she appears to have turned down command of the Blue Noah, planting her fleet commander's flag instead on a souped-up "Block II" Andromeda. Why she didn't take the newest and best ship in the fleet, like she did in SBR, is anybody's guess. Perhaps it's YR's nod to SBR?] --------------------------2220 - YAMATO: RESURRECTION --------------------------2220 - The SUS Federation, leaders of the Interstellar Alliance, deceives its members into believing that Earth's evacuation effort is actually an insidious plot to take over their own worlds. They spearhead an effort to ambush each Evacuation Fleet at a warp point just over halfway between Earth and Amarl. Most of the First Evacuation fleet is destroyed, and only part of the Second successfully runs the gauntlet. Over 330 million humans are killed in these two unprovoked attacks, with the survivors limping on to Amarl in what badly damaged ships manage to warp out of the fight and escape. [YR] - Among the thousands of EDF casualties lost in the ambush of the First Evacuation fleet is its fleet commander, Captain Nova Forrester. There are witnesses who saw her badly damaged ship attempt a warp, but there is no one aboard when it dewarps near Amarl. The only sign she was ever on the bridge during the warp is her half-burned and torn-up officer's cap. Both she and her entire crew are listed as "missing, presumed dead" - their bodies having disintegrated "from a radiation leak" during their ship's ill-fated warp. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - The new Yamato is launched from Aquarius Island. [YR] - Captain Derek Wildstar, commander of the new Yamato, is placed by Sandor in overall command of the Third Evacuation Fleet from Earth to Amarl. His is the first one to make it there with minimal casualties from Interstellar Alliance attacks, due to inspirational leadership and excellent tactical planning. All 6300 Amarl Expresses and 162 escort ships make the trip, although a fair number of the EDF vessels and some of the Amaral Expresses have sustained serious combat damage. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - After the attack on Amarl by the SUS Federation, Wildstar declares war on their weaker ally's behalf and leads a combined EDF-Amarl fleet against Earth's new enemy. All of the Amarl ships and many EDF vessels are destroyed in the subsequent battles, but Wildstar will eventually win the war. The Interstellar Alliance quickly falls apart once the deceit and true aims of the SUS Federation are revealed, and they are left to fight alone against Wildstar's forces. Eventually, the SUS Federation is destroyed for good but not until after a long and protracted final battle. [YR, but with the English dub names as appropriate] - The Yamato is successful in destroying the cascading black hole approaching Earth. The only casualties it suffers are on its third bridge (a well-known "deathtrap" - ed.), which is unintentionally dragged twice across the wall of the black hole while the Yamato gets into the proper position to destroy it. Lt. Maho Orihara and her entire ECI crew are killed instantly when this happens, although it takes some time for the rest of the crew to discover this. Along with Commander Oomura, who died in the battle with the SUS Federation, they are the only fatalities of the new Yamato on its first mission. [YR] - While enroute back to Earth, Wildstar receives an unexpected visitor in his private quarters on board the Yamato. It is the spirit of Astra, there to bid him a final farewell. She explains to him how she became the "spirit" of the original Argo, and how this affected the fortunes of the Star Force. Sadly, she can no longer continue in this role. The new Yamato is a different ship, with a different "feel" and temperament of its crew. They will need to find their own "spirit," one might say, but she has confidence that they will prove just as worthy of their new ship as the original Star Force was of the Argo. The recent clash with the SUS Federation has proven to her that this is possible, and she encourages Wildstar in this regard. With that, she says her final farewell and departs ... and Derek Wildstar feels a coldness in the ship around him he has not experienced since he first set foot inside the original Argo in 2199. He promises himself to lead his crew on the right path to finding their own unique "spirit" for the new Yamato, just as he once felt with the old Argo. [SBR, heavily retconned. One fan has already suggested that the spirits of Maho and her ECI crew might have become the new Yamato's own "guardian spirits" - the same way that Eldred describes what happened to Astra and the Argo in SBR. It's an intriguing possibility, although there are as yet no firm data points to support this conjecture. Even so - who knows?] - A number of Earth's colonies, especially those on the fringes of the Earth Federation, begin suing for independence. They are not happy with what they see as deliberate neglect by the central government. Not helping matters any are certain members of the Johannsen Colony, who have "gone pirate" and raiding supplies from Earth freighters meant for other colonies. Some of the more remote and less affluent (or protected) colonies have degenerated to "filthy ghettos," as one of their citizens calls them, where theft is common and the black market trade is enormous. This is the start of the Separatist Crisis, often referred to in histories of the period. The situation isn't helped any by an EDF weakened by ten years of tight budgets, fleet cutbacks, and constant civilian interference with its operations - not to mention the brief but casualty-laden war with the former SUS Federation. Years later, Miyuki Wildstar will recall in her memoirs, "The fleet had been so scattered and defanged they couldn't do anything about it. The [UEG] Council had been caught blind." The financial floodgates are suddenly opened by desperate politicians, giving the EDF the resource it needs to rebuild but it takes four long years before the last of the Separatists are put down. This is the action in which the new Yamato becomes involved immediately after the defeat of the SUS Federation. [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account.] December 2220 - Not long after Wildstar's return from Earth, and before the Yamato departs for the role it will play in the Separatist Crisis, the bereaved Wendy Glitchman throws herself at him. She is desperate for affection, having suffered the loss of her husband Homer (aboard the Andromeda-II) for years, and hopes that Wildstar will sympathize with her, due to the recent loss of his wife Nova. Wildstar gently declines, insisting that Nova is still alive out there - somewhere. "Miracles do happen," he tells her, and encourages her to have faith that her own beloved might still be alive, too. He puts it another way four years later, when giving some friendly advice to one of his crewmen. "Death once claimed my brother, my captain, my rival, and my best friend. All of them were granted a reprieve, a second life - if only for a short while. Anything is possible." [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account.] 2221 - Founding of the Galaxy Railways. [Probable conjecture based on GE999a #001, "Departure Ballad." 2221 was the original date given for GALAXY EXPRESS 999. The Galaxy Railways are implied to be in existence by the mid-2220s by GE999Em, since Maetel states that she was an eyewitness to the last voyage of the space battleship Yamato (and the original Star Force). The Three-Nine itself is in existence by the time ML takes place in 2290, since both Maetel and Emeraldas escape the planet LaMaetel aboard it. My choice of this exact date for the founding of the Galaxy Railways is my nod to the original GE999 TV series.] - Founding of both the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force (aka GRSDF, SDF) and the Galaxy Railways Space Panzer Grenadiers (aka GRSPG, SPG). The first is a private military organization that acts as the de facto police service for all space train rail lines, stations, and associated properties. It is split into a number of platoons, each with its own specially armored space train. At least one GRSDF platoon is based at every major station and/or crossroads station in the space rail network. The second is more of a loose-knit, rapid-response organization drawn from the elite of the GRSDF. It takes action where the space rail lines don't run or the use of an armored space train (which can operate independently of any rails) is impractical. [GR. The GRSPG is unique to GR and GE999EFm. The GRSDF is first mentioned in GE999, and is seen in action in several of the TV episodes. The idea that the GRSDF had its own specialized armored space trains was first introduced in GE999. In GR, Mamoru Yuki first joined the GRSDF but was later recruited into the GRSPG due to his excellent record.] - One of the oldest set of rules of the Galaxy Railways is laid down at this time: the Universal Space Code, governing both the conduct of its passengers and how to deal with both them and their belongings before, during, and at the end of their time aboard a space train. This will be expanded and modified in the years to come, but it will always remain at the heart of space train operations - and every conductor will be able to quote it by heart. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change." These are the "rules" from which Mr. Black, the Three-Nine's conductor, is so fond of quoting. Their collective title first appears in GE999EFm.] --------------2222 - SEXAROID --------------2224 - By this date, "almost 90%" of Earth's turn-of-the-century human population has relocated to other worlds - "fled to the colonies," as new EDF Commander in Chief Wendy Glitchman puts it. She sees this as a good thing, whereas to to her aged father it means "the end of humanity as we know it." [SBR. Do you realize, based on the population figures we were given in YR, that this means Earth's population in 2224 was down to 1-2 million people? That is, unless there was a big boom in population levels over a single generation. Fortunately, this is the lowest it gets for centuries to come.] - By this date, Kathleen Orion, granddaughter of the late Patrick John Orion of the Star Force and niece of engineer Patrick Orion Jr., is serving aboard the rebuilt Yamato in its support services division. [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account. Kathleen was first seen as a little girl in SB1 #10, "We Will Return."] - Lieutenant Brian Kasumi, EDF Marine Corps, along with a full company of Space Marines, is assigned to the new Yamato. Space Marines will be part of the ship's complement from this date forward, in belated recognition of the services that the late Sergeant Knox and his men performed on the old Argo during the Earth-Cometine War. The fact of the Separatist Crisis may also have a lot to do with their presence. [SBR. This data point probably needs to be bumped up to 2220, to better fit with events following the end of YR. I'm leaving it here for now - hence the "belated" note - until such time as the folks across the Big Pond decide when and how they want the Space Marines to return to the Yamato.] - The venerable Cosmo Zero space superiority fighter, aka "the Super Star," is still in service even at this late date. Although no longer considered a first-tier, front-line craft, they are considered more than adequate for their new roles of intersystem patrol and colony protection - thus sparing newer and more valuable EDF fighter craft from being wasted in these roles. [My attempt to explain how Cosmo Zeros turn up in SBR, even though they're quite outdated at this point in time in the Leijiverse. EDF resources were supposedly strained due to supporting all of Earth's new space colonies. It's common sense they would assign older ships and craft to less critical roles. It's a practice that current real-world militaries due today, and have been doing throughout history. SBR indicates that all Zero frames still service had been updated with the latest avionics, engines, and weaponry again, just like in real life.] - By this time, wave motion technology has been improved to the point that any EDF space warship can go to warp a mere ten seconds after firing a full charge from its wave motion gun. [SBR. This actually matches quite well with YR's transition wave motion engine technology. Orion Jr. informs Wildstar that the only time the new Yamato will lose power after firing its wave motion gun, like it used to do in the good ol' days, is if it fires all six of its transition cylinders at once.] - By this date, Dynamic Do-Alls are no longer standard features on EDF vessels. This did not stop the technology's inventor, Lt. General Steven Sandor, from amassing a personal fortune by licensing the technology (which he invented) for sale in the civilian market. [SBR] - As of this date, Miyuki Wildstar has enlisted in the EDF and has trained to serve as a regular nurse, like her mother before her. She and her father Derek Wildstar still have a rocky relationship due to the loss of Nova, her mother and his wife. Miyuki consents to being assigned to the new Yamato per her father's wishes - but as she later confides to a friend, "I don't have to like it." [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account. Per SBR, she has also dyed her hair auburn - again like her mother.] 2224, 6 October - Death by natural causes of General Charles Singleton, retired, former EDF commander-in-chief. [SBR. NOTE - He appears to have earned his fourth star at some point, although exactly when I can't determine with the data I currently have.] 2224, 9 October - A memorial service is held for the late General Singleton. He is interred at Hero's Hill, due to the pivotal role he played in bringing about the creation of the Star Force and his leadership during the Five Years of Fire. Sadly, only a handful of his closest friends and former staffers attend, and the only family member present is his bereaved daughter Wendy. All of the surviving Star Force members are away on various duties and unable to attend, but all of them send their condolences. [SBR. This is one of the saddest scenes in the story. It requires a bit of retconning for this timeline, but there's no reason NOT to include it.] 2224, 24 October - An EDF fleet spearheaded by the space battleships EDS Gideon and EDS Yamanami catches the Johannsen Colony pirates in the act of stealing food and supplies intended for other Earth Federation colonies and "takes them out," in the words of one grateful colonist. The breakup of the pirate gangs puts an end to the Separatist Crisis, since there are now enough ships - and EDF escorts for them - to keep the peace, as well as ensure the resumption of regular supply shipments to the outer colonies. A grateful Captain Wildstar sends his congratulations to his former Star Force comrades, who now command both ships, as well as heartfelt gratitude on behalf of those among his crew who are from the colonies. [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account.] 2224, 4 November - The new Yamato, commanded by Captain Derek Wildstar, pays a courtesy call on the Galman-Gamilon Empire. They eventually arrive at its heart, the planet Galman, and are warmly greeted by Leader Desslok on its moon Starsha. It is the first time that Wildstar and Desslok have seen each other since the signing of the Reparation Act Treaty in 2206. Desslok informs Wildstar that something is afoot. "Don't think that the Andromeda Galaxy has been silent," he advises. "Zordar, for all his might, was only a prince. You've no idea what I've kept out of your (Earth's) way." Desslok warns Wildstar that a time will come, sooner than Earth might like, where it will have to fight for its own survival - and he hopes that "protected" humanity will be up to the challenge. This is the last time that Derek Wildstar and Leader Desslok will see each other face-to-face in their respective lifetimes. [SBR, but retconned to take YR, Y2520, and M-san's "revival" Metanoid theme into account. You can take Desslok's warning in any number of directions especially with the required YR retconning. In only few decades, LaMaetel fleets will begin attacking Earth freighters and colony ships, per ML. The next major galactic war is only 150 years away, per Y2520. What about the Cometine - or their Harlock-era possible descendants, the Illumidas? There's also the Metanoids to consider, too - the "revival" wild card in all of this. Lots of threats for Desslok to fight against, and to warn Wildstar about.] 2224, late November - The wreck of the Andromeda-II is discovered quite by accident by the new Yamato, hundreds of thousands of light-years away from where it originally disappeared. There are a surprisingly large number of survivors - including the entire bridge crew and EDF CinC Wendy Glitchman's long-lost husband Homer. Due to the vagrancies of the wormhole into which they were pulled, only a few hours have passed for the Andromeda-II survivors, whereas a decade has gone by for the rest of the physical universe. Just about everyone on board both ships claim the chance encounter to be a miracle. As for Captain Wildstar, it is to him a sure sign of the new Yamato's own unique "eternal soul" - just like the Argo of old. [SBR, but retconned to take YR into account.] - Also around this time, and according to at least one account, Derek Wildstar is reunited with his long-lost wife Nova. She too has not aged a day since she was lost in the ambush of the First Evacuation Fleet in 2220. [SBR, somewhat retconned for YR. In this version of events, she was not on board the Andromeda-II when it disappeared. Where Derek found her and how that reunion came about is anyone's guess, since that tale has not yet come out of the official YAMATO production offices in Japan. All we can do is retcon Eldred's SBR as best we can, and keep our fingers crossed until then.] sometime between 2225 and the 2400s - Maetel is an eyewitness to the final mission of the rebuilt Yamato. It is then "laid to rest" inside an ice cavern somewhere in the Arctic regions of Earth, in the event it is ever needed again. [GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapter 1, "Axe of the Mantis;" see also HSm and GY. Maetel sees the rebuilt Yamato fire its wave motion gun during her second journey with Tetsuro, then comments, "It's been YEARS (original emphasis) since I last saw that." How she managed to get away from LaMaetel and see this event is never explained in any Leijiverse source to date.] - Mankind begins adapting the various alien technologies that it has obtained for its own uses. This helps greatly in the rapid growth and expansion of the First Wave of human space colonization. [GE999a #003, "Titan's Sleeping Warrior." Maetel tells Tetsuro that the technology of the Galaxy Railways space trains is based on alien tech, "some of which we still don't understand." Many of these technology would have come from Earth's extraterrestrial wars at the end of the 22nd century, per SB1-SB3. It is also possible that there might have been some leftover LaMaetelian technology involved as well, per the QM television series.] - The planet Masspron, famed throughout the Milky Way galaxy for its technical and manufacturing acumen, is contracted by the Galaxy Railways to make key parts of its space trains and associated technology. [GE999a #025, "The Steel Angel." Maetel says that some of the factories on Masspron "have been running non-stop for hundreds of years without a break."] - The first stage of the terraforming of Mars is completed. The planet now has a breathable atmosphere, although the planet remains a dry, windswept desert of a world. It never advances beyond this point and is quickly abandoned, as other worlds (such as Saturn's moon Titan) prove more adaptable to human needs. Mars is quickly passed by and soon becomes a backwater world, with most of its original colonists leaving as fast as they can scrounge up the money. The only people left behind on Mars are those colonists who are too poor to leave. [GE999a #002, "The Red Winds of Mars"] - The terraforming of Titan is completed, transforming it into a small Earthlike moon with a lush temperate ecosystem, and both imported plant and animal life to match. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change;" see also GE999a #003, "Titan's Sleeping Warrior." Tetsuro describes this very briefly in GE999EFm, saying that it took "centuries, even generations." A ballpark estimate based on that statement puts completion of Titan's terraforming somewhere near the start of the Second Wave of human colonization of space. My guess is that was completed within a century of the end of the Hundred Years War, but this is only a guess - and it was probably already inhabited to some degree long before the project was complete, per SB2.] - Spherical mobile "colony houses," favored by early space colonists and equipped with legs for self-powered mobility across long distances, are developed. [GE999a #028, "The Great Author of the Mirage Planet." Maetel tells Tetsuro that such designs were used "in the early days of space colonization." You can see "space houses" of this design in many of M-san's works - some with legs, but most without - or possibly retracted/removed? These are featured in some of M-san's early manga tales. An aquatic variant of the same idea appears in TTB Chapter 13.] - The planet Mariko's Firefly is colonized. Unusual ores contained within the planet causes the humans that settle there to begin glowing in the dark. It is not fatal, fortunately, and they quickly adapt to this unusual effect. The trait becomes hereditary and part of the planet's culture, with both the pattern and intensity of the glowing affecting one's social standing. [GE999a #016, "Planet of Fireflies," implied] - The planet Beethoven is terraformed into a world completely covered by water, but with a hollow core and a number of artificially maintained air pocket environments under the surface capable of sustaining life. [GE999a #015, "Water Planet Beethoven," implied] - Construction begins on the Infinite Track - the longest space rail line to be operated by the Galaxy Railways. When completed, it will reach from Megapolis (Megalopolis) Station on Earth to the heart of the Machine Empire in the Andromeda Galaxy. Such a trip would normally take two million years or so at lightspeed; however, considerable reverse-engineered alien tech plus large hyperspace tunnels and existing spatial "shortcuts" - both natural and artificial (as in still-working ancient alien artifacts) - will eventually shorten the travel time to just one Earth year for a one-way trip. [GE999a, multiple references. See also GE999m, GE999Em, and GR. Maetel alludes to the alien tech several times, most notably in GE999a #001, "Departure Ballad," and we see hyperspace tunnels and shortcuts in multiple GE999a episodes. Both of these figure in other Galaxy Railways related tales, too. It's the only way to even come close to halfway explaining the scientific discrepancies of such a journey as riding the Infinite Track and make it at least conceivable, if not believable. This is perhaps M-san's most blatant example of pseudo-scientific "hand-waving," as noted sci-fi author Brian Aldiss once called it. Y2520 provides a possible answer to this problem in the eons-old Gorda warp wormhole network, which was said to have spanned several galaxies.] - The Planet of Tomorrow is one of the earliest human colonies established on the Infinite Track. At some point during the colony's development, though when this happens isn't clear - the decision is made to hide its true origins. The reality of space travel becomes a carefully guarded secret, and the people are slowly but surely coerced into believing that they have always lived on the Planet of Tomorrow. The truth about their origins, their situation, and the existence of the Galaxy Railways is kept a carefully guarded secret. As for the Galaxy Railways, they have no choice but to go alone with the charade, unless they want to lose an important stop along the Infinite Track. [GE999a #060, "The Planet of the Pint-Sized Room (Part 1)." Maetel states that humans have lived on this world as long as the Galaxy Railways have been in the region. No reason is ever given why the Galaxy Railways co-operates in maintaining the facade ... only that it does, and goes out of its way to do so.] - Snowinca is one of the first worlds in the Andromeda galaxy to be colonized. [GE999a #091, "The Snow Woman of Andromeda (Part 2)." Maetel recognizes Yuki's home up in the cliffs as having "early colony style" technology, in particular its elevator, kitchen, and "tin man" style Mechanoid bodies. Tetsuro doesn't think too highly of the free "tin man" body Yuki offers him. The original Snowinca colonists must have lived inside the mountain where Yuki, the Mechanoid "snow woman," now has her home.] - A hollow asteroid is also seized upon by early human settlers as an ideal place to plant a colony. They name it Macaroni au Gratin, because it somewhat resembles a piece of straight macaroni - right down to the hollow center, where the main colony city is located. Within a few generations, it will become one of the great human technological worlds along the Infinite Track. Eventually, it will fall under control of the Machine Empire - who will turn it into a showpiece of Mechanization. Few other worlds within the Andromeda galaxy will be able to compare with its level of technical sophistication and expertise. [GE999a #108 - "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin"] - Molecular teleportation technology is first developed on the world of Macaroni au Gratin. From there it spreads to other worlds, systems, and galaxies along the Galaxy Railways space rail network. [GE999a #108 - "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin," implied.] - Just as the Galaxy Express #999 - aka "the Three-Nine" - is built to be the space express train on the Infinite Track, so too is the Galaxy Express #777 - aka "Three-Seven" - built for what will later become known as the Infinite Loop. It has no origin and no terminus, no start point or final destination. It is the only space express train that eventually runs on every single space rail line in the vast Galaxy Express system. In other words, it travels ALL of the tracks on a regular, looping basis - being serviced along the way as needed. Just as the Three-Nine is known in legend as the Train of Dreams, so the Three-Seven is known as the Train of Fate - because any passenger who boards it can't control where they are going or how long it will take to get there. They can get on or off at their leisure, but more often than not end their ride far from where they started, and also from where they had intended to go. [GR1 #13, "Train Bound For Fate." This helps explain why you see the ThreeSeven all over the place in the course of the original GE999a TV series. As one fan recently put it to me, "it's like the Three-Nine, only different." Interpret that however you will. FYI, the last time we ever see Maetel in GE999a, she is leaving the Bat Planet aboard the Three-Seven with a new traveling companion.] - The planet Meta-Bloody is colonized. It is named for the sea on its far side, which is red due to oversaturation of iron oxide - thus giving it the appearance of a sea of "metallic blood." [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas." Maetel explains the significance behind the name in the story.] - The Rodan star system is the last habitable system between Meta-Bloody and the Galactic Rim. [Ge999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 3, "The Thinking Star." The Viz English version mislabels it as the "Rodan galaxy," but the context implies otherwise.] - The edge between the Galactic Rim and true intergalactic space is marked by a phenomena known as the "universal penumbra." It is a void belt parsecs across so dense and utterly devoid of reference points that early explorers often got lost in it. In modern times, most travelers dash directly across it - to a known destination on its far side - as fast as their mode of conveyance will permit. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 4, "Fire Dragon Karyu." The universal penumbra apparently surrounds the Milky Way, if I've interpreted the manga correctly -- much like STAR TREK's Galactic Barrier, but not as flashy and without the psionic-enhancing effects. If anything, it works exactly the opposite. It's not there to keep "something" out, but to contain what's "inside."] - For travelers trying to cross the rim coming from Meta-Bloody, the only good reference point for crossing the universal penumbra is the tiny Earth-like world of Fire Dragon, located almost immediately on its other side. There is a Galaxy Railways station and major spaceport on Fire Dragon because of this. The planet is named for its primary lifeform - a species of intelligent aquatic dragon so powerful that, among other things, they are the indirect cause of the semi-permanent glow of St. Elmo's Fire around almost everything and everyone on the planet. These dragons will be almost extinct by the time Tetsuro Hoshino visits in 2974, due to the fact that Fire Dragon is entering an Ice Age and its oceans are drying up. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 4, "Fire Dragon Karyu." The fire dragon that speaks to Tetsuro in the story says that the Metanoids are responsible for its planet's new Ice Age.] - The normal laws of space and time do not apply once a ship has moved beyond both the Galactic Rim and the universal penumbra surrounding the Milky Way. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 5, "Double Planet Guillotine." Once they arrive at Guillotine, and Tetsuro sees how the planet and its moon are in such a close orbit that it would violate the Roche boundaries of both, the Conductor explains, "We're in a part of space now where 'normal' just isn't." The Blank Belt, which the Three-Nine visits in GE999EFm Volume 4, is probably another example of this, given Maetel's description of it - "This is the Blank Belt, Tetsuro. Logic doesn't apply here."] - The Metanoid homeworld of Motheria is located on the rim of the Fire Dragon galaxy. It was once an Earthlike world, although Metanoid environmental engineering had resulted in a gray, windswept planet. One of its most unique features - aside from the giant statue of Helmotheria to welcome visitors - is Helmotheria Station - the most sophisticated ever provided for serving the space trains of the Galaxy Railways. According to Maetel, her own mother was so impressed with it that she modeled the one on Great Andromeda after it. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 8, "Helmotheria Station." Great Andromeda is from GE999A. Its station was a lot bigger and more complex than the one on Machine Planet Maetel, which Tetsuro saw on his first trip aboard the ThreeNine.] - Also residing in the Fire Dragon galaxy is a fierce warrior race known as the Tyranovulcans. They have a reputation as beserkers, and are so violent that, according to Tochiro Oyama, "they make the Metanoids look like pansies in drag." [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried" - Volume 2, Chapter 44, "Fire Dragon"] 2238 - Brone, the future emperor of the Seiren Federation, is born on Earth. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!"] c.2280 - Heavy work droid GS7077 is abandoned in an ever-growing pile of junked, scrapped, and wrecked androids, robots, and other types of machinery in the Pteradon crater on Luna. It is and will continue to be an open dump for all kinds of machinery over the next several hundred years. [DZ Chapter 1, "The Birth of Diver Zero." GS7077 told WG187223 that he had had been abandoned on Luna "over 700 years ago."] c.2280-2290 - The wandering planet LaMaetel begins passing through an interstellar void. The lack of stars, planets, or other interstellar bodies in the void, coupled with the ever-increasing distances to reach the nearest ones, puts a severe strain on LaMaetel's already limited resources. Also, some time during this period, the artificial sun built for LaMaetel by master scientists Ban and Hardgear breaks down. The planet becomes covered in a perpetual snowstorm, and ice begins to build up everywhere on the surface. Giant reinforced domes have to be built in order to protect LaMaetel's cities and farms. Some areas have to be abandoned, and the empty buildings are soon buried under millions of tons of snow and ice. [ML, SSM. Date implied by Y2520.] - Hardgear becomes the first Mechanoid on LaMaetel during this period. The exact how and why remain unknown, although it is known that the Metanoids supplied him with the initial technology. He makes it his own personal crusade to convince Queen Promethium that Mechanization is the only way to save her people from the ever-increasing cold. In this he is opposed by Dr. Ban, his fellow colleague and husband of Queen Promethium. [MLm; background materials for MLa] - Hardgear engineers the death of Dr. Ban in order to remove his chief rival. The good doctor had foreseen Hardgear's plans, however, and prepared for just such a contingency. Before his body dies, his living essence is captured and contained within a specially built heart-shaped pendant by his daughter Maetel. By this means Dr. Ban lives on, albeit in a disembodied state. Hardgear gets away with the act, and is soon promoted to the position of Chief Science Adviser to take his late rival's place. [ML, GE999] - The LaMaetelian Food Riots ensue as the population begins to kill each other over what little food and arable land is left inside the domes. Lady La Lela advises her daughter Queen Promethium to put down the riots with deadly force. Promethium resists, but in the end the rioters leave her little choice. This marks the beginning of a series of hard decisions that Promethium is forced to make in light of her planet's steadily worsening ecological situation. [SSM #06, "La Lela's Requiem"] - One of the first successful test subjects (outside of Hardgear himself) for the new Mechanization process is Commander Leopold, commander of all LaMaetelian armed forces. His right arm is Mechanized while the rest of him remains flesh and blood. He never completes the conversion process for personal reasons. [SSM #01, "Departure of Fate" and #05, "Promethium's Magic Flute." This is just a guess on my part based on what we see later in GE999, but Leopold may have been a test subject for partial Mechanization. That is, using a deliberately downgraded form of the original Metanoid-provided process to replace only part or parts of a human body - like artifical organs or bionic limbs, only far more sophisticated. SSM implies that Leopold was given a partial conversion in order to make the full process more palatable to the people of LaMaetel - i.e., they had the choice at first of either going part way or all the way. Later, as we see in ML and SSM, they had no choice at all and the full conversion process was ordered for all but a handful of resisters and human prisoners. The few "humans" who remained were then given a choice live and work like dogs or be forcibly converted. SSM shows us how that turned out ....] - Count Mecha, a noble in Queen Promethium's court, is the first LaMaetelian (outside of Hardgear himself) to be fully mechanized. [ML, GE999] - Another decision foisted upon Queen Promethium at this time, actively encouraged by both Lady La Lela and Chief Science Adviser Hardgear, is the capturing and enslaving of humans from Earth freighters and colony ships that are passing within range of LaMaetel. La Lela's justification for this action is that the extra manpower is needed to help solve LaMaetel's numerous ecological problems. Hardgear's motivation is more sinister. He needs more recruits (and raw material) to support his crusade for complete Mechanization of LaMaetel. [ML, SSM #06, "La Lela's Requiem." The largest such colony effort at this time in the known history of the Leijiverse is the Brone Expedition (Y2520) which left Earth in 2285. Its route was the same as LaMaetel's, and it apparently passed the wandering planet enroute to its destination. This helps to provide a workable date for ML that is consistent with all other known data points regarding events on LaMaetel in this period.] 2283 - The adult Brone, now a radical intellectual, asserts that only a genetically engineered elite among humanity is worthy of moving out into the Sea of Stars. He is largely ignored by the bulk of Earth's leaders, but soon gains a large cult following. The movement that he leads becomes known as Neo-Facism. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." The genetic engineering explains why the future Seiren humans will look the way they do.] 2285 - The Brone Colonization Expedition leaves Earth - much to the relief of the Earth Federation and its leaders. Brone takes almost all of his followers with him on giant colony ships towards the galactic rim - stopping at one planet after another, but never fining a world quite suited to them. After years of travel in this manner, Brone will ultimately decided to lead his people to Cluster M27, a large nebula on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] -------------------2290 - MAETEL LEGEND -------------------2290 - Queen Promethium undergoes total conversion to a Mechanoid. Her twin daughters Emeraldas and Maetel, the last living heirs of her family line and among the handful of humans left on LaMaetel, are forced to flee for their lives in order to escape being forcibly Mechanized. They escape to the Sea of Stars aboard the Galaxy Express Three-Nine space train. With their departure, Queen Promethium begins making plans for what will later be known as the Machine Empire. [ML] - Shortly after Emeraldas and Maetel escape the clutches of Queen Promethium and her Mechanoids, the Three-Nine is pulled through a space-time warp and ends up near the planet Meta-Bloody. It is an event caused by Wotan's interference with this particular Ring of Time in order to exact his revenge upon Captain Harlock. The two girls will take part in the new chain of events that occurs as a result of this - which includes the death of Great Harlock, the future Captain Harlock's father, and a new means by which Emeraldas obtains her namesake starship - after which the pair manage to safely return to their own proper time and place. [HSm Volumes 2-9. Their age in HSm, plus the fact that both of them are aboard the Three-Nine, means that this happened fairly quickly after the events depicted in ML. There's been enough time for them to change their clothes and get acclimated to life aboard the Three-Nine, but that's about it. HSm states repeatedly that the normal flow of space-time had become confused - which accounts nicely for the presence of the younger versions of these two in that tale. I note in passing that HSm is the foundation document of the "revival" Leijiverse, and that this particular event may not apply to other iterations, such as the "classic" or "heyday" timelines. Also, they're drawn several years younger than they should be - as cute little girls, and not the young teenagers we see in ML. That's just M-san's art style, folks. He draws his teenage boys the same way - often younger than they should be.] 2293 - Brone and his people find a habitable world in Cluster M27 named Giza. It is the sixth planet in its solar system, and it has a wealth of apparently abandoned alien technology that is thousands, perhaps millions of years old, created by a now-dead alien race known as the Gorda. Giza is also rich in monopole ore - an energy-yielding substance far more powerful than the cosmonite that is normally used for starships. They end their journey here, claiming the world as their new home. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow" and #2, "Yamato! Launch!" This is the first mention of monopole in the Leijiverse. It appears to be from the same class of energy ores as cosmonite and iscandarium, although it is more powerful than both.] - Brone builds a cloning chamber in his palace on Giza. He uses it to grow clones of his own body, so he can harvest their organs and extend his own lifespan. He wants to live to see the fledgling Seiren Federation grow to dominate the universe. In short, he has aspirations of godhood - as with any absolute ruler with vast resources at his command. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" I note in passing that the translation of the Y2520 production notes that Eldred has on the official STAR BLAZERS website (www.starblazers.com) uses "Salene" instead of Seiren. It's a difference in translation, and I'm deferring to the fansub in this case.] c.2300 to c.2399 - This century is sometimes referred to as the Pax Galactica in some historical accounts of the Leijiverse. The reason is that no wars of any significance are known to have taken place on an interstellar (or greater) level within the Milky Way galaxy during this time. [BFY, Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" This does not include the war of conquest fought by the rising Seiren Federation for total control of Cluster M27. It will take them a hundred years to make it to Rokoko and Rinbos near its edge - and that's about the time that the next major galactic war will fire up.] - Over the next hundred or so years, Brone and his people will build an interstellar empire in Cluster M27 based on the alien technology that came with their new world. It is based on the use of monopole ore as an energy source, and "leads to a path different than from the Earth Federation's use of wave energy," according to one historian. This marks the rise of the Seiren Federation. Most historians will agree that had it not been for the development and refinement of this technology by the Seiren, the Hundred Years war would have never happened. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." If the visual clues we are given in YR are any indication, then the humanoid people known as the Ethos also had access to the same technology. Their starship designs bear striking similarities to those that the Seiren would build some three-quarters of a century later. This is one of those Leijiverse tangents that can't be pursued due to lack of sufficient data, but it makes for some great fannish speculation.] - As the Seiren Federation expands, Brone and his people discover that Cluster M27 is a virtual gold mine of monopole ore. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] c.2300 to c.2650 - According to at least one account, Emeraldas will spend most of her early years wandering from planet to planet, riding to them on any starship that is willing to carry her and working such odd jobs as her skills and personal sense of honor will permit. Among these are hired gun (only for lawful purposes) and bodyguard (again, the same reasons). She will also get her first personal starship - a renovated small one-man transport - sometime during this era, as well as her free trader's license. [QEm Volume 1; see also MYA. In the manga in several places, Emeraldas favorably compares her early years to those of young Hiroshi Umino. She never says any of this directly, save the part about her ship - but it can be implied from the way she talks on the subject. IN QEa #04, "Siren the Witch," we see that her first starship was of the same general size and design as Hiroshi's. QEa Episode 2, "Eternal Emblem," appears to imply that Hiroshi's ship was custom-built based on an old hull - which may very well have been of the same type as that Emeraldas once used herself. The fact that she was a free trader with a legitimate license comes from MYA.] ------------------------------------------------c.2300 - AREI NO KAGAMI (THE WAY TO VIRGIN SPACE) ------------------------------------------------c.2360 - It is about this time that Dyruz, a Buddhist monk from Earth, begins a quest for knowledge that will take him far away from his homeworld and into many strange and curious parts of space, both known and unknown. In order to better enable his quest before he starts, he trades his human body for a Mechanoid one. [GE999a #067, "Dyruz the Space Monk." While aboard the Three-Nine, Dyruz tells Tetsuro and Maetel that he has been on his spiritual journey for "over six hundred years." I have rounded up a bit - 613 years - in order to err on the side of caution.] 2403 - The planet Rinbos, originally settled by Earth colonists and located at the edge of the space that the Seiren Federation claims, is seized by them due to its rich deposits of monopole ore. The Earth Federation promptly dispatches a battle fleet to reclaim it from the Seiren - who blast it out of existence. This action clues the Earth Federation in as to the true significance of monopole. The destruction of the Earth Federation fleet over Rinbos is generally held to have been the opening act in the Galactic Hundred Years War. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." Aga talks in brief about the early history of Rinbos late in the episode. The first battle fought over control of Rinbos is shown in flashback early in the episode.] 2403-2508 - The Galactic Hundred Years War is fought between the Earth Federation and the Seiren Federation. Practically all of the fighting occurs in the rim areas of the Milky Way galaxy near Cluster M27 - where the Seiren Federation is centered - or in the side of the cluster itself closest to the galactic rim. This leaves other parts of the Milky Way free to continue their own affairs unmolested by the conflict. The Earth Federation is fighting to claim the knowledge of monopole technology. The Seiren is fighting to protect its own. This war will have many striking parallels to the American Civil war of the 1860s - save that it is fought with the latest technology on an interstellar scale, and will last for just over a century. For Seiren Emperor Brone, the war is a personal affair. He sees it as a long-overdue payback on Earth for practically forcing him and his people into exile so many years before. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow" and #2, "Yamato! Launch!"] sometime in the 2470s - Ryuzu, a famous Spanish flamenco dancer, assumes a Mechanoid body for the sake of her lover, a German nobleman named Baron Glock. Other women quickly copy her move, and she thus loses her uniqueness in Glock's eyes. He literally dumps her (in a rainstorm, no less) and finds another woman who has a newer and more unique Mechanoid body. Unknown to him, one of the quirks of being the first with her particular style of Mechanoid body is having a limited ability to control the flow of time. Ryuzu will eventually abandon Earth and relocate to a gravity well located beyond the Oort Cloud of the Sol System, where she preys on passing spacecraft with her time control ability for her amusement. [GE999a #009, "The Gravity Graveyard (Part 2)." The manga places this only 300 years in the past, c.2670, instead of 500 per the anime. This plays differently in the first GE999 movie, where Ryuzu was Count Mecha's lover and her ability to control time was because she was trained how to operate Count Mecha's Time Castle. The date I give can fit either the series or movie interpretations. In the GE999a materials, the Ryuzu of the Time Castle is name Leryuzu, she is this Ryuzu's sister, and she has the same type of Mechanoid body - which means she also has a limited ability to control the flow of time. See GE999a #79-81, "The Pirate of the Time Castle (Parts 1-3)."] c.2500 - The star of the solar system where the Mazone homeworld is located begins to collapse. [SPCHm Volume 2. "Centuries have passed and eroded our planet ..." to quote the manga. Date estimated.] 2503-2508 - The Galactic Hundred Years War finally grinds down to a halt. Not that either side has won, mind you - they just ran out of resources to continue the fight on an interstellar level. Small skirmishes and minor battles will continue during this time, but the only major action between the two opposing battle fleets will be fought at Rinbos - the planet where the war started in the first place. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] 2503 - The Earth Federation flagship Yamato, sixteenth to bear the name, is dispatched to the planet Rokoko on a top-secret mission involving the technology of the ancient Gorda civilization, which serves as the basis for Seiren power. Rokoko is believed by most Gorda experts to have been the center of Gorda civilization, and the Earth Federation is fortunate enough to establish their presence there first - much to the dismay of Emperor Brone. After arriving and investigating the Gorda ruins, however, the Yamato and its science teams are forced to flee for their lives - with a Seiren battle fleet hot on their heels. Only the Yamato's captain and a select few knows what they found there - and brought back with them. Emperor Brone only suspects, but fears the worst - which is why he dispatched the fleet after them. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!"] - It is at this time that the Rinbosian custody of his two young wards - Nabu family friends from Earth who died on past is shrouded in mystery, and only [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] scrap dealer Shima Toubou will acquire and Merci. Nabu is the son of two Rokoko. Merci is an orphan whose Shima knows her true heritage. - The last major battle of the Hundred Years War is a spectacular and deadly clash of main battle fleets in and around the planet Rinbos. The super space battleship Yamato, sixteenth to bear the name and flagship of the Earth Federation fleet, is shot down by the Seirens during the battle and crashes on the surface of Rinbos. The wreck will not be discovered until years later, in 2520. Instead, they believe it to have crashed into the surface of colony world M3 and exploding, killing its entire crew and everyone living in a nearby civilian city. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow" and #2, "Yamato! Launch!"] 2508 - An uneasy ceasefire and armistice is declared, ending the Hundred Years War. The Earth Federation holds the superior strategic position and can thus claim overall victory, but its ability to wage war has been badly depleted. On the other hand, Seiren Federation forces have suffered heavy losses and according to some sources - were on the verge of losing the war. Emperor Brone sees the ceasefire as convenient, giving him a chance to re-equip and rearm for the next round of fighting with the Earth Federation. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] - As it will later be learned, the Seiren Federation was in worse shape at the the end of the war than anybody thought at the time. They were beginning to run out of monopole to power their ships. The ceasefire was necessary, from their perspective, to provide time to gather enough in order for one last massive push to kick the Earth Federation out of their territory once and for all. After that, they could mine more monopole from the worlds they had lost during the war. This fact was a highly classified Seiren state secret known only to a select few among the Seiren elite. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] - The armistice line divides the Griffon system in two. Rinbos, the planet where the war started and ended, winds up on the Seiren side of the line. Nearby Wagus, a habitable desert world, winds up on the Earth Federation side. Both powers immediately build massive military bases on each to keep an eye to the get on [Y2520 2508-2520 on each other for any hint that the armistice is breaking down - much consternation of the local civilians on both worlds, who just want to with their lives in peace. #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] - In the two decades that follows the ceasefire, a booming trade in surplus and salvaged military technology takes place on both sides. There are enough battle wrecks, both in space and crashed on planetary surfaces, to make any dedicated businessman willing to work hard a quick fortune. One of the most enterprising of these is the late middle-aged scrap dealer Shima Toubou. He is from the Earth Federation, and was somehow trapped behind the lines on the planet Rinbos when the war ended. Very little is known of his past, but he is an acknowledged expert in Earth Federation military technology and even the local Seiren garrison soldiers have respect for his acumen. Their superiors suspect Shima may have been a high-ranking Earth Federation officer during the war, but they never find enough evidence to prove this. They keep him under their eye, but otherwise let Shima conduct his life - and his salvage business - as he sees fit. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] - The surface of the planet Rinbos is rendered almost completely uninhabitable by the effects of the war. The Seiren gather all civilian survivors into Osaka City, which is the one city intact enough to be rebuilt from the mess. As part of the rebuilding effort, they encase the city under a giant dome. Many of the civilian youths rebel against this control, however, and contrive ways to escape it. Their most popular gathering place is the Skeletal Forest - a vast graveyard of charred and petrified trees - on the far side of Rinbos (and away from prying Seiren garrison eyes). One of their most popular pastimes is to hold hoverbike races through the canyons, arroyos, and rocks of the bluffs surrounding the Skeletal Forrest. These youths have their main hideout inside the hangar bay of an old wrecked space battleship buried at the far end of a box canyon. The canyon was created by its crash during the last battle over Rinbos, and its wreck is located deep inside a cave at the end of the box canyon. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow"] - One of the oddities of the Seiren control over Rinbos is that no craft of any kind is allowed to fly higher than 30000 grids (?) without special permission. It is automatically assumed to be hostile if it is, and the computer-controlled planetwide missile batteries have standing orders to shoot down anyone, regardless of affiliation or purpose, that violates this ban. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." A mistranslation in the current fansub renders "grids" as "gurus," but the context indicates "grids" is the proper word. You can interpret "grids" as feet, meters, or whatever - Y2520 never makes clear how this term is to be interpreted.] -----------------2520 - YAMATO 2520 -----------------2520 - The Seiren Federation discovers the wreck of the Earth Federation space battleship Yamato, former flagship of the fleet and sixteenth to bear the name, located inside a cave at the end of a box canyon on the far side of Rinbos. It had been shot down and crashed there during the final major battle of the Hundred Years War - unknown to all save the local youths, who had found its remains the ideal place for their own private hangout. They excavate the wreck and make arrangements with a local scrap dealer named Shima to salvage it. There is no trace of its crew, its main computer core, or whatever it was that it picked up from the Gorda ruins on Rokoko. This disturbing discovery will frustrate Emperor Brone to no end. [Y2520 #1, "A Hope Towards Tomorrow." Major Reykard relates the story of the sinking of the Yamato to his honored guest, Emperor Brone's daughter Amnesis, at a private dinner - leastwise from the Seiren perspective. Shima knows the rest of the tale, since in another lifetime he was the Yamato's captain when it was shot down, and was one of its few survivors. In #2, "Yamato! Launch!" Brone reveals that he personally ordered the shooting down of the Yamato, in order to destroy the ancient secret of the Gorda that it found on Rokoko - and thus prevent it from falling into the Earth Federation's hands.] - The newest space battleship Yamato, seventieth to bear the name, is built in secret at the Great Lift spaceyard on Rinbos and launched from there. The fact that its based on the plans of the sixteenth Yamato but built in a Seiren spaceyard makes for some rather interesting design changes during the automated construction process - including the installation of a hybrid wave-motion and monopole-powered main engine. The new Yamato is crewed by almost a hundred dissident youths who are desperate to leave the planet. Among them are the young wards Nabu and Merci, along with their adoptive father Shima. He just happens to have been the captain of the previous Yamato, and knows the secret (involving Merci) kept inside a protected area of the former ship's data core - which Nabu had found and recovered just ahead of Seiren investigators. The Yamato is badly undercrewed, but Shima and his youths have to work with what they have - as they launch just ahead of Seiren security forces, who fail to prevent them from leaving. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" The Yamato's new hybrid main engine is termed the wave-monopole engine throughout the series. It takes Shima and his two or three weeks to build the ship, using the Seiren's automated spacedock facility at the Great Lift. NOTE - This particular episode will prove most informative to Leijiverse fans interested in automated starship construction techniques at this period in Leijiverse history. The same general techniques principles can apply to other periods, too. Only the resources required and time involved will change, as a general rule. Bear in mind, though, that everything needed to build the seventeenth Yamato, including all the raw materials, was already present and ready for use at the Great Lift facility. Building such a ship from scratch would take a lot longer.] - Among the many supplies and resources taken by the Yamato's young crew before their departure is a full flight of the Seiren military's latest space combat fighter - the SR1. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" They take at least 24 of them, per the visuals. Two full squadrons, possibly more.] - The launching of the new Yamato triggers the resumption of hostilities between the Earth and Seiren Federations. Emperor Brone of the Seiren Federation wants the secrets that Shima hid in the old Yamato's data core, as they are the key that will determine the continued existence of his empire. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" and #3, "Combat." The second episode implies that Shima had waited for years to rebuild the Yamato. All he needed was a crew for the ship - which is why he had been so nice to the disaffected youths of Rinbos. They were the perfect material for new recruits. Oh, and the reason there are apparent Seiren youths among Shima's crew is because they're half-breeds - and thus rejected by Seiren's Neo-Facist society.] - The first major casualty of the war is the planet Rinbos. Missile strikes on its primary monopole ore storage center causes a chain-reaction explosion which soon destroys the planet. Only a few hundred civilians manage to escape the disaster, hurriedly evacuated by the Yamato before the planet blows up. Most of the Seiren military personnel on the surface are killed. One of the few survivors to make it off the planet in time is Major Reykard, the kind-hearted commander of the local Seiren garrison. [Y2520 #2, "Yamato! Launch!" Most of the civilians who are evacuated are the family and personal friends of the new Yamato's crew. Reykard's escape would have been revealed in Y2520 #4, "Ancient Mysteries" - which was never produced.] - Shima takes the Yamato to Rokoko, and warps right into the middle of a pitched battle between the Earth and Seiren fleets. The timely arrival of the Yamato turns the tide of battle in favor of the Earth Federation, and the Seiren are sent packing. [Y2520 #3, "Combat"] - The Earth Federation attempts to seize the new Yamato, claiming that its original technology was theirs to begin with. Their plans are thwarted when the ship's computer refuses to recognize anyone but Shima and his young crew as the rightful operators of the ship. Instead, the Earth Federation has to content itself with providing logistical support and a carefully selected group of officers and enlisted men to bring the Yamato's crew numbers up to full strength. [Y2520 #3, "Combat"] - Shima decides to return to the Gorda ruins on the surface of Rokoko to finish what he started there almost two decades before. Merci learns that she somehow has a natural affinity for Gorda technology - which may explain her native talent for computers. She learns from the old Gorda systems that there is a warp portal on Rokoko that can take them to the Dragon Galaxy - the next stop on the trail of the ancient Gorda. They are hotly pursued by a Seiren battle fleet but escape at the last moment through the Rokoko warp portal. Emperor Brone then decides to warp the entire planet of Giza and its supporting battle fleet after them to the Dragon Galaxy, in order to claim the Gorda secrets for himself. Several Earth Federation battle fleets soon follow, via the Rokoko warp portal, with the same purpose in mind. [Y2520 #3, "Combat" and #4, "Ancient Mysteries." The last episode was never produced but a draft plot outline exists. Y2520's Dragon Galaxy and M-san's Fire Dragon Galaxy from both HSm and GE999EFm may be one and the same, but this is just a guess. The existence of an old Gorda warp wormhole between the two, however, would nicely explain how the Galaxy Railways was able to build a line between the two in the various GE999EF materials.] - The Yamato is badly damaged once it arrives in the Dragon Galaxy, thanks to the arrival of Brone's forces. The Earth Federation battle fleets arrive in the nick of time to save them, leaving the Yamato free to lick its wounds and continue its mission. [Y2520 #4, "Ancient Mysteries." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists.] - Shima and the Yamato's crew discover an ancient Gorda warp portal that is the hub for what amounts to an old warp wormhole transit system that spans several nearby galaxies (!). Among these is Galaxy M33 - better known as the Triangulum Pinwheel Galaxy - located some 2.5 million light-years away, and which the warp portal records claim is the original home of the Gorda. It also claims that the purest and most powerful forms of monopole - "level 10," as Emperor Brone knows it - can be found in Galaxy M33. [Y2520 #4, "Ancient Mysteries." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. The various GE999 materials imply that there was also a connection to the Andromeda galaxy, too - and this may have served as the foundation for what would later be known as the Infinite Track.] - The shortest route through the old Gorda warp wormhole network to Galaxy M33 takes the Yamato to a junction point right beside the Seiren home system, where the planet Giza was originally located. Brone warps Giza back to its home system by the same route, then calls in additional forces to attack the Yamato before it can jump into the next segment of the warp wormhole network. Shima and his crew find their path blocked by Brone's "palace ship" - the biggest starship they've ever seen. [Y2520 #5, "A Spacecraft the Size of a Planet (Part 1 of 2)" This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. The outline indicates that this could have very well been a two-parter, and I am treating it as such.] - Captain Shima is killed in the battle that follows, and he passes on his mission concerning the Gorda to Nabu, his young ward. Before his death, he reveals how Nabu and Merci became his wards. Nabu was the son of two scientists who were part of the original Rokoko investigation team and were killed during the Seiren attack. Merci is actually the last known living Gorda, and was retrieved from a eons-old cryostasis capsule on Rokoko. SHE was one of the secrets that the Yamato carried away, and that he so carefully guarded for the past 17 years. The other is hidden deep in the old Yamato's data core. It is the plans for the assembling of a Gorda superweapon - of which Emperor Brone has already found at least one piece - that has "the power to end the war" and ensure total dominance over all of known space. Shima also reveals that the reason that everyone at the battle of Rinbos thought the Yamato crashed on another planet was that his ship had just enough power left for him to make a small warp behind another Earth ship, thus hiding his crash on Rinbos. It was the other Earth ship that crashed on Colony M3. After Shima's death, Nabu offers Major Schmidt, the senior Earth Federation officer on board, command of the Yamato. Schmidt accepts and is able to fight his way around Brone's palace ship to the next warp wormhole portal. The Yamato warps away towards Galaxy M33, with both the Seiren and Earth Federation fleets in pursuit. Schmidt appoints Nabu as his executive officer, as he has come to trust the young man's talents over the past few weeks. [Y2520 #6, "Origins (Part 2 of 2)" This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. The outline indicates that this could have very well been a two-parter, and I am treating it as such. The title for the second part is my own. I have retconned the original plot outline somewhat, since the English translation of the original is a bit confusing with regards to Merci's origins and "powers." Shima also reveals, sadly, that all of his original crew died when they tried to evacuate the ship in lifeboats and the Seiren destroyed them all.] - After it arrives in Galaxy M33, the Yamato proceeds to a white dwarf star indicated by the ancient Gorda data in their possession. This is supposed to be where the Gorda superweapon is hidden. It can only be "opened" by causing the start to spin up via the application of monopole energy. Emperor Brone's fleet arrives on the scene, and brushes the poor Yamato aside in a burst of superior firepower. Brone then claims the star for himself. Using a vast amount of refined "level 5" monopole that he has brought with him in his "palace ship," he succeeds in "opening" the star. Inside he finds most of the rest of the Gorda superweapon. He then has his piece of it - which he found inside Giza's own star - brought out from his ship in order to complete the weapon and make it functional. [Y2520 #7, "Space Extinction Crisis." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is Episode 6 in the original series outline - bumped up by one when I turned the original Episode 5 into a two-parter.] - As it turns out, Brone's "level 5" monopole is not powerful enough to properly control the ancient Gorda superweapon. He tries to use it anyway and it essentially backfires - trapping his "palace ship" and most of his fleet inside a newly created superstring (as the astrophysicists call it). Brone and all of his people are killed instantly. The out-of-control cascading superstring created by the misfired Gorda superweapon now threatens the very existence of the universe itself, and it's up to the crew of the Yamato to stop it ... somehow. They do so by reloading the weapon with the proper "level 10" monopole, which they have picked up along the way in their epic journey. Nabu fires it at the superstring, which promptly collapses. Once again, the universe is saved ... thanks to a ship named Yamato. [Y2520 #8, "The Final Solution of the Big Bang." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is the first half of Episode 7 in the original series outline - bumped up when I turned the original Episode 5 into a two-parter. I have split the original proposal into two episodes for the sake of convenience. I have also had to do some heavy retconning and simplification of the original plot outline because all it is at this point is a bunch of ideas. I applied Occam's Razor to come up with my solution to the final fight in Galaxy M33.] - All ships involved in their respective fleets return to their respective federations - save the Yamato. It is invited to the Seiren Federation as a diplomatic courtesy, to celebrate its role in saving the universe. Nabu asks and is given consent by the Earth Federation for this special trip. [Y2520 #9, "The Return of Peace to the Universe." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is the second half of Episode 7 in the original series outline. I have split the original proposal into two episodes for the sake of convenience. The title is my own.] - Amnesis, the daughter of the late Emperor Brone, assumes the rule of the Seiren Federation. Having been a part of Brone's expedition to search out the secret of the Gorda - as well as one of its few survivors - she has come to reject Neo-Facism and everything for it stands. She and her advisors will eventually negotiate a truce with the Earth Federation, that will in time become a formal alliance. She also takes the time to marry her consort, Major Reykard, onetime garrison commander of Rinbos and also a survivor of the fight over the secrets of the Gorda. They had grown close during their time together as part of Brone's expedition to Galaxy M33. [Y2520 #9, "The Return of Peace to the Universe." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is the second half of Episode 7 in the original series outline. I have split the original proposal into two episodes for the sake of convenience. The title is my own.] - The Yamato travels to Earth. For Nabu, Merci, and their fellow Rimbosians, it is their first visit to humanity's homeworld - and it is an eye-popping experience for all of them. Nabu offers the Yamato to the Earth Federation military but they decline. Its technology is too unique for them to integrate into fleet operations, although they do accept the gift of its complete engineering schematics and specs, as well as those of the old Yamato's data core and everything they have collected concerning the Gorda. The Earth Federation "gives the Yamato back" to its Rimbosian crew, in a manner of speaking, and encourages them to explore the Sea of Stars in their ship. This they do, and soon depart Earth for new adventures on their own. In the meantime the Earth Federation uses the data that Nabu gave them to begin construction of the eighteenth EDF warship to bear the name "Yamato" ... and with that, the saga of Y2520 ends. [Y2520 #9, "The Return of Peace to the Universe." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is the second half of Episode 7 in the original series outline. I have split the original proposal into two episodes for the sake of convenience. The title is my own.] c.2521-2900 - This is the time of the Second Wave of interstellar exploration and expansion by mankind. [My term. See my entry on the First Wave.] - The Ghost Trains first appear on the Galaxy Railways space rail network in the period immediately following the Hundred Years War. One of them is first observed picking up the war dead. They appear to be based on or derived from the model 138 space locomotives, which were last used during the years when the space rail network was being completed. No one knows who operates them, but their apparent purpose appears to be to pick up the dead or dying and transporting them to "points unknown." Many legends and rumors will grow and surround the Ghost Trains in the centuries to come, and they are almost always given a wide berth by the living whenever they appear. [GE999A, GR1 #04, "Eternity." GR1 states that the Ghost Train encountered by the Sirius Platoon was first seen immediately following a major war "long ago." SDF database checks confirm the type of locomotive. The fact that there was more than one can be deduced from GE999A. Layla Shura, the chief operating officer of the Galaxy Railways, knows all about them and explains their purpose to the Sirius Platoon officers. The Machine Empire probably requisitioned them for its own nefarious purposes during the Machine War, as GE999A depicts.] - Eventually, after a few generations have passed, the Seiren Federation will be absorbed into the Earth Federation and it will cease to exist as an independent entity. [Y2520 #9, "The Return of Peace to the Universe." This episode was never produced; however, a draft plot outline exists. This is the second half of Episode 7 in the original series outline. I have split the original proposal into two episodes for the sake of convenience.] - Sometime during this period, the Galman-Gamilon Empire ceases to exist. [Implied. We never hear from or about it again after SBR.] - Agents of the Machine Empire in the Andromeda galaxy encounter the Metanoids. Upon hearing this news, Queen Promethium recognizes its significance and immediately offers an alliance. This the like-minded Metanoids and their ruler, Dark Queen, are only too willing to accept, as it dovetails nicely with their own ultimate aims. Both dream of achieving intergalactic dominance with the help (and at the expense) of the other. The Machine Empire wants the human-like, helium-3 based cyborg technology of the Metanoids, to which they have so far been denied. The Metanoids want more open access to the fast-acting, self-replicating abilities of the latest generation of Mechanoids. This event marks the beginning of the rise (and eventual dominance) of the Machine Empire in the Andromeda galaxy, with the Metanoids as its advisors and agents. Their most visible presence will be as Queen Promethium's elite bodyguard of Machine Knights - a position that only a handful of non-Metanoids will ever achieve. [Implied by HSm Volumes 3-8 and the GE999EFm series, as well as ML, SSM, and GE999A. This would go a long way towards explaining the curious relationship between the Mechanoids and the Metanoids in "revival" Leijiverse works, especially in the turbulent decade leading up to the Machine War. One might say, based on Maetel's revelations at the end of GE999A, that it was Queen Promethium herself who first contacted the Metanoids, but this would be retconning of a "heyday" work for purposes of the "revival" Leijiverse. Besides, what information we have from ML appears to indicate that it was the other way around - the Metanoids contacted the Mechanoids first, and may have even been responsible for their creation. I'll leave this line of speculation to the fans and scholars, and move on ....] c.2530 - Now that it is the dominant interstellar superpower in the Milky Way galaxy, the Earth Federation changes its name to the less Terro-centric sounding Solar Federation. It will retain its new name until its collapse in 2964 under the Illumidas heel, over 450 years later. [Implied by Y2520, MYA, SSX, CWZ. Y2520 is the last Leijiverse story in sequence where the term "Earth Federation" is used. Almost all subsequent stories use "Solar Federation" or some variant thereof, with CWZ's "Terrestrial Federation" being the only notable exception.] c.2640 - On the planet Jura, a group of a hundred or so human colonists manage to find a way to beat back the giant plants and claim one of the planet's ancient cities for their own. They burn the jungle away for miles around, leaving a wide desert belt around their city so the jungle will be unable to threaten them again. Within the next decade, the new human colony on Jura will have grown to about 100,000 people, and their chief export will be Juran artifacts and technology they have recovered from the city. The jungle will eventually get its "revenge," so to speak, reclaiming the planet and killing all of the human colonists. Little trace of the brief rehabitation of Jura will remain. [QEm Volume 1; see also SPCHa #06, "The Phantom Mazone." Jura is depicted as a jungle world in SPCHm and as a desert world in QEm. This is my way of attempting to reconcile the two. This is just a guess, but the treasureseeking by the greedy humans who settled on Jura, per QEm, probably got out of hand - and that was the opening the jungle needed to "reclaim its own," so to speak. That's why Jura is a jungle planet again by the time SPCHa rolls around, with no sign whatsoever of the humans who briefly lived there.] c.2650 - According to one account, the disabled ship of the free trader Emeraldas crashes on the planet Jura, a human colony world located in the Ammonite star system somewhere within the Horsehead Nebula. It is there that she finds what will become her trademark ship, the Queen Emeraldas - built by the ancient beings of Mosgalut long before. and kept for her all this time by Zonaluna of Mosgalut - who dies not long after bequeathing the ship to Emeraldas. [QEm Volume 1; see also HSm Part 3, "The Valkyrie," Volume 2. The date has been adapted from the HSm account, which is quite different and therefore incompatible with the older account given in QEm. The inhabitants of the planet Meta-bloody, where the Queen Emeraldas is located in that version of events, say that it had been the subject of local legends "for over 300 years." The QEm account can be taken as the pre-"revival" version of the origins of the Queen Emeraldas itself. By the way, the planet Jura also appears in SPCH, where it is depicted as a jungle world. It would not be hard to retcon and reconcile the two stories, though. They take place on different parts of Jura, and perhaps the human colonists in QEm found a way to overcome the giant plants that destroyed Mimay's people. See? Not that hard at all.] - According to one account, Emeraldas will receive the scar on her face while fighting a gravity saber duel with the governor of the human colony on Jura for possession of hew new ship. She offers mercy to the governor after besting him, but he instead shoots her in the face - barely missing her left eye. He succeeds in breaking her gravity saber after the duel resumes, but she is quickly able to secure another from the ship and kill her opponent. Emeraldas never has the scar from this duel removed from her face. It serves as a constant reminder never to give quarter to a foe who asks for none or deserves none. [QEm Volume 1. The governor is never named in the manga version. My earlier description - and my error in the second edition of this document - came from an online summary of the tale. I have since obtained a proper translation, and have corrected this document accordingly.] - In the "revival" Leijiverse, Wotan's bending of one of the Rings of Time will cause the Queen Emeraldas to be relocated from Jura to the galactic rim world of Meta-Bloody around this time. [HSm Part 2, "The Valkyrie," Volumes 2 & 3] - In another account of the tale of the Queen Emeraldas, the inhabitants of the planet Meta-Bloody discover an ancient alien ship lying half-buried in a canyon in one of the planet's more remote locations. It denies entrance to all who attempt to enter it, killing a number of them who try anyway, and tells them that it is waiting for its rightful owner ... who has yet to arrive. [HSm Part 4, "The Valkyrie," Volume 2. This is the "revival" version of the origins of the Queen Emeraldas.] 2673 - The Mechanoid known as the Gunslinger on the planet Memory begins his career. [GE999a #020, "Professional Souls." He states he has been a gunman "for the past three hundred years.] - The technocrats of the War-Torn Planet literally split their world in two so they will no longer have to live with the environmentalists that oppose them, as well as a number of primitive tribes on the planet. Shortly thereafter, their half of the planet explodes due to an imbalance in its giant rocket motors. Left behind is only half a world, with is surviving inhabitants soon enough reverting to primitive barbarism. Only jungle-covered ruins are left behind of what few cities and items of high technology remain. [GE999a #023, "Queen of the Primitive Planet." Date implied by visuals.] 2690 - Main Dendorum, of the colony world of Macaroni au Gratin, is Mechanized. He is the president of the colony city located inside the hollow asteroid. [GE999a #108, "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin." 283 years, per the dialogue. NOTE - "Main" as in "main program routine."] 2693 - Sub Dendorum, of the colony world of Macaroni au Gratin, is Mechanized. He is a major leader among the loose coalition of colony settlements located on the outside of the hollow asteroid. [GE999a #108, "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin." 280 years, per the dialogue. NOTE - "Sub" as in "program subroutine."] sometime in the late 2700s - The cartoonist in the lobby of the hotel on the planet Memory begins his work. He will continue non-stop, save for biological needs, for "over two hundred years." [GE999a #020, "Professional Souls"] - The Queen of the planet that will become known as the Witch's Harp begins demanding most of the planet's abundant food resources for herself. This will reduce the rest of her realm to ruin, with half-starved subjects fighting over whatever scraps of food they cannot steal. The signal to bring the food to her private island is a beautiful harp call. Multiple automatic laser guns scattered everywhere shoot anyone who has extra food. This situation will remain in effect until Tetsuro and Maetel's visit in 2973, via the Three-Nine. [GE999a #065, "Symphonic Poem of the Witch's Harp." The waitress at the hotel says that this has been happening "for over two hundred years."] c.2700 - The socialist society on the world later known as the Gimme Planet collapsed due to the simple fact that all of the people who used to work have now become totally dependent on handouts, with no personal initiative or desire to earn a living. Within a few years, everyone - including those few remaining upper-class citizens who are unable to move off-word for whatever reason - are forced to beg themselves. Within a generation, the entire population is reduced to abject poverty, and subsists either by begging or by bartering with their neighbors and relatives for what few goods are left. The planetary economy collapses and never recovers ... but somehow, incredibly, the people survive. The Gimme Planet is what the rest of known space renames this world, and avoids contact with its beggar population as much as possible. [GE999a #074, "The Gimme Planet." Maetel says that the total collapse of planet's economy happened "sometime between one to two hundred years ago."] c.2750 - The atmosphere of the planet Illumida, one of the most technologically advanced worlds in the Andromeda galaxy, becomes too polluted from overindustrialization and hypertechnology to sustain life. Its inhabitants have only two choices - accept imminent extinction or head into the Sea of Stars. They chose the latter, and it is this choice that will eventually pave the way for the rise of the Illumidas as one of the major interstellar powers in the Andromeda Galaxy. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire Part 2 - Secrets." While CHR is admittedly apocryphal insofar as most Leijiverse fans are concerned, it is the ONLY source to date that explains the origins of the Illumidas as seen in MYA and SSX. For fans of the "revival Leijiverse" stories, this is the point where your timeline - or "ring" if you will - begins to diverge from that of the "heyday" stories. In the "revival Leijiverse" the Illumidas apparently chose extinction - which explains their conspicuous absence, as well as the Machine Empire rising to power a decade or two earlier than is the case with the "heyday" stories. BTW, I'm not going to point out every difference between the two in later entries, but this is something you should keep in mind if you're a fan of one or the other. Just keep track of the stories involved and you can spot the differences easily enough for yourself.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------=> BREAKPOINT BETWEEN THE "HEYDAY" AND "REVIVAL" LEIJIVERSE TIMELINES <=-------------------------------------------------------------------------c.2853 - There is a world somewhere within the Outer Rim of the Andromeda galaxy, along the Infinite Track, whose unique planetary conditions grant its humanoid inhabitants and settlers virtual immortality. They neither age nor die, so long as they remain there - within the confines of its unique atmosphere. They stay either at the peak of their young adulthood or at the age they were when they first arrived. Death is an unknown thing ... so when a passing spaceship crashed on it, killing one of its two occupants before the planet's ecosystem had time enough to save him, its inhabitants were shocked. They had to learn how to conduct a funeral for the young man from the craft's only other survivor. Such a thing was so different - so "refreshing" even - from the way they were used to living, that they quickly became obsessed with the new concept. Rather than lose their new way of life, they abruptly killed the ship's only remaining survivor right after the funeral for her companion, so they could have another funeral ... and thus the custom began. People are now routinely killed just so the funerals will never stop - and thus one monotonous lifestyle was traded for another. Their world became a place of eternal funerals, and it became known to the rest of the Andromeda galaxy as the Planet of Funerals. [GE999a #066, "The Planet of Funerals in the Mist." Machiru recounts this sad tale to Tetsuro and Maetel. She was an eyewitness to the event, and says it happened "about 120 years ago." She also says that weapons were unknown on her world before this happened, but were developed in order to kill people and keep the eternal funerals going.] c.2860 - The last battle of a great planet-wide war is fought on the world of El Alamein. Most of its surface has been reduced to ruins and desolation in prior decades of fighting. After this date, most of the fighting will be of a regional nature, since there is no longer any infrastructure left to wage combat on a global scale. [GE999a #046, "The Voices of El Alamein." Nanmi tells the Conductor of the Three-Nine, "It's been over a hundred years since the most violent battles ended." Maetel later observes that the planet was named after the North African tank battle of World War II, since its arid climate was similar and perfect for mass mechanized combat.] c.2870 - The ruling Queen of the world later known as the Flower Capital first imports those plants from another world. Her world is a drab and barren place, with few plants of its own, and she wants them in order to beautify the place. Somehow, the transplanted flowers mutate and evolve toxic strains that become dominant in their new form. Their pollen is deadly poison to anyone who breathes enough of it - especially young children. The planetary government never reverses the Queen's decree after her death - that anyone who picked a flower was to be executed - since they find it an extremely convenient means of population control. Over the next century, the population of the Flower Capital will be slowly decimated, and 40% of it will have died from toxic pollen poisoning by the time a terrorist act in 2973 finally destroys all of the flowers growing on the surface. [GE999a #070, "The Planet of Fragile Flowers"] c.2915 - Masu "Miss Masu" Tsunajima is born in a fishing village somewhere on the coast of Japan. [SPCHa #33, "The Lone Man's Charge;" implied] - Goro Otowara, future commander-in-chief of Earth's military forces in 2979, is born somewhere in Japan. [SPCHa #33, "The Lone Man's Charge;" implied, He had once courted Miss Masu when the both of them were young.] c.2920 - Setsuko Oyama, mother of Tochiro Oyama, is born. [GE999g] - Matthew, a young man on Duet, the habitable moon of Herise, begins a job as a postal carrier. He will retire in 2974 as an old man, having delivered the mail "for over fifty years." In all those years, he never fails in his job save once - a single letter that appears to have no address or postage. [GROVA Part 1, "The Tidal Wave of Time"] sometime in the 2920s - Goro Yuki, eldest of the Yuki brothers, is born. [Probable conjecture based on his apparent age in SSX #03, "The Legend of Arcadia"] - Souichiro Yuki, brother of Goro and Wataru Yuki, is born. [Probable conjecture based on his apparent age in SPCHa #16, "The Farewell Song"] - Wataru Yuki, youngest of the Yuki brothers, is born. [Probable conjecture based on his apparent age in GR#1, "Setting Out."] 2929, 1 October - The merchant ship Sell is launched by the Solar Federation Transportation Department. It is built to "an old design." At some point later in its life it will be purchased by a company named Andromeda Call, and converted for space tourism. In this role, it will normally transport 100-120 passengers on a sightseeing run between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. [SSX #05, "The Girl From the Ghost Ship Sell," date corrected per MYA and ARA. The year 2960 is given in the anime, but this is WAY off given the other dates that are listed in conjunction with the Sell's disappearance and has been adjusted accordingly. The "old design" in question is a nod to space sailing ships, which used to be a staple of Japanese science fiction in both anime and live action.] c.2930 - The Machine Empire establishes a civilian settlement on the planet Serract in the Tohr Sector. [CWZ #07, "The Need to Believe"] - Schawanhelt Bulge is born. [Probable conjecture based on his apparent age in GR#11, "The Yearning."] 2932 - Chancellor Aphrodus has a number of forced labor and concentration camps built on his colony for the containment of so-called "undesirables." [QEm Volume 2. The head guard pulls up the past 50 years' worth of prisoner records for Emeraldas at the Sector 4984 Camp, so it's been in operation for at least that long.] 2933 - A man named Edmond leaves his home planet of Supersweet and embarks on a successful fifty-year career as a space warrior. [GE999a #032, "The Bitten Planet of Suspended Space"] c.2935 - Faust Hoshino, father of Tetsuro Hoshino, is born. [GE999A implied, see also various and sundry GE999a episode flashbacks and CHE's "Sins of the Father" story arc. He was supposedly a friend and contemporary of Captain Harlock prior to the Earth-Illumidas War, which means the two are about the same age.] 2938 - Phantom F. Harlock XCIX is born on Earth at the family estate of Arcadia, located near Heilgenstadt in Oberfranken, Germany in both the "classic" and "heyday" Leijiverses. [MYA, SSX, GE999f, and CHR implied. Harlock is an adult and has seen years of military service with the Solar Federation Space Navy when the events of MYA take place. Some MYA background sources make his age to be 29 when he turned his back on Earth and became a space pirate. The fact that he was the 99th (XCIX) and last to bear the traditional family name comes from the Harmony Gold press kit for CHQ1K. TCm's "Eternal Arcadia" appears to imply that Arcadia might correspond to the real-life castle and estate of Schloss Griefenstein.] 2939 - Doctor Zero, the third medical officer to serve aboard the Arcadia, is born. [CHEO #05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet." He is listed as being 60 years old in his official file, per the subtitles.] early 2940s - Metanoid agents begin to infiltrate the Solar Federation power structure. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried" and Part 4, "Gotterdammerung"] - Wataru Yuki marries his first wife, Fumi. [Implied by SPCHa #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song" and the M-san interview in the GR1 DVD set regarding Kei Yuki's background. See also GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "The Army of Destiny" - in which no less an authority than Captain Harlock himself confirms that Kei's birth father is Wataru Yuki.] - Half of the mineral-rich planet Rosamund collapses due to overmining of its energy-rich crystalline ores. The only survivor to escape the disaster on that side of the planet is a man named Wheatman, the engineer for the Galaxy Railways ore run. Among the millions of dead and missing are Wheatman's parents and younger sister. [GR1 #08, "Afterglow). Wheatman's picture inside the old #825 and the flashbacks in the episode suggest he was in his early 20s when this happened. He is an old man with a failing heart by the time GR1 takes place. This date is an educated guess and could be off by a couple of decades either way. Remember, apparent ages are difficult to judge in the Leijiverse.] - The planet Snowinca, know as "the gateway to the Andromeda galaxy," becomes almost completely Mechanized. [GE999a #090, "The Snow Woman from Andromeda (Part 1)." This happened when Tsuru, the owner of the last ramen shop on Snowinca, was still a young man with a head full of hair. He is now old and bald. His girlfriend Yuki, is Mechanized about this time, becoming the "snow woman" of the story per GE999a #091 (Part 2).] c.2940 - Commissioning of the Karyu class of space control ships for the Solar Federation Space Navy. These represent their most powerful class of space warships prior to the outbreak of the Earth-Illumidas War. [CWZ. The ship is an old design that predates the series, according to both Zero and Harlock, and is described by Zero himself as "delicate." My date is an educated guess based on its level of technology and comparison with its apparent successor, the Admiral class space battleships of MYA, SSX, and CHR.] c.2943 - Author Sosetsu Yoi leaves Earth and settles on the Mirage Planet as its sole occupant. He wants the peace and quiet of being completely alone in order to write "the longest novel in the world." [GE999 #028, "The Great Author of the Mirage Planet."] c.2945 - Warrius Zero is born. [The CWZ press release by Enoki Films states that Zero was in his "late twenties" at the time of the Big Galaxy War.] - Tetsuro Ilita, father of Yukihito Ilita, is born. [CHEO #05, 05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet"] c.2947 - The Solar Federation gains a new enemy in the form of the Illumidas, a previously unknown humanoid race from the Andromeda Galaxy with a reputation for viciousness. The Illumidas resent the expansion of humanity on its borders. A series of unofficial skirmishes soon escalates into an all-out war. [CHR Volume 03, "The Color of a Rose." Commander Jigor reflects that he had seen twenty years of combat in the Illumidas military only to transfer to the Earth Occupation Forces and see even more. This tallies well with other material suggested MYA and SSX. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source of detailed information regarding the origins of the Illumidas and the early years of the Earth-Illumidas War.] - Keiko "Kei" Yuki, daughter of Wataru and Fumi Yuki, is born on Earth in Japan somewhere close to Megalopolis. [Conjecture based on an interview with Matsumoto-san included with Volume 1 of the DVD release of GR1. He states for the record in the interview that Kei Yuki is the elder sister of Manabu and Mamoru Yuki, the sons of Wataru Yuki. Kei appears to be a young woman in SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword," and not the angry young teenager we see in the flashback scenes in SPCHa #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song"). She's also old enough to have become a respected starship captain and space pirate by the time CHEO rolls around, and her actions and mannerisms are that of an older woman who still looks young. SPCHa strongly implies that Kei's birthplace was in Japan, although the exact location is never given. Kei's birthdate needs to be as late as possible in order to avoid dating issues with SSX, SPCHa, and CHEO, while still remaining consistent with M-san's GR1 statements. See also GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "The Army of Destiny" - which among other things implies that Megalopolis might have been her home town. Matsumoto has also said on other occasions that Kei Yuki is a direct descendant of Nova Forrester Wildstar. ] 2948 - Tochiro Oyama, son of Setsuko Oyama, is born on Earth in both the "classic" and "heyday" Leijiverses. [SPCH #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space." This is the date engraved on Tochiro's tombstone/memorial marker on Earth. The name of Tochiro's mother comes from GE999g. One of the ironies of the "heyday" Leijiverse is that Harlock and Tochiro are almost a decade apart agewise; yet it is Tochiro, the younger of the pair, who will die first. This date also applies to the "heyday" Leijiverse as implied by the timeline given in ARA.] - The marriage of Wataru and Fumi Yuki breaks up. [Conjecture based on an interview with M-san included with Volume 1 of the DVD release of GR1. He states for the record in the interview that Kei Yuki is the elder sister of Manabu and Mamoru Yuki, the sons of Wataru Yuki. He never says they had the same mother; therefore Wataru Yuki must have been married twice. Kei Yuki's parents are named as Souichiro and Fumi Yuki in SPCH #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song." Occam's Razor dictates that Souichiro and Wataru must therefore have been married to the same woman, Fumi, at different times. Since they share the same last name then it is reasonable to conclude they must have been brothers. The intrusion of Wataru Yuki into Kei Yuki's background results from the "revival" Leijiverse reinterpretation of the backgrounds of almost every major established character in the Leijiverse - like Kei Yuki, as you can see here. It is my belief, based on the available evidence, that Kanna became pregnant by Wataru and the news of this led to the divorce. Mamoru Yuki, the elder of Kanna's two boys, would have been the one conceived during this time.] 2949 - Marina Mii is born on the planet Miraisenia. [CWZ #08, "Marina Everlasting" and the CWZ press release by Enoki Films. The latter states Marina was 22 when she joined the crew of the Karyu.] - Mamoru Yuki is born on Earth somewhere close to Megalopolis. [GR1 #01, "Setting Out;" GR999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "The Army of Destiny." This presumes that Mamoru was born within a year of his parents' marriage and that he is four years older than his younger brother Manabu. In the GE999EFm manga, Mamoru is surprised when Layla Shura shows him a vision of future Megalopolis as a sort of "gift" (knowing he will die and never see it again, but she never says this). He says Mount Fuji was the last thing he saw before he left Earth.] - Wataru Yuki marries Kanna, his second wife. They relocate to the planet Tabito, a peaceful world located in a remote system on the far side of the Mazelan Nebula. [GR #01, "Setting Out." and CWZ #10, "On the Edge of the Galaxy." This is pure conjecture on my part, but the move from Earth may have had something to do with his divorce from his first wife, Fumi. Fumi is the mother of Kei, while Kanna is the mother of Wataru's two boys, Mamoru and Manabu - with Mamoru apparently being conceived during Wataru and Fumi's earlier affair.] c.2950 - A teenaged Hanako leaves her parent's home on the planet Wildflower and heads for the nearby world Trader Junction to look for both a job and a husband. She finds only the job - never the husband. By the time Tetsuro meets her on his first trip on the Three-Nine, the rough and poor life she has been forced to lead have prematurely aged her. [GE999a #009 and #010, "Trader Junction (Parts 1 & 2). It has "been decades" since Hanako felt as peaceful as she did when Tetsuro buys her the first square meal she's eaten since losing her noodle shop job.] - The Conductor, a native of the Planet of Memories, hires on with the Galaxy Railways. He will eventually be assigned to the Three-Nine, one of its most prestigious space trains. [GE999a #042, "A Woman's Memory," implied. He states in the episode that he is from the Planet of Memories and that "I spent all of my youth" with his ex-girlfriend, who shows up on the Three-Nine during the episode. The GROVA series suggests that the Conductor's last name is Black, but never gives his first name. Most Leijiverse fans call him "the Conductor" or "Conductor;" a handful of the "revivalists" call him "Mr. Black."] - A small planet named Future is terraformed by Dr. Cyclops and his team. It quickly becomes home to hard-working and industrious human colony. Although have more in spiritual wealth than physical, that does not prevent the planet from turning into a pleasant place to visit, and it quickly becomes a regular stop on the Three-Nine's run. Future will serve as the model for the next major terraforming project by Dr. Cyclops and his team. [GE999a #049, "The Planet Future." The connection with Dr. Cyclops is surmised based on the way Future looks, which is remarkably like that of the Ghost Planet seen in GE999a #036, "The Great Doctor Cyclops." The good doctor appears to have had a thing for 20th century rural Japanese life on Terra. The age of the colony on Future is a guess based on the apparent ages of the hotel owner and his wife, who claim to have been among the planet's original settlers.] - Prior to the Earth-Illumidas War, Faust Hoshino earned his living as a construction worker - primarily as an operator of heavy equipment, such as excavators and mechanical shovels. [GE999a #087, "The UFO of the Planet of Forgotten Parents." Tetsuro recalls this in a short flashback. I'm presuming his mother must have told him this, since this would have been before he was born and per GE999A Faust served with Harlock in the Solar Federation Space Navy.] 2950 - Phantom F. Harlock XCIX is born on Earth in the "revival" Leijiverse. [HSm; in particular "The Valkyrie" and "Gotterdammerung" story arcs. His exact age is never stated, but HSm strongly implies that he and Tochiro are the same age. We know Tochiro was born in 2950 per the CWZ press kit; therefore, Harlock must have also been born in 2950 in the "revival" Leijiverse. His youth - early 20s - might explain Harlock's impulsive behavior in such "revival" stories as SSM and CWZ, as opposed to the older, more measured Harlock we see in such "heyday" stories as MYA and SSX - but this is conjecture on my part. A later date for Harlock's birth is also a better fit - somewhat - with CHEO, as it would make him 49 at that time, and keep fellow Leijiverse fans from having to jump through some of the same timeline hoops that I had to do in the second edition of this document.] - Tochiro Oyama is born on Earth in the "revival" Leijiverse. [CWZ press kit. He is the same age as Yattaran in the "revival" Leijiverse.] - Yattaran is born on Earth somewhere in Japan. [CWZ press kit; see also SPCHa #23, "The Song of the Model Lover." Yattaran grew up in Japan, according to his friend Doctor Zero. I ascribed his birthplace to the port city of Kobe in the second edition of this document, but I honestly don't have any solid proof that such was the case.] sometime during the 2950s (or even the early 2960s) - Neither Captain Harlock nor Tochiro Oyama were exactly the neatest people in their youth. Harlock was reminded of this years later when passing through the orbital trash belts surrounding the plant Yurundaraaan. "Looks a lot like our old room, eh?" the ship's computer (Tochiro) observed during the trip. [GE999EFm Volume 4, Chapter 10, "Disgrace" (Part 2)] 2951 - The bounty hunter Sylvania is born, location unknown. [CWZ official press release by Enoki Films. She was 20 years old at the time Warrius Zero arrived on Heavy Melder looking for Captain Harlock, per CWZ #05, "Tochiro the Great Samurai."] 2953 - This is the last time that Tetsuro's pistol was cleaned and in top-notch shape, per Boss Antares. [GE999a #004, "The Great Bandit Antares." Note that this date PRECEEDS the creation of the Cosmo Dragoon pistol by over a decade in what passes for the normal Leijiverse continuity. It only works for the TV series version of events - in which Tetsuro carries a space warrior's Cosmo Gun Special instead of a Cosmo Dragoon.] - A ruthless dictator seizes control of the world that will eventually be known as the Sacred Planet of Silence. In the pattern of such types, he violently suppresses all opposition and encourages the populace to inform on each other. A special hypersensitive hearing device is invented so new informants can better go about their tasks. These will eventually be implanted in most of the population, causing their ears to enlarge and bend forward somewhat. This backfires somewhat, since even the slightest sound is now capable of driving most of the population into a fit - so a series of Sound Pollution Laws are eventually passed to reduce, if not outright eliminate, as much of the planet's noises as possible. [GE999a #064 - "The Sacred Planet of Silence." Sylvia, the woman who aids Maetel and Tetsuro on this world, says that these laws have been in place "for a long time." She used to have the hearing devices just like everybody else, but had them removed about six months prior to Maetel and Tetsuro's arrival. The episode implies she had hers since childhood, which means that the devices were probably invented at that time. That would have been while the former dictator was still alive. I'm guessing that at least a generation has passed since the devices were made - 20-30 years, give or take - since the current governor, an old man, used to be one of the former dictator's top henchmen. Sylvia appears and acts like a woman in her late 20s, so I go with the lower estimate and date this to the early 2950s. My estimate could be off up to 10 years either way.] - Broygerd abandons his wife shortly after his infant son Verlong is born. He cannot cope with the fact that his son was born with only one arm. [CHR Volume 05, "Storms." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he is to date the only source for this information.] - Tadashi Momono is born on the planet Meshiras. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Lift Off!" and #03, "Battlezone Lullaby" - implied. He is a preteen, at least, since he's starting to look at girls with more than a childhood eye. The age of 14 is common for preteens in the Leijiverse. It's a safe bet he was born on Meshiras, since he didn't have enough money for decent food - let alone fare for offworld passage on even a tramp space freighter.] - Manabu Yuki is born on the planet Tabito. [GR1 #02, "A Knot in Time." This date presupposes that he is four years younger than his brother Mamoru. He states in the dialogue that he is "almost 20" on the day he is to report to join the GRSDF.] - The Galaxy Railways station on the planet Merides is abandoned after this date. [GR1 #04, "Eternity." The station hadn't been used in twenty years, per the dialogue. Exactly how or why is never stated although, judging from its shape, the Earth-Illumidas War could be retconned as a reason.] 2954 - Killian Black is born on the planet Herise. [GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny." This assumes that Killian was the same age as Manabu (20) - when he was within months of his graduation from the GRSDF Academy.] c.2955 - Pride and Alice are born sometime around this year on the planet Deadwood. Both are soon made orphans, and wind up being treated as outcasts as children. They soon discover that they have no one to lean on except each other - and this is what gives them the will and courage to survive and eventually grow up. [GE999a #045, "The Ride of the Space Valkyries." Both act and appear as if they are in their late teens or early twenties. My date is an estimate and might be off by as much as five years either way.] - Most of the population of Miraisenia agrees to Mechanoid conversion in order to avoid extinction, due to impending ecological changes on their world. Those who refuse flee to the stars looking for a new home. One such Miraisenian colony ship is hit by an asteroid and destroyed near the Sol System. Its sole survivor is a little girl named Marina Mii. An elderly Japanese couple named Oki take her in and adopt her as their own human daughter. They manage to conceal her true identity as an alien from everyone. As it turns out, Marina and only one other Miraisenian manage to survive the extinction of their species. [CWZ "Marina Special." No exact date is ever given for Marina's arrival on Earth; however, she recalls that "there weren't many Machine Men on Earth in those days." This, coupled with the fact that she was 22 when she joined the Karyu's crew, implies a date shortly before the Earth-Illumidas War. - The Procyon Binary Star orbital track accident occurs. It is the worst in the history of the Galaxy Railways up to this point in time. A young GRSDF officer by the name of Wataru Yuki emerges as a hero for rescuing the sole survivor - a 10-year-old girl named Katarina. Schwanhelt Bulge is inspired to join the GRSDF after hearing about Wataru Yuki's heroism. [GR1 #11, "The Yearning"] 2955 - Killian's birth parents succeed in altering the flow of time and preventing the death of their young son. His destiny was to be run down by a young woman named Eme - the girlfriend of a Herise nobleman named Modesto. His parents succeed in altering altering events so that Eme instead swerves off th e road to avoid Killian and hits a retaining wall, throwing her from her car and directly into a large boulder. The impact breaks her neck, and she dies instantly. Thus one life is exchanged for another - but this flow of events is not what was fated. This act by Killian's parents will bring down the wrath of the Enforcers on the planet Herise. [GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny." Killian is repeatedly described in the original Japanese dialogue as a "tokuiten" - a person who has been pulled out of the normal flow of time. Does that term sound familiar, ORGUSS fans? It's the same word used to describe pilot Kei Katsuragi and his friend Olsen throughout that classic anime TV series.] - All life on the planet Herise is destroyed by the Enforcers. One of only two survivors to escape the planet is a 1-year-old baby, whom the Conductor of the Three-Nine adopts. He eventually gives him the name Killian Black. The other is Modesto, the nobleman whose girlfriend was made to die in Killian's place. The planet Herise is soon taken off of the Galaxy Railways space rail network, and the local space rail line is moved to the nearby habitable moon of Duet. This will be the last time that any space train stops at Herise until the Three-Nine crashes there in 2974. [GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny." The GROVA series suggests that the Conductor's last name is Black, since Black is Killian's adoptive last name. By the way, Maetel was present at this event. The Conductor will later recall that accepting Killian, and carrying him away aboard the Three-Nine, was the first time he had ever violated Galaxy Railways policy since he started working for them.] - Louise Fort Drake is born somewhere in the Claudius Star Group Republic. [GR1 #02, "A Knot in Time" and #14, "Bond." She was 18 years old when she became part of the GRSDF.] 2956 - Phantom Harlock is appointed to the prestigious Space Defense Academy for training as a starship officer in the Solar Federation Space Navy. [Probable conjecture, with regards to the "heyday" timeline. We know Captain Harlock was a starship commander for the Solar Federation per MYA. This presupposes an Academy background, if the space navies of the future are anything like the navies of today. "Mustang officers" (those without an academy background) rarely rise to command rank, save in wartime - and then only after training programs at service academies are accelerated. There is a Space Defense Academy in Harlock's day per the background materials for CWZ. All of the Earth Federation officers aboard the Karyu are Space Defense Academy graduates. It stands to reason that Captain Harlock, having once fought for Earth, is a Space Defense Academy graduate as well.] late 2950s - According to at least one version of their respective life stories, a young Phantom F. Harlock will befriend Tochiro Oyama while the two are still youths. It will eventually grow into the friendship of a lifetime, echoing similar friendships by their ancestors across the centuries. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried." Per its version of events, which is intended for the "revival" Leijiverse, they grew up together - so this actually goes back as far as at least the back half of the 2950s. MYA implies that Harlock grew up at the family estate at Heilgenstadt, so perhaps Tochiro was the son of a visiting family friend? You can retcon this all sorts of ways.] - In one of the more commonly accepted versions of his past history, the young Phantom F. Harlock, heir to the Harlock estate of Arcadia in Heilgenstadt, Germany, falls in love with a beautiful young woman named Maya. As it turns out, she is a longtime friend from his childhood days. [MYA. Maya says in the movie that they first fell in love in the days of their youth. Her actual quote is, "Like Heilgenstadt - our Arcadia - where we ran together." This date presupposes that Harlock was a teenager at the time his romance with Maya began. This datum is true only for the "classic" or "heyday" Leijiverse interpretations. For the "revival" interpretation, you have to look at the end of HSm Part 4 - where in 2964 a young Maetel predicts to the teenaged Harlock that he will meet and fall in love with a young woman named Maya. How long their relationship lasted in the "revival" Leijiverse - of if they ever had any children, as another prophecy in HSm claims would happen - is not known.] - Alexander Nevich and his wife agree to take part in the Phoenix Experiment. It is a top-secret government project studying real-time memory transfers between parents and their offspring. Their as-yet-unborn child will also be part of the experiment. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc, Volume 04, "Bridges." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - A deadly accident at the Galaxy Railways station on the planet Destiny claims the life of Kinyuko Kayamori's son. [GR1 #06, "Sobbing in the Dark." He would have been the same age as Manabu Yuki had he survived.] - Galaxy Express #162 is lost when an accident causes it to fall into the gravity well of a red giant star. Only a portion of the passengers are saved. [GR1 #15, "Fellowship on the Battle Lines." This was one of the assignments shared by GRSDF officers Bulge, Julia, and Murase early in their careers. Injuries suffered during this incident resulted in the scars on Murase's face. The date is probable conjecture, as the incident appears to happen before Bulge's reassignment to Captain Wataru Yuki and the Sirius Platoon.] 2957-2966 - The Earth-Illumidas War. [CHR. Per Gibson, the war lasted for a decade. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - At some point early on the war, the Solar Federation will have Tochiro Oyama supervise the construction of a number of hidden mobile space stations, intended for resupply and rest for Space Navy units in the field. The war will keep most of these from being completed; however, at least four will be built. These four are a base in Earth's inner asteroid belt known as the SSX Base, the mobile asteroid known as Deathshadow Island, a combination multi-ship spacedock and space fortress almost as large as a Galaxy Railways hub station hidden inside a removable asteroid shell, and the mobile moon known as Pirate Island. All of these will end up in Harlock's possession, with Earth authorities lacking the will and capability to reclaim them, and he will use them - along with Emeraldas and other trusted friends - as part of his pirate operations. [GPH; DZ; HSm Volumes 3-8; SSX #06, "The Great Space Fortress Appears;" all SPCH sources; and various issues of CHR. It is in the SSX episode where we learn that Tochiro was the genius behind this program. He also implies that there is more than the one we see in that story ... and there most certainly are. GPH appears to be the first Harlock tale to feature him having an asteroid base, out from which he operates. Pirate Island is featured multiple times in HSm, and appears to be the largest of them all - with a full-fledged shipyard and construction facility contained inside! Hence its description as a small moon. Deathshadow Island is featured prominently in all SPCH sources. NOTE - HSm gives a different origin for Pirate's Island, in that it was by the Harlock and Oyama families for their own private use and rebuilt/adapted as needed over the following centuries.] 2957 - Tadashi Daiba, younger brother of Tsuyoushi Daiba and son of Lt. Commander Tadashi Daiba of the Solar Federation Space Navy, is born on Earth in Megapolis City. [Probable conjecture based on HSa, HSm Part 1, and CHR Volume 01, "An Exchange of Futures." While Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal, it tallies fairly well with the apparent age of the Tadashi Daiba depicted in both HSa and HSm.] - Namani Yuma, future professor of aerospace technology, is born on the planet Priznart. [SZ. She was 21 at the time the show takes place.] - The attempt to terraform the planet Tastasia ends in colossal failure. The planet's artificially created ecosystem begins to feed upon itself, and will rapidly collapse over the next decade. The end result leaves the surface of Tastasia an oceanless, barren wasteland. [CHR "Queen Emeraldas: The Children of Eden," Volume 01, "An Exchange of Futures." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however he is to date the only source for this information.] - Alexander Nevich and his expectant wife are caught off-world in one of the first Illumidas attacks on Solar Alliance colony worlds. The trauma of the attack causes Nevich's wife to go into premature labor. A young Solar Federation ensign named Daiquin guards Nevich and his wife while she gives birth to their son Alex. He also helps them escape capture by the Illumidas. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" Volume 02, "Severance" and Volume 03, "Ghosts." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however it is to date the only source for this information. Alex's birth had to have happened near the start of the Earth-Illumidas War due to his apparent age. He seems to be about the same age as Tadashi Daiba.] - Among the many victims of early Illumidas attacks is a young girl, daughter of a wealthy farming family on a colony world where sunflowers grow in abundance. An Illumidas fighter strafes the field where all of them all walking, killing her parents and younger brother. Shortly thereafter, she is captured by Illumidas ground forces and forcibly converted into a cyborg, Her human name is lost with her ruined past, and she becomes known simply as Alpha One. Eventually, she will be sold into slavery and bought by the captain of the trading ship Sell, who gives her the disgusting job of cleaning the bilges - where she will remain for the next several years. [SSX #05, "The Girl From the Ghost Ship Sell." Date is a best guess based on the flashback visuals, and allowing enough time for her for events to have happened as she describes them to Tadashi.] 2958 - The man who will become Baron Darghund enlists in the Solar Federation Space Navy in order to impress Maya, whom he also loves. He is somehow able to avoid deep space duty and remain on Earth, in order that he be close to Maya as much as possible. He proposes marriage soon after, but she rejects his offer. She is already engaged to his rival, Phantom Harlock. [CHR Volume 02, "And Its Roots Grow Strong Under the Ground," slightly retconned. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however he is to date the only source for this information. - The Solar Alliance military embarks on a crash program to develop a new space battleship design capable of dealing with the Illumidas. The reason for this is that the venerable Karyu class super space battleships, the backbone of the fleet, are falling victim time and again to their more nimble opponents. [Probable conjecture based on CWZ, MYA, and SSX. CWZ establishes that the Karyus are not the most agile of ships, while both MYA and SSX show us how maneuverable most Illumidas designs are.] - The latest effort by the brilliant terraformer Doctor Cyclops and his team is complete - an artificial Earth-like world with a translucent, enclosed atmospheric shell. Shortly after the initial wave of colonists move in, however, a flaw in one of the shell's systems (a single bad screw) causes the shell to fail and the atmosphere inside to rapidly evacuate - killing everyone on that side of the planet in a matter of minutes. The surviving colonists promptly evacuate the colony and personally blame Cyclops for what happened. His professional and public reputations are ruined, so much that he soon disappears from view. He will not be heard from again for the next fifteen years. The flaw in the failed colony world is found and fixed, but no one will live there due to the disaster and the reputation of the man who built it. It becomes known as the Ghost Colony. Even the space trains of the Galaxy Railways only make infrequent stops there - and never for very long. [GE999a #036, "The Great Doctor Cyclops"] 2959 - Launching of the SFS Admiral, the prototype (and lead ship) for the Solar Federation Space Navy's newest class of space battleship. The design proves to be successful, and is put into production as quickly as possible. The Karyu and her sister ships are either retired or relegated to secondary duties, while the Admirals replace them on the front lines. [Probable conjecture based on CWZ, MYA, and SSX. CWZ establishes that the Karyus were "delicate" ships that were long past their prime. SSX tells us that the Solar Federation's Deathshadow was an Admiral class space vessel. Both MYA and SSX - and even CHR, apocryphal though it may be - establish that the Illumidas had genuine respect for the Admirals. BTW, "S.F.S." stamds for "Solar Federation Ship."] sometime during the 2960s - A young woman named Yayoi, a native of the planet where Footstep Village is located, commits suicide after the manga novel on which she spent countless hours of hard work is rejected by "a big city publisher." Her body is found floating in a nearby marsh, and later buried in the local cemetery. Her prized manuscript is lost at this time, and will not be seen again until 2973 - when a visiting tourist named Tetsuro Hoshino is led to it by Yayoi's ghost. He will later shop the manuscript around for her, and eventually arrange for its posthumous publication. [GE999a #058, "The Ghost of Footstep Village," implied] - The planet Palomas is colonized. It is the last major colony world to be established by the Solar Federation before the end of the war and its collapse. [SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship."] - The planet Filament is destroyed when its sun goes nova. [GE999a #030, "The Ghost Planet Filament," implied. It had to have happened after the Mechanization process became available galaxy-wide, yet recent enough for stories of "ghosts" appearing in the era not to have become a local legend. - The World War II Japanese battleship Mahoroba reappears on Earth some eight centuries after its mysterious disappearance. The ship is immediately impounded by Earth Federation officials and its crew subjected to an extensive debriefing. Not long after, the vessel itself winds up in the hands of the Galaxy Railways Space Panzer Grenadiers. They appreciate the value of the early Time Sweeper technology it carries, and have the ship rebuilt as a space battleship in the same manner as the legendary Yamato. The two twin space battleships, Yamato and Mahoroba, soon become familiar sights again in the universe as they embark on various missions for the GRSDF. [UTSM and DYm. The possibility of time travel and interdimensional slipping via Time Sweeper technology is explored in such stories as HSm Part 4, "Gotterdammerung," and DNA. The Mahoroba also puts in brief cameo in GE999EFm, where its ownership by the GRSPG is strongly implied.] - Toshiro Oyama, who was aboard the Japanese battleship Mahoroba when it was catapulted far into Earth's future, discovers himself to be a rich man. This is due to the simple act of compound interest on funds in a special trust, set up for him by a mysterious benefactor before his abrupt departure from Earth in 1993. He uses his newly acquired wealth to move to the Outer Rim colonies and set up a mining business. A few years later, his company strikes it rich when it discovers a rich vein of cosmonite. Profits from his strike and from subsequent mining turn him from an already rich man to one wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. He can have anything money can buy - and yet, for all this, he is terribly lonely. He is a man out of his own time, and he is also unattractive - which means he has no female admirers save those only interested in his money. He derives what little pleasure he has, aside from his business, into tricking these into believing he has suddenly become poor and seeing how they react to the news. Eventually, he will buy his own private Dreamliner space express train and cruise the stars - always yearning for the kind of adventures he had in his youth. [UTSM implied, GR1 #13, "Sexaroid;" GE999EFm Volume 7, heavily retconned; plus some conjecture on my part. This replaces the entry in the second edition about him meeting his distant descendant. That entry was based on faulty data at the time. Sadly, there is as yet no hard evidence that such ever happened, as with him when he met is own grandfather in UTSM. The data from GE999EFm Volume 7 has to be retconned for this to work; I'm playing off the look of the character concerned as opposed to other factors. Oh, and Toshiro's mysterious benefactor is Yo Haguro, the mysterious blond from UTSM who was always helping him out. Per GE999EFm Volume 7, he eventually hooks up with a young lady named Ariavenus for a time - who, per GR2, will become the girlfriend of GRSPG officer Mamoru Yuki.] - The Galaxy Railways begins construction of new "interdimensional tunnels" for its space rail network, in order "to bring the galaxies closer together." [GR2 #01, "A New Departure." Possibly an improvement on the old warp wormhole network they were previously using, per Y2520, or maybe they were finally able to reactivate parts of it that hadn't worked before? Whatever it involved, this new space rail construction effort has dramatic implications to the GR storyline - especially in the second season.] - Prior to his enlistment with the Galaxy Railways SDF, Bruce J. Speed serves as a mercenary fighter for whoever will hire him. During this time he grows close to a young woman named Lisa Lee, who trains under him as a fighter. They quickly lose touch after he joins with the SDF, and she will not hear about him again until the year after his death. [GR2 #04, "Stardust Blues." The woman's name is translated as "Misary" in the common fansub. My transliteration is an attempt to make her name sound more normal in English, but it could be rendered other ways, too - such as "Misery." Her flashback might imply that she and Bruce fought together in Guella's planetary civil war.] 2960 - The Admiral class space battleships enter service. [MYA, SSX, and CHR - implied] - In the "heyday" Leijiverse, Phantom F. Harlock graduates with honors, at the top of his class, from the Solar Federation Space Defense Academy. His first assignment as a green ensign is to a cruiser patrolling the Outer Rim colonies, in light of increasing Illumidas attacks. His first act as an officer upon graduation is to marry Maya, his longtime love. [MYA; see also GPH and SBD. The earlier stories leave no doubt that Harlock was married at one time in his earlier incarnations. Harlock's wife as depicted in these early manga (Francoise in GPH, unnamed in SBD) bear an uncanny likeness to Maya from MYA. Emeraldas confirms that he was married in MYA when asked by Tochiro about Maya's relationship to Harlock. Her answer was, and I quote, "Yes; however, she would never tie down a man like Harlock." This answer has been misinterpreted by many over the years, including Gibson, to conclude that Harlock was never married. It's fairly clear from the evidence that Harlock WAS married in the "heyday" Leijiverse. I have interpreted her remark literally; that is, Maya was the typical "sea captain's wife" you often encounter in literature. She was rather lonely and missed her husband; however, she had no intention of making him stay on Earth and give up his life on the Sea of Stars. In deference to fans and scholars who prefer Harlock to be single, I point out that in the "revival" Leijiverse Harlock was never married. Maya was at best his lover, and may have had a child by him out of wedlock, as HSm seems to imply, but they were never married in any of the "revival" tales.] early 2960s - The Space Panzer Grenadiers, the elite forces group of the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force, resurrect the space battleship Yamato from its icy Arctic grave on Earth and claim it for their own. They refit and update the ship, man it with a full crew, and use it as part of their many missions to protect the Galaxy Railways from danger. In so doing they save the venerable Yamato from certain destruction in the intergalactic war that is about to break out between Earth and the Illumidas. [HSm Part 3 and GE999EFm. Great Harlock, the father of Captain Harlock, is passed by the revived Yamato while making his landing approach to Heavy Melder in the year 2964. Ten years later, in 2974, the Yamato passes the Three-Nine on its way to do battle with Dark Queen and her Metanoid forces. Maetel explains to Tetsuro that the Yamato now belongs to the Space Panzer Grenadiers. In GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapter 1, "Axe of the Mantis," Maetel says that its weapons, engines, interior spaces, and internal systems have all been "completely remodeled to the highest standards ... [even though] not much has changed on the outside."] - Revi Bentselle, daughter of Captain Bentselle, is born on Earth Colony Two. [SSX #03, "Battlezone Lullaby," implied. She is about five years old, give or take a couple of years, when the story in question takes place - comparing her age at the time with her age in the photo inside her cameo pendant.] - The Conductor is forced to leave young Killian Black in the care of a Catholic orphanage, as his duties with the Galaxy Railways prevent him from being a proper parent. The only reason he does this is because one of the passengers has threatened to report him "smuggling a young child aboard the Three-Nine" to his superiors. Killian never learns the reason for his apparent abandonment until he becomes a young adult, and events on his current mission reunite him with his foster father. [GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny"] 2961 - In the "heyday" Leijiverse, Phantom F. Harlock is promoted to lieutenant after completion of his first tour of duty, based on his excellent service record. He is reassigned to the Deathshadow, one of the Solar Federation Space Navy's new Admiral class space battleships. He will remain aboard for the next six years, eventually becoming its captain, and he will come to know the ship well. [MYA; SSX #3, "Battlezone Lullaby" and #10, "Snowfall in the Sea of Stars;" see also CHR #1, "Transitions."] - Brogyerd is assigned to the Deathshadow during his time with the Solar Federation Space Navy. This will be when he first meets Harlock, and the two soon become friends. [CHR #1, "Transitions." Per Gibson, they have know each other for "almost ten years."] - Both the Deathshadow and the Dark Victory, its sister ship, are assigned to assist in the evacuation of Anuald and several other key Solar Alliance colonies in the path of invading Illumidas forces. [CHR Volume 11, "Message in a Bottle, Part 1." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Takashi Yuki, chief navigator of the Deathshadow, is killed by the Illumidas during the evacuation of Anuald. [CHR Volume 11, "Message in a Bottle, Part 2," retconned slightly. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. I note in passing that in Gibson's apocryphal stories Takashi Yuki is the father of Kei Yuki. His death is what drove her to join the Illumidas resistance and eventually join forces with Captain Harlock. I defer to M-san's account of Kei Yuki's joining the Arcadia as given in SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword." Thus, in my retconning, he is just a relative of Kei's possibly an older cousin - and not her father.] - Birth of Tetsuro Hoshino, only son of Faust and Kanae Hoshino. [GE999a #018, "Maetel of the Mud," but adjusted for GE999f. Tetsuro is ten years old in the TV series when he boards the Three-Nine, but is older in the movies. I'm guessing an age of twelve, since he is described as having passed out of childhood and become a young man - i.e. teenager - in GE999A, which meant he was at least fourteen by then. I have pushed the year of Tetsuro's birth back two years accordingly.] - This was the last time Hanako's parents on the planet Wildflower heated up their bath for a guest. [GE999a #010, "Trader Junction (Part 2)"] - Helmazaria's son Rowell is born. [GE999EFa. Before she dies, Helmazaria say that she has a son who is the same age as Tetsuro. The name comes from the manga.] 2962 - Phantom Harlock is promoted to lieutenant commander and reassigned as chief operations officer of the Deathshadow. [Probable conjecture based on MYA and SSX #03, "Battleground Lullaby." Harlock was an acknowledged tactical genius, per MYA and SSX. A tour as an ops officer would help explain Harlock's extensive knowledge of space warfare tactics - something he couldn't learn through cadet training alone.] 2962, September 4 - The tourist ship Sell, a converted merchant vessel built to resemble an old Earth sailing ship, mysteriously disappears with all hands while making its regular Milky Way to Andromeda sightseeing run. There will not be any sign or clue as to what happened to it until five years later, when it is learned that the ship was seized by the Illumidas and all hands on board save one were shot. The only survivor is a cyborg teenager whom the Illumidas force into their service, deactivating her until such time as she is needed. [SSX #05, "The Girl From the Ghost Ship Sell." Tochiro says that the Sell disappeared "five years ago," but the dates in its log are WAY off from what they're supposed to be. It supposedly disappeared in the year 2999 - some three decades AFTER Harlock and company find it in 2968! Might be a fansub translation error, might be an original production goof, or maybe it's that cwazy Wejiwerse scwewing with us again, but I've adjusted accordingly. Also, the episode appears to imply that Alpha One was a plant right from the start, and it was her presence on board that allowed the Illumidas to seize the Sell in the first place.] 2963 - The great underwater city of Cheyenne is finished. Waterpress, its ruling President and his followers, aquatic aliens from another world, promptly kill the leader and wife of the native aquatic humanoids who helped them build the city. They then exile them to "the wastes." They monopolize all of the oceans' resources for themselves - to the point that they are completely exhausted within a decade. Ironically, they will also fail in their efforts during this time to build a new spaceship capable of taking them to yet another pelagic planet. The rusting ruins of their efforts, located on one of Cheyenne's few islands, stand as a stark testament to this failure. [GE999a #075, "Cheyenne the Water Planet (Part 1)." Geronimo says his parents were killed ten years ago. He never says when the President and his people arrived, but he implies it was while his father was chief - perhaps another decade or two earlier. The only date we know for certain is when his parents were killed by the President's men.] - Souichiro Yuki, who is by now an important scientist working in Earth's Space Development Department, is tragically asphyxiated during a "freak accident" on one of his projects. The tragedy is compounded when his widowed wife Fumi dies shortly thereafter, leaving their daughter Kei an orphan. Kei Yuki is traumatized by the death of both of her parents and her public abandonment by her boyfriend, Kazuya Katagiri, her late father's former laboratory assistant. She is placed into a foster home but runs away shortly thereafter, attempting to stow away on an interstellar freighter. She is eventually caught and sent back to Earth on a prison barge; however, an unexpected encounter with a young Solar Federation officer named Phantom Harlock will forever change her life. [SPCHa #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song," retconned. In the actual episode, Harlock was already a space pirate the first time he encountered Kei Yuki. This is impossible in the "heyday" Leijiverse given the way Kei's character is developed in SSX and presents certain issues with the "revival" Leijiverse. Harlock and Kei don't mention this encounter when they meet again just a few years later per SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword," but that doesn't rule out the possibility that something like it didn't happen, either. There's certainly enough room for it in Kei's backstory. The SPCHa account only works as is for the "classic" Leijiverse; retconning to some degree is required for the other two viewpoints.] - Goro Yuki, elder brother of the late Souichiro Yuki, adopts the orphaned Kei Yuki as his own daughter. [Probable conjecture. My way of reconciling the events of SPCHa #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song" with SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword." This act would be in keeping with Japanese tradition, as well as that of many other Oriental cultures.] - Mamoru Yuki joins the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force. He eventually earns a place with its Space Panzer Grenadiers - the elite special forces unit of the Galaxy Railways, operating from the Three-Six armored space train. [GR1 #01, "Setting Out" and #02, "A Knot in Time;" see also GROVA Part 4, "Pieces of Time" and GE999EFm Volume 7 Chapters 1 & 3. This takes place seven years prior to GR1, which takes place in the same year as GE999f - as established by GROVA, GR2, and the last published volume of GE999EFm. The boy you see silhouetted in the window of the Three-Nine with Maetel, as young Mamoru is leaving home to join the GRSDF, is NOT Tetsuro as I once thought and mistakenly reported in the previous edition of this document. It is yet another of Maetel's many traveling companions over the years - as evidenced in SSM, GE999f, GE999a #079, "The Pirate of the Time Castle (Part 1);" and GE999a #112, "The Vision of Youth! Farewell, Three-Nine!"] - The Illumidas consolidate their forces and begin preparing a grand offensive against the Solar Federation. One of their most important allies at this time is the Machine Empire, their friendly rival and alliance partner in the Andromeda galaxy. Queen Promethium and her scientists provide the Illumidas with considerable technical assistance in the fields of robotics, cybernetics, automation, and component micro-miniaturization. [Probable conjecture based on MYA, SSX #09, "Who Is The Spy?" and #11, "The Luminous Battleship." We first meet the cyborg La Mime in MYA, and later learn from SSX that she became that way when she was badly injured during the Illumidas invasion of her homeworld. Her replacement body parts came from the Illumidas themselves. An Illumidas androids infiltrates the Arcadia at one point, committing various acts of sabotage before it is eventually cornered and destroyed. This technology did not come from the Illumidas themselves, as we learn from General Kreuger. He admits that his people are still behind the Solar Federation in many areas. There is only one other power that could (or would) have readily provided this to them for their war with Earth, and that was the Machine Empire. Gibson intimates as such in CHR; however, he emphasizes that theirs was a strained relationship. An alliance between these two powers, however tenuous, would explain both the Illumidas warrant on Maetel per SSX #01, "Arcadia Blast Off!" and the occasional appearance of Mechanoids and Mechanoid technology throughout SSX. Such a connection would have eventually been established had the series been allowed to run longer, according to what background data on SSX is available, but this did not come to pass before the series was cancelled.] - Tadashi Daiba, son of Tsuyoushi and Mitsuko Daiba, is born on Earth in Megapolis City. He is named after his father's elder brother. [SPCHa #04, "To the Shores of Distant Stars"). Tadashi Daiba joined the Arcadia II's crew when he was 14. He was 6 years old when his mother died, which happened 8 years before the Mazone sphere fell on Earth in 2977. The part about his naming is probable conjecture, in order to resolve certain issues regarding the Daiba family tree in the Leijiverse.] - The attempt to terraform the planet Agri ends in colossal failure, when the planet's core collapses from the effort. The lives of everyone on the doomed planet's surface are lost when it implodes. There are no survivors. [GR1 #12, "Twilight". Captain Bulge tells Manabu Yuki that Makoto Kasanugi, the young man for whom he has been mistaken, died ten years earlier. He had been part of Agri's terraforming team.] - Most of the people of the Planet of the Rainbow Sash are annihilated in a planetwide war, which ends in a global thermonuclear bombardment. Its moon(s) is (are) also destroyed at this time, with most of the rubble becoming trapped in a series of multicolored rings around the planet (hence its current name). Only a few thousand people survive, and all of these are evacuated to a large underwater city. Among these is a young man named Tadashi Yamada, whose parents opposed the war - and ironically died on its last day, during the nuclear firestorm that ended it. [GE999a #092, "The Last Days of the Underwater City." See also the earlier manga short by the same name (TTB Chapter 13, I believe), on which this episode is based. In the GE999a version, the ring is formed by surface debris blown into orbit by the global nuclear holocaust. I have retconned this, since explosions that powerful would have probably blown the planet apart.] mid-2960s - Goro Yuki's wife dies at some point near the end of the war. [SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword." Kei's dialogue implies that her death was fairly recent.] - The future Captain Harlock develops a taste for red bourbon from Andromeda. It soon becomes his favorite alcoholic drink, and he always carries several bottles of it on his ship wherever he goes. [SPCHm. Harlock's favorite alcoholic beverage is mentioned several times in the manga - most prominently in Volume 5. In that, the bartender of the place he and his crew frequent the most during their visits to Trader's Fork, on the planet Heavy Melder, always keeps a bottle handy in case Harlock ever drops in. He had no particular preference for any drink in his youth, per HSm, once he was deemed by his father old enough to drink. In SPCHm Volume 4, Harlock mentions a trip he once took to the Andromeda galaxy - although he never says when this happened. If this trip was during his early days on the Sea of Stars - which I tend to believe, since his later years and activities don't allow much time for such - then it may have been at this time when he developed his taste for it. See also DZ Chapter 4, "The Android Hunter;" and Harmony Gold's CHQ1K press kit.] - Sometime during this period, Harlock will encounter the Nansho dimensional tunnel for the first time. He will eventually become so familiar with its ways that "its exit is drilled into my brain," as he will say in later years. [SSX #16, "The Cat That Was a Spy." This is just a guess on my part, but the Nansho dimensional tunnel may be a part of the old Gorda intergalactic wormhole network that had failed at some point, per Y2520.] -----------------------------------------------2964 - HARLOCK SAGA: THE VALKYRIE HARLOCK SAGA: SIEGFRIED HARLOCK SAGA: GOTTERDAMERUNG (first half) -----------------------------------------------2964 - According to many of the Leijiverse tales, the foursome of Harlock, Tochiro, Emeraldas, and Maetel will first meet in this year - although the details differ from account to account. Some claim it was in a bar on Heavy Melder, others in a bar on Quarry 6, and still others in a bar on Zela. At least one living eyewitness swears it was in the lobby of the main hotel on the planet Meta-Bloody, while another swears they didn't meet until three years later on Earth, following the end of the Earth-Illumidas War. Every story has its backers, and no one knows for certain which is the right one - or, as with any legend, if any of them are. [My storyteller's take on the various versions of this event as related by M-san over the years. See SPCHa #30, "My Friend, My Youth;" CH1K; QEm Volume 4; HSm Part 4; and MYA.] - Maetel first encounters Machine Knight Helmazaria at this time. [HSm Part 2, "The Valkyrie," Volume 3. Helmazaria's name is also given as "Helmotheria" in the Kana Press French language edition of the manga. This early meeting explains why the two know each other in GE999EF. Helmazaria's alternate name gets addressed in the "Helmotheria Station" chapter of GE999EFm Volume 4.] - Schwanhelt Bulge meets Katarina, his future girlfriend, at the restaurant she owns and operates on the planet Concordia. At the time, he is the newest member of the Sirius Platoon - the crew of "Big One." [GR1 #11, "The Yearning." Schwanhelt says in the episode that he's a recent recruit to Big One's team. He also jokes about his captain being a married man while visiting the young Katarina. Contextual evidence appears to indicate that this happened within a year of the incident that would claim Captain Wataru Yuki's life - give or take a few months either way.] - The Tiamat line on the Galaxy Railways space rail network is closed off. It is replaced by the nearby Tiamat Hyperspace Tunnel, built at great cost, through the numerous "galactic reefs" in the area. The older line was the only safe bypass; however, it ran through a privately owned area of space. Its owner closed the only station on that line, located on the planet Blue Rose, citing violations of its use agreement by the Galaxy Railways. This would later become known as the Blue Rose Incident - one of the most highly classified skeletons lurking in the Galaxy Railways closet. [GR2 #07, "The Blue Roses"] - The Illumidas and allied forces launch suicide attacks on Earth and many other key systems as they begin their grand offensive against the Solar Alliance. Megapolis City and other major metropolitan areas both on Earth and other planets are bombarded by Illumidas fleets - sent on one-way missions - before Solar Federation forces can rally. This daring stroke sends shock waves through the Solar Federation military as they struggle to cope with this Illumidas strike and its strategic implications. [HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," Volume 1. The story opens in 2964 with images of a Megapolis City devastated by orbital bombardment. In the manga, the bombardment was caused by the Metanoids. I'm assuming a parallel event caused by the Illumidas in the "heyday" Leijiverse timeline.] - Verlong's mother is killed inside the factory in which she works when the Illumidas bomb and destroy the North American Sector during their first assault on Earth. The one-armed teenager, now an orphan, is left to fend for himself. [CHR Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," states that the Earth was bombarded in 2964. This date happens to dovetail nicely with Gibson's account.] - Lutarin Estarian's wife is killed during the Illumidas offensive against the Solar Alliance. [CHR Volume #10, "The Sins of the Father, Part 2." Her death is what prompted him to found El Dorado, a peaceful place free from Illumidas guns. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The planet Alozoran is conquered and occupied by the Illumidas. Most of its people are deported and the survivors reduced to living in "a primal state." [MYA; SSX #10, "Who Is The Spy?" The date is an educated guess. La Mime describes the occupation of Alozoran by the Illumidas but never says when it happened. Harlock later says that the only two things left from Alozoran are La Mime herself and a small seashell she later gives to Revi.] - The planet Tokarga is conquered and occupied by the Illumidas. Some agree to serve the Illumidas as mercenaries while others continue a hopeless resistance against them. The entire surface of Tokarga eventually turns into one big battlefield. [MYA. The date is an educated guess. Both Harlock and Zoll reference the conquest of Tokarga as happening "years ago." Zoll's brother and sister were "very small" when he left and still small children when Harlock visited in 2967, so only a few years could have passed since the fall of Tokarga. - Both of Harlock's parents are dead by this date. [MYA; see also HSm Volumes 3 and 8. This is first mentioned in MYA, but the date is given in HSm Volume 3. I note in passing that the events of MYA and the HSm series are incompatible with each other. MYA is from the "heyday" period and HSm is the foundation document of the "revival" period of the Leijiverse. This is one of those key data points, though, regarding Harlock's background in almost every known iteration of the Leijiverse. In MYA, Harlock says simply, "My parents are dead." In the "heyday" universe, and if the date is the same, then his parents probably died during the Earth-Illumidas War. In the "revival" Leijiverse, the manner in which they died is quite different, although the end result is the same. In HSm Volume 3, his mother is executed on the orders of the Earth government under circumstances disconcertingly similar to the way Maya received her fatal wound in MYA. The tale of how his father Great Harlock met his death is revealed in HSm Volume 8.] - Phantom Harlock XCVIII, aka "Great Harlock," abandons Earth for the Sea of Stars aboard his private battlecruiser, the Death Shadow. Within the year he will disappear and never be heard from again. [HSm Volumes 3-8. The only three surviving eyewitnesses from Great Harlock's ill-fated voyage in this dimension of space and time were his son Phantom Harlock XCIX, his son's best friend Tochiro Oyama, and Miime the Nibelung sorceress. The story as given in the manga is part of the "revival" Leijiverse period and often contradicts the older background story from the "movie" period in many details. The main contradiction is the presence of the young versions of Captain Harlock and Tochiro Oyama, both of whom are supposed to be young adults and serving in the Solar Federation space navy at the time this occurred.] - Kazuya Katagiri purchases the now-abandoned Yuki estate on Earth for his own use. The purchase is to celebrate his appointment to his late mentor's old job. [SPCHa #16, "Kei: The Farewell Song"] - Miantir is almost killed in a rockslide near the town of Hearthaven on the planet Tastasia. Only the quick actions of a local lad save her life; however, the boy's right leg is crushed by the falling rocks. It will take almost a year for the leg to heal. [CHR "Queen Emeraldas: The Children of Eden," Part 4. The boy says it happened "several years ago." Miantir appears to have been a preteen at the time of the incident. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Owen, a rookie officer in the Sirius Platoon of the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force, is knifed to death by a terrorist during a routine arrest gone awry. [GR1 #13, "The Oath"] - Captain Wataru Yuki, commander of the Sirius Platoon of the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force, is killed in action defending Galaxy Express #707 from an attack by a battlecruiser of the Alfort Space Fleet. This is also the first encounter mankind has with the Alfort in known space. [GR1 #01, "Setting Out." Manabu Yuki was twelve years old when his father died. He was "about 20" when he joined the GRSDF, so this event took place "about" eight years prior to that - give or take several months. GR2 #24, "The Eternal Vow," establishes that this happened shortly before the first Galaxy Railways dimensional tunneling machine was lost, which was ten years prior to GR2.] - Katarina, the girlfriend of GRSDF Officer Schwanhelt Bulge, suddenly breaks off their relationship without explanation immediately after the death of Captain Yuki. It is a loss that Bulge cannot cope with, and he never speaks to her again. [GR1 #11, "The Yearning"] - Project Over The Rainbow, a top-secret effort by the Galaxy Railways to build a dimensional tunneling machine, is shut down after the first fully working model is lost in a dimensional fault. The affair is quickly hushed up and all traces of the effort hidden. The plant at which the prototype was built is closed and sealed against intruders. [GR2 #21, "Reunion." Killian learns that the plant where the prototype is housed was shut down and sealed ten years ago, per the dialogue. That would be 2964 in my timeline. 2974 (date of GR2) - 10 years = 2964.] - It is later learned that Captain Yuki did not die in the attack on the Alfort destroyer in 2964. The explosive energies created when the hypercharged Big One rammed the Alfort destroyer opened a portal into the Alfort dimension, through which Wataru Yuki and the wreck of Big One fell. They eventually crashed on the planet Fathom, where he was nursed back to health by its inhabitants. Not long after his arrival, a dimensional tunneling machine bored into the Alfort dimension and also crashed on Fathom, devastating much of its surface. Its main systems were damaged in the crash, causing it to misread its original programming and start destroying life wherever it found it. It amalgamated any technology it found, thanks to its built-in self-repair capability. Yuki eventually sacrificed his life in a failed effort to shut the machine down. The machine then used his image to further harass the inhabitants of Fathom, giving a name and face to its otherwise soulless personality. [GR2 #21, "Reunion." Frell's father says that the crash happened "long ago, and no one who knows the truth is still alive." Killian discovers that the prototype was built ten years prior to GR2, which would have been 2964 in my timeline. The fully working dimensional tunneling machine crashed on Fathom after Captain Yuki had already arrived there, so his death may have been a few months after he arrived - which might push the actual event out to mid-2965.] 2965 - Phantom Harlock is promoted to commander and named as executive officer of the Earth Federation space battleship SFS Deathshadow. [Probable conjecture based on MYA and CHR. FYI, I use "Deathshadow" (one word) to distinguish the Earth Federation military vessel from the series of space pirate ship ("Death Shadow," two words) bearing the same name.] - Phantom Harlock befriends Lt. Commander Tadashi Daiba while the latter is serving as the chief engineer of the SFS Deathshadow. [CHR Volume 01, "An Exchange of Futures.". His son brags to Prime Minister Triter about his father's military service. Lt. Commander Daiba also reveals before his death that he knew Harlock well. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Back on Earth, deep underground and with the assistance of many friends sworn to secrecy, Solar Federation space engineer Tochiro Oyama begins construction of the greatest super space battleship of its age. This vessel will turn out to be none other than the original space pirate battleship Arcadia. [MYA. It takes anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 years to build a capital ship in our day. According to Musashi, the Earth Defense Forces in 2199 could build multiple ship-of-the-lines in six to eight months given proper facilities and resources, per SBTM. According to Y2520 it could be done in as little as a couple of weeks, but only if all required resources were available beforehand and already present at a suitably programmed automated spacedock. One gets the impression from the various Leijiverse materials that building the Arcadia - as well as its various predecessors - was a labor of love that took considerable time.] - Lutarin Estarian founds the independent space colony of El Dorado. [CHR Volume #8, "Freedom." Oliver Estarian reveals that El Dorado was founded "before the Illumidas conquered [Earth]." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The young lad who saved Miantir's life in the Hearthaven rockslide learns to walk again despite his twisted leg. The harshness of planet Tastasia's environment, coupled with the lack of proper medical facilities, results in the leg not healing properly. The boy's leg will remain twisted and scarred for life. [CHR "Queen Emeraldas: The Children of Eden," Part 4. Miantir's father Professor Barradas offered to have the leg broken and reset but the lad refuses. He says that his scarred leg is a permanent reminder of the hard work it was to learn to walk again. "To rid myself of them [the scars] would have somehow lessened what I have become," he says. You hear this philosophy a lot in the Leijiverse - Zonaluna of Mosgalut tells Emeraldas almost the same thing in QEm Volume 1, for example. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The Solar Federation begins experimentation with genetic manipulation and biological pathogens (i.e. germ warfare) in a desperate effort to find some new weapon that can stop the Illumidas before they mount their next offensive. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc, Volume 3, "Ghosts." Broygerd tells La Mime about this while recalling the military career of Alexander Nevich.] - Harlock fights and wins the Battle of the Castle Main Star Cluster. It is one of the few clear victories by the Solar Federation over the Illumidas in the short time before the end of the war, and it is one that always rankles them. During the actual battle, the Deathshadow was ambushed by a superior Illumidas force, with the captain and many top officers and crew killed in the initial attack. Harlock, the senior surviving officer, took command and rallied his men. By skill and daring, he managed to fight his way clear of the field of battle with his crippled battlecruiser and all surviving crewmembers - while damaging or disabling all the ships that attacked his own vessel. It takes Harlock months to limp back to a friendly Solar Federation port, while dodging many dangers and foes along the way. Harlock eventually takes his ship back to Earth for repairs and refitting, and is awarded the Combat Badge of Heroism (aka the Black Collar) for his actions. [Probable conjecture based on MYA and SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship." He had to get his Black Collar from somewhere, and he was one of the few Earth captains whom the Illumidas respected. Zoll mentions the battle when he first confronts Harlock on the bridge of the grounded Deathshadow in MYA. He praises Harlock's prowess in the battle and notes that his own ship was disabled during the fight - thus implying there was more than one ship in the force that attacked Harlock at the time. The Illumidas officers in the bar confirm Zoll's story but play down the battle, saying "Isn't he [Harlock] the guy who scratched one of our ships? [Zoll's]" Also, Harlock has to be on Earth around this time to meet Doctor Zone for the first time, per SSX #12. Perhaps this adventure will serve as the basis for a future Harlock anime OVA or web comic? Who knows ...] - Captain Harlock is assigned to review the prototype of a new class of space battleships during his stay on Earth. While Harlock does not question the battleworthiness of the design, he is quick to point out that it was built with little regard for the safety of its crew. The design is rejected based on his recommendation. This does not sit well with Dr. Feydar Zone, the ship's designer, and he will never forgive Harlock for what he considers a deliberate attempt to scuttle his prototype. [SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship"] - Sufrin, a warp technician aboard the Deathshadow, meets and befriends the teenaged Verlong during his ship's layover on Earth. [CHR Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Commander Alexander Nevich of the Solar Alliance proposes a radical solution to the worsening tactical situation with the Illumidas. He plans to turn all of the Solar Federation's major capital ships into computer-driven dreadnaughts. The Deathshadow, the most famous ship in the fleet due to its victory at the Battle of the Castle Main Star Cluster, is to be the first to be transformed. Captain Harlock firmly opposes Nevich's plan for various reasons, but tells his superiors only that there simply isn't enough time to implement such a drastic measure. To Nevich's, dismay the Solar Federation Design Bureau chooses to side with Harlock, its most experienced starship commander. They defer to act on Nevich's plan until a later date. For now, though, they authorize a small-scale prototype system to be installed on Captain Torian's Dark Victory, a sister ship of the famed Deathshadow. Captain Torian is overjoyed. "You got the better ship," he tells an irritated Nevich, who would have preferred the more famous Deathshadow to test his plan. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc, Volume 3, "Ghosts." No date is given in the comic; however, it had to have happened while Captain Harlock and the Deathshadow were still on Earth. Also, Sufrin befriended Verlong during a layover by the Deathshadow on Earth per CHR Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - One the frontier world of Raze, a young boy named Paul dies from a prolonged illness. His father, a well-known space mechanic, is unable to afford the medical care he needs because of the war. Soon after his son's death, he takes to drinking and lets his business slide as he seeks escape from life inside a bottle. Despite his young wife's best efforts, he will remain like this for the next two years. [SSX #02, "The Lady Captain Leotard." Paul's mother said he died two years ago. He was seven years old when he died, which means he was born in 2958. The name is Romanized as "Lase" on screen; I go with the proper phonetic transliteration.] - Tadashi Momono's parents are killed sometime during the final years of the Earth-Illumidas War. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Lift Off!" This may happen as late as the early part of 2966, if Tadashi's "two years" statement is a rounded-off figure. I am going by the calendar date.] - War on a planet-wide scale resumes on the world of El Alamein. Because of this, the Galaxy Railways soon curtails all space train service there. One of the people who successfully makes it off-world before the space trains stop coming is a young man named Nanmi. He will ride the rails for over a decade, looking for a new world to which war-weary refugees from El Alamein might escape and begin their lives anew. Not long after his departure, both sides in the new conflict deploy fully automated and self-repairing mobile weapons systems. They prove too efficient at their job and soon wipe out ALL life on El Alamein regardless of which side built them. Their job done, all of them go into standby mode - where they sit in the shifting sands "to this day," waiting for any excuse to resume what for them has become an eternal war. [GE999a #046, "The Voices of El Alamein." The actual quote is, "We've been fighting for almost a decade now. We've been fighting for so long we don't know how the war first started. We only want it to stop, but no one listens, and anyone who opposes the war is executed .... There is no place safe left to live on El Alamein." Nanmi must have left on one of last space trains to stop at El Alamein, since he left by use of a Galaxy Railways unlimited pass and the trains stopped running not long after the fighting resumed. The terrible truth about the end of El Alamein's last global war is revealed in the second half of the episode. Given the date, the renewed fighting may have been instigated by the Illumidas. See also CWZ #4, "The Song of Grenadier."] 2966 - Birth of Hammer Redril, future bounty hunter - and also the last known traveling companion of Maetel (during his pre-teen youth) - on the planet Kiades, sixth planet of the Algol Star Cluster. [GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2);" SZ. He is twelve when Maetel first meets him, per GE999a, and sixteen when first encountered in SZ.] - Captain Harlock's battlefield promotion is made permanent and he is reassigned as the new captain of the SFS Deathshadow. In memory of his late father, he emblazons his family crest on both sides of his ship. This is how both his friends and foes will be able to easily identify the Deathshadow later on. [MYA, SSX, and materials suggested by HSm Volumes 3-8] - The treasure hunter Irene steals a large sum of money from her GRSDF boyfriend and subsequently disappears. [GR1 #17, "The Goddess in Armor"] - An accident at the debut performance of composer Gerhardt von Elrich's epic masterpiece Phantasmagoria costs him the life of Adelle - his lead singer and lover. She is killed when the railing on a stage balcony where she is performing collapses under her, causing her to fall to her death. von Elrich has a custom-made sexaroid built to replace her, complete with a biochip imprinted with her personality and recordings of his voice, but the pain of her memory keeps him from using it. Other singers are eventually brought in, but von Elrich will always cancel a performance if a live singer is not available - fearing to boot up his Adelle sexaroid and refresh his personal pain at her death. The opera soon gains a reputation for being cursed, and both few and rare are the performances in the eight years that follow. [GR2 #12, "The Wings of the Soul"] - The Solar Federation enacts a major offensive against the Illumidas, hoping to turn the tide of the war. Instead, it serves as a prelude for its own downfall. [SSX #02, "The Renegade Captain," implied] - Doctor Zero accepts a professorship at the Intercosmos University in Megapolis City, teaching pre-college gifted and talented students. The one student that makes the most memorable impression on him is Yattaran, an introverted teenager with a brilliant mind and a passion for model building. Yattaran unexpectedly drops out of his class without warning one day and drops out of his local high school as well. The reasons for Yattaran's abrupt disappearance will remain a mystery to Doctor Zero for the next few years. [SPCHa #25, "Dr. Zero and Mee" and the English dubbed dialogue from the corresponding footage in CHQ1K. The date is never given in the Japanese original. It had to have happened while Yattaran was still a teenager and before he joined the crew of the Arcadia. Doctor Zero recalls that he already knew Yattaran before the young man joined Harlock's crew. The tale of how Doctor Zero first met Yattaran comes from CHQ1K.] - Probable birthdate of Hiroshi Umino in the "revival" Leijiverse. He is born on Earth "during its fading days" but is orphaned early in life. Neither his guardians nor his peers will ever really accept him, making for a rough childhood. [QEa #4, "Siren the Witch." Hiroshi is a young teenager, which would make him no younger than fourteen by most standards. The "fading days" statement fits fairly well with the state of affairs on Earth during the Earth-Illumidas War, as evidenced by various references scattered throughout CHR. Parts of his rough youth are documented both in QEa and in QEm Volumes 1 and 3.] - The Last Battle, which takes place sometime near the end of the year, marks the final defeat of the Solar Federation space navy at the hands of the Illumidas. This action is widely regarded as the last official act of the Earth-Illumidas War. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Lift Off!" and #02, "Female Captain Leotard." See also MYA and CHR. The notion that sporadic fighting dragged on for a while longer comes from both MYA and CHR.] - The only major capital ships of the Solar Federation Space Navy to survive the Last Battle are the Admiral class space battleships SFS Deathshadow and SFS Dark Victory. These - along with a handful of smaller vessels and older ships such as the Karyu and its sister vessels - are all that is left to defend the Solar Federation against the Illumidas hordes. [MYA: SSX #02, "The Female Captain Leotard;" CHR #05, "Storms" and #06, "The Truth Behind Miracles;" see also CHR #11, "Message in a Bottle." Per CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage," the Karyu had been reassigned as part of the Earth garrison fleet. CWZ is a "revival" Leijiverse story, so there is no evidence to support the Karyu and her sister ships playing any active role in the Last Battle or its aftermath. Saying anything more would be pure conjecture on my part, so I'll leave it at that.] - Captain Bentselle is captured by the Illumidas after his ship is destroyed in the Last Battle. He will renounce his allegiance to the Solar Federation within the next two years, and wind up working for the Illumidas as a mercenary space captain. [SSX #03, "Battlezone Lullaby." Bentselle's reasons for becoming a turncoat are never made clear at any time during the series. One thing that is made clear is that his ship did not survive the Last Battle, per Harlock. He must have gotten off in an escape pod, or shuttle, or something similar, before it was destroyed. Since he knows how to command the Deathshadow, it is reasonable to assume that Captain Bentselle also commanded an unnamed Admiral-class space battleship at the Last Battle.] - Captain Leotard is critically injured during the Last Battle. She survives, but much of her body has to be replaced with cybernetic parts. She loses her position of authority because of the Illumidas attitude towards women, and becomes "a wanderer without purpose." Eventually, she will find a new calling ... as an undercover Illumidas operative. [SSX #02, "The Lady Captain Leotard. Captain Leotard commanded an Admiralclass space battleship during the Last Battle, per the flashback visuals.] - On Earth Colony Four, the ailing wife of Captain Bentselle receives the best medical treatment available under the care of Doctor Ban, the colony's chief medical officer. Her illness soon grows worse, however, and she dies before the end of the year. Since her husband never returned home from the war, their young daughter Revi is now without a home or any family to care for her. Doctor Ban feels pity for the poor girl and takes her in as his ward, until such time as he can locate or find out what happened to her father. [SSX #03, "Battlezone Lullaby." Doctor Ban discusses Revi's background and situation with Tochrio during the episode. He says that Captain Bentselle was officially listed as "missing in action" after the Last Battle, but never gives any detailed information as to why and how. That may have been what triggered the final demise of his wife. We find out later in the episode that it's been so long since Revi last saw her father that she doesn't recognize him - probably due to a large moustache he started growing in the final year of the war - once he finally reappears in 2967.] - Planet Gauss is one of the few Solar Federation allied worlds to remain unconquered. Their own homebuilt space battleship, the flagship of their planetary defense fleet, is so powerful that "the Illumidas couldn't touch it" - according to Captain Harlock. [SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship"] - The end of the war finds Doctor Ban still serving as Earth Colony Four's chief medical officer. He will leave within the year with his charge, young Revi Bentselle, along with a group of other disaffected people. "I got sick of the planet's dictatorial government and fled with my friends," he will later explain. All but the two of them, Dr. Ban and Revi, are killed by space pirates a year later. [SSX #03, "Battlezone Lullaby"] - Sporadic fighting and skirmishes continues for about another year between the Illumidas and the few surviving Solar Federation forces that refuse to surrender. In the end, these too are eventually brought to ground, lacking enough resources to continue the fight. [MYA, SSX, CHR] - The Three-Two space train, operating on the Magellan line, mysteriously disappears. No one knows why at the time. Its wreckage will be found inside a gravity well in the Alfort parallel dimension eight years later. [GR2 #20, "At the End of the Journey." There are at least a dozen other different space trains inside the Alfort dimension gravity well, as well as various spacecraft from both dimensions - but this is the only one to which a date can be ascribed for its disappearance. Big One claims that his predecessors were drawn to the gravity well, then shut themselves down because "there are no rails on which to run in this place." Some of the wrecked space trains are centuries old, per the dialogue. One of the wrecked spaceships looks kind of like an Earth Federation space battleship, circa mid-2200s which, if true, means that some of the wrecks in the Alfort gravity well must date back to the founding of the Galaxy Railways itself in 2221 (see image in back car window at 16:20, where Mr. Akatsuki is asking Frell about how Big One feels). It would certainly jive with the driving theme behind GR2, in that the construction of the space rail network is what caused the dimensional faults to start forming in the first place. BTW, the Three-Two is eventually rebuilt, since it makes frequent cameos in various GE999a episodes.] 2967 - The Illumidas turn the Steel Fortress planet into its namesake, equipping it with major armament, as well as a permanent garrison and support space squadron. [SSX #8, "The Boy and Mother from the Iron Planet." I'm guessing that it probably served as an Illumidas sector headquarters, or such. Just about everyone in the Arcadia's crew is concerned with the amount of firepower located there.] - The Illumidas subject the Earth to a devastating bombardment from orbit as soon as they arrive. Many of Earth's major cities, monuments, and points of cultural heritage or history are deliberately destroyed as part of a mass exercise in psychological warfare. Among those buildings lost forever are every one of Earth's classic castles. Only a few ancient landmarks survive the bombardment, such as the Giza Plateau. [SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship." An old castle, built to look like it had been there for years, is part of the scenery on the colony world of Palomas. When he sees it, Dr. Zero comments sadly that all of Earth's castles were destroyed by the Illumidas during the war. We know the Giza Plateau monuments survived because they reappear again in SPCHa #14, "The Sphinx's Tombstone." The destruction of the main castle of Harlock's own estate, Arcadia, is implied by its telling absence in the first major story arc of Gibson's CHR, which covers the first three issues. The family appears to have moved into a nearby manor or guest house, per the comic's visuals.] - General Zeda is appointed supreme commander of the Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces. Upon arrival he establishes his main office at the Megapolis City Spaceport. Regional and sector offices are set up all over Earth, including a major one in the former North American Sector. [MYA, SSX, and CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc. In CHR, Nevich's target for his uprising was the new Illumidas occupation headquarters in North America. This implies that there was already a major base of operations there before the death of General Zeda. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The Illumidas, due to cultural prejudice, dismiss all females from any position of authority or stature in the former Solar Federation. Worthy of note among those dismissed is Captain Leotard, the Solar Alliance's most prominent female starship commander. [SSX #02, "The Female Captain Leotard"] - Faust Hoshino is dismissed from the service by the Illumidas during their purging of former Solar Federation military officers. He loses his home and almost all of his material possessions in the process. He subsequently ekes out a living doing odd jobs, and is forced to move into a "tarpaper" shack under a freeway overpass. Later he moves his family into a small shanty as far from Megapolis City as he can manage. The move is partly due to his situation and partly to protect his family from the rapidly deteriorating conditions inside the ruined city. Faust is always aware of his precarious situation and is seeking any chance to better it - even if it means changing alliances. [GE999a and GE999A. Tetsuro has several flashbacks about his father Faust during the course of GE999a. They are happy ones, for the most part, and show them living in a small shack in a desolate part of the country, save once in GE999a #100, "The Monster of the Loose Zone," where they are living under a freeway overpass. Faust is not present in this flashback, but the youth of Tetsuro combined with some signs of still-normal life - such as kitchen appliances and good clothes - indicate that this must have been early in their post-war situation. Every time we see Faust in a GE999a flashback, he is almost always depicted as a kind-hearted but hard-working individual. The fact that Faust changed sides and decided to throw in his lot with the Machine Empire is made clear in GE999A. Originally, in GE999a, Faust was put to death for his steadfast opposition to mechanization - so what made him change allegiances? That is one of the great mysteries of the Leijiverse which has yet to be completely resolved. Gibson took a bit of an apocryphal stab at it with his El Dorado colony stories in CHR, and M-san hints in GE999EFm that it may have happened shortly after his wife Kanae delivered a stillborn daughter. By the way, both Captain Harlock and Captain Leotard were victims of the same purge - Harlock because he refused to turn mercenary (like Faust and CHR's Captain Torian), and Leotard simply because she was a woman.] - Feydar Zone promptly volunteers for a job with the Illumidas. Despite severe abuse and mistreatment because he is human, his talents in the starship design field are soon recognized by perceptive Illumidas officers, such as General Armus. Within a year he will be granted a position of some authority designing new warships for them to use against their enemies. [SSX #12, "The Luminous Battleship." Practically all of the new Illumidas warships that gave Harlock so much trouble in his early years were designed by Zone himself.] - Maya Harlock leaves her home to join the resistance movement on Earth as a clandestine shortwave radio broadcaster. All resistance activities in her area cease with her departure. [MYA; CHR Volume 2, "And Its Roots Shall Grow Strong Under the Ground." Two years later, Milos tells Harlock that "the fight went out of Arcadia" after Maya left. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The autonomous colony of El Dorado quickly signs a non-aggression treaty with the Illumidas. They are granted special favor due in part to their wartime dealings with the Illumidas. One of the terms of the treaty bans El Dorado from having any weapons effective against incoming spacecraft. [CHR Volume 7, "Legacies" and Volume 8, "Freedom." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The Illumidas select the desolate failed colony world of Tastasia as a dumping ground for the thousands of human refugees left homeless by the EarthIllumidas War. The refugees are abandoned on the planet's desolate surface and left to fend for themselves in Tastasia's harsh climate. The only escape for many is to sell themselves into slavery for off-world passage on the occasional visiting pirate or trader vessel. [CHR Volume 7, "Legacies" and the "Queen Emeraldas: The Children of Eden" story arc. Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - A significant portion of Earth's population chooses starvation rather than accept Illumidas rule. Others continue to fight on in small, isolated resistance cells. [MYA and CHR Volume 1, "An Exchange of Futures." In MYA, La Mime warns Harlock to "eat while you can" because there is not a lot of food left on Earth after the war. CHR opens, two years later, with a desperate food shortage and a crisis over a freighter that's supposed to be coming with more food. The latter is Gibson's story, and although it is admittedly apocryphal - but in this case his tale is backed up by evidence in MYA.] - Darghund throws in his lot with the Illumidas. In reward for his services for the Illumidas Occupation Council, Darghund is made the Baron of Arcadia. One of his first acts in his new office is to confiscate the Harlock estate and holdings for his own. [CHR Volume 2, "And Its Roots Grow Strong under the Ground"). The seizure is implied rather than explicitly stated the comic, especially given Darghund's behavior towards Harlock. Darghund's estate is within easy walking distance of the old Harlock family training grounds, with a portrait of Maya on prominent display inside the main building. The dialogue implies that "his estate" was not his to begin with; therefore he must have seized the Harlock family's estate for his own. This might help explain how Harlock's Aunt Anita eventually wound up living on the Steel Fortress planet in SSX #08, "The Boy and Mother on the Steel Planet." As for the CHR data, Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal - but is the only source for information concerning the tale of Baron Darghund.] - Tadashi Momono's seven brothers and sisters starve to death during this year. He is the only survivor of his family. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Lift Off!"] - Yukihito Ilita, the future chief of the Space Sheriffs, is born. [CHEO #05, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory"." This date assumes Ilita was 12 years old at the time of his father's death.] -------------------------2967 - MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA -------------------------2967, end of winter or early spring - The Deathshadow successfully runs the Illumidas blockade and returns to Earth. [MYA, CHR Volume 5, "Storms"] - Sufrin is one of several volunteers sent out by Captain Harlock to find willing passengers who want to leave Earth aboard the Deathshadow. Both he and Verlong are captured by an Illumidas raid on the veteran's home where Sufrin is visiting. They will remain incarcerated together until Captain Harlock's forced return to Earth. They spend the time becoming fast friends [CHR Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Captain Harlock attempts to run the Illumidas blockade again and leave Earth with a ship full of refugees. The Deathshadow is intercepted and attacked by Illumidas patrols before it can clear the Sol System. Harlock is forced to surrender and turn back to Earth rather than risk the deaths of his civilian passengers. This is accounted by some historians as the final act of the Earth-Illumidas War. [MYA] - Captain Harlock refuses service with the Illumidas as a mercenary starship captain. Instead, he hooks up with Tochiro Oyama - who makes him a better offer. [MYA] - Captain Harlock is shot in the right eye by an Illumidas raiding party during an all-too brief reunion with his wife Maya. He will wear a patch over his right eye for the rest of his life. [MYA. In the MYA extended preview, it is Zoll who shoots out Harlock's eye. This was apparently changed before production on MYA started - but has caused all sorts of erronous accounts and depictions as a result, most notably on the original box cover art for both the edited and unedited VHS releases of MYA here in the West. BTW, this is to date (2012) the only account of how Harlock lost his eye.] - Emeraldas is sexually assaulted (and possibly raped) by her Illumidas captors during her brief imprisonment on Earth. [MYA. Her jumpsuit, torn from her collar almost to her crotch by Murgison's men (if not Murgison himself) speaks volumes. It also helps explain her later viciousness towards the Illumidas in SSX. Per the brief clip in the MYA extended preview, this happened the night she was chained up in the execution area, apparently before Maya was brought up to join her. The clip shows her jumpsuit being violently torn open, apparently with a knife or some other type of blade - or perhaps even her own gravity saber? That last is speculation, but it's just the sort of thing the sadistic Murgison might have cooked up. The situation Emeraldas finds herself in remins of a rather sarcastic comment made by the undercover police woman Ginger (Cheri Caffaro) in the soft-core movie of the same name: "I may not be able to resist you, but I don't have to help you, either." Emeraldas will later recall this event in the Gibson apocryphal tale, "The Children of Eden."] - In one account of the tale, Emeraldas receives her trademark facial scar when she is shot in the face by Commander Murgison of the Illumidas. This happens while Emeraldas is attempting to come to the aid of the wounded Maya Harlock, and as both of them are being rescued from execution by the Earth government for opposing the Illumidas. [MYA. For the other two accounts, see QEm Volume 1 and QEa #04, "Siren the Witch."] - La Mime, an Alozoran in the service of the Illumidas, becomes the first person to join Captain Harlock's original 42-man pirate crew. [MYA. She was actually the third member to join the crew. Harlock and Tochiro were the first and second respectively. La Mime's homeworld is first named in SSX #13, "The Riddle of the Golden Goddess." La Mime appears to have been partially based on the character of Mezon the Mazone emissary from SPCHm Volume 2. Both of them look alike - they both have long black hair to their ankles and wear head-to-toe black catsuits. Mezon appearance's changed considerably when it came time for SPCHa, but her original appearance was apparently not forgotten ....] - Death of Zoll of Tokarga. [MYA] - The planet Tokarga is destroyed by the Illumidas. [MYA] - Death of Mira, sister of Zoll of Tokarga. [MYA. Contrary to what the film depicts, there was at least one group of off-world Tokargans who survived the destruction of their homeworld. They will reappear, years later, in SPCHa.] - Death of Maya Harlock, wife of Captain Harlock. [MYA. In the movie, Harlock swears he will never love another woman again, remaining faithful to Maya "until the Rings of Time bring us together again. This apparent oath of celibacy explains why you never see Harlock involved with any women on a romantic basis after this point in his life - in particular the way he refuses Shizuka Namino's advances in SPCHa. The basic concept behind Harlock's celibate lifestyle can be traced all the way back to GPH. In that tale, Harlock couldn't have any children because he had been forcibly castrated during a prior imprisonment by Earth Federation forces.] - Commander Murgison of the Illumidas is shot to death by Captain Harlock, in retribution for firing the shot that resulted in the death of Harlock's wife Maya. [MYA] - Captain Harlock calls for all who are willing to join him before he leaves Earth in exile. Many answer his call. Among those who do are Sufrin and Verlong. [MYA; CHR Volume 1, "An Exchange of Futures" and Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for the information concerning Sufrin and Verlong.] - Inspired by Captain Harlock's example, Emeraldas forswears her free trader's license and joins him in the role of space pirate using her own ship, the Queen Emeraldas. [MYA] - Lt. Commander Daiba reluctantly decides not to accompany Captain Harlock into exile. His reason is that there would be no one left to care for his young son Tadashi. [CHR Volume 1, "An Exchange of Futures"). Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. Gibson makes no mention of the fate of Daiba's wife, nor does he say how Tsuyoushi Daiba (i.e. the first Professor Daiba of later Leijiverse tales, who is Lt. Commander Daiba's brother) survived the Illumidas occupation.] - Captain Harlock fights and wins his first two space battles with the Illumidas. For his stand for freedom and against oppression and conformity he is branded a space pirate and exiled from Earth. It is a burden he will proudly bear for the rest of his life. [MYA] - Death of General Zeda. [MYA] - General Armus replaces the late General Zeda as supreme commander of the Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Blast Off!"] 2967, spring - Green Izma learns of his brother's death. He will spend the next six months trying to track down Emeraldas, the person who killed him. [SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas"] - Feydar Zone invents the Instant Communications Device, or ICD for short. This allows instantaneous communication to any point within range of an ICD transmitter without any appreciable transmission lag. The only prices paid, apparently, are two. First, audio-only transmissions have far greater range than combined audio and video. Second, although lag is no longer an issue, the transmission itself gets more and more distorted the farther it has to travel. There is a limit as to just how far it can go before the message gets distorted beyond the ability to understand or interpret, but it generally doesn't matter for audio-only messages. One of these can cross two million light-years - the distance between the Milky Way and Andromeda with only minor, short-wave style sound distortion. [SSX #02, "The Lady Captain Leotard," and #12, "The Luminous Battleship." We first hear of this in SSX #02, in which Tochiro seems surprised that it's already in use. That means the introduction of ICD technology is a fairly recent thing. Harlock is familiar with the theory and states that others have worked on other kinds of "warp transmitters," as them worked as well as the ICD. Captain Leotard in touch with various Illumidas fleets and units Later, in SSX #12, Tochiro credits Zone with the he calls them, but none of uses a portable ICD to keep as to Harlock's whereabouts. invention of ICD technology.] - Kei Yuki and her foster father (i.e. uncle) Goro Yuki start an anti-Illumidas propaganda operation from deep within an asteroid cluster near Colony P3. [SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword"] - In memory of Harlock's late wife Maya, and for what was done to herself under the tender mercies of Commander Murgison, Emeraldas begins her own private war against the Illumidas. She destroys their ships and kills their sailors and soldiers on sight whenever she sees them. Her calling card is the red rose, left behind on every victim - a token and tribute to Maya Harlock. [SSX #07, "X = Emeraldas;" see also MYA. Maya always had a rose at her desk whenever she made her Voice of Free Arcadia radio broadcasts. Her call sign was The Rose. MYA implies that Emeraldas was sexually assaulted - hence her uniform torn open from collar to crotch during the execution scene in MYA. Given this, it's quite understandable the way Emeraldas reacts once she is freed. What woman who had gone through that wouldn't respond the same way? FYI, this is the only time something like this ever happens to Emeraldas in any version of her life story.] ---------------------------2967 - KAIZOKU KIKAN ARCADIA ---------------------------2967, spring through summer - Captain Harlock once admitted to Tetsuro Hoshino that, like the young boy, he once had "hesitations" about killing people trying to kill him when he was first starting his career as a space pirate. "It happened to me too," he admits, "but you've got to learn that your first priority is for YOU to survive. If you die, everything is gone - including your dreams .... You can think AFTER you survive." [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 3, "The Thinking Star." This might explain why Harlock acts so weird at times during some of the battles in SSX.] - The Arcadia helps the lizard-like natives of Samarcandra defend their homeworld against an invasion fleet led by the mercenary starship captain J. F. Darkback. [KKA - pilot film clip from about 01:03 to 01:08. This unproduced episode of the show that later became SSX would have been based on a story from QEm Volume 3.] - Captain Harlock has his first encounter with the Mazone, when his ship comes under attack from a mysterious cross-shaped battlecruiser near the Ulysses Nebula. [KKA - pilot film clip from about 01:09 to 01:36. This unproduced episode of the show that later became SSX was a reworking of material from SPCHm, intended as an updated look at some of the material that was first put to film in SPCHa. Harlock apparently alludes to this event in SPCHm Volume 1, when he and Miime mention having first met the Mazone "beyond Orion" - which is in the same general direction.] - The Arcadia discovers a dead world with a number of fairy-like beings in suspended animation. [KKA - pilot film clips from about 00:25 to 00:30, and again from 01:37 to 01:42. This unproduced episode of the show that later became SSX appears to have been inspired by the same YOZIGEN SEKAI short story on which GE999a #093, "Keiko of the Insect Planet" was based. This manga collection is named at least once during the narration, so other episodes may have been based on other of its stories, also - as well as those from its companion volume, YOZIGEN TOKEI.] - Captain Harlock and his crew come to the aid of a pair of aliens. [KKA - pilot film clip from about 02:02 to 02:06. Not sure what this is from, and may very well be unique to KKA itself.] - Captain Harlock has his first adventure with Emeraldas since they left Earth together a few months before. [KKA - pilot film clip from 02:07 to 02:24. This might have been an original story concept that was eventually recycled for SSX, or it might have been based on another QEm tale. There's not enough footage to be certain.] - The Arcadia plays a call to Heavy Melder's Gun Frontier, as well as to a Western-like frontier world - where Tochiro ends up on the wrong side of the law and is almost hanged, and where Harlock has to defend himself against a local gunman. [KKA - pilot film clip from 02:42 to 03:02. Most of this material is from GFm, and eventually wound up being used in GFa. The establishing shot in the bar appears to be from QEm Volume 4, right down to Tochiro getting falling-down drunk, with the only major difference being the added presence of La Mime. This would have been at least two different episodes, perhaps even three or four, given the wealth of material in both GFm and QEm Volume 4 that could have been drawn on. The idea that Harlock was a regular visitor to the Gun Frontier also turns up in SPCHa #30, "My Friend, My Youth;" GE999f; and several episodes of CWZ. GE999a was the first to show us a lot of Western-like frontier worlds in the Leijiverse - something that fans of the American live-action sci-fi series FIREFLY might appreciate.] - The Arcadia pays a call on the planet of Kilimanjaro - a world with an early 20th century Earth culture, which is fighting a war much like World War I and on the same level of technology. [KKA - pilot film clip 03:03 to 03:06. This appears to play off of the TTB short story "The Birdman of Kilimanjaro," which also served as the basis of GE999a #107. My description is based on the GE999a episode.] - The Arcadia pays a visit to another war-torn world, this time fought with World War II style weaponry. [KKA - pilot film clip 03:07 to 03:10. This appears to come from the manga short that appears as Chapter 6 in Volume 2 of my bunkoban collection of TCm. The title roughly translates as "Tiger Line." The original manga short ends with a wrecked German King Tiger tank parked on the edge of a lake, instead of an American Sherman half-submerged in the lake itself - but Shermans figure in the story during the combat sequences. The Sherman tank imagery might come from another tale in TCm, though - "Tetsu no Bohyou," aka "The Iron Tomb," which is Chapter 1 of Volume 2 of my TCm bunkoban edition.] - Captain Harlock has a second encounter with the Mazone - this time when one of them attempts to pose as Emeraldas. [KKA - pilot film clip 03:11 to 03:15. This is based on a story that appears at the end of SPCHm Volume 1, and which also inspired one of the scenes in SPCHa #06, "The Phantom Mazone."] - Captain Harlock spends some time exploring one of the many interstellar voids that can be found in deep space. [SPCHm Volume 2. He alludes to this event in a discussion with Tadashi Daiba, not long after he orders the Arcadia to set out for deep space to find the Mazone. This might have been incorporated into the other two KKA stories that would have been based off of SPCHm tales, but this is conjecture on my part. Another interpretation of the reference has him and Tochiro exploring this void during their early days in space together.] - Dr. Zero sells himself and his family into slavery in order to escape Tastasia. [CHR Volume 6, "The Truth Behind Miracles." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. This would seem to imply that Dr. Zero was captured by the Illumidas during the occupation of Earth and removed to Tastasia for whatever offense he committed (if any at all).] ---------------------------2967-2968 - ENDLESS ROAD SSX ---------------------------2967, late summer or early fall - Harlock has all of the Arcadia's small craft repainted in a red, white, and blue color scheme. [SSX #08, "The Boy and Mother from the Iron Planet;" see also SPCHa. This was probably a SSX series production decision, in order that they look more like their later counterparts in SPCHa.] - Tadashi Momono joins the crew of the Arcadia as Captain Harlock's cabin boy and personal cook. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Lift Off!" and #02, "The Lady Captain Leotard." Tadashi's parents died two years ago, in the final year of the Earth-Illumidas War.] - Dr. Ban joins the crew of the Arcadia. He will be the first of three chief medical officers to serve the space pirate Captain Harlock. [SSX #03, "Battlezone Lullaby"] - Goro Yuki is killed by the Illumidas. [SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword"] - Kei Yuki joins the crew of the Arcadia. [SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword"] 2967, fall (or thereabouts) - Emeraldas pays a visit to "comrade-in-arms." While finally tracked her down. [SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas." one depicted in the first Colony SP7 to visit the grave of her former there, she is cornered by Green Izma, who has The visit was apparrently inspired by a similar tale of the "Tochiro" story arc from QEm Volume 4.] - Green Izma, the brother of the late Commander Murgison, is killed by the same person who killed his brother - the female pirate Emeraldas. [SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas." Green Izma says he's been searching for Emeraldas for six months, ever since his brother died.] - The Water Planet is destroyed by the Illumidas three days after the Arcadia leaves there, to prevent it from aiding and assisting others branded outlaws by the Illumidas. [SSX #08, "The Boy and Mother from the Iron Planet." The Arcadia had visited the Water Planet to stock up on food, water, and other supplies. The Illumidas feared that the Water Planet would turn into an outlaw's refuge.] - Harlock's Aunt Anita is killed by the Illumidas. [SSX #08, "The Boy and Mother from the Iron Planet"] 2967, late fall (or thereabouts) - Tochiro's shoulder, wounded in his attempt to defend the honor of Emeraldas by dueling Green Izma, finally heals. [SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas." Doctor Ban said it would take a month to heal.] 2967, 25 December (Christmas) - Death of Captain Bentselle, last human commander of the Earth Federation's Admiral-class space battleship Deathshadow. He shorts out the main computer core by hurling his own body at it, thus temporarily disabling the ship and allowing the Arcadia to close in and finish it off. [SSX #10, "Snowfall in the Sea of Stars."] - The automated Deathshadow is finally shot down by Captain Harlock and the Arcadia, thus putting to rest one of the captain's personal demons. The heavily damaged vessel crashes into one of the deserts of the planet Heavy Melder, its main computer core burnt out and beyond repair. [SSX #10, "Snowfall in the Sea of Stars." Now here's where things get interesting. The Death Shadow that crashes in SSX #10 is largely intact. rusting hulk we see in GE999f is a shattered half-hull, with only the aft section intact. What happened to turn the one into the other? One answer that problem, insofar as the Leijiverse is concerned, can be found in the "Deathshadow Rising" six-part story arc of CHR! The real-world answer can summed up in two words - "production issues." See also TT2, QEm Volume 4, SPCHa Volume 5] 2967, 31 December - Tochiro Oyama invents a new type of automatic rice cake machine. It resembles a cross between a homemade ice cream mixer and a butter churn. [SSX #11, "Sound The Bell of Freedom." At the beginning of the episode, Harlock expresses hope that maybe they can enjoy a peaceful New Year.] - General Armus is dismissed from his command for not being aggressive enough against Harlock. His replacement is General Kruger - a no-nonsense warmonger who only cares about winning. Before he is escorted away to his court-martial, Armus warns Kruger that his biggest mistake was making an enemy of Harlock. Krueger laughs off the warning and immediately orders an attack on the free trade planet of Mistral, where Harlock last made port. [SSX #11, "Sound The Bell of Freedom."] 2968, 1 January - The Illumidas attack the free trading planet of Mistral on the pretext that it had harboring wanted criminals - namely, Captain Harlock and his crew aboard the Arcadia. This occurs even though Harlock voluntarily left the port on his own within the hour of the turning of the New Year. Harlock returns, and with the help of Mistral military forces and some unexpected aid from Emeraldas, is able to soundly rout the Illumidas. All of their forces have either surrendered or been driven away into space before planetary sunrise. [SSX #11, "Sound The Bell of Freedom." New Year's celebrations have just taken place when the Illumidas begin their attack. For younger fans who might doubt the possibility of a "one-day war," you might want to look at the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II.] - The Arcadia departs planet Mistral on the morning of New Year's day. [SSX #11, "Sound The Bell of Freedom." It is daylight when the Arcadia takes The to be and off from the planet's main spaceport.] 2968, first week of January - Harlock has a serious falling-out with part of his crew, led by Chief Engineer Doscoi, over his quest to find the mythical lost planet of Arcadia. At the same time, they finally track down and deal with an Illumidas cyborg spy that had infiltrated his ship on the Water Planet. The spy, Kei (not Harlock's second mate Kei Yuki, whom she abducts for a time), had posed as an exact copy of La Mime in order to fool Harlock's crew. Doscoi and Harlock eventually patch up their differences, yet neither forgets what happened. [SSX #10, "Who Is The Spy?"] 2968, first half of year - The Illumidas destroy the Planet of Rest for the simple reason that Harlock is there. It had been a lush but uninhabited world used primarily as a sort of shore leave planet by interstellar voyagers from many species. [SSX #13, "The Golden Goddess"] - Tadashi Momono asks Captain Harlock if he can have one of his damaged Space Wolf fighters, on the condition that he fixes it. Harlock agrees, knowing of Tadashi's desire to fly one - reasoning that it would be a good learning experience for a young boy on the verge of manhood. [SSX #14, "The Mysterious UFO"] - The Arcadia gets its first cat - a tiger-striped orange-and-yellow tom named Mii. It will be the first of three Miis aboard the Arcadia. [SSX #16, "The Cat That Was a Spy." This is the SSX version of how Mii got aboard the Arcadia. Most fans discount this in favor of his being brought aboard by Dr. Zero per SPCHa #25, "Doctor Zero and Mii." The first Mii left with Revi, her owner. The second appears in Gibson's apocryphal comics in his Christmas Special, and the third of course is from SPCH. This is an ironic parallel to M-san himself, who has owned three pet cats named Mii over the course of his long life.] - Captain Harlock defeats a fleet of 17 Illumidas warships by skillful use of the Nansho dimensional tunnel, tricking them into dewarping in front of it and then ambushing the surviving ships once they are sucked through to its other side. [SSX #16, "The Cat That Was a Spy." Dr. Zone's Dassmolk-II space battleship was the only survivor of the battle. It alone had engines powerful enough to back out of the tunnel entrance before it was sucked in, like the rest of Zone's fleet.] - Emeraldas is tricked and captured by two criminals, using a fake distress signal, in order to collect the bounty on her head. She successfully escapes her bonds and kills her captors, but is in turn set on by Dr. Zone and his Illumidas fleet. As might be expected, Tochiro rushes to her aid in one of the Arcadia's small craft. He flies through a zone of intense radiation in his rush to get to her - which winds up aggrevating his anemia in the worst possible way. From this point on his physical health will deteriorate - over the next five years - and he will have to take everincreasing doses of medication in order to keep on his feet. [SSX #18, "The Rescue of Emeraldas." The way Emeraldas is able to trick and overpower her captors, despite being manacled hand and foot, is one of the better hand-to-hand action sequences of the series. I've retconned this so that the radiation field Tochiro passes through aggrevates an existing illness - anemia, per CHQ1K - rather than making him come down with terminal radiation poisioning, as is depicted in SSX itself.] - Kei Yuki is badly injured by the Illumidas while trying to get some muchneeded medicine for Tochiro, in order to deal with the heavy dose of radiation he took while coming to the aid of Emeraldas. Captain Harlock himself flies to her rescue in a one-man fighter. Thanks to Dr. Ban's medical skills and the equipment in the Arcadia's sickbay, Kei's wounds are healed and she is back up and on her feet in just a couple of days - although her right arm remains stiff and sore for some time thereafter. [SSX #20, "Opening the Gate to Arcadia." She is shot twice - once in the right shoulder, once in the right side - and also hit hard in the right upper arm with a rifle butt - not far from where she was shot - immediately after being captured. Kei is shown with her arm in a sling for the rest of the episode.] - After being safely returned to the Arcadia, Kei discovers that the trauma of her injuries has apparently removed a memory block placed in her mind by Goro Yuki, her foster father. She can now remember the location of the dimensional gateway to the legendary world of Arcadia - which Goro Yuki shared with her during a visit for safekeeping, when she was but a young girl. [SSX #20, "Opening the Gate to Arcadia." This explains Goro's final and rather cryptic message to Kei shortly before his own death, at the end of SSX #04, "The Pen and the Sword."] - Dr. Ban, who has long suspected Tochiro's condition, finally learns the truth. He agrees to keep it a secret from everyone. Unknown to Tochiro, Harlock also suspects his friend's illness - but has decided to say nothing about it, out of respect for Tochiro. [SSX #20, "Opening the Gate to Arcadia," somewhat retconned. Harlock's decision is in keeping with his personal philosophy on life. He would rather his friend Tochiro live what life remains to him in a manner full of meaning - i.e. adventuring on the Sea of Stars - rather than waste away as an invalid, all but forgotten somewhere in some hospice or the like.] - According to one account which is now generally discredited, Tochiro Oyama will die in this year from radiation poisoning. [SSX #21, "Fight Until The End! Farewell, Tochiro." This is the way Tochiro's death is depicted in SSX, in an attempt to tie it - rather unsuccessfully with his death as depicted in GE999f. This account is not considered canon by most Leijiverse fans.] - General Kreuger is killed by Feydar Zone during an attack on Illumidas Earth Occupation Headquarters in Megapolis City. [SSX #22, "The Fire of St. Aquile"] - Death of Dr. Feydar Zone. [SSX #22, "Through the Fire"] - Illumida, the homeworld of the Illumidas, is destroyed by the High Priestess of Arcadia as a favor to Captain Harlock, for his refusal to use her gift of the Fire of St. Aquile for personal gain. [SSX #22, "Through the Fire"] - Chief Engineer Doscoi leaves the crew of the Arcadia. Sufrin will take over the chief engineer's job on a temporary basis, until a more qualified man can be recruited for the position. [SSX #10, "Who is the Spy," implied; CHR Volume 5, "Storms"] - Tadashi Momono leaves the crew of the Arcadia. [SSX #22, "Through the Fire." One can but presume that Harlock let him fly of in the Space Wolf that Tadashi was allowed to claim and repair, per SSX #14, "The Mysterious UFO."] - Dr. Ban leaves the crew of the Arcadia. [SSX #22, "Through the Fire"] - Lt. Commander Mamoru Yuki of the GRSPG is summoned for a special meeting with Galaxy Railways chief operating officer Layla Shura, shortly before he is supposed to leave on a special mission. As he arrives, he notices a tall woman dressed in black furs, accompanied by a boy in a wide-brimmed hat and cloak, finishing their own audience with Layla and leaving her office. Layla then gives him confidential information regarding the mission he is about to undertake. It will result in his death - but she also stresses that his will not be a death without meaning. Layla tells him how the future Manabu (his younger brother) will be pulled through time to see him one last time before he dies. She warns Mamoru that he must refuse his younger brother's offer to help him escape his destiny. If he does not, Manabu's future will be forever altered, and Manabu will never become the great man that he is destined to be. After their visit, Mamoru reports to SDF Commander Mossburg, and he departs with the GRSPG aboard their own special armored space train the Three-Six. [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 2, "Destiny, the Station of Fate Pt. 2," heavily retconned; see also GR1 #02, "A Knot in Time." In the original manga and the "revival" timeline, this event takes place IMMEDIATELY after Mamoru Yuki is appointed to the GRSPG.] - Mamoru Yuki is killed in the line of duty, along with his entire GRSPG unit, while trying to rescue the passengers of two space trains that have crashlanded on the Planet of the Mud Diamonds. The first is Galaxy Express #357, which had been hijacked by pirates for its valuable cargo. The second is Galaxy Express #505, which had been disabled by falling through a knot in time from five years in the future. Commander Mossburg's GRSPG unit is both outnumbered and outgunned, but it gives as good as it gets before the pirates succeed in destroying it. Another casualty of the battle is the Three-Six, which is eventually destroyed by the superior firepower of the pirates. It is later rebuilt, and the new Three-Six will serve the GRSPG in place of the lost original. [GR1 #02, "A Knot in Time;" see also GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 6, "Crossroads of Eternity;" slightly retconned. Manabu's elder brother died five years prior to his falling through the time knot and witnessing it himself in person. The sequence of events depicted in the GE999EFm version require some retconning, but provide additional details not present in the GR1 account. The Three-Six was rebuilt for the GRSPG - and lost again during the First Alfort Crisis - just like Big One was rebuilt after Captain Wataru Yuki's death, per GR1 #01, "Stepping Out" and GR2 #21, "Reunion." In the original manga and the "revival" timeline, Mamoru's death takes place during his very first mission with the GRSPG aboard the Three-Six - and #357 had been forced down by the ruling queen of the Planet of Mud Diamonds in order to steal Galaxy Express technology for use in her fleet of space warships.] - The dying Mamoru receives some final comfort in his last moments from a mysterious stranger wearing a broad-rimmed hat and cloak. As is later learned, Mamoru's final comforter is none other than a temporarily displaced Toshiro Oyama - who has brought Mamoru's girlfriend Ariavenus with him. [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 6, "Crossroads of Eternity," retconned. Layla Shura apparently sent him back in time for this event. NOTE - In the original manga tale, "Toshiro" is said to be Manabu Yuki's elder brother after Mamoru. This turns out to be a cover story, and we learn the truth during a long talk he has with his companion Ariavenus - who agrees not to tell Manabu who his "eldest brother" really is. There's one helluva plot twist in the GR tales that didn't make it into the anime!] - Lt. Ariavenus, an native of Venus, the girlfriend of Mamoru Yuki and fellow member of his GRSPG platoon, was the only one not present when the rest of her comrades are wiped out at the Planet of the Mud Diamonds. She arrives just in time to witness the death of Mamoru, and she is the one that brings his body back to his bereaved mother on Tabito. Given the bad luck that is traditionally associated with such lone survivors, Ariavenus decides a change of jobs is in order. She leaves the GRSPG and transfers to the Galaxy Railway Intelligence Division, where she finds a new life as a field agent. Even so, she never forgets Mamoru Yuki, and occasionally finds time to visit his grave. [GR2 #1, "A New Departure" and #16, "An Uninvited Castaway." The two were romantically involved, as Manabu is later with Louise Drake. This character is based on one of the same name in GE999EFm, Volume 7, Chapter 6, "Crossroads of Destiny." In the original tale, she never met Mamoru Yuki until the day he died, and she was the sometime companion of UTSM's Toshiro Oyama - after he arrived in the future - before she joined up with the Galaxy Railways.] 2968, second half of year - Despite the loss of their homeworld, the Illumidas manage to maintain control over their new intergalactic empire. However, a new threat to Illumidas dominance of the known universe has arisen in its own back yard. It is the Machine Empire. Queen Promethium senses that the time for her ascension to galactic dominance has finally come. Within two years the Machine Empire will break its former allegiances with the Illumidas and go to war with them for control of the known universe. [Implied by SSX and CHR. Gibson, in CHR, goes into far more detail than the mere hints we get in Matsumoto-san's scant dealings on the subject. According to Gibson "... the Queen's Empire is growing a hide tougher than any teeth your race [i.e. the Illumidas] will ever possess (CHR Volume 08, "Sins of the Father, Part 1)." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is often the only source for information regarding the Illumidas.] - General Muda replaces the late General Kreuger as supreme commander of the Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces. [CHR Volume 1, "An Exchange of Futures." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. - Mitsuru Kiruta, a human currently serving with Earth's token security forces under Prime Minister Triter's government, is part of the detachment assigned to deal with Captain Harlock and his allies. This event marks the beginning of Kiruta's eventual obsession with bringing the legendary space pirate to justice. [CHQ1K and CHR. Kiruta (aka "Colonel Kamerov") recalls, in the episode dealing with the building of the Arcadia (SPCH version) that he has spent the past two years hunting down Harlock, Tochiro (aka "Roger Devlin"), and their space pirate allies. Series continuity establishes that the launching of the Arcadia took place in 2970; hence Kiruta was first assigned to Harlock's case while the Illumidas were still in control of Earth in 2968 LE. Kiruta was already familiar with Captain Harlock's reputation if you believe Gibson, per the CHR "The Fall of the Empire" and CHR "The Machine People" story arcs.] - By chance, Alexander Nevich discovers part of Tochiro Oyama's notes for the computer core of the Arcadia in the ruin of the underground dock in which the ship was built. Although incomplete, they provide enough data for Nevich to combine with his own earlier efforts. He begins work on a new, more advanced intelligent starship computer core. He names it Hespastion, after the longtime companion of Alexander the Great, one of his own personal idols and from whom he believes he is descended. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" Volume 04, "Bridges." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he is the only source to date for this information.] - Dr. Zero's wife, now a slave, dies of an unknown ailment shortly after arriving at El Dorado. Their young son Joe survives, but remains in the custody of his master, Lutarin Estarian, the governor of the colony. [CHR Volume 8, "Freedom." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - The Hall of Justice is built in the ruins of Megapolis City. The name is a misnomer. Its is actually a giant arena designed for public executions in front of a large audience. [CHR Volume 1, "An Exchange of Futures;" see also SPCHa #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space.' Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. The Hall of Justice apparently replaced the site used in MYA. It is the same building used almost a decade later for the attempted public execution of Captain Harlock by Commander Kiruta in SPCHa.] - Tadashi Daiba's father secures and smuggles a number of video games to his son. The obvious effort is to keep up his spirit. Lt. Commander Daiba also uses them to improve his son's eye-hand coordination, which is a useful and necessary skill for any combatant. ] [CHR Volume 2, "And Its Roots Grow Strong Under the Ground." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. Video games and computer simulations are used for this exact same purpose by the militaries of today.] - "Doc" Malone becomes Captain Harlock's second chief medical officer when she joins the crew of the Arcadia against her husband's wishes. The two eventually separate and divorce over the matter, each going their separate ways. [CHR Volume 5, "Storms." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information. "Doc" Malone was actually a former senior nurse with the Solar Federation military. She became the Arcadia's CMO by default because she was the only one on board at the time with any kind of specialized medical training.] - Emeraldas has a run-in with Captain Torian and the Dark Victory, both of which are now in the service of the Illumidas. [CHR Volume 6, "The Truth Behind Miracles." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Dr. Zero's master grants him freedom from slavery shortly before dying. He is also given enough money in his former master's will to buy out the contracts on his wife and son. He will spend most of the following year searching for them, before finally tracking them down to the asteroid colony of El Dorado. [CHR Volume 7, "Legacies." Gibson's material, while admittedly apocryphal, is the only source for this information.] - Tochiro Oyama decides to convert an old Solar Federation secret asteroid base located in the Minervan asteroid belt of the Solar System into a mobile base of operations for Captain Harlock and the Arcadia. He will eventually name it Deathshadow Island. It is but one of many such hidden pirate bases that he will set up for Harlock and Emeraldas over the next few years for resupply and repair across the Sea of Stars. [CHR Volume 04, "The Color of a Rose." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. This is supposed to be the same Deathshadow Island that is so prominently featured in the various SPCH materials. Captain Harlock and Emeraldas had a number of such secret bases scattered around the Milky Way galaxy. The secret asteroid base hidden in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt, per Gibson's CHR "The Fall of the Empire" story arc Volume 01, "Transitions," is one such example. Others pop up from time to time in the various Harlock anime and manga.] - The Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces finish setting up a satellite screening network in geosynchronous orbit around the planet. It permits monitoring of any part of the Earth's surface as well as any approach by any incoming object from space at any angle. Completion of the network had been delayed for two years by resource limitations and interference from Earth resistance forces. [CHR Volume 01, "An Exchange of Futures." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] ------------------------------------------------------2968 - CAPTAIN HARLOCK RETURNS ETERNAL WANDERER EMERALDAS: THE CHILDREN OF EDEN CAPTAIN HARLOCK: DEATHSHADOW RISING 2969 - CAPTAIN HARLOCK: FALL OF THE EMPIRE CAPTAIN HARLOCK: THE MACHINE PEOPLE ------------------------------------------------------- Death of Lt. Commander Daiba, father of Tadashi and Tsuyoshi [CHR Volume 01, "An Exchange of Futures"). The date happens close to Matsumoto's own reckoning per HSa and HSm. Tadashi that his father died "two years ago." Well, three is close! Daiba. to be fairly tells Alberich Two-and-a-half?] - Captain Torian and his crew are declared renegades and outlaws by the Illumidas after they steal their ship, the former Solar Alliance battlecruiser Dark Victory, and the experimental Ritelex warp drive that had been recently installed for testing. Unfortunately for them they do not know how to operate it, and warp themselves into uncharted space after a brief encounter with the space pirate Emeraldas. Their ultimate fate remains a mystery to this day. [CHR Volume 6, "The Truth Behind Miracles" Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Kanae Hoshino suffers a miscarriage due to overwork. Faust Hoshino leaves home and never returns shortly thereafter, throwing in his lot with the Machine Empire. Kanae tells her young son Tetsuro that his father is dead, in order to hide the truth from him. [GE999EFm, Volume 2, Chapter 6, "Serene Dreams." In the manga, Tetsuro gets to briefly meet with the spirit of his unborn younger sister. Her apparent age places what would have been her birthday about the time that Faust left his family and entered the service of Queen Promethium, per GE999A (and GE999a to some extent, albeit retconned). This would go a long way in explaining Faust's motivations for abandoning his family - as well as why Tetsuro only has such positive memories of Faust in GE999a. Layla Shura also confirms the existence of Tetsuro's unborn sister in GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 2, "Destiny, the Station of Fate Pt. 2"] - In order to help divert Tetsuro's attention away from his missing father, his mother Kanae lets him adopt a small stray cat which he names Mii. They share what little food they have with it. Mii provides what little joy Tetsuro has at this time, aside from his mother, until he unexpectedly dies one day. His mother helps him give Mii a "proper funeral," and later hangs a picture of the cat on the wall of their cabin in memory. Years later, when Tetsuro acquires a second cat, its likeness to his first cat will cause him to name it Mii in honor of the original. [GE999EFm, Volume 7, Chapter 2, "Destiny, The Station of Fate Pt. 2." This echos the various tiger-striped tomcats named Mii - three to date - that have been the companions of M-san in real life.] - Illumidas Supreme Fleet Commander Kelor authorizes the request by General Muda for Operation Dreadnaught. It is the second major program by the Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces to build a warship capable of defeating Captain Harlock and the Arcadia in pitched combat. Joining in the effort, albeit for reasons of his own, is the human scientist Alexander Nevich. The subject of Operation Dreadnaught will be the Deathshadow, Harlock's former command and recently salvaged from Heavy Melder. [CHR Volume 10, "Sins of the Father" (Part 2). This is the backstory for CHR's "Deathshadow Rising" story arc. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - The Illumidas launch an unprovoked attack against the asteroid colony of El Dorado in their unceasing efforts to capture Captain Harlock and the Arcadia. The colony is able to defend itself and drive off the Illumidas fleet, thanks both to a joint effort on the part of Harlock and a Machine Empire delegation headed by Faust Hoshino (Galaxy Railways regional director), and governor Estarin's decision to have the colony armed with defensive weapons in secret despite his action being a violation of his previous agreement with the Illumidas. [CHR Volume 07, "Legacies," and Volume 09, "Sins of the Father" (Part 1). Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. Harlock appears to reference this event near the end of GE999A, recollecting the time when he and Faust once fought side by side.] - The Arcadia's faulty warp core is replaced with a new one courtesy of Lutarin Estarian, governor of El Dorado. It is patterned after the one built for his colony, albeit on a smaller scale. [CHR Volume 07, "Legacies," and Volume 10, "Sins of the Father (Part 2). Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. Remember, Tochiro Oyama hadn't anticipated many of the combat situations the Arcadia would face when he built the ship's original engine per SSX #02, "The Female Captain Leotard." This is the first of several major upgrades the original Arcadia will receive within the next decade.] - A sorrowful Dr. Zero leaves his son in the care of Lutarin Estarian and joins the crew of the Arcadia, much to the relief of a grateful "Doc" Malone. He is upset over the death of his wife as well as the fact that he could never give his son the kind of life the boy has been living with the Estarians the past few years. His apparent failure as a husband and father is a doubt that will always gnaw at him, driving him to drink and eventually turning him into a chronic alcoholic. [CHR Volume 07, "Legacies," and Volume 10, "Sins of the Father" (Part 2). Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. M-san never really tells us how or why Dr. Zero came to be aboard the Arcadia nor what it was that made him drink all the time; only that he was a drunk, and that he joined sometime before Yattaran came aboard per SPCHa #23, "The Song of the Model Lover."] - "Doc" Malone leaves the service of Captain Harlock. [Implied by CHR Volume 07, "Legacies" and Volume 10, "Sins of the Father" (Part 2)] - The Machine Empire begins to gather its forces for an all-out assault on the Illumidas. In response the Illumidas begin massing a number of fleets at the Delgraci star system. Their plan is to launch their own offensive against the Machine Empire before the latter can launch theirs first. [CHR Volume 10, "Sins of the Father" (Part 2), CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc Volume 03, "Ghosts," and CHR "The Machine People" story arc Volume 03, "Crossroads." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. - As part of its planned offensive, Machine Empire operatives infiltrate the Illumidas power structure at all levels. A large part of this activity is done by human-looking Mechanoids under the guise of the Cabal Corporation. It is a well-known merchant conglomerate that has been doing business in both the Milky Way and Andromeda for decades. In fact, it is owned and operated by the Machine Empire - lock, stock, and barrel. [CHR Christmas Special, CHR "The Fall of the Empire" story arc, and CHR "The Machine People" story arc. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - The Illumidas complete Operation Dreadnaught. The rebuilt Deathshadow engages Captain Harlock near Mars. Its overwhelming superiority in firepower enables its captain, Alexander Nevich, to cripple the Arcadia and force it from the field of battle. Captain Harlock is himself wounded and captured in the process. Unfortunately for the Illumidas, Nevich has ulterior motives and turns the tables on his sponsors. He and his crew seize control of the ship, free Captain Harlock, and declare independence as the nation state of New Macedonia. At the same time, Baron Darghund's resistance forces launch attacks against all major Illumidas ground installations on Earth. General Muda is eventually victorious and defeats his foes on all fronts, but pays a terrible price for his victory. Over half of his space fleet and a good-sized chunk of his ground forces are wiped out in the process - and once again, Captain Harlock lives and escapes to fight another day. Nevich is not so lucky. He is killed in the same explosion that destroys half of the local Illumidas fleet when the Deathshadow's damaged warp core explodes. The wreckage of the Deathshadow dewarps over Heavy Melder, where what remains of its shattered hull smashes back into the surface from which it was briefly resurrected - never to sail the Sea of Stars again. [CHR "Deathshadow Rising" story arc. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. This helps explain why we see an intact Deathshadow sitting on the surface of Heavy Melder in SSX #10, "Sorrow in the Sea of Stars," and only the stern section sticking up out of the ground by the time GE999f rolls around. Also, the image of the Deathshadow's stern rising out of the sands of Heavy Melder is one of the enduring images of the Leijiverse - featuring in many of its anime and manga. TT2 is one of its earliest appearances, for example although in this case it happens on a different planet and under different circumstances.] - Tochiro Oyama joins up with Emeraldas for a time. He begins a series of upgrades to the Queen Emeraldas in order that the ship can realize its full power capacity. That way it can use the offensive weaponry he has discovered it carries, much to the surprise of Emeraldas. [SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia" and QEa #02, "Eternal Emblem"; see also QEm Volume 4. Compare its weaponry in SSX, GE999f, and GE999a with what we see it deploy in QEa. An alternate take on this is developed in HSm Volumes 3 and 4, where the young Tochiro carries out a lot of this work in 2964, both before and after the death of Great Harlock.] - Heavy Red Bourbon, one of the most potent alcoholic drinks ever devised, is invented by an unknown barkeeper somewhere on the planet Heavy Melder. [CWZ #06, "Harlock, My Friend"). Harlock states in the episode that he's always wanted to try Heavy Red Bourbon during his visit to Heavy Melder at that time. Since he had visited the planet several times before, then he either didn't have to time to try it or the drink simply didn't exist at the time. The latter is more likely given Harlock's taste for alcohol. Bourbon was his favorite drink, red bourbon from Andromeda in particular per DZ Chapter 4, "The Android Hunter;" SPCHm Volume 5; and Harmony Gold's CHQ1K press kit.] 2968, December - The Arcadia makes a brief layover at the planet Santa Xavier to pick up supplies and recruit new crewmembers. During the layover, a Metanoid spy named Hannibal manages to infiltrate Harlock's new batch of recruits. [CHR Christmas Special. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] 2969 - The Big Galaxy War [CWZ series and CWZ Marina Special. Marina Oki describes the Big Galaxy War as "the first great war fought between humans and the Machine Men." The date agrees reasonably well with Gibson's apocryphal materials for CHR. According to Gibson's contextual evidence, the Machine Empire launched their offensive against the Illumidas in January of 2969. In comparing this with M-san's own materials, it seems the Big Galaxy War appears to be three separate events lumped together into one. The first is the Machine Empire's defeat of the Illumidas. The second is the successful LaMaetelian coup of 2970 that almost put down the Machine Empire. The third is the revived Machine Empire's defeat of the revived Earth Federation a few months later. 2969, January - Without warning or provocation the forces of the Machine Empire attack the Illumidas on all fronts. The main Illumidas battle fleet at Delgraci is wiped out in a matter of minutes - an action later known as the Battle of Delgraci or the Delgraci Rout. The Illumidas are driven from the Andromeda galaxy and are forced to fall back in all sectors. At the same time, the forces of the Machine Empire continue their relentless advance into the Milky Way galaxy. The speed and savagery of the assault come as a shock even to the Illumidas. Even more shocking is that a number of their own computers and weapons systems have turned against them - Mechanoid technology preprogrammed for this very event. As the Illumidas fall back, numerous reports indicate that Mechanoid forces are taking no prisoners. They are exterminating the Illumidas wherever they find them - down to the last man, woman, and child. "It seems," says one historian of the era, "that Queen Promethium had never forgotten the many insults thrown at her and her people by the Illumidas. It was payback time and as with all things, Queen Promethium's revenge was most thorough." [CHR "The Fall of the Empire." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. There are indications in Gibson's materials that there had been a lot of bad blood between Queen Promethium and the Illumidas, and that she had decided to settle old scores once and for all. Think the Soviet "rolling offensives" against Nazi Germany during 1944-45, and you get the general idea ....] - Captain Harlock is forced to sit out the battle between the Illumidas and the Machine Empire, due to the extensive damage the Arcadia had suffered in its fight with the rebuilt Deathshadow. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 01, "Transitions"). Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Illumidas High Command refuses General Muda's request for reinforcements and resupply for his Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces. Instead, they order the destruction of Earth with a planet bomb, in order to free up what resources they have there for the fight against the Machine Empire. Only a chance encounter with Captain Harlock's forces in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt keeps the bomb from being delivered to Muda. The bomb is instead destroyed, preventing General Muda from carrying out what will prove to be his final order from his superiors. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 01, "Transitions." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Earth resistance forces, with the unexpected help of Machine Empire advisors and heavy weapons provided by the Cabal Corporation, successfully overthrow the Illumidas Earth Occupation Forces and retake control of the planet within two weeks. One of the largest battles for the planet is fought and won within the ruins of Megapolis City itself. Meanwhile, in the North American Sector, General Muda and his top staff officers manage to escape their headquarters before it is overrun by Earth resistance forces. All other Illumidas on Earth are hunted down and killed - without exception or mercy. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 01, "Transitions." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - The Machine Empire's policy of genocide against the Illumidas is successfully concluded. Not surprisingly, many of their former subjects put aside any moral qualms and join them in the carnage. The Illumidas are wiped out wherever they are found, ceasing to exist as a distinct species. There are no known survivors. [CHR "The Machine People" Volume 01, "Crossroads" and Volume 02, "Memorial." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. This helps explain why you don't see the Illumidas anymore after this point in the Leijiverse. They were completely exterminated in the first part of the Big Galaxy War.] - Tochiro Oyama develops the prototype for the Cosmo Dragoon, so that Captain Harlock can hunt down and destroy a Mechanoid spy aboard his ship. He will refine the design over the next several years into the most powerful energy handgun in the known universe. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 03, "Revelation." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal, but it happens to agree reasonably well with M-san's own musings on the subject. The patent was taken out on January 25, 2979 per HSm Volume 1 and GE999EF; however, the gun as such existed before that. The first time we ever see a Cosmo Dragoon as such in the anime sources is in CWZ, which takes place in 2971-2972. In MYA, which takes place in 2967, Harlock wears an old Cosmo Gun (although it is never named as such in the movie). It is safe to presume that he is still using a Cosmo Gun during SSX in 2968 because the subject of the Cosmo Dragoon never comes up. The subject also never comes up in the stories that take place between SSX and CWZ. Put this all together, and you wind up with an origin date for the Cosmo Dragoon around 2969-2970 - almost the same as Gibson says. According to Gibson and artist Tim Eldred, the prototype Cosmo Dragoon was somewhat smaller and had a shorter barrel than the final design, as depicted in HSm, HSa, GE999EFa, and QEa. It was eventually reworked to be almost identical to the later versions. See also the Model P38 Cosmo Gun, aka the "Cosmo Gun Special," that used to belong to Captain Wataru Yuki, per the various GR materials - which is supposedly the same model used by Tetsuro in the original GE999 stories. Per GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "A Thought for the Sea of Stars," the Cosmo Dragoon prototype can be identified by its serial number of "0."] - All Machine Empire forces, both overt and covert, are given strict orders not to interfere with Captain Harlock, his allies, or their activities. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 04, "Falls" and SSM #01, "Departure of Fate." Commander Leopold blames the attack on the Three-Nine on Harlock, of whom Queen Promethium was already aware. She does nothing about it, however. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for the information regarding the non-interference order. I have yet to discover why or for what reason the Machine Empire gave this order.] - With the help of the Cabal Corporation, the Earth Federation is reborn. It dreams of reestablishing its former space empire despite having almost no resources from which to begin such an effort. [Conjecture based on CWZ. There was an Earth Federation in existence prior to the Big Galaxy War per the series. The first Earth Federation was formed during the twilight years of the Star Force per SB3.] - The Earth Space Patrol is founded by the Earth Federation. At first, it is little more than a provisional militia charged with restoring order to the war-weary planet. It will become more over the passing years. Even so, it soon gains a reputation for heavy-handed efficiency. One of its most ruthless and efficient officers is Mitsuru Kiruta. He begins to advance quickly through its ranks, and his peers predict a great future for him. [Conjecture based on SPCHa and HSa. Kiruta's earliest appearance in the Leijiverse is in a brief cameo in CHR "The Machine People" Volume 01, "Crossroads." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - The hastily repaired Arcadia dewarps in Earthspace to find a new Earth government that has already sold its soul to its new masters in the Machine Empire. Captain Harlock meets with Baron Darghund and others from former Earth resistance movement. Together they perceive that the Machine Empire has more in store for humanity than its apparent generosity. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 04, "Falls." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information. Remember, Harlock already knew the truth about the Machine Empire thanks to Maetel and Emeraldas - as implied by HSm.] - Prime Minister Triter serves his last term as caretaker leader of the Earth government in the months following the downfall of the Illumidas. His replacement is a man who cares more for horse races and golf than he does the affairs of state. It is yet another indication of the decline and fall of Earth from its position of former intergalactic prominence. [SSX #01, "Arcadia Blast Off" and SPCH #31, "The Origin of the Arcadia;" see also CHR "The Machine People" Volume 01, "Crossroads." This later prime minister also appears in CHEO. He is never named in the Japanese original. In the fan-edited version of CHQ1K, he was given the name Walther Busch - so named after a certain misguided American president of the early 21st century.] - The Cabal Corporation, acting on orders of the Machine Empire, takes control of the old Illumidas surveillance satellite network in orbit around Earth. [CHR "The Machine People" Volume 01, "Crossroads." Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Neville Cabal, the head of the Cabal Corporation delegation on Earth, kills Baron Darghund in a duel in the ruined arena of the Hall of Justice. Darghund had deliberately challenged him to a duel in order to kill him and thus, for a time, thwart the Machine Empire's covert plans to take over the Earth. Captain Harlock comes upon the scene too late to save his friend. Instead, he kills Neville Cabal in retaliation and leaves Earth once again to take the fight directly to the Machine Empire. At the same time, the former member of the resistance to the Illumidas vow to fight the Mechanoids as hard as they did the Illumidas. [CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Volume 04, "Falls"). Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Captain Harlock's last dealings with the Cabal Corporation involve an expert Mechanoid bounty hunter programmed to kill him, no matter what it takes. Harlock ultimately triumphs, but only after a long and prolonged fight. [This character was introduced by Gibson in CHR "The Fall of the Empire" and was meant for the next story arc of the series. The cancellation of the comic meant that this storyline went uncompleted. Gibson's material is admittedly apocryphal; however, he remains to date the only source for this information.] - Captain Harlock will later admit that he was sorely tempted to destroy the Earth at one point, given what it had become. [SPCHm Volume 1. This best fits here given the way CHR ends and Harlock's later attitudes towards Earth's eagerness to accept Mechanization. I'm guessing he foresaw what was going to happen, and perhaps thought that the death of all life on Earth might have been preferable instead.] - LaMime of Alozoran is no longer a member of the Arcadia's crew as of this date. [Implied by her disappearance between SSX and CWZ. If you also take Gibson's admittedly apocryphal materials into account, then her departure has to happen about this time, right about the point where Captain Harlock decides to take on the Machine Empire. No reason is ever given in any of the official or apocryphal sources for LaMime's departure. Gibson was going to address this issue, but never got the chance to do so due to the cancellation of his CHR comic series. What plans he had remain unknown as of this date.] - Tetsuo, the young teenage son of late middle-aged parents who run an inn on the Wisdom Tooth Planet, leaves home against his father's wishes. The strain of waiting every day for the next four years, expecting his wayward son to come back, finally breaks the poor man's mind and he goes insane. After that, every young boy he sees he believes to be his long-lost son. The truth of the matter is that shortly after his departure, Tetsuo was abducted and taken to the Slave Planet - where he would have remained for the rest of his life, had he not eventually found a way to escape. [GE999a #086, "The UFO of the Planet of Forgotten Parents." See also TTB Chapter 12, "UFO 2001." This is the original manga short on which this episode is based.] sometime in the early 2970s - A giant space cloud capable of instantly fossilizing any life form it touches passes over the world that will later be known as the Planet of Fossils. The entire population is fossilized save for one man, who had been sent up in a spaceship to take readings on the cloud. He will spend the next year attempting to prevent unscrupulous "fossil thieves" from stealing the remains of his people (and in particular that of his late girlfriend) for sale to art collectors. [GE999a #012 & #013, "The Fossil Warrior (Parts 1 & 2)," date implied. It had to be a fairly recent occurrence. The man is never named, and he is eventually killed by fossil thieves in 2973, shortly before the space cloud returns for a second pass. Maetel and Tetsuro place his body beside that of his late girlfriend, so he will be fossilized as part of her - and they will thus be together for all time.] - A crippled spaceship crashes on Sakezan's World. Its only survivor is a young woman named Lisa. She is captured by Sakezan while fleeing the wreck and he is fascinated by her beauty. He forces her to become his companion, although she never forgets the life she once led. [GE999 #029, "Sakezan's World"] - Tochiro Oyama begins tinkering with advanced androids during this time. [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 5, "Planet of the Mud Diamonds." The android pilot of the Three-Six claims to Mamoru Yuki that both Tochiro and Emeraldas helped design his particular model for the express use of the GRSPG. We know Emeraldas already had experience with androids per Gibson's "The Children of Eden" and both GE999a #022, "The Pirate Captain Emeraldas," and Special #3, "Eternal Voyager Emeraldas." Tochiro's expertise with androids is later revealed in an interesting aside in CHEO #13, "Resolution and Finale: I Had a Dream." This is not to say that Tochiro was totally against the merging of human minds with technology, as the events of GE999f show, nor did he find anything wrong with the Metanoids, per HSm - or as his growing illness forced him to do with himself, per Hsm and GE999f. He shared the same prejudices as his good friend Harlock against Mechanoid conversion, due to what its subjects usually wound up becoming ... soulless automatons.] 2970 - Tochiro Oyama finalizes the design for the Cosmo Dragoon - the most powerful energy handgun in the known universe. Only five are ever made - six all told, if you count the early prototype developed the year before. [CHR, CWZ; see also GE999EFm Volume 1. The patent date is 2979 but this is an apparent goof on M-san's part. It should be 2969 per CHR's "The Fall of the Empire" Part 3, "Revelation." I'm assuming no more than a year extra of development time to add the "refinements" to the prototype Tochiro mentions in Gibson's CHR - as well as for the possibility of the relevant manga to be easily ... corrected? Despite the unintended date goof, GE999EFm is the best source with regards to the order in which the various production model Cosmo Dragoons were built and who got them. The "extra fifth one" comes from QEa, where Emeraldas says Maetel also had a Cosmo Dragoon; however, we never see her with one in ANY other Leijiverse story. She had her own special handgun per GE999a and MLa. The "prototype" comes from Gibson's CHR "The Fall of the Empire" Part 3, "Revelation" - but its existence is confirmed by M-san himself in GE999EFm Volume 7. Its most notable feature - in its original form - is its shorter barrel, which is more like that of the P38 Cosmo Gun Special from which the Cosmo Dragoon is derived.] - Emeraldas and Tochiro Oyama are briefly imprisoned on a mining planet, and forced to endure hard labor pounding rocks for a time until Harlock can come to their rescue. This "friendly little visit" is almost the death of Tochrio, when conditions on the mining planet aggravate his already bad health. He never really recovers his full health after this incident. [CHQ1K. Yes, it's a dialogue goof but an interesting one. We know Emeraldas and Tochiro shared a number of adventures together between SSX and SSM, per QEa #4, "Siren the Witch" and QEm Volume 4. This probably happened during one of them. It had to have happened before the building of the second Arcadia, because it is spoken of in the past tense whenever the ship's construction is recalled. The visit was probably a lot like Harlock and Tochiro's own to the Bad Planet - only much worse.] - Mayu Oyama, daughter of Tochiro Oyama and Emeraldas of LaMaetel, is born on the planet Heavy Melder. [SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia"] - The Arcadia II (aka "Death Shadow") launches from one of Captain Harlock's secret pirate bases on the planet Heavy Melder. [SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia"). The date is fairly well pegged by a number of sources, both within the series itself and other official Leijiverse materials. Even Harmony Gold's materials, dreadful as they are, agree with this date. In CHQ1K Harlock recalls that the events surrounding the launching of the Arcadia II happened seven years prior to the landing of the Mazone sphere on Earth in 2977. Most of this episode was effectively replaced by SSM; nevertheless, the fact remains that the Arcadia II (aka Death Shadow) was built by Tochiro Oyama for Captain Harlock around this time. The first time we see the Arcadia II per the chronology is SSM, so this has to happen here. There is also the completely different origin story for both Arcadias as presented in the "revival" work HSm Volumes 3-8. This is where the alternate name Death Shadow II was first used. I'm not going with those in this chronology because I know more of you have seen the HS anime than read the manga. -_^] - On the planet Sarumakate, where the most secret of all of Captain Harlock's secret pirate bases is located, the original Arcadia is drydocked for an extensive overhaul and upgrade. Two years of fighting with the Illumidas have taken their toll on the ship. Tochiro Oyama also wants to take the time to install a number of modifications and upgrades he has been planning ever since the Arcadia's original design flaws became evident. Kei Yuki is given charge of overseeing the Arcadia's overhaul and upgrade. [CWZ #10, "On the Edge of the Galaxy" and #14 & 15, "Follow Young Harlock (Parts 1 & 2"), implied; QEa #2, "Eternal Emblem;" as well as selected events in SSX, SSM, and HSm. I deduce the presence of Kei Yuki with the original Arcadia because she isn't present when the events depicted by both SSM and CWZ take place. In HSm Part 4, Gotterdammerung, Volume 2, Tochiro appears to imply that the design flaws in question were his father s fault, not his, since his father had built the Arcadia for him as a final parting present but that's per the "revivial" timeline.] - Faust Hoshino leaves his job as a Galaxy Railways regional director to become a Machine Knight of Queen Promethium. He is one of only a few Mechanoids to ever achieve this position. [GE999A. Metanoids normally served as Machine Knights, per HSm and GE999EF.] - Nazca's homeworld is occupied by the Machine Empire. His girlfriend Mel is savagely beaten and left for dead by a Machine Soldier, when she tries to stop a little girl from being forcibly Mechanized. Nazca knows that Mechanization is the only way to save her life; however, Mel dies on the conversion table before the process can even begin. The end result is a soulless drone with Mel's memories but none of her personality or looks. Nazca swears vengeance on the Machine Empire and vows to kill Queen Promethium for what happened to Mel. [SSM #08, "A Funeral March for Mother." Nazca summed up his feelings over Mechanization and what happened to his girlfriend Mel in one poignant phrase: "They took away her smile."] - The android Trinity Sonearia is created in a secret lab on Heavy Melder. [SZ. She was "eight years old" when encounted by Professor Yuma.] - The Terrestrial Independent Fleet is formed, as the Earth Federation struggles to reform itself in the wake of the Illumidas collapse. It is a space fleet crewed by humans who have no love for the Machine Empire. Unfortunately, it is more a show of force than a true modern space fleet. All of its vessels are either rebuilt Solar Federation vessels that had survived the EarthIllumidas War, vessels captured from Illumidas depots, or relics (some hundreds of years old) from the original Earth Federation. There is not a single "modern" space warship in its entire fleet, save for the few captured from the Illumidas. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage." There was an Earth Federation in existence prior to the Big Galaxy War, per the series. Also, the Karyu was an old ship that predated the series. Some of the ships flown by the pirates in the series appear to be derived from old EDF designs from the Star Blazers era. It is highly likely that many of the people serving with the TIF used to be part of the resistance against the Illumidas, but the source materials do not say one way or the other.] - Warrius Zero, Earth's most experienced starship commander to survive the Earth-Illumidas War, is given the rank of admiral and placed in charge of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage," slightly retconned. The part about his having survived the Earth-Illumidas War is the retconning - given his age and time served in the military.] - The former Solar Federation space battleship Karyu is returned to service as the flagship of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage." Both Harlock and Yattaran refer to the ship as an antique on more than one occasion. Warrius Zero prefers to call it "delicate."] - Marina Oki's adoptive human parents are killed in the short-lived Arrow War. This is one of the first skirmishes between the revived Earth Federation and the Machine Empire. Some later historians will see it as the first act in the third and final stage of the Big Galaxy War. [CWZ: Marina Special. Marina says the Okis were killed right after her posting to the Earth Federation destroyer Monsoon, which happened early in her military career. The Japanese dialogue and subtitles do not name the conflict; only that it was a series of terrorist strikes carried out by Mechanoid command teams on Earth itself.] - Admiral Zero discovers an ancient yet still functional robot in a junk pile on a backwater planet during one of his first deep space patrols aboard the Karyu. The robot's memory has degraded to the point where it has forgotten everything, save that it once served aboard a famous Earth space battleship. Amused by its antics, Admiral Zero takes the ancient robot aboard the Karyu and has it rebuilt. He names it Battlyzer, since it can't remember its original name. [CWZ press kit by Enoki Films. Yes, folks, "Battlyzer" is in fact "Battlefield Analyzer" IQ-9. The when, how, and why of where IQ-9 wound up where he did and in the shape he was when Zero found him remains a mystery. This plays very differently in CWZg, where Battlyzer is the robotic "brother," if you will, of the actual IQ-9. The game implies that Battlyzer eventually joins the crew of the original manga incarnation of the Great Yamato - and not its DYZG descendant - after having again been abandoned again (this time by Zero) for stil more centuries.] - The last few humans still alive on the planet LaMaetel that have successfully resisted Mechanization are rounded up and herded into one of the planet's original (and now ruined) cities. There they are given a choice: their freedom if they will be Mechanized, or slavery as humans in the service of the Machine Empire. All choose slavery over forced Mechanization. [SSM #02, "Nazca's Passion" and #03, "The Night Before the Revolution." These are not the original humans of LaMaetel. Rather, they are ones who had been captured by LaMaetel's military forces over the past few hundred years per Hardgear's original plans in ML - as well as the descendants of earlier prisoners. One of the constant themes of LaMaetel in all of its various incarnations - QM, SSM, and GE999 - is the presence of a second class or slave human population.] - The Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force (GRSDF) develops the black hole cannon for use on armed space trains. It is a variation on the standard shock cannon capable of firing a powerful negative energy blast. This will cause a starship of any size to implode when hit. Its tremendous power is offset to a large degree by its limited range of 25 space kilometers (i.e. megameters). [GE999a #026, "The Pirate Queen Emeraldas." The last time anyone fielded black hole weaponry in the Leijiverse was during SB3. The Bolar Federation had a single, possibly an early model, version of a black hole cannon on one of its mobile space fortresses. The one that the GRSDF fields some eight centuries later can be seen as a logical refinement of this early "alien tech," per GE999a #01, "Departure Ballad" - as is GR2's dimensional tunneling device, which employs the use of "micro black holes."] - Yattaran joins Captain Harlock's crew around this time. [SSM #04, "Rhapsody in Gold", implied. See also CWZ #05, "Tochiro the Great Samurai" and SPCHa #23, "Yattaran: The Song of the Model Lover." We know Yattaran joined Harlock's crew when the Arcadia made an emergency stop at Earth for repairs. Also, we don't see Yattaran aboard the Arcadia in any Leijiverse anime prior to SSM. Yattaran acts more immature in both SSM and CWZ than in any other Leijiverse anime, which might imply he was younger. In later Leijiverse anime - such as HSa, SPCHa, and CHEO - Yattaran is far more mellow and laid back.] - Nazca gets a part-time job with the Galaxy Railways as a mechanic. [SSM #01, "Departure of Fate." This explains the uniform that Nazca is wearing when we first meet him, and for the rest of the series. It is the working coverall and green blazer of the maintenance division of the Galaxy Railways - not too far removed from the "train shop" clothing we see in GR. He was wearing the green blazer because it was cold inside the Three-Nine, due to his sabotage of the heating units.] ---------------------------2970 - SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL ---------------------------- Maetel returns to LaMaetel at the request of her mother Queen Promethium. Her stated reason is to accept her mother's offer to become the new Queen of the Machine Empire that Promethium is creating. Her real reason is to kill her mother and destroy the Machine Empire before it takes over the known universe. [SSM #01, "Departure of Fate"] - Emeraldas returns to her homeworld, LaMaetel, for the first time since she fled it as an outlaw and renegade centuries before. [SSM #01, "Departure of Fate." She actually saw it again once before, not long after she left, per HSm Part 4, "Gotterdammerung," Volume 1, but did not land. She only wanted "to look on my home one last time" before she began her life of endless voyaging. Her visit in SSM is the first time Emeraldas set foot on her homeworld since the events of ML.] - Maetel, Emeraldas, and their allies Harlock, Tochiro, and Nazca soon realize that the various Queen Promethiums they see are not the real ones, but cloned copies of Promethium from before she was Mechanized. [SSM #02, "Nazca's Passion" and #04, "Rhapsody in Gold." See also QMm Volumes 2 & 3 regarding the origins of Queen Promethium's "clone bank."] - As part of the ceremony formally inducting her as the heir of Queen Prometheum, Maetel's mind is implanted with a copy of the total accumulated knowledge of the LaMaetel, going back millions of years. [SSM #03, "The Night Before The Revolution." This helps explain why Maetel seems to know so much in later Leijiverse tales.] - An assassination attempt on Maetel by the humans of LaMaetel fails. [SSM #03, "The Night Before the Revolution"] - Captain Harlock is attacked without provocation by the Space Panzers of LaMaetel. The badly damaged Deathshadow barely manages an escape when it chances upon a freak wormhole. [SSM #04, "Rhapsody in Gold"). I note in passing that the Queen Emeraldas as seen in this series is identical in appearance to how it appears in CWZ. Commander Leopold's battlecruiser is based on a design he first uses in QMm Volume 2.] - Maetel is shocked to discover that her grandmother Lady La Lela is alive and well, and living on the surface of LaMaetel's inner core. Lady La Lela opposes the forced mechanization of her world, and tacitly admits that mechanization had been a mistake. She tests her granddaughter to see if Maetel has the nerve and force of will to go up against her own mother, Queen Promethium. [SSM #05, "Promethium's Magic Flute" and #06, "La Lela's Requiem." See QMm Volume 2 regarding the origins of Lady La Lela's special chambers.] - Maetel is taken hostage by Commander Leopold when Lady La Lela refuses to back his planned coup. He does not anticipate that the real Queen Promethium is beyond such tactics. [SSM #05, "Promethium's Magic Flute" and #06, "La Lela's Requiem"] - Queen Promethium orders the final cleansing of all humans from LaMaetel as its total mechanization nears completion. This prompts a revolt, led by Commander Leopold of the LaMaetel Space Panzers, which stops the planet's mechanization from being completed. It also completely destroys its multiple mechanized outer shells. Most of the humans and a few fortunate Mechanoids escape in a massive space ark, with the space pirates Harlock and Emeraldas providing cover from their ships. LaMaetel's inner planetary core breaks free of its fiery metal prison; however, the multiple explosions from the disintegrating shells have changed its course. It is now headed for the Euphrates star system. LaMaetel will settle into orbit around nearby Heavy Melder within three months - just as Commander Leopold and Lady La Lela had planned. [SSM #05, "Promethium's Magic Flute;" #06, "La Lela's Requiem;" #07, "The Way to the Homeland;" and #08, "A Funeral March for Mother." The space ark used in the show to evacuate the humans was apparently meant for use during the invasion of Earth back in 1999, per QM. At that time, it would have been used to ferry LaMaetel's civilian population to Earth. The space ark is a cameo of the NOAH 66 space ark from QMm Volumes 2 & 3, which was use to evacuate the elite of New York City before LaMaetel made its close pass of Earth in 1999.] - Death of Lady La Lela, mother of Queen Promethium. She uses the last of her life energy to control the disintegration of the planet's outer shells. This way, LaMaetel's original planetary core can escape destruction. Her remaining living essence is transformed into a powerful sphere of energy - so that LaMaetel can make the long trip to Heavy Melder without refreezing its surface and killing its inhabitants. [SSM #06, "La Lela's Requiem;" #08, "A Funeral March for Mother;" and #09, "The Spring of LaMaetel"] - Queen Promethium manages to steal part of her daughter Maetel's living essence during the breakup of LaMaetel's surface shells. Maetel in turn teams up with her sister Emeraldas. Together they are able to defeat Promethium. Their mother's Mechanoid body disintegrates into dust as the two barely escape with their lives. [SSM #08, "A Funeral March for Mother." This helps explain Promethium's claim in GE999f that the Machine Planet Maetel, the second such world, was part of Maetel herself. The third Machine Planet, as seen in GE999A, would have probably had part of the living essence of Emeraldas had Promethium been successful in stealing that, as she tries to do in the episode. She failed; therefore, she had to use part of her own as she did with the first Machine Planet.] - The planet LaMaetel settles into orbit around Heavy Melder as its new moon, which the natives will rename as Ganba. [SSM #08, "A Funeral March for Mother" and #09, "The Spring of LaMaetel;" see also SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia." The planet is called Ganba in the earlier version of the story (SPCHa's) but is in fact LaMaetel per GE999A. The Three-Nine passes Heavy Melder and heads for LaMaetel, which the Conductor describes as being its moon.] - Queen Promethium successfully revives herself for the first time - just as Hardgear himself had done over six centuries earlier. Almost immediately she begins rebuilding her Mechanoid forces within the Milky Way galaxy. She also begins construction of Planet Promethium, the first Machine Planet. [SSM #09, "The Spring of LaMaetel" and #10, "Lightning Titan," implied.] - Tochiro Oyama finds the time to help Nazca, Maetel's young ally in the fight against Queen Promethium, build a small space cruiser of his own. Although not as heavily armed as the Arcadia, it has the advantages of being smaller and more nimble. It is also equipped with a Galaxy Railways shield generator, courtesy of Maetel. [SSM #11, "Leopold's Eulogy" and #12, "Song of the Wayfarer." Apparently Tochiro used the occasion to field-test some of the ideas he had in mind for the original Arcadia's upgrade, which would have been taking place about this time on Sarumakate, per CWZ.] - Queen Promethium perfects the combination of Metanoid memory storage technology with Mechanoid self-replication to create a new generation of Mechanoids. These can not only repair themselves but also reconstruct themselves into their original form (or new forms as directed) as fast as they can process any available raw materials. [SSM #12, "Song of the Wayfarer." Tochiro Oyama figures this out after analyzing the Mechanoid fly that almost destroyed LaMaetel's sole energy production station. This helps explain how the Machine Empire was able to rebuild itself within the Milky Way galaxy only a year after its defeat at the end of the series, and does so again between GE999f and GE999A.] - The Battle for Planet LaMaetel [SSM #10, "Lightning Titan" and #11, "Leopold's Eulogy"] - Death of Commander Leopold [SSM #10, "Lightning Titan." He was succeeded as commander of LaMaetel's Space Panzers (and nominal ruler of LaMaetel) by his adjutant Banbarra (name mistranslated as Bernbarrel in the fansub). - Construction of Planet Promethium, the first Machine Planet, is completed. [SSM #12, "Song of the Wayfarer"). It was almost complete by the time Tochiro deduces its existence and location. This implies that at least a month (or less) had passed since the Battle for LaMaetel. This would allow enough time for Queen Promethium to regenerate herself, rebuild her forces, and build Planet Promethium from scratch.] - Harlock and Emeraldas, with the help of Maetel and her young friend Nazca, attack Planet Promethium by themselves. [SSM #12, "Song of the Wayfarer" and #13, "A New World Far Away"] - Maetel receives the pendant carrying the living essence of her father Dr. Ban during her escape from Planet Promethium. [SSM #13, "A New World Far Away." The pendant was being carried around during the entire series by a weird-looking Mechanoid cat that always followed Maetel and guided her actions. In GE999a #112 and #113, " - Destruction of Planet Promethium, the first of the Machine Empire's three Machine Planets. [SSM #13, "A New World Far Away." The other two are Machine Planet Maetel (GE999f) and Great Andromeda (GE999A).] - The bounty hunter Sylvania begins her own personal quest to collect the bounty on Captain Harlock's head. [CWZ #05, "Tochiro the Great Samurai"] - Construction begins on Planet Maetel, the second of Queen Promethium's Machine Planets. It will in time become the Machine Empire's seat of power within the Milky Way galaxy. [CWZ #13, "A New World Far Away"), GE999f, and GE999A. It is implied, although never stated, that the third Machine Planet in the Andromeda galaxy Great Andromeda - began construction around the same time.] - A malfunctioning space probe crashes into the space station on Triton, destroying the station and killing most of its personnel. Among the few survivors is Mitsuko Daiba, wife of Professor Tsuyoshi Daiba and the station's chief meteorologist. Her frantic pleas for help both before and after the crash are ignored back on Earth. Mitsuko and her fellow survivors eventually die of asphyxiation when the oxygen runs out in the compartment in which they have taken refuge. A board of inquiry investigating the incident wrongfully concludes that Mitsuko Daiba was ultimately at fault for failing to notice the space probe in time. They claim she never called for help despite ample evidence to the contrary. The manner in which his mother died and the cover-up that followed leaves permanent emotional scars on her young son Tadashi. [SPCHa #04, "Under the Flag of Freedom"] - An artificial world is created as a moon of the planet Ruelbaez. It becomes known as Technologia, "a place where humans and machines can live together in peace." Technologial's combined industrial capacity is greater than that of any single world in the Milky Way galaxy. Some hold it to be even greater than Great Andromeda, the capital of the Machine Empire. It is also one of the few places in the Milky Way galaxy with both the will and the military might to resist attack from any foe, both overt and covert - including the Metanoids. [CWZ #08, "Marina Everlasting," #10, "On the Edge of the Galaxy," and #11, "The Great Technologia;" GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 1, "Technologia." According to Machine Knight Helmaeter, work on Technologia had just been completed shortly before Zero was given the job of hunting down Harlock. In GE999EFm we learn that one of Technologia's many industrial centers is dedicated to servicing and upgrading the space trains of the Galaxy Railways. This is confirmed in GR2 #08, "A Mission for Two," where we learn that some of the custom parts needed for Big One are made only on Technologia, due to its high level of technology.] - A special "alpha bridge" hyperspace tunnel is built as part of the construction of the artifical world of Technologia. This is for a special Galaxy Railways high-speed line running directly between Technologia and the Sol System. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal." In the manga, Kanon directs the Three-Nine into this tunnel so they can go to Technologia immediately after leaving the Sol System. Had she not done so, the trip via the normal space rail lines would have taken weeks. One can safely surmise that other such "alpha bridge" tunnels exist between important planets, systems, and junction points/stations for the same reason.] - Captain Harlock secures the last known Daibaran energy crystals for Tochiro Oyama in his efforts to build the original Arcadia's new wave gravity engines. It had taken him a while to find them in sufficient quantity, since all of the crystal mines on Daibaran were tapped out. [QEa #02, "Eternal Emblem" and CWZ #06, "Harlock, My Friend;" see also TT2 and QEm Volume 4. This had to have happened about this time because, according to Tochiro, the original Arcadia's upgrade was almost complete when Zeth Voder forced the confrontation at Technologia. TT2 shows us an early draft of the tale of Harlock's return, save that in it he returned with cosmonite ore. One of QEm Volume 4's final tales shows Tochiro being reunited with Harlock so the pirate can take his friend away to work on the new ship.] - Humanity unlocks the secrets of first-generation cloaking technology. [CWZ #03, "Flame of Karyu"). A cloaking device, i.e. "stealth mode generator," was part of the Karyu's standard equipment. Humanity didn't have cloaking devices when it lost the Earth-Illumidas war; else it would have used them. It is my conjecture that they were developed during the Big Galaxy War to aid the new Earth Federation in its short-lived fight against the Machine Empire.] - Captain Harlock and his pirate allies (including Emeraldas) join Admiral Warrius Zero and the Terrestrial Independent Fleet in an uneasy alliance against the Machine Empire. This is part of the opening stages of the third and final act of the Big Galaxy War. [CWZ and SSM. Both make clear that Captain Harlock fought on Earth's side against the Machine Empire during the Big Galaxy War. In addition, the background materials for CWZ from Enoki Films state unequivocally that Captain Harlock and Warrius Zero "fought side by side" at some point in this conflict even though this contradicts the anime itself. The latter data might come from the original videogame.] - Kanae Hoshino hires on as a "grunt" hauler in a local coal yard. Young Tetsuro is allowed to join her on the job and help in hauling coal, even though the work is backbreaking. Kanae explains to him that they don't really need the money (a pleasant lie), but that she wants him to know what it's like have to do hard physical labor. [GE999a #059, "The Idle Body's Mirror." This helps explain why Tetsuro is so strong and agile for his age - he was literally "workin' in a coal mine." They apparently lose their jobs within the year ... which might help in explaining their apparently impoverished state at the time of Kanae's death.] - During his time at the coal mine, one of the Mechanoid bosses flips a gold coin at Tetsuro. The boy doesn't know what to do with it. When Kanae sees this, she runs over and picks the coin up, then angrily throws it away. She explains to the confused Tetsuro that he should never learn to depend on the charity of others, but to "grit his teeth and work" for his living. [GE999a #074, "The Gimme Planet." This apparently occurs in early winter, since snow has begun to fall - not long before the two lose their jobs at the mine. Kanae's throwing away the coin might have provoked her firing, but this is speculation on my part.] - The planet Rubiana is destroyed by the Machine Empire. The survivors vow vengeance against those who destroyed their homeworld. [CWZ #07, "The Great Technologia"). The exact date is never given but it is implied that its destruction took place during the Big Galaxy War.] - A fierce battle for control of the planet El Alamein is fought between the Terrestrial Independent Fleet and the Machine Empire. Most of the human survivors eventually surrender to the victorious Mechanoid forces save for a lone mercenary band hiding in the wastes. Among the survivors is Luto, son of the late commander of all Earth Federation forces on El Alamein. The wreckage of the battle, most of it still functional to varying degrees, will cover large portions of the planet's surface for years to come. [CWZ #04, "The Soul of Grenadier." Luto is the boy who takes charge of the children in Grenadier's absence.] - The entire population of the colony asteroid Macaroni au Gratin, both human and Mechanoid, is wiped out by the Dendorum bothers - a pair of Mechanoid psychos - with the implied blessing of Queen Promethium herself. She also traps them there under the watchful eye of the Mother Computer. For the next few years, the pair grow increasingly bored trying to find things to do to amuse themselves. [GE999a #108, "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin." The elimination of the colony's population is a fairly recent thing, per the dialogue. It is close enough to Machine Planet Maetel for Queen Promethium herself to appear to Maetel via long-range holographic projection. She names the Dendorum brothers and briefly describes what they have been up to. This would be a natural fit for the back end of the Big Galaxy War, where many planets were either destroyed outright or bombarded into submission by the Machine Empire, per CWZ. We never learn how the brothers pulled off this amazing feat - only that it happened, and in such a way as to leave the colony itself intact.] ------------------------2971 - COSMO WARRIOR ZERO ------------------------2971 - The Machine Empire attacks Earth. This is in retaliation for the assault upon El Alamein and other similar attacks by human forces against the Machine Empire. The bulk of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet, led by Admiral Warrius Zero aboard the Karyu, intercepts a Mechanoid fleet in high orbit and engages it despite a decided disadvantage in numbers and technology. Zero and his forces are quickly routed and most major population centers of the Earth are bombarded without mercy. Admiral Zero and his surviving forces helplessly watch the devastation from their damaged and disabled vessels, unable to do anything about it. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage"] - The family of Warrius Zero is killed in the Machine Empire's bombardment of Earth. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage"] - The Big Galaxy War ends with the hasty signing of the Terrestrial Federation Treaty between the revived Earth Federation and the Machine Empire. The Machine Empire promises to halt further hostilities in exchange for greater Mechanoid participation in humanoid affairs. Human claims of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat are sneered at by those who know better most notably space pirates (such as Captain Harlock) and the survivors of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet (led by the now-disgraced Admiral Zero). [CWZ #03, "Flame of Karyu"] - The Earth Federation is formally disbanded under the terms of the Terrestrial Federation Treaty. A Galactic Government is established in its place with humanoid and Mechanoid lifeforms technically on equal terms. The former territories of the Earth Federation are renamed the Terrestrial Federation and are split into two groups: the Planetary Federation, governing affairs in the Solar System and its neighboring area of space; and the Extra Solar Cosmic Government, governing all human affairs outside the Solar System. Under the terms of the treaty, the Terrestrial Federation is allowed to wield its own armed police and paramilitary forces; however, it is not allowed to rebuild itself as a major interstellar military power. The Earth Space Patrol is assigned to the jurisdiction of the Planetary Federation. What remains of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet is assigned to the jurisdiction of the Extra Solar Cosmic Government. The treaty effectively ends Earth's domination of the Milky Way galaxy once and for all - and also marks the beginning of the end for Earth as a major galactic world [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage;" see also SPCHa #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space" and CHEO #01, "Tears for a Star-Filled Sky."] - Admiral Warrius Zero, commander of the Terrestrial Independent Fleet, is court-martialed and stripped of his command for his failure to prevent the bombardment of Earth by the Machine Empire. The former admiral is demoted to the rank of captain and given command of the Mirage, an old patrol cruiser policing the Solar System between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. Most of Zero's old crew from the Karyu, furious over the way he is being treated by the Earth government, join him in exile as a sign of protest. As for the Terrestrial Independent Fleet, it is formally disbanded and its ships and personnel assimilated into the new Terrestrial Federation Peacekeeping Force. This marks the final end of what had once been the Solar Federation Space Navy - at one time one of the most powerful in the known universe. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage"] - Lt. Colonel Yamaguchi, former chief engineer of the Karyu, is refused his request to join Warrius Zero in exile aboard the Mirage. He is instead given the formidable task of rebuilding the battle-damaged Karyu and making the ship spaceworthy again. [CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet"] - Zeth Voder, a Metanoid from the planet Miraisenia, is named by a joint declaration of the Terrestrial Federation and the Machine Empire to be Governor General of the Planetary Federation. His chief aide is the Machine Knight Helmaeter, who is in truth the real power behind his administration. The biggest problem Zeth Voder faces as he comes to office are the hundreds of ex-mercenaries, former Earth Federation and TIF soldiers as well as civilians, and space pirates (most notably Captain Harlock and Emeraldas of LaMaetel) who refuse to acknowledge the authority of the Machine Empire over their affairs. [From the Enoki Films press release for CWZ. Helmaeter is the younger sister of Machine Knight Helmazaria, who features so prominently in HSm and GE999EF.] - Mechanoid conversion is offered to humanity as a freely given gift by the Machine Empire, rather than forced upon them as had been done the people of LaMaetel. This time the plan is to win converts to Mechanization by advertising its benefits. This change in tactics by Queen Promethium proves to be largely successful. Those few humans who oppose the process are made social outcasts and eventually forced into the dregs of society. Those who try to fight it are attacked and killed when possible. [CWZ, SSM, GE999a, GE999A, GE999EA.] - The physical remains of all humans and humanoids that undergo Mechanization are dumped on the planet Alvarez for the time being, until a more efficient means of disposal can be found. [CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet." It is none other than Maetel who discovers this shocking fact and will reveal it to Warrius Zero and his crew during the course of the CWZ series. The "more efficient means of disposal" will be developed later in GE999A. This episode was apparently inspired in part by DZ Chapter 6, Tragedy of the Tenth Planet. ] - Dr. Zero is given his pet cat Mii, as a kitten, by its ailing mother while he is working as a volunteer doctor in one of the bombed-out sections of Megapolis City. [SPCHa #25, "Dr. Zero and Mii"). The date is never given but it had to have happened while major cities of the Earth were in ruins. This limits the event to happening either during the Earth-Illumidas War or the Big Galaxy War. It best fits here given Mee's apparent age (a young cat) and the fact that Mii reappears in CHEO.] - The Chairwoman of the Terrestrial Federation agrees to be Mechanized. Her motives are both political and personal. She is also wealthy enough to afford the expensive human-looking conversion process. [CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet." GE999a establishes that there were varying digress to which a person could be Mechanized - partially or fully, and the more natural-looking the more expensive. Mechanoid bodies that were outwardly indistinguishable from those of a normal human - like those of Metanoids were among the most expensive of all, aside from custom-made ones like Claire the waitress. Only the wealthy, like the Chairwoman, or those who could somehow save up or work up the enormous cost could get such a Mechanoid body.] - The sister of the Chairwoman of the Terrestrial Federation gets her sibling a present meant to alleviate her childlessness. It is a six-year-old android boy. The Chairwoman is horrified and refuses to care for it - much to the consternation of her Mechanoid husband. [CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet." GE999a draws a sharp distinction between cyborgs such as Mechanoids and Metanoids - those that either used to have or still have souls - and androids, such as sexaroids, which were never "alive" in a human or humanoid sense (although perhaps in their own electromechanical way). Perhaps this will help the reader understand the Chairwoman's reaction to a boy that was not and never could be "human" in any sense of the word. For a live-action film parallel, I recommend the sci-fi feature film Z.P.G. (ZERO POPULATION GROWTH), starring Oliver Reed.] - Warrius Zero is restored to his former command, the old Earth Federation space battleship Karyu, by none other than the Chairwoman of the Terrestrial Federation. His orders are to seek out and destroy Captain Harlock, the most feared of all space pirates. [CWZ #01, "The Start of the Great Voyage"] - Zeth Voder and Helmaeter depart the Solar System, following the Karyu from a discreet distance aboard the Machine Empire space fortress Hell Castle. They suspect there is more to Zero's mission than meets the eye. Zeth Voder is worried that it might interfere with his ambitions to seize control of the Machine Empire and declare himself Emperor of the Galaxy. Helmaeter has her own concerns, which she chooses not to share with Zeth Voder. [CWZ #02, "Marina's Impact" and #10, "On the Edge of the Galaxy"] - All human resistance to Machine Empire rule on the planet El Alamein ends with the departure of the last mercenary warrior, Grenadier, aboard the visiting Karyu. The fight for the planet finally comes to an end. [CWZ #04, "The Soul of Grenadier"] - Zeth Voder begins manufacturing mass-produced copies of famous pirate ships manned by look-alike android crews. These are used in horrific and cruel attacks on human and Mechanoid settlements alike. The idea is to sow doubt and confusion among those who support the freedom-loving space pirates. [CWZ #02, "Marina's Impact" and #07, "The Need to Believe"] - A Mechanoid civilian settlement on the planet Serract in the Tohr sector is attacked and destroyed by Captain Harlock. The attack is a mistake. Harlock was lured into attacking the settlement by agents of Zeth Voder in order to paint a "truthful" picture of him as ruthless and cruel. [CWZ #07, "The Need to Believe"] - Helmaeter, acting on her own, tries and fails to sabotage the Karyu. She knows that Warrius Zero is closing in on the truth behind his mission to destroy Captain Harlock. Zero and his crew soon discover that the real reason for their mission is to expose the real results of the Machine Empire's mass Mechanization program for all to see. [CWZ #07, "The Need to Believe" and #08, "Marina Everlasting"] - The Chairwoman of the Terrestrial Federation is killed by Zeth Voder's henchmen, once they discover the real reason behind Zero's mission. Before her death, though, she is able to transmit vital data regarding Zeth Voder and the Hell Castle battle fortress to the Karyu. [CWZ #09, "The Sad Planet." This episode was inspired by the old DZ story "The Tragedy of the Tenth Planet" - the sixth and final of that manga series. Many ideas from DZ were recycled for CWZ, but this is the only DZ story that was reworked for CWZ.] - Captain Harlock has Kei Yuki move the Arcadia from Sarumakate to the planet Daibaran, with orders to make it spaceworthy as fast as possible. His reasons are twofold. First, he fears he may need the firepower of the Arcadia, which is more powerful than the vessel he is currently using, in a showdown with Zeth Voder at Technologia. Second, Daibaran is closer to Technologia than Sarumakate. Harlock knows Voder is planning to destroy Technologia as a show of personal power. He wants the Arcadia as close as possible in the event he needs it to join the battle fleet of like-minded mercenaries and space pirates he is assembling to defend the planet. Among these is Emeraldas of LaMaetel, Harlock's pirate ally of old. [CWZ #10, "On the Edge of the Galaxy"] - Captain Warrius Zero forms a temporary alliance with Captain Harlock in order to defeat a common foe: Zeth Voder and his Hell Castle battle fortress. As a sign of good faith, Harlock has his chief technical expert Tochiro Oyama coat key areas of the Karyu's hull with a new alloy that was to have been part of the Arcadia's upgrade. Harlock's original space battleship cannot be made spaceworthy in time to join the battle. The Karyu, with its antiquated yet powerful St. Elmo's Fire Cannon, represents the only real chance Harlock's combined forces have of destroying Hell Castle. Adding the alloy gives the venerable (and vulnerable) Karyu a better chance of surviving the upcoming battle. [CWZ #11, "The Great Technologia;" #12, "War Eternal;" and #13, "The Oath"] - Captain Harlock's battle fleet is able to save Technologia and destroy Hell Castle thanks to the bravery of Warrius Zero and his crew aboard the Karyu. The only survivor of Hell Castle is the Machine Knight Helmaeter. She considers the encounter with Harlock and Zero a valuable experience in learning not to underestimate the resourcefulness and determination of humans at bay. [CWZ #13, "The Oath"] - Warrius Zero politely refuses Captain Harlock's offer to become a fellow space pirate. He will try to reform Earth's power structure from within, just as Harlock will fight to preserve humanity's honor from without. The two part ways as friends. [CWZ #13, "The Oath"] - The planet Sarumakate is almost destroyed by the space pirate Captain Hunter and the bounty hunter Sylvania, in a mad attempt to locate Captain Harlock's legendary store of treasure. [CWZ #14 & 15, "Follow Young Harlock, Parts 1 & 2"] - Artemis leaves her "mother," a giant space amoeba, in order to seek for herself a Mechanoid body. Her "mother" tries to restrain her but fails. Artemis flees to nearby humanoid inhabited space, where she successfully transforms her body in order to pass herself off as an alien humanoid. Eventually, she earns enough to have herself fully transformed into a Mechanoid; however, the high cost for the required surgery virtually condemns her to the life of a factory worker for the next two years in order to pay the bill. The drudgery of her monotonous job, coupled with poor working conditions and a sadistic floor foreman, soon convince her that life as a humanoid is not all that it is cracked up to be. Her new Mechanoid body also wears out long before it should, and she is "sentenced" to be scrapped. The only thing that keeps her going is her will to someday return to her "mother," and from that point onward she begins to plot her escape from the factory. [GE999a #052, "Artemis of the Clear Planet (Part 2)." Artemis says she's been away from her "mother" for two years. The vessel she steals for her escape is an old freight rocket used for shipping Mechanoid body parts - which causes Maetel to remark on its antique design when she first sees it.] - Maetel is visiting a space fortress of the Machine Empire when it is attacked by Emeraldas and her android crew. Maetel helps defend the place, for reasons of her own, and is eventually forced into a gravity saber duel with her own sister. Maetel wins the duel and disarms Emeraldas; however, she then spares her life and allows her to escape. Word of Maetel's act of mercy is passed up the chain of command and she is soon imprisoned for her actions. Emeraldas attempts to come to her rescue - and is wounded in the process - but Maetel refuses to leave her cell. "I must abide by the consequences of my actions," she says before bidding Emeraldas goodbye and sending her on her way. For her part, Emeraldas will never understand Maetel's motives during these two encounters, but she abides by Maetel's wishes. Maetel is eventually freed by other means (which are never shown) and she once again resumes her journeying aboard the Three-Nine. [GE999a #022, "The Pirate Captain Emeraldas," and Special #3, "Eternal Voyager Emeraldas." Emeralds tells Maetel on the train in the GE999 movie, "It's been a long time [since we've met]." The only other tale in which the android crew of the Queen Emeraldas appears is CHR "The Children of Eden (Parts 1-4)" - and in there only Rowena, the chief android, is present. If its (apocryphal) version of events is to be believed, Emeraldas obtained the rest of her android crew at that time. This means that the flashback events of GE999a #022 and Special #3 had to have taken place sometime in 2971, between CHR and SSM. Previously I had noted this event has happening in 2953, but I have never been able to confirm the one source I had at that time. Some fans also interpret this as a continuation of the open antagaonism Emeraldas shows towards her sister Maetel at times in SSM.] - The wife of Boss Antares is killed during an attempted robbery at one of the offworld villas of Count Mecha. [GE999a #004, "The Great Bandit Antares"] - Sabrina and her husband Gudara move to the planet known as the Idle One's Mirror. They arrive a healthy, young, and vibrant couple. By the time the Three-Nine drops by on its annual visit the following year, Sabrina weighs at least 250 pounds and her husband 700 pounds or more ... and they are among the lightest people on the planet. They have fallen victim to the planet's idle culture, where machines do everything and people are left with nothing to do but grow fat. [GE999a #050, "The Idle One's Mirror." Date is an educated guess. It couldn't have been too long before Tetsuro's visit, though - a year, probably two at the outside, based on how big Sabrina and Gudara are in comparison with the planet's native population. Sabrina tried and failed to leave the last time the Three-Nine came by - the authorities wouldn't let her go, so it's been at least a year-and-a-half since their arrival. I rounded it up to two for good measure.] - Kanae Hoshino, mother of Tetsuro Hoshino, is shot to death for the sole purpose of being stuffed as a hunting trophy by Count Mecha, one of the galaxy's most infamous human-hunters. Tetsuro will survive this encounter, having been left behind as "not worth the trouble" ("He'll die anyway in the snow," snorts the Count), and somehow makes his way to Megalopolis. Once there, he will spend the next two years successfully fending for himself in the city's poor underground shantytown district, and will also make a number of friends in the process. [GE999f, c.f. GE999a #001, "Departure Ballad." Tetsuro was ten when his mother died per the original TV series. He is at least two years older in the first feature film, since by the time of GE999A he has become a young teenager and ends "his days of youth" and "becomes a man" at movie's end. I defer to the film versions for the sake of better continuity. I note in passing that, in the TV series version of events, the only reason young Tetsuro survives the snow is because Maetel rescues him. He somehow does it on his own in the movie version.] - On Asteroid Number 33, in one of the major asteroid belts of the Andromeda galaxy through which the Infinite Track runs, the parents of a young man named Mikhail are killed during a bank robbery. The event will turn the young man from a gentle and compassionate teenager into a rough-and-tough rebel - much to the grief of his girlfriend Maria. [GE999a #067 - "Dyruz the Space Monk" Maria gives the date in the episode, telling Maetel that it's been two years since Mikhail lost his parents. Armed heists seem to be a problem in this part of space; see GE999a #069, "The Rebellion of Engine C62."] - It is at this time that a group of highly advanced alien humanoids penetrate the Dark Nebula of Andromeda and find the planet Kilimanjaro, which they believe to be an ideal world on which they can settle. Against the express wishes of their queen, they promptly exterminate most of the native humanoid population and build a high-tech colony city. Their attempt to construct a working triple artificial sun ends in disaster, however, when the artificial construct malfunctions upon launch. All of them are instantly converted into two-dimensional "ghost hoppers." They will spend the next two years seeking any means to reverse the process - including radical experimentation on the surviving humanoids and any unfortunate passers-by. [GE999a #073, "Africa, the Great Dark Nebula (Part 2)." There are two planets named Kilimanjaro in the Leijiverse. One is this world, located between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. The other is in the Andromeda galaxy, with a planetary culture similar to WWI Europe, per GE999a #107, "The Birdman of Kilimanjaro."] - The planet Rainy Pond blows up. [GE999a #078, "The Woman Who Eats Souls (Part 2)"] 2972 - Construction begins on Directus Station - the newest, and consequently the most modern, of its oversize crossroads junction stations. It is built in the same sector where Captain Wataru Yuki was killed. One of its rooms is set aside as a chapel and memorial to him and his heroism. [GR2 #11, "For Whose Pride"] - Captain Yamanaka is the next space captain tasked with the difficult job of bringing down Captain Harlock by the Earth Federation. He has at his disposal the Braves, Earth's newest and most powerful space battleship. Yamanaka and his ship prove no better at stopping Harlock as did Zero and the Karyu, and they are soon defeated in pitched battle. Harlock allows Yamanaka to limp away in his damaged vessel with his wounded rather than finishing him off. Yamanaka never forgets this act of honor on Harlock's part. [SPCHa #17, "The Skeletal Hero"] - Professor Tsuyoshi Daiba stumbles across the existence of the Mazone during his studies of ancient pre-Diluvial Earth civilizations. The more his research continues, the greater his fear for humanity. [SCPHa #02, "A Woman Who Burns Like Paper"] - Tochiro Oyama is captured and held hostage by Siren the Witch. It is part of her plan to draw out and kill the space pirate Emeraldas, lover of Tochiro and an old enemy of Siren. The plan succeeds and Siren is successful in wounding Emeraldas; however she herself is almost killed with Emeraldas shoots Siren with her Cosmo Dragoon. The timely arrival of Captain Harlock puts an end to the affair and Siren is forced to concede defeat. She neither forgives Emeraldas nor how she was bested ... nor will she ever forget the weapon that almost killed her. [QEa #04, "Siren the Witch." Captain Harlock's use of the other Arcadia (i.e. the SPCH version) in rescuing Emeraldas and Tochiro implies a date sometime before the "heyday" Arcadia was returned to service. Another factor to consider is that Emeraldas and Tochiro are together, as opposed to Tochiro being in service with Harlock.] - The newly upgraded original space pirate battleship Arcadia returns to service and Captain Harlock wastes no time in putting the ship through a shakedown cruise. Command of his other ship is handed over to Kei Yuki for the time being. It is her first experience on her own as a starship commander. It will also set a pattern for Harlock over the next few years during his fight against the Machine Empire. Kei Yuki will command whichever Arcadia he himself is not commanding - whenever both are in service. [Implied by SSM, CWZ, HSa, HSm, and GE999f. Kei Yuki is conspicuously absent in all of them. She had to get her command experience from somewhere if, she is commanding her own pirate ship by the time CHEO rolls around. She was Harlock's first mate during most of her time aboard the Arcadia, so his delegating command to her in these situations is logical. It also gives her something to do during this period - thus explaining her absence in these stories and also helping to set up any "Space Pirate Captain Kei" tales that M-san or his fans might cook up, per CHEO.] - The construction of Planet Maetel, the second Machine Planet, is completed. It will become the new seat of power for the Machine Empire within the Milky Way Galaxy. [GE999f. It is implied that construction of the third Machine Planet in Andromeda was also completed about this time, per GE999A.] - This was the last time that Maetel had visited with the famously eccentric Yayaball, prior to her finding Tetsuro Hoshino. They had met at the Seven Stars Sea party, and Yayaball had instantly been smitten with her. Maetel had agreed to dance with him, but his mother soon found out and broke them up - being overprotective as she was. They will part company once Maetel resumes her journey, but she will hear about him again not long after. [GE999a #094, "Yayaball's Tiny World (Part 1)." Yayaball reminds Maetel of this as soon as she arrives at his mansion.] - Yayaball's mother dies in the summer of this year, due to an unfortunate accident while aboard a spaceship. It explodes and she is badly burned. She eventually dies from her wounds. Yayaball is able to copy her mind into a massive computer bank, but is unable to come up with a Mechanoid body good enough to be like her - in other words, he can't find one that can handle her petty vindictiveness. Her mind remains in the computer - but she will occasionally animate one of the Mechanoids bodies he tried to make for his sake, as a puppeteer putting on a show for children, just to maintain her hold over him even after her physical death. Because of her, he never grows up, and thus never becomes the man he might have been. [GE999a #094 & 095, "Yayaball's Tiny World (Parts 1 & 2)." Maetel later refers to Yayaball's mother as one of the most selfish women she has ever met in all of her long years of wandering - a mother who refuses to cut the aprons strings with which she binds her son to her, even after her death.] - Redril's father is killed by agents of the Machine Empire. [SZ. Actually, in that tale, BOTH of his parents were killed and such would be the case in the "revival" Leijiverse. GE999 #109 & 110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)" implies that only his father was killed and that his mother somehow survived the attack. I am going with the on-screen version of events for now - GE999a's - since that is the one most of us in the West are probably familiar with. I may revise this at a later date as more data becomes available.] - Miime the Nibelung sorceress reveals herself to Harlock, and joins the crew of the Arcadia for a time. Her presence triggers a series of events that will involve Captain Harlock in the legends of Valhalla and answer a great many questions about the mysterious death of his father, Great Harlock. [HSa, HSm] -------------------------------------------------2972 - HARLOCK SAGA: THE RHINEGOLD HARLOCK SAGA: GOTTERDAMMERUNG (second half) -------------------------------------------------- Valhalla is destroyed when the Spear of Heaven is activated for the second (and presumably final) time. With it go the ancient "gods" of old. Their passing marks the end of the oldest known still-corporeal intelligent species in the universe. [HSm, Volume 11, "Gotterdammerung (Part 3)." This last volume of HSm has yet to be published, and M-san himself said in a 2011 interview that it never got past the drafting stage. The published manga in the series only go up to Volume 10, but the direction the series was heading and the inevitable outcome were made fairly clear in HSm Volumes 9 & 10. Only the finer details of the conclusion of HSm are lacking, and this is what the unpublished Volume 11 would have provided. See also CHE0 #03, "The Voice Calling From Noo From Afar," assuming that the inhabitants of Valhalla and the Descendants of the Twisted Rope are one and the same.] - After the destruction of Valhalla, the surviving Valkyries find a new home as part of the newest combat unit of the Space Panzer Grenadiers of the Galaxy Railways. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal." Maetel addresses them as "THE Valkyries" and explains who they are to Tetsuro and how they are now working for the GRSPG. She never mentions the events of HSm - but then again, she doesn't need to for purposes of THIS tale. BTW, the leader of the Valkyrie team on board the Three-Nine in this tale defers respectfully to Maetel whenever the two are talking together. Another HSm connection the Valkyries met a younger Maetel in person in HSm Part 3, "Siegfried." The fact that the Valkyries in both sets of tales are the same is confirmed by Maetel herself in GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 1, "Technologia." Tetsuro spots them skinny-dipping in a nearby lake, to which Maetel responds, "Here they are safe to be the heavenly maidens they once were." The skinnydipping scene is similar to one depcited in HSm Part 3, "Siegfried," and may have been inspired by it.] - Mimay of Jura is rescued by Captain Harlock from certain death from the carnivorous plants that have taken over her homeworld. In gratitude, she swears service to Harlock for the rest of her life. Mimay will become Harlock's chief companion and confidant as the long years pass during his lonely vigil on the Sea of Stars. [SPCHa #06, "The Phantom Menace"] - Boss Antares leaves his home, a hollowed-out asteroid somewhere in the outermost rings of Saturn, to embark on a year-long robbery spree in order to support all of the orphans he's adopted. [GE999a #004, "The Great Bandit Antares"] - Sakura, the fiancé of Tetsurgoro Hoshino, is abducted by the Boss of the Spheres. He eventually kills her when she refuses to comply with his wishes just as he had done to all the other women like her he has abducted in the past. [GE999a #041, "The Boss of the Spheres (Part 2)." Tetsuro says that Sakura's abduction happened "last summer."] - The planet Curiosity claims its latest victim - a young intergalactic cameraman named Mask. His girlfriend witnesses his abduction, and swears to be on board the Three-Nine when it passes the planet again, so that she can be reunited with him. [GE999a #068, "A Planet Named Curiosity." Miru promptly got off at the next stop, then waited a whole year for the Three-Nine to come back going the other direction. That way, the first thing it would do after she re-boarded would be to pass by Curiosity.] - Professor Tsuyoushi Daiba attempts to warn others about the existence of the Mazone and the danger that they pose to Earth. His warnings will fall largely on deaf ears over the next five years. One of the few who believe him is Captain Yamanaka, who has reasons of his own to suspect that a covert alien force is at work on Earth. His suspicions are confirmed shortly thereafter when he himself becomes the target of Mazone assassins. [SPCHa #17, "The Skeletal Hero"] - Professor Daiba gets the chance to visit with Captain Harlock about the Mazone threat. Harlock is one of the few people who believes him, thanks to his earlier encounter with the Mazone. The pirate and the professor soon develop mutual respect for each other despite their disparate backgrounds. [SPCHa #05, "To the Shores of Distant Stars;" see also KKA. In SPCHa, Miss Masu reveals that Professor Daiba had paid the Arcadia a visit on an earlier occasion and that she had developed a lot of respect for him. It is possible that Professor Daiba's visit was arranged either by his younger brother Tadashi or possibly even Captain Yamanaka, but this is pure conjecture on my part.] - The Earth Space Patrol is reorganized as the Earth Garrison Forces. Goro Otowara is appointed as the new organization's first supreme commander. [SPCHa #33, "The Lone Man's Charge"] 2973 - Tochiro Oyama realizes that the debilitating anemia he has fought all his life will soon claim him. He abruptly leaves Emeraldas without saying a word about his condition. He pays one final visit to Captain Harlock on the Arcadia, and then another to his mother Setsuko on Titan. With her he leaves his hat, his cloak, and his prized Cosmo Dragoon. Heavy Melder is where he will eventually wind up, after hitch-hiking his way across part of the galaxy over the next few months - including a brief stay within sight of the twin suns of Vesperus. Once on Heavy Melder, he takes up residence inside the wreck of the former Deathshadow. He gets one of the ship's old auxiliary reactors working again, then rebuilds and reconfigures the ship's computer for the last act it will ever perform. After that, he waits for his death, which he knows is not long in coming. [GE999f and QEa #02, "Eternal Emblem;" see also SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia" and QEm Volume 3. The fact that Tochiro had anemia comes from CHQ1K. His illness is never specified in the various Japanese source materials save in SSX, where it is attributed to a form of radiation sickness.] -----------------------------2973 - QUEEN EMERALDAS (manga) ------------------------------ Death of Dark Shear, one of the most ruthless and notorious space pirates (as in "true" pirates, the old-fashioned rape-and-pillage kind) in all of known space. His executioner is none other than Emeraldas herself. [QEm Volume 3] - Emeraldas sees Tochiro for the last time, during a layover at the twin stars of Vesperus. She does not recognize him due his wearing a different hat and cloak - plus the fact that his deteoriating health has changed his voice enough so that he doesn't sound the same. By the time she realizes her mistake it is too late, and he has already moved on. She will never see him alive again. [QEm Volume 3, slightly retconned. Tochiro had given his original hat and cloak, along with his Cosmo Dragoon pistol, to his mother Setsuko Oyama on Titan - per GE999f - and it is there where Setsuko will later give them to Tetsuro Hoshino. FYI, there's a wonderful color animation of the twin stars of Vesperus in the MYA extended preview (02:29 to 02:34) - with the Arcadia in the foreground - doing double duty as the Flame Stream Prominence.] ------------------------2973 - GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ------------------------- Through a remarkable set of circumstances, the paths of Maetel and the young Tetsuro Hoshino cross on Earth. He is exactly the iron-willed youth for whom she has sought ever since the death of Nazca three years before. Maetel offers Tetsuro a free boarding pass to the Three-Nine on the condition that she accompany him all the way to its final destination: the Machine Planet, where anybody can get a machine body for free. This chance encounter sets off a remarkable string of circumstances that eventually results in the destruction of Machine Planet Maetel and the breaking of the Machine Empire's iron grip on the known universe. [GE999f; see also GE999a and GROVA] - During a brief layover at Pluto, Maetel visits the grave of someone she knows in the planet's vast ice fields - known as the Ice Graves - while Tetsuro has a bizarre run-in with Shadow, the Mechanoid who serves as the caretaker of the Ice Graves. [GE999f; see also GE999a #005, "Shadow of the Planet of Indecision." Just whose grave Maetel was visiting has been the source of endless fan speculation ever since GE999 was first aired as a TV series, and even more so after it was remade as a feature film. The most popular of the older theories was that it was her original body, per GE999f, although this might not be canon anymore depending on how you interpret later Leijiverse materials - ML in particular. GE999a stated that it was a dear friend of hers - which is as good a theory as any, and enjoys on-screen support. One "revival" Leijiverse anime seems to rewrite this completely - the body in the ice fields is none other than the original Yukino Yayoi, from whom Maetel's mother was cloned per QMf and SSM. The visuals from GE999EFa make this fairly clear. When we first see it, the face of the body in the Ice Graves is blurred - just as was that of Yukino Yayoi inside her crystal casket at the end of QMf. Also, we are treated to a view of the "double-face" image of Promethium's twin natures that ends the original GE999m manga series. Maetel cries at the sight of the body in its icy grave, remembering her mother - and also possibly recalling the legend of Queen Millennia, and Yukino Yayoi's sacrifice to save the world she loved so much. Then again ... in one of the later volumes of GE999EFm, Maetel again seems to claim that the body interred at Pluto is her own - just as she did in GE999f. Whoa - we've just come full circle! A perpendicular Ring of Time circling around the mysterious body that Maetel visits! *dizzy spell* *shakes head* Oh-kay ... that's enough of THAT! I'll let you readers take it from here.] - Perfect Mechanization, a binary planetary pair, is destroyed when the machines regulating its gravity fields are sabotaged by Maetel. [GE999a #014, "Leila from the Double Planet"] - About the same time that the Three-Nine is stopped at the Tombstone of Dead Leaves, the notorious space pirate Emeraldas is badly wounded by a suicide blast bomb while raiding a Machine Empire priority transport ship. She is forced to turn over command of her pirate ship to Rowena, the senior android among her crew, while she remains bedridden with her injuries. She will still not have recovered by the time Rowena, pretending to be her, attacks the Three-Nine and diverts it to the planet Jewel. [GE999a Special #3, "Eternal Voyager Emeraldas." This explains why Emeraldas is so weak and unable to fight in the episode proper. A different story is told both in the original TV episode and the manga, where she supposedly has an incurable illness. Maybe the same as Tochiro's? Uh-huh ... but I'm not going there (*grin*). The revised story from the extended TV special is a better fit for the later activities of Emeraldas, as depicted in both QEa and the later GE999 related materials. The name of the android comes from CHR "The Children of Eden (Parts 1-4).] - The Three-Nine makes a brief stop at the planet Tabito. Tetsuro will still remember the tastes of the noodles at the Gingatei Ramen Shop two years later, when Manabu Yuki cooks some ramen for him during their adventure together on the planet Herise. [GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny." Tetsuro's description fits the Gingatei Ramen Shop, which the Yuki family owns. Manabu learned how to cook ramen for his mother while working at the shop in his youth - and anyone who's watched GE999a knows Tetsuro is quite the ramen aficionado. He KNOWS his ramen, folks, like wine experts know their wines. Comparison with GE999a #009 and #079 to GR2 #01 would seem to imply that Tabito lies somewhere on the Infinite Track between the planets Trader Junction and Heavy Melder - most likely somewhere on the Trader Junction end of that half of the line.] - The ignition of an artificial sun in the skies above what was once the Pitch Dark Planet kills approximately 99.9% of the population within a matter of minutes. The radiation from what is ostensibly ordinary sunlight proves fatal to people who had lived in almost complete darkness for generations, and whose bodies had adapted to being without it. As one observer sadly notes, "It's going to take a long, long time to rebuild that world." [GE999a #063, "The Pitch Dark Planet"] - Death of Tochiro Oyama, brought about by complications resulting from a longstanding illness. [GE999f. This is the date most commonly accepted by Leijiverse fans, and its version of events is widely considered to be the definitive account. SPCHa #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space" gives a date of 2970 - albeit under entirely different circumstances. The same goes for SPCHm Volume 5. The account given in SSX #21, "Fight to the End! Farewell, Tochiro" is now generally discredited as non-canon, since it is the one that is least in accord with the other variations of the story. See also QEa #1 & #4, QEm Volume 4. This version of the tale supersedes the events depicted in GE999a #079-081, "The Pirate of the Time Castle (Parts 1-3)," (and the corresponding version of the story in GE999m). NOTE - The origins of this version of events can be traced all the way back to the manga short SBD; save that in it the actual brain of Harlock's late wife - and not Tochiro's soul - was at the heart of his ship's computer. The untimely death of Tochiro is a recurring theme in many of the Harlock-related mangas, both old and new - especially SPCHm, where it is first alluded to at the end of the first volume, then features prominently in the final chapter of the last one. The image of the late Tochiro's hat hanging from the crude cross that marks his grave on Heavy Melder is one of the best-known recurring images in the Leijiverse, and is usually combined with that of the wrecked Death Shadow in the background.] - Emeraldas leaves her daughter Mayu in an orphanage on Earth and returns to a lonely life on the Sea of Stars. She knows that hers is not the kind of life that Mayu should live; also, she knows it was Tochiro's wish that Mayu grow up on Earth. Harlock reluctantly agrees to play the role of Mayu's godfather (and foster parent) even though he feels Emeraldas is shirking her responsibilities as a parent. It is the beginning of a rift that will estrange the two space pirates over time. [CHQ1K, oddly enough, is the prime source for this important data point. It appears nowhere in the Japanese source materials. The ship's computer (Tochiro, i.e. "Roger Devlin") reveals it was Emeraldas who put Mayu in the orphanage - not Harlock, as one might assume at a casual glance. It was against Tochiro's wishes, since he had wanted Harlock to adopt Mayu as his own daughter. He knew from long years of friendship that Harlock would have been a better single parent for Mayu than Emeraldas, as events eventually prove. Sadly, there is no record of Emeraldas ever seeing Mayu again after leaving her in the orphanage. Apparently, when Tochiro died Emeraldas put the life they once shared behind her and everything that was a part of it including their daughter. Cold, yes, but not totally unexpected behavior from a strong-willed woman who's just lost the man in her life. The fact that Harlock and Emeraldas hardly spoke to each other after Tochiro's death is one of the background themes of QEa, and also implied in QEm - where she's always musing on the fact that's she's alone. She also tends to keep her distance from Harlock in the "revival" tales of GE999EFm, although she's polite enough whenever their paths cross.] - Emeraldas returns Tochrio Oyama's body to Earth. She buries it on a lonely hill near the sea just outside of Megapolis City, within driving distance of the orphanage where she eventually leaves Mayu. She leaves Tochiro's hat and Tetsuro Hoshino's crude marker cross behind on Heavy Melder as a memorial. [CHQ1K. This is to date the ONLY source of how Tochiro's body wound up interred on Earth instead of remaining on Heavy Melder. This is never explained in the original Japanese sources. The image of Tochiro's grave is a familiar one in both Leijiverse manga and anime.] - The Time Castle is destroyed. [GE999f; see also GE999a #081, "The Pirate of the Time Castle (Part 3)." GE999f's version of events is considered by almost all Leijiverse fans as the definitive one. The allusions and comments made to Maetel's past in the three-part GE999a episode concerning the Time Castle can be retconned fairly well as referring to the events of SSM, even thought the GE999a episodes per se are not the accepted version of the story of the Time Castle and its eventual destruction.] - The planets Maya and Zaba are destroyed when the fifth world in their system explodes, due to the effects of a long-standing interplanetary war between the other two. The only survivors are two couples who escape to the system's third planet - a pair of Mayan deserters and two Zaba officers, Seth and Rei, sent there to preserve their kind. Unfortunately, the planet's ecosystem causes any humanoid life form on its surface to begin devolving within a few months, forcing their bodies to revert to more primitive forms. The Mayan couple had arrived months earlier and had already devolved, although they still retained most of their intelligence. What happened to the new arrivals, Seth and Rei, or if the four ever learned to get along and found a new world together, is not recorded. [GE999a #083, "Lifeform Number 3"] - Tetsuo is reunited with his parents on the Wisdom Tooth Planet, thanks to the last-minute intervention of a kindly Slave Planet agent. [GE999a #086, "The UFO of the Planet of Forgotten Parents." See also TTB Chapter 12, "UFO 2001." This is the original manga short on which this episode is based. Tetsuo is a native of the Wisdom Tooth Planet and is not to be confused with Three-Nine traveler Tetsuro Hoshino.] - The last remaining city on the Planet of the Rainbow Sash is destroyed by a massive earthquake - which collapses the dome that keeps the sea out. Tadashi Yamada and his bride Kumiko are among a few hundred survivors who make it to the escape capsules in time. Everyone else drowns when the dome collapses and the ocean waters rush in. [GE999a #092, "The Final Days of the Underwater City." See also TTB Chapter 14, which is the original manga short on which this episode was based.] - Tetsuro kills what is left of Yayaball's mother, now a heartless computer, purely in self-defense - otherwise, she would have killed him for being more of a man than her own spoiled son. [GE999a #095, "Yayaball's Tiny World (Part 2)."] - By this time, the planet of the Loose Zone has become completely buried in trash from a depth of anywhere from four feet minimum on flat, open spaces to gigantic piles several hundred feet high across its entire surface. Great mounds and piles of trash lines the shield tunnels of all space approaches far out beyond the atmosphere. There is no sign anymore of the indigenous humanoid population. It is commonly believed that, according to one wag, "they all drowned in their own trash because they were too lazy to pick it up for generations on end." [GE999a #100, "The Planet of the Loose Zone." The episode evokes scenes straight out of Shel Silverstein's classic children's short story, "Sarah Sylvia Cynthia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out." Tetsuro is the one who suggests this, albeit in different words. Maetel's own theory is more kind - she suggests everyone moved away once the garbage problem got out of hand. She doubts her own theory, though, after a monster materializes from the garbage and attacks them. They barely manage to escape - which leads Tetsuro to further theorize that, as with what just happened to them, the trash itself wound up overpowering and wiping out all life on the Loose Zone. NOTE - This is the only time in the entire GE999a series where the Three-Nine actually slows down after a station stop. Its stay on the Loose Zone was cut short by the situation there, so the engine has to "run slow" in order to make up the difference at the next stop. This isn't as silly as it sounds. Long-haul truck drivers are known to do this on occasion - even though few will admit it - so their trip schedules aren't thrown out of whack.] - The former colony world of Macaroni au Gratin, second only to the Machine Planets (third, if you count Technologia) in its level of technical sophistication and integration, blows up. Both of its leaders, Main and Sub Dendorum, are executed by its overseer, the Mother Computer, for doing this so they would have an excuse to finally leave. [GE999a #108, "The Destruction of Macaroni au Gratin."] - A high speed warp accident en route to Machine Planet Maetel causes the Three-Nine and everyone aboard to shift space-time continuums, and meet their counterparts in one of the parallel Rings of Time. They eventually return their own, but not before getting a different perspective on their own journey on the Infinite Track. [GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)." Remember my discussion back at the beginning of this document about how the Leijiverse twists and turns and loops in on itself? Remember me mentioning STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH on the comics side, and both HSm and MIRAIZER BAN on the manga side with regards to the multiple Rings of Time in the Leijiverse? Well, here's good on-screen evidence of that very fact. Just as the STAR TREK multiverse was proven on screen (in a way) with TNG's "Parallels" episode, so too this episode provides one of the strongest on-screen proofs of the multiple Rings of time of the Leijiverse. They're only alluded to in the dialogue in other sources, such as MYA - here you actually get a glimpse into one of those "other Rings." The only other time this happens on-screen is in GR2 #24, "The Eternal Vow." The episode shows that Redril's Three-Nine is somewhat farther ahead in relative time than Tetsuro's - although his circumstances and his "universe" in his Ring of Time have significant differences from Tetsuro's own. Still, the implication is that one of Maetel's future companions will be Redril - or somebody like him - that exists in Tetsuro's Ring of Time. This fact comes as quite a shock to Tetsuro, and helps clue him in to the fact that his journeys with Maetel - leastways his first trip - won't last forever.] - Machine Planet Maetel is destroyed. The internal power structure of the Machine Empire is thrown into chaos. Queen Promethium disappears and is rumored to be dead. [GE999f, GE999a #112 & #113, "The Vision of Youth! Farewell Three-Nine (Parts 1 & 2)." Note that the anime TV series ending is a remixed combo of the endings of both GE999f and GE999A - which shouldn't be surprising, since it was produced after both of them! Yes, GE999 was on TV longer than it was in the movies. The GE999f version is considered the "canon" version by most Leijiverse fans.] - The Machine Empire and its Machine People (i.e. Mechanoids) will all but vanish from the Milky Way galaxy during the next year. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas." Tetsuro is surprised to see the split Humanoid/Metanoid reception desk at the Hotel Meta-Bloody, and comments, "I though all the Machine People had disappeared!"] - Many interstellar and planetary economies will suffer a downturn as a result of the apparent collapse of the Machine Empire and the subsequent Machine War over the following few years. [GR2 #05, "On the Edge of the Abyss." The nameless civilian mechanic who helps Killian talks about this recession in brief, although he never names the cause. He blames the recession on the loss of his job and subsequent break-up of his marriage. The reasons for the recession are my conjecture, based on contextual evidence from other Leijiverse titles - most notably GE999f and GE999A.] - Captain Harlock takes the time repairing all the damage done to the Arcadia during his fight with the forces of the Machine Empire at Machine Planet Maetel to install several upgrades to the ship. One of these is a holographic projector for the ship's computer. This will allow the disembodied spirit of its creator, Tochiro Oyama, to take "physical" form and leave the Arcadia at will, up to the limits of the projection system. [This upgrade is first alluded to in GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal," after Harlock rescues the Three-Nine from the planet's explosion. We don't get to see it in use until much later, in GE999EFm Volume 4, Chapter 8, "The Pirates' Planet." Both Harlock and Tochrio refer to his holographic projection as "a shadow" - or "ghost in the machine," to borrow a well-known Western euphemism.] - The Internet, or its descendant if you will, still exists on Earth at this point in time. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 3, "Infinite Orbit."] - After leaving Tetsuro and departing on her own, Maetel will journey "to the farthest future possible, where the Rings of Time come together." She never says any more about this unique trip, save that for her it lasted "more than a [single] year" in relative time ... a LOT more. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change." It lasted less than a year in actual time, BTW.] - Sometime in between Tetsuro's first and second trips aboard the Three-Nine, Shadow leaves her job as Keeper of the Ice Graves to become the general manager of a brand new motel - which she promptly names the Shadow Hotel, after herself. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change." You will recall in GE999a #003, "Shadow of the Planet of Indecision," that all of the buildings on Pluto are made of ice. Maetel mentions to Tetsuro in GE999EFm that the entire layout and many of the buildings of Pluto's main city had changed since the last time he had visited there.] - THe current engine on the Three-Nine special express run on the Infinite Track, C6250, is taken out of service. It was a temporary replacement for the previous engine, C6248, which had been at Technologia undergoing an extensive overhaul and refit. C6248 is returned to service with numerous upgrades and enhancements - including snap-in engine components for extra power which can be added in mid-flight, and a sexaroid engineer named Kanon to oversee in-flight operations. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Future Railway." C6248 was the number of the Three-Nine's engine in GE999a, whereas C6250 was the engine in GE999f and GE999A. Maetel comments on this in the manga as a way to explain how they rescued Tetsuro - noting wryly, "Our new engine's a little more active than before." Kanon also introduces herself to Tetsuro at this time in the manga, whereas she is introduced by Maetel a bit later in the anime. The change in engine numbers is apparently M-san's way of explaining the ThreeNine's differences between the two feature films and the manga (and OAV). BTW, Kanon "remembers" Tetsuro because the engine does - from the TV series - because she is directly linked to the engine's systems. See also GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 2, "Engineers of Eternity"] - By this year, most of the other planets and cultures of the Milky Way think of the humans still on Earth as "the biggest cowards in the universe." [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change."] - At some point before the end of the year , the "Ghost Hoppers" of the planet Kilimanjaro will accidentally exterminate themselves. Only their queen survives - as she exiled herself as an interstellar wanderer earlier that year, disgusted with her former subjects' obsession with science at any cost. [GE999 #073, "Africa the Great Dark Nebula (Part 2)] --------------------------------2973 - GALAXY RAILWAYS (season 1) --------------------------------- Manabu Yuki joins the Galaxy Railways Space Defense Force (GRSDF) and is assigned to his father's old unit, the Sirius Platoon. [GR1 #01, "Setting Out"] - The SDF Sirius Platoon has an interesting encounter with a businessman named Toshiro Oyama, whose luxury Dreamliner space express train has been shot down by space pirates, crashing on the toxic world of Planet Green. [GR1 #20, "Sexaroid," slightly retconned. His first name is never given on-screen. I've retconned this to be the same Toshiro Oyama from UTSM - but oddly enough, GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 6, "The Crossroads of Destiny" can be interpreted to support my retcon ....] - After his rescue, Toshiro Oyama is summoned to the planet Destiny by Layla Shura. Together they discuss his family ancestry, both past and "future." Layla reveals that the real reason Toshiro was pulled forward in time was for the part he was to play in shaping the life of one Manabu Yuki - currently a young officer in the GRSDF Sirius Platoon. It was a bit part, to be sure, but one that will help Manabu become the great man he is destined to be. In gratitude for his assistance, Layla gives him the ultimate of all Galaxy Railways passes - the infinite pass, good for any space rail line and any space train (even the military ones). Toshiro is reinvigorated by Layla's words, and decides to resume adventuring again. He takes on a new name Nobotto, in honor of the black sheep of his family tree - who lived through years of adversity before finally making good. He grabs an old broad-brimmed hat and cloak, a samurai sword that has been a long-treasured family heirloom, and leaves to seek his own future aboard the new Galaxy Express #1000. He is also presented with a Cosmo Dragoon to help protect him on his journey. His former longtime companion Ariavenus is present for this, and wishes him well. [GR999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "A Thought For The Sea of Stars;" heavily retconned. The retconning is necessary to make the story more compatible with later parallel "revival" Leijiverse tales - GR1 and QEa in particular. Nobotto Oyama is the star of OO, and other Leijiverse manga imply that Nobotto was Toshiro's father. BTW, the Cosmo Dragoon that Layla Shura gives Toshiro is marked with the serial number "0." This indicates that it was it was the original prototype. The only other Leijiverse tale known to involve the Cosmo Dragoon prototype is Gibson's apocryphal CHR comic books. According to a footnote in the French edition, the sword that Toshiro takes with him is the "Tenga Mugen" from the GF stories. Imagine that!] - The newest Galaxy Express passenger train - #1000, aka the "Millennium Express" or just "the Millennium," enters service. It has two conductors a pair of intelligent twin squirrels named Luna and Tchico, both of whom are about the size of toddlers. They are very bright and cheerful, and quite good at their jobs. [GR999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 7, "A Thought For The Sea of Stars." According to Luna, their ancestors were genetically engineered from original Earth stock.] - Not long after leaving the planet Destiny, "Nobotto Oyama" runs into Emeraldas. She is shocked by his likeness to her beloved Tochiro, and even more shocked to learn that he is actually Tochiro's distant ancestor. He impresses her enough that she decides to spend some time with this remarkable man whom destiny has apparently placed before her. She soon leaves, but not before wishing "Nobotto" well on his new voyage .... [GR999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 8, "Journey of the Heart;" retconned. Sadly, this is where the GR999EFm series ends, and we never find out if the two ever met up again.] - Manabu Yuki, a young officer in the SDF Sirius Platoon, becomes the first person in the history of the Galaxy Railways to turn down an offer to join the Space Panzer Grenadiers (GRSPG) - one of the most elite fighting units in the galaxy, and one to which his late brother Mamoru belonged. His reasoning is that he can better serve the galaxy with the SDF than with the elite SPG. The refusal does much to enhance his already growing reputation among the ranks of the SDF, despite his youth. [GR1 #20, "Choices"] - The Alfort, a galactic power from a parallel dimension, attempt to invade the Milky Way galaxy. Their stated reason for their invasion is that new construction by the Galaxy Railways is starting to bleed over and have adverse effects on their own dimension. The fight is long and bitter, but in the end they are successfully repelled by the Galaxy Railways military forces. This event will later be known as the First Alfort Crisis. Many lives and Galaxy Railways military units are lost in the action - most notably Captain Johannsen's SPG unit aboard the Three-Six and Captain Murase's Vega Platoon of the SDF. Both are lost with all hands. [GR1 #22-26. The Three-Six is the SPG's space train. You see it now and again in GE999a, although it was never named as such. It is destroyed twice (and rebuilt twice) in the history of the Leijiverse - the first time when Mamoru Yuki's SPG unit was wiped out (GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "The Army of Destiny"), and the second time during the First Alfort Crisis (GR1 #22, "The Merciless Wind"). The episodes in question name many more GRSDF units lost than the two I list here; however, these two were part of the main plot of GR1, and featured in one or more episodes. The reasons behind the First Alfort Crisis in GR1 lead directly to the Second Alfort Crisis in GR2.] - Bruce J. Speed, weapons officer of the SDF Sirius Platoon, dies in the line of duty on the distant colony world of Sutherland, shortly after the beginning of the First Alfort Crisis. [GR1 #22, "The Merciless Wind"] 2974 - By this time, the Metanoids have succeeded in seizing total control of Earth. [GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 1, Chatper 1, "Future Railway"] - The new Mechanoid masters of Earth embark on an "artificial globalization" policy. The avowed goal of this policy is to eliminate all "natural" forms of life (plants, animals, people, etc.) and replace them with Mechanized ones (Mechanoids, Metanoids, artifical constructs, etc.). By the time Tetsuro returns, the policy will have been so successful that almost all plant and animal life has been eradicated, and all "natural" humans confined to remote or (in the case of cities) underground ghettoes. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Future Railway." Both Maetel and Earth Governor Bolkazanda refer to this policy and its outcome in the opening story of this manga series. Bolkazanda is the one who gives it a name. In the manga, this policy was enacted in 2964 - per the "revival" timeline almost immediately after the Metanoid bombardment and conquest of Earth.] - The most effective means that the Metanoids find to deal with the native populatin of Earth after their conquest is to give away food and drink, as much as anybody wants, without cost or restraint of any kind. This Romanesque "free government food" policy will prove suprisingly effective - although the overindulgent humans are unaware that their planet is being stripped of its own food-producing capabilities in the process of their "living for the present." Most of the people are too busy stuffing themselves like pigs to notice that the food they are eating is synthetic in origin, and not real food. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Future Railway" and Chapter 2, "Engine of Change," retconned; see also GE999EFa. This happens within the year of Tetsuro's return from his first trip aboard the Three-Nine in the manga; however, a similar policy is alluded to several times as having started in 2964 per HSm and the "revival" timeline. It lasted at least ten years in that version of events, and was enacted at the same time as their artificial globalization policy. I go with the latter date for continuity reasons. This food policy of the Metanoids will have disasterous results once the Machine War breaks out and Earth is again devastated, and its effects will still be felt some three decades later in the time of SPCH. Tetsuro talks at length about how bad the food was during his imprisonment in GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal." He often griped at length about the difference between real and synthetic food in GE999a.] - By this year the last humans have left Mars, and the planet is abandoned. The planet's harsh ecosystem quickly reclaims the few terraformed areas, so that by the end of the year it is pretty much as it always was - wind-blown desert, save for the ruins of colony towns and the small ice caps at its poles. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change." Tetsuro is shocked when he sees this, because there were still some green areas and canals in use during his only visit there. This contradicts the depiction of Mars we see in GE999a #002, "The Red Winds of Mars," but might be true for GE999f and the "heyday" timeline.] - By this year all intersolar human colonies have been abandoned, save for the few stragglers and hard cases. The most shocking example of this is the Saturnian moon of Titan, once famous for its Paradise Law and a haven for both outlaws and free thinkers. In its case, the Earth government sent in an overwhelming force, killed all who refused to be forcibly evacuated, then razed the place. Irreversible damage is done to Titan's ecosystem as its inhabitants fight to defend their homes, so that by the time the last of the fighting is over, Titan is quickly reverting to its old climate. This will be all but finished by the end of the year. Titan will be forever remembered in the lore of the Sol System as "the Warsaw ghetto of space." [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change." Maetel mentions the changes to Titan when the Three-Nine passes, but does not say how they came about. Mine is a best guess, based on what happens in other parts of the manga and in other Leijiverse tales around this time. The term "Warsaw ghetto of space" is my own. The "Earth government" are the Metanoids that control earth, and the forced evacuation of Titan was done as part of their overall policies after seizing control of the Sol System after the fall of the Machine Empire. It was also as good a time as any to ... "clean up the place?"] - Queen Promethium revives for the third and final time. As soon as she is strong enough, she relocates to Great Andromeda - the third Machine Planet, located with the Machine Empire's old holdings in the Andromeda galaxy - and begins to rebuild her empire again. [GE999A] - A hit animated movie, THE STORY OF A CAT, plays to audiences across the Milky Way galaxy in the brief time before the Machine War. Its creator is a young woman named Freia, a native of the planet Mariko's Firefly, and she goes on to become a famous animation director in later years. Her assisting director on the film is a young who also had dreams of working in animation, and who was stranded for a time on the Bat Planet in the Andromeda galaxy. It opens with a double dedication - both to her late cat, who inspired the story; and to Tetsuro Hoshino, who helped both of them during the time she was trying to have it made. "It is not known if Tetsuro ever saw the movie." [GE999a #016, "Planet of Fireflies;" and #111, "The Planet of Bats." Tetsuro thought it would be a good idea for these two to get together, since they had similar interests.] - Manabu Yuki is promoted, and takes over for the late Bruce J. Speed as weapons officer of the SDF Sirius Platoon. [GR2 series, implied. He filled in as weapons officer at the end of GR1 during the First Alfort Crisis, shortly after Bruce's death. He has an extra stripe on his epaulets in GR2, thus implying the promotion.] - Directus Junction is completed and begins operations. [GR2 #11, "For Whose Pride"] - The Bitten Planet finally implodes due to overmining. [GE999a #032, "The Bitten Planet of Suspended Space," implied] - Tetsuro Hoshino returns to Earth, having ended his first journey aboard the Three-Nine with Maetel. The exact particulars differ among account, but all of them agree that he wound up back on Earth about two years after leaving for Andromeda to get his machine body. His exploits have made him famous across the Milky Way galaxy - with all sorts of consequences as a result. One of these is that he is arrested by Earth Governor Bolkazanda not long after his arrival back on his homeworld, and his beloved Cosmo Dragoon is confiscated. [GE999a&m, GE999f, GE999EFm&a. He must have left in early 2973 and returned in late 2974, since the journey to Andromeda took approximately a year. Per GE999a&m, he made the return journey alone, with Maetel getting off at the Bat Planet - the first stop on the return journey - and riding away with another boy on the Three-Seven. Per GE999f, Maetel accompanied Tetsuro back to Earth and that was where they parted ways - Maetel leaving alone on the Three-Nine. Per GE999EFm&a, Tetsuro returned alone on the Three-Nine and was arrested by Earth Governor Bolkazanda's security forces, on behalf of the Mechanoids (and Metanoids), as soon as he set foot off the train. Like most fans, I consider the GE999f account as canon - but I interpret his arrest per GE999EF as happening soon after Maetel's departure from Earth. Thus, I combine both the "heyday" and "revival" accounts as best I can for this timeline. BTW, we know he became famous for defeating the Machine Empire. In GROVA Part 4, "Pieces of Time." David expresses regret over not having gotten Tetsuro's autograph. In GE999EFa, Iselle tells Tetsuro that "your reputation precedes you" during his visit to the planet Bright Ring Firefly.] - Emeraldas seizes Tetsuro's Cosmo Dragoon from Governor Bolkazanda before he can do anything with it. She will keep it for the time being, until Maetel eventually decides to rescue Tetsuro. [GE999EFa, GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Railway to the Future." Remember, Tetsuro's Cosmo Dragoon used to be the one that belonged to Tochiro Oyama. That's reason enough for Emeraldas to get it back.] - About this time, in the "revival" Leijiverse, Hammer Redril leaves his homeworld to seek his fortune on the Sea of Stars. [SZ. He was ten years old when this happened. This only applies to the "revival" continuity. Per GE999a #109-110, "Maetel's Journey," he did not leave his homeworld until Maetel found him there, half-starved and having just watched his mother die of starvation, when he was twelve. By the way, per SZ, Redril left his homeworld of Kiades with a Cosmo Gun Special as part of his few scant belongings - although we never find out how and from where he got it. Another parallel to SSX's Tadashi Momono!] ---------------------------------------------2974-2975 - GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ETERNAL FANTASY ---------------------------------------------- A young woman who has been secretly feeding the imprisoned Tetsuro is shot and killed by Earth Governor Bolkazanda's security forces. Her body will be left where it fell, and it quickly becomes encased in ice. [GE999EFa, GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Railway to the Future." How the young woman's body wound up inside the block of ice is explained in the manga version of the story.] - Tetsuro finds and takes care of a young cat he names Mii. The cat is his only real friend - after the death of the woman who used to feed him - during his imprisonment on Earth. [GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Railway to the Future." Mii is smuggled on board the Three-Nine by Tetsuro inside a little "nest" he had made for him under his overgrown hair. Maetel discovers Mii while giving Tetsuro his first bath in months. Mii is eventually issued a pass so he can journey with his beloved master aboard the Three-Nine. The reason for the name "Mii" is explained in Volume 7 of the manga.] - Tetsuro Hoshino is rescued from Earth and the security forces of Governor Bolkazanda by Maetel and the Three-Nine. Reunited again, the two head for the Eternal Galaxy on a set of new adventures. [GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Railway to the Future." Maetel states that "it's only been a year" since she and Tetsuro journeyed together aboard the Three-Nine. This best fits with the internal chronology of GE999a - where she was not present on the return journey back to Earth, which took a year. It can be made to fit with other interpretations, albeit with some difficulty.] - Tetsuro discovers, much to his delight, that Claire the Waitress has "been pieced back together" and is once again working on the Three-Nine. Maetel tells him that they will meet the person responsible for resurrecting Claire "at the end of our journey." [GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Grand Epic Eternal." Sadly, the manga series remains unfinished - so we never do find out who resurrected Claire, much less how and why.] - Maetel returns Tetsuro s Cosmo Dragoon to him courtesy of her sister Emeraldas, who had recovered it after Tetsuro had been arrested and had holding for him all this time. [GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1, "Railway to the Future."] - Tetsuro's new destination is the Great Nebula in the Altameta Galaxy - or as it is put another way at other places in the manga, the planet Ultimate at the heart of the Eternal Galaxy. There he is supposed to met the one being in the known universe who can restore the Earth. [Now where have I heard that combination before?! Oh, yeah - HSm Part 4, "Gotterdammerung," Volume 2! The planet Ultimate was supposed to have been the very first planet in our universe, sitting at its heart, but was destroyed in the Ancient War by the gods, fragmenting it across the universe. Three of these fragments are the Rhinegold (from its core), the planet Rhine, and Asteroid 6565 Reiji. At the end of that tale, all of these pieces were moving back to "the center of the universe" so that Ultimate could be reformed (in part) in order to activate the Sword of Heaven and destroy the gods. Now here we are, just over two years later in GE999EF, and Tetsuro is actually GOING to the planet Ultimate! Hmmmm ... does that mean the Eternal Galaxy and the Sword of Heaven are one and the same? Also, the "great darkness" to which Maetel refers constantly was hinted at around the edges throughout HSm, where it was supposedly influencing Wotan's path to self-destruction. Indeed, very interesting ....] - Maetel intends this to be her last trip before she returns to her original body. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change."] - Maetel implies that this is also Tetsuro's last trip aboard the Three-Nine ... and she promises that at its end she will tell him "everything about my journeys - but only to you, Tetsuro." [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 3, "Infinite Orbit;" Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal." So something major is going to happen to Tetsuro at journey's end - and he MAY not be going back to Earth when all is said and done. This ties in with the two-part "Maetel's Journey" episode of GE999a, where it implies that something has happened to Tetsuro after he left the Three-Nine the first time - otherwise, how would Redril have wound up with Tetsuro's Cosmo Dragoon? The idea that this is Tetsuro's last trip only works insofar as the "revival" Leijiverse is concerned, because he WILL make a third journey aboard the Three-Nine, per GE999A, and THAT will be his last such voyage.] - The same person whom Maetel is taking Tetsuro to meet "at journey's end" is also the same person who collected up all the various fragments of Claire the waitress - save the tear that Tetsuro kept - and remade her. [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal."] - The planet Bright Ring Firefly is destroyed by the Machine Empire for providing aid and shelter to "the renegade and criminal Tetsuro Hoshino." [GE999EFa; see also GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 5, "Grand Epic Eternal." The anime adaptation, GE999EFa, skips the next three chapters of the manga.] - Tetsuro kills Machine Knight Helmazaria, who has been following him and Maetel ever since his departure from Earth. Helmazaria had received orders from her superiors to kill them both, and attacked the Three-Nine so she could carry out those orders. After a long and protracted pistol duel, Tetsuro manages to put a Cosmo Dragoon bolt through Helmazaria's helium-3 heart - before collapsing from his own wounds from the fight. The Three-Nine jettisons the cars damaged in Helmazaria's attack, then proceeds directly to the planet Technologia for repairs and additional upgrades. [GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 4, "Helmazaria." Maetel and Helmazaria had met before, per HSm Part 2, "Siegfried,: where Helmazaria had helped a young Maetel and her sister Emeraldas out of a tight spot. This explains her remark, "I didn't want it to end this way," when she tells Maetel she has orders to kill her - and Maetel's anguish look as she watches Helmazaria die. In the manga version, Tetsuro kills Helmazaria later on in the story, during a layover at Heavy Melder - and gets shot in the ass by her in the process.] - Before she dies, Helmazaria asks Maetel to tell her children that she died like a warrior, facing her enemy to the last. [GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 4, "Helmazaria;" see also GE999EFa. The anime OAV only mentions the son; the manga reveals she had a daughter, too. Their names are Rowell and Mewell respectively. This also explains Tetsuro's consternation at being shot in the ass, since it implies he was running away from Helmazaria when he was hit. Maetel, who Tetsuro was protecting, promises to tell everyone who asks the real story - he was trying to shield her - so Tetsuro's honor will be saved. Claire the waitress adds that "your fellow space warriors will understand."] - Almost all of the ruling Metanoid elite is forced to evacuate Earth. Their new headquarters building, the Octagon, is destroyed during this process an act later credited by multiple eyewitnesses to Captain Harlock and the Arcadia. This is impossible, since both Captain Harlock and the Arcadia are nowhere near the Sol System at this time - and is only partially explained by the fact that the eyewitnesses swear Captain Harlock was in the "other Arcadia" (nee "blue Arcadia," nee Death Shadow II) at the time. [HSm, Part 4, "Gotterdamerung," Volume 1. This event happens at the end of 2974, ten years after the departure of Great Harlock from Earth, per the manga. It just so happens to dovetail nicely with the start of the Machine War in the "heyday" Leijiverse. The resulting power vaccuum on Earth caused by the departure of the Metanoids would be naturally seized upon by anyone with the resources to take advantage of it - such as a resurgent Machine Empire, per GE999A. This was the first event in Captain Harlock's career in the "revival" Leijiverse, and he travelled through time to do it via Time Sweeper technology.] - After his flight from Earth, Bolkazanda flees to Heavy Melder - where he becomes commander of the local Metanoid garrsion fleet. On his way out of the system, however, he orders the total destruction of Earth. He will later become the garrison fleet commander at Meta-Bloody, replacing Commander Flinnabeth. [GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 4, "Helmazaria." This happens after the young Harlock drives him and his forces away from Earth, as depicted in HSm Part 4, "Gottedammerung." Flinnabeth is from HSM Part 2, "The Valkyrie," Volume 2. His reassignment to Meta-Bloody is implied by the events of GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas." Helmazaria's son identifies him as the garrison fleet commander on Meta-Bloody. In Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle," Emeraldas identifies Bolkazanda's current command as the Eastern Fleet.] - The Three-Nine's next stop after Technologia is the Planet of Barkfish so named after its most common indigenous lifeform. [GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 3, "The Shattered Solar System"] - According to Maetel, life on Heavy Melder has "become very harsh" by the time she and Tetsuro visit in this year. After a rather eventful stay, they head to Planet Tiger, known for its big game hunts. [GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 4, "Helmazaria." Maetel is probably referring to changes caused by the unexpected downfall of the Machine Empire, and may in a way be anticipating the planet's fate in the coming Machine War.] - The Three-Nine passes through "an energy storm" shortly after leaving Planet Tiger, after which they find they have an extra passenger aboard. The young boy says his name is Little Harlock - much to Tetsuro's surprise. The Conductor explains that the Galaxy Railways has cleared him to ride without a pass in order to rush to the side of his dying father, who is at their next stop, Planet Ordinary. Even after attaching their extra engine modules enroute, they arrive too late. Little Harlock refuses to cry at the news, and tells Tetsuro he was named for the great space pirate Captain Harlock as an inspiration in life. Little Harlock gets off at Ordinary and the Three-Nine resumes its normal run. [GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 5, "Little Harlock." Maetel finds the whole encounter rather curious - but, as usual, says noting. If the energy storm were in fact a time knot, however, then this might explain why Great Harlock thinks he recognizes Maetel when he first sees her in HSm Part 2, "The Valkyrie," Volume 1. BTW, engine C6248 with its optional engine sections inserted is as long as the old American "Big Boy" steam locomotive.] - On the planet of Serene Dreams, Tetsuro Hoshino is allowed a brief visit with the stillborn sister that he never knew. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Serene Dreams." This scene is straight out of THE BLUEBIRD - of which M-san is a known fan. The little girl, who has no name (since she wasn't born), bemoans the fact that she didn't get to ride the Three-Nine with her would-have-been big brother. She also alludes to her father Faust Hoshino's abrupt disappearance, saying "I used to hear Daddy's (Faust's) voice too, but then one day I couldn't hear it anymore." Both the old hermit and Maetel state that Kanae Hoshino lost her daughter due to a miscarriage. I believe this is the event that may have caused Faust Hoshino to abandon his family and go to work for the Machine Empire, since the timing is right.] - Bolkazanda attacks the Three-Nine shortly before its arrival at Meta-Bloody, but is thwarted by the "streteched" engine's more powerful barrier system. Later, he and his fleet are in turn attacked by the Arcadia, the Queen Emeraldas, the Maharoba, and the Yamato at Metabloody, and forced to beat a hasty retreat. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas" and Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle." It is in this tale that we learn that the Yamato has among its crew the surviving Valkyries, now working for the GRSPG. BTW, Maetel and Tetsuro stay in the same combination hotel and saloon that is operated by Harlock s M-san lookalike friend Akira - as depicted in HSM Part 2, "The Valkyrie," Volume 1. This battle can be seen as the fulfillment of a prophecy made in HSm Part 3, "Siegfried" - where it is said that the four greatest space battleships in the universe (Arcadia, Queen Emeraldas, Yamato, and Mahoroba) will fight the Metanoids together.] - A large conference is being held on the planet Meta-Bloody by representives of the galaxy's free systems, free space traders, and independent space captains (like Harlock and Emeraldas) in order to deal with the question of the imminent Metanoid threat to the galaxy. It is this conference that Bolkazanda is trying to disrupt when he attacks the Hotel Meta-Bloody, and in turn gets his ass handed back to him by Harlock and Emeraldas. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas"] - Tetsuro will accidentally bump into the children of Helmazaria, Rowell and Mewell, at the Big Ramen Shop on Meta-Bloody. He later introduces them to Maetel. She in turn keeps her promise to Helmazaria and tells the two about their mother's death and how she died. Both she and Tetsuro are careful not to mention their involvement in the affair. Helmazaria's young son promptly swears vengeance on his mother's killer -- once he's old enough to carry out the deed, that is. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 1, "Queen Emeraldas" and Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle." In the latter he tries to take on Emeraldas herself, in an event reminescent of QEm Volume 1, but she declines. "You are too young to die," she tells him gently. "Come back when you have grown up, and then we will fight."] - Tetsuro has just entered adolesence; i.e., he's a young teen now, and not the excitable young boy we used to know. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 3, "The Thinking Star." Claire remarks that Tetsuro has changed since she last met him, even taking into account his imprisonment on Earth. Maetel points out, "He's at that age, Claire - an adolescent - and he can't help it." The fact that M-san still draws him as a boy of the same age we saw back in GE999a and GE999m has helped to confuse this issue for many. This is just one of M-san's artistic quirks he almost always draws his teenage characters younger than the really are, save for the odd exception or two, like Tadashi Daiba for instance. By the way, he does the same thing to the teenaged Maetel and Emeraldas in many of the volumes of HSm. The only time Tetsuro "looks" his right age during his trip to the Eternal Galaxy is during his guest appearance in GROVA. Tetsuro's adolescence will come into play once he meets the adult Mewell months later, per GE999EFm Volume 6, Chapter 5, "The Tears of Helmazaria."] - The planet of Motheria, homeworld of the Metanoids, is finally swallowed and destroyed by the darkness of the Dark Queen - the being many of them worship as a god. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 10, "Darkness Rising." The manga reveals that Helmazaria's alternate name, "Helmotheria," was granted for being the greatest warrior among her people. In other words, she was named after her homeworld - just like Maetel. This explains the odd swapping of the two names, Helmazaria and Helmotheria, you see in GE999EFm and other related Leijiverse tales. The suffix "hel-" in the language of the Metanoids may indicate a proven warrior, just like the article "la" in the language of the LaMaetel is used as part of a formal name ("La Maeter Prometheium" being Maetel's full formal name, for example).] - Harlock and Emeraldas cooperate to upgrade all of the known Cosmo Dragoon pistols in order to better cope with Metanoids. [GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 10, "Darkness Rising." At the end of the story, Harlock shows up aboard the Three-Nine and asks Tetsuro to exchange his (Tochiro's) Cosmo Dragoon with the one Harlock has brought with him. Harlock explains why as this exchange takes place. Maetel assures Tetsuro that he will get "his" Cosmo Dragoon back once Emeraldas is through upgrading it. In the meantime, he will use the one that belongs to Emeraldas - which "already has all the upgrades."] - Tetsuro Hoshino and Tochiro Oyama meet in person for only the second time in their lives - or as close as it gets, i.e. "shadow" form, in Tochiro's case. Tochiro appears, courtesy of a nearby Arcadia and at Captain Harlock's request, to help Tetsuro and Maetel with a situation that has developed regarding a group of ex-pirates hiding out at the world know as the Pirates' Planet. [GE999EFm Volume 4, Chapter 8, "The Pirates' Planet." Oddly enough, Tochiro doesn't seem to remember his first visit with Tetsuro, in GE999f. He tells them both that he doesn't want to see Emeraldas in any case, noting, "I prefer that she remember me the way I was when I was alive" - i.e. still in corporeal, bodily form. He has come to accept his new form of existence, and points out that "there are certain advantages to being all 'heart.'"] - The planet Yurundarran abruptly enters an Ice Age, due to the fact that all the garbage it has shot into orbit over the years becomes so great that it blocks the light of its own sun. [GE999EFm Volume 4, Chapter 10, "Disgrace" (Part 2)] - The planet Chestnut Knight is destroyed due to an accident involving a series of quantum bomb experiments along its equator. The only survivors are its president, Pletonia Shokarna, and her two infant children. Shokarna manages to board the visiting Three-Nine at the last possible minute, and without warning any of her people of the impending disaster. The Metanoids had been the ones ultimately behind the experiments, but wash their hands of the whole affair once the planet explodes - also refusing asylum to Shokarna and her two children. [GE999EFm Volume 4, Chapter 11, "Planet Chestnut Knight"] - The planet Manmutos Utopia is destroyed by the Metanoids. [GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapter 1, "Axe of the Mantis"] - Dark Queen, the being worshipped by the Metanoids, pays a special visit to the Three-Nine in order to visit with young Tetsuro Hoshino - and to understand more about this remarkable young man. [GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapters 3-7 inclusive. The animekritik has an interesting article about this on his webisite, Kritik de Animationskraft, which you might find worth reading.] - The planet Aphrodite is destroyed by the Metanoids. [GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapter 8, "Caught in Planet Crossfire"] - The planet Crossfire blows itself up, rather than allow itself to be conquered by the Metanoids. [GE999EFm Volume 5, Chapter 8, "Caught in Planet Crossfire"] - Maetel finally tells Tetsuro about the connection between her mother, the late Queen Promethium, and the Earth legend of Queen Millennia. [GE999EFm Volume 6, Chapter 4, "Planet Great Hell"] - Tetsuro receives a surprise visit from the adult Mewell, who has aged to maturity in less than a year due to her Metanoid physiology. She informs Testsuro that her brother Rowell is dead, having died in a space battle fighting to defend the Dark Queen. Before his death, though, both he and his sister learned the truth behind their mother's death. Thanks to his experiences since his first meeting with Tetsuro, Rowell had understood why Tetsuro was forced to kill his mother. He had asked Mewell - now an independent bounty hunter - to find Tetsuro and to tell him that he didn't hold him responsible for Helmazaria's death, but that it was her own fault for being careless. Mewell herself has changed, too, and has softened in her attitude towards Tetsuro, even expressing admiration for him despite the fact that he is human. She leaves the Three-Nine shortly thereafter, but Tetsuro has a strange feeling that he will meet her again .... [GE999EFm, Volume 6, Chapter 5, "The Tears of Helmazaria." At the end of the story, Tetsuro is surprised to find himself attracted to Mewell - and NOT in a boyish admiring sort of way, either! Unfortunately, this plot thread was never followed up due to the rather abrupt end of the manga.] - Near the end of his second journey aboard the Three-Nine, Tetsuro Hoshino is taken by Maetel to the planet Destiny to meet with Layla Shura, chief operating officer of the Galaxy Railways. She takes him through the rings of time to 2968 and the cabin in which he and his parents used to live. He also witnesses the arrival of Mamoru Yuki at Destiny, shortly before the young GRSPG officer leaves on the mission that will eventually result in his death. [GE999EFm Volume 7, Prologue Part 3, "Competing Destinies." The arrival of of Mamoru Yuki is part of the original manga tale that was eventually reworked into the first season of GR. I have retconned the manga version for purposes of this timeline, since Layla had power over destiny and thus had a measure of control over the Rings of Time. Per the manga, Destiny exists outside of the normal space-time continuum, and Layla Shura can make it appear wherever in space - and apparently whenever in time - she needs.] - Tetsuro Hoshino kills the Metanoid assassin Twist Barrel with the latter tries (unsuccessfully) to kill him, shortly after the Three-Nine departs planet Destiny. [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 4, "A Thought for the Sea of Stars." The only reason I bring this up is that Twist Barrel also appears in two other "revival" Leijiverse tales. How did he wind up here? Your guess is as good as mine. - A young girl named Nanami Yuma is aided by Maetel and Tetsuro in her fight to fulfill her dream of building a starship and exploring the Sea of Stars. [From one of the GE999 planetarium specials. This is part of SZ's backstory.] - Namini Yuma's father is killed by the tyrant Acolgistol durin his efforts to keep her from fulfilling her dream. [From one of the GE999 planetarium specials. This is part of SZ's backstory.] - Cadet Killian Black is assigned to the SDF Sirius Platoon as a replacement for the late Bruce. His is a "probationary" appointment for three months. [GROVA Part 1, "The Tidal Wave of Time." This takes place no earlier than a few weeks and no later than three months after Bruce's death. The length of Killian's probationary period is translated in the fansub as "three terms," which I have taken the liberty of interpreting as months to better fit in the timeline. He's a senior cadet (i.e. "firstie) at the SDF Academy, and I can vouch from my own U.S. Naval Academy experience that such assignments are common for senior cadets. Three months is about right for such an assignment, if the SDF Academy is like service academies of our time. The reason for these senior cadet tours is to break them in as to what "real life" will be like in the service - in this case the GRSDF. All the "executive" jokes probably mean that Killian has chosen to be a staff officer, as we see him assigned later on in GR2 #06, "The Graduation" - as opposed to being a normal line officer, like Manabu Yuki and the rest of Sirius Platoon.] --------------------------------------------------------------------2974 - GALAXY RAILWAYS OVA series - "Letter From an Abandoned Planet" GALAXY RAILWAYS (season 2) --------------------------------------------------------------------- While visiting Duet, the habitable moon of the planet Herise, young Tetsuro Hoshino is invited to the retirement party of Matthew, a local postal carrier. As it turns out, Tetsuro is the only one who can see the address on the one letter Matthew has been unable to deliver in his long career. He cannot decipher it, though, since it is written in a language unknown to him. Matthew asks Tetsuro to attempt delivery of the letter, since only the boy can see the address - and Tetsuro agrees to try. The letter turns out to be for GRSDF cadet Killian Black, and was written by his late parents shortly before all life was wiped out on the surface of the planet Herise. [GROVA Part 1, "The Tidal Wave of Time" and Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny." We know the events of GROVA take place AFTER the events of GE999EF because Tetsuro is already already acquainted with Layla Shura, whom he met in person in the seventh and final volume of GE999EFm.] - The Sirius Platoon and Big One, its special space train, are given the gift (as one might poetically put it) of briefly visiting the Master Ring of Time by Layla Shura - where all possibilities - past, present, and future - exist simultaneously. [GROVA Part 4, "Pieces of Time." The end of this episode is what almost all Leijiverse fans point to, with regards to an on-screen definition of the philosophy of "toki no wa" and the concept of the Rings of Time. FYI, the brief scene involving the flyby of the Three-Six and Mamoru Yuki alludes to the original three-part GE999EFm side story that appears in Volume 7 (the final one) of the manga series - the one that eventually served as the basis for the GR series. The visuals at one point strongly suggest they were inside the Master Ring of Time, and at another that the Shura aspect of Layla Shura was guiding them through their visit. See also GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)."] - At the end of his latest journey aboard the Three-Nine, Tetsuro Hoshino is successful in both getting the Earth and the Sol System restored, and in stopping the Metanoid's long-term Organic Creature Elimination Project. The center of the universe is freed from all "dark" influences through his actions. He is aided in this not only by Maetel, but by his new friend Mewell and a Tochiro lookalike going by the name of Nobotta Oyama. [Repeated references to first goal throughout GE999EFm; Emeraldas says the second is also part of his destiny in GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 2, "Eternal Battle." Mewell's presence is predicted in Volume 6; Toshiro Oyama's (aka "Nobotto") in Volume 7.] - In at least one of the Rings of Time that deal with one of the possible futures of Tetsuro Hoshino, he never returned to Earth after his second trip aboard the Three-Nine. His ultimate fate remains unknown. The only thing that is certain is that the young Metanoid bounty hunter Mewell, aka "The Tears of Helmazaria," was his companion (and possible romantic interest) during part of this time. [GE999EFm Volume 6, Chapter 5, "The Tears of Helmazaria," somewhat retconned. It is foretold in the manga that Mewell and Tetsuro will meet again, once Tetsuro is older, and that they will become good friends. Tetsuro even even expresses romantic attraction for her at one point, after seeing how beautiful she becomes as an adult. This version of events provides a neat way of explaining, at least as far as the "revival" Leijiverse is concerned, how Emeraldas got Tetsuro's (Tochiro's) Cosmo Dragoon back to later give to Hiroshi Umino in QEa. Mewell couldn't have used it herself, given the fact she was a Metanoid, but she was perfectly capable of carrying it back to Emeraldas once Tetsuro ... umm ... no longer "had need of it?" I'll let that hang .... Other fans have suggested that Mewell gave it to Maetel instead, who then took it to her sister Emeraldas - which is also a possibility. Oh, and the notion that Tetsuro wasn't coming back from the Eternal Galaxy is repeated several times throughout GE999EFm - but I concede that might have just been dramatic tension on M-san's part.] - SDF's Cepheus Platoon is formed to replace the Vega Platoon, lost the year before in the First Alfort Crisis. It is headed by Captain Guy Lawrence. [GR2 #02, "The Gap Between Calmness and Insanity"] - The prelude to the Second Alfort Crisis is twenty-four small black holes occurring simultaneously at multiple points on the Galaxy Railways space rail network. Three space trains and hundreds of civilian lives are lost as a result. The cause is later attributed to a failure of the space rail system itself. It is the first clue that the Alfort might have been justified, at least in part, for what they did the year before - and that the problem with interdimensional faults along the space rail network may be growing. [GR2 #05, "On the Edge of the Abyss"] - Killian Black's probationary tour with the SDF Sirius Platoon ends. Having successfully completed his final cadet assignment, he graduates from the SDF Academy. His first assignment is as a junior operations officer working on the staff of SDF Headquarters. [GR2 #06, "Graduation"] - The Galaxy Railways is forced to sterilize the colony world of Eumenes in order to prevent a level 5 viral plague from spreading beyond the planet. The operation is accomplished by saturating the planet's entire atmosphere with a highly flammable gas and then igniting it with a shock cannon blast. The resulting surface-wide detonation destroys everything on the planet. Such drastic action is justified by the fact that everyone on the surface had already succumbed to and died from the plague first - leaving only their infected and highly contagious bodies behind. [GR2 #10, "The Abandoned Future"] - Directus Junction is hijacked by cyberpirates, who successfully seize control of not only all its functions, but those of all space trains (including two belonging to the SDF) parked inside. It is the first time in the history of the Galaxy Railways that a sector junction station has ever been successfully hijacked. Only the actions of Captain Guy Lawrence and Lt. Manabu Yuki of the SDF, who were the only two SDF officers not sealed inside their space trains or the station control center when it was hijacked, prevent the cyberpirates from succeeding in their effort. [GR2 #11, "For Whose Pride." BTW, the hijackers valued the station's worth, as well as that of everyone and everything inside, at five billion gables and that's probably on the low side.] - The Night of Miracles occurs on the planet Emporium - when the spirit of the late opera prima donna Adelle, who was killed in a stage accident eight years before, returns in the body of a sexaroid built in her likeness for a single night's performance. The event will become a legend on Emporium, and talked about by lovers of the fine arts across the galaxy for years afterward. [GR2 #12, "The Wings of the Soul"] - A near-perfect duplicate of the SDF's "Big One" armored space train begins making merciless attacks on civilian targets. As it turns out, it is a customized and more heavily armed and armored version of Big One, built by Heckler Industries and intended to replace the GRSPG's lost Three-Six. Its existence was discovered and it was stolen by a band of space pirates led by Jack Bloom - a professional mercenary soldier and the most wanted man on the GRSDF's list of top galactic criminals. Bloom and the fake Big One are soon tracked down and destroyed, but not before many of the GRSDF's best armored space trains are badly damaged and taken out of action in the process. Unknown to all concerned, it is the next act in the prelude to the Second Alfort Crisis. [GR2 #13 & #14, "Crisis Within The SDF (Parts 1 and 2)." The GRSPG's Three-Six was lost in the first battle of the First Alfort Crisis, per GR1 #22, "The Merciless Wind." The Three-Six had been rebuilt at least once before, per GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 6, "Crossroads of Destiny." As stated in this two-part story, the reason an improved Big One was built - instead of building a new Three-Six as before - is because Big One had consistently outperformed any of the Galaxy Railways' armored space trains, even those of the GRSPG, over the past two decades. Captain Bulge attributes Big One's performance to that of his crew, and not just his space train by itself.] - The commander of the Galaxy Railways' own Intelligence Division, along with many of the top executives at Heckler Industries are arrested for complicity in arranging the theft of the "clone" Big One Train in order to obtain actual combat data with live targets. His replacement is GRSDF Commander Hoover - a man even more unscrupulous than his predecessor. [GR2 #13 & #14, "Crisis Within The SDF (Parts 1 and 2)."] - The Second Alfort Crisis is precipitated by the arrival of a cryogenic escape pod through a dimensional fault from the parallel dimension in which the Alfort hold sway. The SDF Sirius Platoon goes through another such fault, against the express desire of the Galaxy Railways Intelligence Division, in order to return they little girl found inside the pod to her own universe. Once there, they discover the descendants of previous space trains that had fallen through earlier dimensional faults - as well as one of the darkest secrets of the Galaxy Railways, which is the reason why all of the dimensional faults have been forming in the first place. [GR2 #16-24. Judging from the various episodes, and what data we are given in GR1, the parallel dimension of the Alfort appears to be a pocket universe of some kind. HS's Valhalla is another example of this, save that the one of the Alfort appears to be natural, not artificial. More along the lines of DOCTOR WHO's E-space, for example. It's a lot smaller than our own having no more than two or three dozen galaxies, for example - but still plenty big enough for just about anything. Big One apparently crosses from one side to another in only a few weeks relative time. The only things within to which we can relate, apart from environments like those we know, are things that have drifted into it from our own universe - like people, other beings from our own universe, and various artifacts. Evidence of such "drift" is first confirmed in GR2 #19, "Call of the Mist," although it is hinted at as early as GR2 #17, "Departure to the Unknown." This event has to happen before the Machine War, since at one point SDF Supreme Commander Todo is advised to get the assistance of all interstellar and interplanetary space fleets who will lend aid. He wouldn't have even been able to consider that option had the Machine War been underway.] - Big One finds the wreck of an old intersolar system passenger ship from our dimension on one of the planets of the Alfort dimension. It had apparently fallen through a dimensional fault and crashed, killing everyone on board. [GR2 #19, "Call of the Mist." Louise calls it "an old model," and it has apparently been there for long, long time - but pinning an exact date is impossible, given the limited data. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the 2400s or thereabouts - but that's just a guess.] - The entire SDF travels to the Alfort dimension to assist Big One in resolving the Second Alfort Crisis. All SDF platoons manage to return safely to our own universe. [GR2 #22, "A Labyrinth Named Destiny;" #23, "Through the Storm;" and #24, "The Eternal Vow."] - The Sirius Platoon has its own run-in with the Metanoids. [GR2 #25-26, Galaxy Railways Eternal (Parts 1 & 2). This two-part series finale was never broadcast, and is only available at this time on the Japanese DVD release of the series. My thanks to a.k. for what information I have.] 2974-2975 - The Machine War is fought between a suddenly resurgent Machine Empire, with additional forces being shipped in en masse from the Andromeda galaxy; and the rest of intelligent life in the Milky Way, who desire no longer to live under any kind of Machine rule. Open warfare erupts on many major worlds Earth in particular - as well as many minor ones. Some go untouched, with neither side deeming them worth the trouble; while others - such as Heavy Melder - are completely devastated. Regardless of their backgrounds, species, creeds, ages, or genders, every single intelligent life form is represented in the fight to defeat the Mechanoids once and for all. Queen Promethium responds with a scorched-earth policy. If she can't claim a given world for her Machine Empire, then her forces have orders to destroy all of its life forms as quickly as possible regardless of the cost. The fighting will not stop until the final collapse of the Machine Empire the following year. [GE999A] - The planet Andorado is conquered by the Machine Empire. [GE999A. Meowdar was from Andorado. His parents were killed during the Machine Empire invasion.] - The mining planet Daibaran, once famed throughout the galaxy for its Daibaran energy crystals, is laid waste by forces of the Machine Empire seeking to lay claim to the last of those crystals. The once proud planet is quickly turned into a world of slag and ash, with impoverished survivors crowded into shanty towns as close to their former homes as the intense radiation permits. Only the giant plastisteel slag piles of nuked cities, ruined or tapped crystal mines, and scrapyards full of wrecked spaceships and the debris of war remain as a testament to the planet's former glory. [Conjecture based on QEa #01, "Eternal Emblem." We are given no reason for the ruined city we see in the distance beyond Rock Ridge Town at the start of the episode, nor for the wrecked machinery we see scattered between it and the spaceport. My best guess is that the ruined city was destroyed in an attack by the Machine Empire during the Machine War. This would also help explain why Daibaran has become, in effect, a giant junkyard with only three tiny habitable towns on the whole of the planet, instead of the proud mining planet it once had been.] - Earth falls victim to the forces of Queen Promethium. Most of its major cities, including Megapolis City, are destroyed. Savage street fighting with fanatical Machine Soldiers will become a way of life with the surviving humans in the long days to come. [GE999A] - The Machine Empire begins issuing "clean capsule energy" from the Machine Planet Great Andromeda in its bid to win the fight for control of the Milky Way galaxy. In turn the grateful Mechanoids renew their allegiance with the Machine Empire. Millions of fresh Machine Soldiers are thrown into Promethium's war effort against the rest of the universe. [GE999A] - Claire leaves her duties aboard Galaxy Express #999 in order to reclaim her original body. Her replacement is Metalmena, a Mechanoid with ulterior motives [GE999EFm. Claire's original body was among those stolen when the Ice Graves of Pluto were looted. This was done by energy-starved Mechanoids looking to stay alive by any means possible during the confusion within the Machine Empire following the destruction of Machine Planet Maetel the year before. In the "revival" Leijiverse, this supersedes the depiction in all GE999 sources of Claire actually having died aboard the Three-Nine.] - One of the heaviest battles in the latter stages of the Machine War takes place in the streets of Trader's Fork on planet Heavy Melder. The Machine Empire's attempt to seize control of the crossroads of the universe is stopped by a coalition of human forces led by the space pirate Captain Harlock. Unfortunately, the intensity of the fighting coupled with the devastating effects of the weaponry used results in the complete contamination of Heavy Melder's atmosphere. The surviving civilians are forced to relocate to LaMaetel, Heavy Melder's moon. Heavy Melder itself will remain uninhabitable for years to come. [GE999A; see also the second extra manga short in some printed editions of QEm Volume 4. In GE999A, the Three-Nine's conductor relays the story of the battle to Tetsuro as they pass Heavy Melder on their way to LaMaetel. It is also the one planet on which Harlock does not stop in his search for Mayu Oyama a few years later, in SPCHa. The dialogue says that it "had been destroyed." In the extra short manga for QEm Volume 4, Emeraldas visits with two clone humans - a young man and a young woman - who have settled on Heavy Melder long after the war, and who are implied to be its new Adam and Eve.] - The Machine Empire successfully retakes control of LaMaetel, moon of Heavy Melder and the original homeworld of Queen Promethium. Even so, they are unable to root out all of the rebels who are hiding in the countryside and mountains. [GE999A] --------------------------------------------------------2975 - ADIEU GALAXY EXPRESS 999 - FINAL STATION ANDROMEDA --------------------------------------------------------2975 - Death of Faust Hoshino, last Machine Knight of Queen Promethium and father of Tetsuro Hoshino. [GE999A] - Destruction of the Machine Planet Great Andromeda and final death of Queen Promethium by the Witch Comet Siren. With the downfall of its ruler and unifying force, the Machine Empire quickly collapses. It leaves behind two galaxies devastated by years of war. [GE999A] - The rebuilding of Earth begins yet again. Most of the planet's major cities are piles of rubble from over three decades of war and bombardment by various alien invaders; also, Earth's food supplies are dangerously low. A series of star farms are set up on nearby colony planets to provide enough food to feed the hungry masses. It will not be enough, but the Earth government strives to conceal this fact from the people. [SPCHa and SPCHm. The establishing shots for the first few episodes (and parts of the manga) depict the plight of the Earth - and how the government was using subliminal mind control techniques to keep the population docile. Captain Harlock himself reveals that he has been hoarding stolen food for some time because he knows a planetwide famine is imminent.] - A number of regional powers vie for galactic dominance in the aftermath of the Machine Empire's collapse, in addition to the refusal of Earth to retake the reins of power. [QEa and CHEO, implied] ------------------------------------------------------------------------=> RECONVERGENCE OF THE "HEYDAY" AND "REVIVAL" LEIJIVERSE TIMELINES <=------------------------------------------------------------------------ Founding of the short-lived Afressian Empire. [QEa, implied. The sudden and rapid collapse of the Machine Empire would have left a power vacuum across two galaxies - perfect for any regional power brokers to go into shop for themselves. Such appears to have been the case with the Afressians. They also appear to have had a major naval base in their sector of space at the time of the Empire's collapse - which might account for how they got such a big space fleet so fast as depicted on screen. With a tool like that at their disposal, empire-building aspirations would follow naturally. It's a shame that the background story of the Afressians was given short shrift in QEa. It sounds intriguing, given the scant clues we have.] - Slavery is re-imposed by the Afressians as they expand their still-growing interstellar empire. [QE#1, "Departure."] - Tobacco is outlawed on Earth planetwide by the current Earth government. [SPCHa #28, "The Ulysses Nebula." Professor Aihn, an old friend of Great Harlock and onetime mentor to his son, reveals that this was the reason why he abandoned Earth.] - The government of Earth concerns itself with its own affairs and turns inward, abandoning all thoughts of galactic power for the more immediate concerns of survival and self-satisfaction. This action marks the coup de grace for Earth insofar as having any effect on interstellar affairs. It will become a backward world from this point on - a place to dump the old, infirmed, lazy, ignorant, and those just too stubborn to abandon their planetbound mentality. It is yet another major milestone passed in Earth's long slide from dominant galactic power to eventual barbarism. [SPCHa #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space"] - The seat of the Galactic Government relocates from Earth to the artificial planet of Panotpicon. Earth, as well as the entire Sol System, is left to its own devices. [CHEO #01, "Tears for a Star-Filled Sky"] - In at least one of the Rings of Time, Tetsuro Hoshino dies young before the end of the year. Once again, Emeraldas finds a way to reclaims his Cosmo Dragoon - which used to belong to her lover, Tochrio Oyama. [GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)," death implied; see also QEa #02, "Eternal Emblem." We know about the gun, since the GE999a episodes establishes that it changed hands and the QEa episode shows that Emeraldas got it back for a time. Otherwise, she couldn't have given it to Hiroshi Umino. Besides, Tetsuro wouldn't have given up claim on "his" Cosmo Dragoon unless he were dying, as would any "real" man or warrior - and per the end of GE999A, he was heading to Earth to help reclaim it from surviving Machine Empire forces that were still holding out there. He almost got killed by the same at the start of GE999A, so maybe his number finally came up? Seems likely. Maetel herself might be alluding to this in GROVA Part 3, "The Rewritten Destiny" - where she seems to be implying that Tetsuro will soon die in a possible future. See also my 2974 entry regarding an alternate fate for Tetsuro Hoshino.] [ASIDE - I'm gonna get pilloried for this, just like I did concerning the death of Mayu Oyama in the second edition of this document, but how else can you explain the same gun changing hands - aside from ignoring the data completely?] - The homeworld of the Mazone is destroyed when its sun goes nova. They decide to return to their former colony world of Earth, the one world of all their old holdings in the Milky Way galaxy closest in environment to their former homeworld, and claim it as their own. [SPCHa #41: "Duel! The Queen Vs. Harlock." Queen Lafresia tells Captain Harlock that the migration of the Mazone began five years before the duel they were now fighting - which takes place in 2980, at the end of SPCHa, per ARA.] 2975-2976 - In at least one of the Rings of Time, the Cosmo Dragoon that was in the possession of Emeraldas comes back into her possession - and she in turn gives it to Maetel, who will give it to her next traveling companion. [QEa #02, "Eternal Emblem," and GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)." Maetel's future companion Redril is the one who eventually gets it, per the relevant GE999a episodes. The how and why concerning Tetsuro giving it up is unknown. Perhaps he simply didn't need it any more, or ...? This entry is probably only good for the "classic" Leijiverse, since it winds up with Emeraldas instead in almost all of the "revival" related sources.] - The Mazone begin staging forces and supplies at strategic points in the Milky Way galaxy in preparation for their planned invasion of Earth. [SPCHa, implied. This apparently involved linking up with all of their garrison forces they had left behind millennia, perhaps eons before, in addition to conquering other worlds for new bases. The Mazone were apparently taking advantage of the intergalactic turmoil that followed in the wake of the Machine War and the collapse of the Machine Empire.] - The Mazone reclaim Venus as an advance base in the Sol System by landing and burying an older model battlecruiser near the ruins of their two older bases. [SPCHa #12, "Mother Be Eternal." See also SPCHm Volume 2. The battlecruiser smashes up through the ground-level ruins of the second base in order to attack the Arcadia, taking a good-sized portion of the ground - and the old surface buildings - along with it. They apparently also destroyed a existing Earth colony on Venus in the process. In GE999EFm Volume 7, Ariavenus says that her parents - both of whom lived on Venus - were killed by "an unknown alien species." This event is what forced her into the Sea of Stars, as she explains to Layla Shura.] - The planet of New Tokarga (i.e. the homeworld of the Domoh) is conquered by the Mazone on the outer fringes of the Milky Way galaxy. It is a world where the few surviving Tokargans from the Earth-Illumidas war have found a new home, living and even interbreeding with the Domoh, its indigenous humanoid lifeforms. The combined Tokargan-Domoh forces put up a stiff fight and actually manage to hold off the Mazone for a time. The Mazone eventually respond by teleporting planet bombs into New Tokarga's moon and detonating them. This act destroys almost all of New Tokarga's space-based defenses and the resulting bombardment of rubble devastates the planet's surface thus swiftly putting an end to all resistance. Almost the entire population of the survivors of both cultures are captured and enslaved by the Mazone, save for a handful - who will eventually come up with the means to begin a new resistance movement of sorts. Among the resistance fighters are the two sons of Zoroh, one of the Domoh's greatest warriors, who was himself captured by the Mazone and forced to work for them as a mercenary. As for the other captives, the males are forced to work in whatever capacity their skills dictate, with their women and families held as hostages in order to keep them in check. [SPCHa #21, "Ghoram! The Tragic Soldier" and #40, "And Then The Angels Sang" despite certain inconsistencies; SPCHm Volumes 4 and 5. Both the manga and the anime series were produced before the Tokargans were reinvented for MYA. Even their depiction within the series itself is inconsistent between these two episodes, with the latter implying the "two species" notion. MYA thus provides an ideal vehicle to explain this; i.e., the "human" looking Tokargans in SPCH are descended from the survivors of the Tokarga of MYA, whereas the "alien" Tokargans - from SPCHm, BTW - are the Domoh, the planet's original inhabitants. The fact that New Tokarga's moon was destroyed comes from SPCHm, where its remains form a ring of rubble around the planet - which may have inspired the "space station ring" seen around Tokarga in both MYA and Gibson's CHR.] - Earth Garrison Forces Supreme Commander Goro Otowara is dismissed for shooting his wife, whom he claimed to be an undercover agent for an alien race called the Mazone. Mitsuru Kiruta, his adjutant, is promoted up to replace him. [SPCHa #33, "The Lone Man's Charge"] - Captain Harlock captures Jojibel, a Mazone soldier. Mimay intercedes on her behalf and convinces him to let her go. It is a decision she will later regret. [SPCHa #20, "The Dead Planet Jura"] - Captain Yamanaka shoots and kills "Wheeler" Maji's wife Aki in self-defense. Maji's wife was actually a Mazone disguised as a human who had recently received orders to kill Yamanaka. Maji refuses to believe Yamanaka and almost kills his commanding officer out of grief. He is stopped at the last minute by Captain Harlock, who confirms Yamanaka's story. The Mazone retaliate by "kidnapping" Maji and Aki's daughter Midori - who are also both Mazone in disguise. [SPCHa #17, "The Skeletal Hero." The source for the exact date is CHQ1K. In that, Maji (aka "Wheeler") says that his daughter was kidnapped the year before the Mazone sphere landed on Earth.] - "Wheeler" Maji resigns his commission in the military. He will eventually join Captain Harlock's pirate crew aboard the Arcadia. His avowed purpose in doing so is that he will be better able to search the Sea of Stars for his missing wife and daughter. [SPCHa #17, "The Skeletal Hero." The source for the exact date is CHQ1K. In that, Maji (aka "Wheeler") says that his daughter was kidnapped the year before the Mazone sphere landed on Earth.] - Acting on his own authority, Captain Yamanaka sets out to find and destroy the Mazone before they can attack Earth in force. His ship, the space battlecruiser Braves, is subsequently lost in the vicinity of the Horsehead Nebula and is never heard from again. [SPCHa #17, "The Skeletal Hero." The source for the exact date is CHQ1K. In that, Maji (aka "Wheeler") says that his daughter was kidnapped the year before the Mazone sphere landed on Earth.] - A number of Earth's astronomers note with alarm a large dark object on approach to Earth at high speed from beyond the Outer Rim of the Milky Way galaxy. Among these is Professor Tsuyoushi Daiba, who correctly interprets it as the first sign of the impending return of the Mazone. His warnings, plus the less ominous ones of his colleagues, fall on deaf ears. The only one left who does listen and is willing to act is space pirate Captain Harlock especially once Earth's astronomers begin to be assassinated one by one. [SPCHa #01, "The Jolly Roger of Space" and #02, "A Woman Who Burns Like Paper"] 2976 - Maetel picks up her next traveling companion. He is a 12-year old boy named Hammer Redril, whom she rescues from a tenement camp on the planet Kiades, sixth planet of the star Liberator, somewhere in the Algol Star Cluster. She rescues him from the local police after he tries to steal some bread, and not long after his mother starves to death. [GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2); see also SZ. The circumstances surrounding Redril's joining up with Maetel in "our" Ring of time are going to be somewhat different than those depicted in both the original "classic" episode, in which that Redril is from a parallel Ring of Time. They are probably closer to the "revival" work SM, where he is a young bounty hunter in the same mold as SSX's Tadashi Momono. My initial surmises about Redril appear to be confirmed by SZ; that is, his situation in "our" ring of time was brought about by the Machine War and its aftermath. BTW, Maetel comments near the end of of the second part that her journey through space and time has already been long, and looks like it's going to go on even longer. FYI, per the episode both her new "run" and her reasons for journeying will be different than they were back in the bad ol' Machine Empire days. We also know, per the episode, that Redril's trip with Maetel happened some time after Tetsuro's - two years later, per SM - and Redril's Maetel refrains from speaking throughout most of the story. "No spoilers," as the revived DOCTOR WHO's River Song might say. Redril only appears in two other Leijiverse titles as of this date: SZ and GE999g.] ---------------------------------------2977-2980 - SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK ---------------------------------------2977-2980 - The planet of New Tokarga, homeworld of the Domoh, is destroyed by the Mazone shortly after the Arcadia pays a visit there. [SPCHa Episode #21, "Ghoram! The Tragic Soldier;" see also SPCHm Volume 5. Remember, I call it "New Tokarga" both to differentiate it from the Tokarga of MYA and to explain how a human-like population eventually wound up there living peacefully with the Domoh. The manga supports this notion. It shows "New Tokarga" as a ringed world - its ring made from the rubble of its own moon - whereas the Tokarga of MYA is a crater-strewn world that still has an intact moon.] - A major invasion by the Mazone to conquer the Earth and claim it as their new homeworld is thwarted by Captain Harlock. The Mazone are forced to return to the Sea of Stars in search of another world to claim as their own. [SPCH] --------------------c,2978 - STATION ZERO --------------------2978 - Now an adult and having completed her college degree, Namani Yuma finishes building her dream ship, the Minaress, and sets off to fulfill her childhood dream of exploring the Sea of Stars. [SZ] 2979 - Tetsuro Ilita, chief of the Pluto Observatory within the Solar System, dies in the line of duty. His death away from Earth is considered a disgrace by his tradition-minded father on Earth. He is buried inside a crypt at the Pluto observatory. [CHEO #05, 05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet." Given the date, he may have died in a Mazone attack per SPCHa.] - Yukihito Ilita is enrolled in a military academy at his own request despite his youth. He buries any sorrow he might have had for his father in an overachieving effort to become disciplined and self-sufficient. [CHEO #05, 06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory"] 2980 - A worldwide famine strikes the Earth, due in part to the recent ravages of the Mazone and in part to a severe shortage of food from poor government planning. The resulting crisis almost topples the current Earth government, but somehow the prime minister survives (and will be elected to several more terms, amazingly enough). Large numbers of people almost starve to death until Captain Harlock releases the food stores he has been saving for just this occasion. [SPCHa #06, "The Phantom Mazone;" see also CHEO] - Death of Mayu Oyama, cause unknown. [CHEO #06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory;" #11, "Trembling Universe;" and #13, "Final Chapter." When Mayu appears on Earth to Harlock, Tochiro, and Kei almost two decades later, she is still very much the same little girl from SPCHa. The late Professor Hiltz tells Kei during her out-of-body visit to the dimensional plane that both visitors and residents take on the appearance of their bodies at the moment they lost them. This is typically at the moment of death, as in the case of Professor Hiltz and his colleagues, and with Professor Daiba when he visits his son Tadashi. If Mayu Oyama were still alive, then she would have been a 22-year-old young woman by the time CHEO takes place. This indicates beyond any reasonable doubt that Mayu Oyama is dead - and that her death took place not long after the events depicted in SPCHa occurred. ADDENDUM - Most fans have come to accept this rather shocking conclusion regarding Mayu's fate, after having thought it through, even though I was royally flamed for it at the time I first proposed it. The only argument against it that has any strength is twofold: first, "the girl" (Mayu) doesn't appear to Tochiro's shade until the moment Earth enters the dimensional plane; second, Tochiro doesn't recognize "the girl" for who she is, so she may not even be Mayu at all. Unfortunately, this is rather easy to debunk. First, "new" shades on the plane tend to wander in the "forest," per the late Professor Hiltz and his late friends, until they find their way - so Mayu could have easily been wandering in there until Earth - a place that had strong memories in her short life - suddenly appeared. She would have been drawn to it like a magnet; hence her sudden appearance to Tochiro. Second, even though Tochiro doesn't recognize his own daughter, Harlock most certainly does - because he's the only one of the two who spent significant time with her as she was growing up. He never says her name out loud; but the look in his eyes and on his face do all the talking for him. Mayu was only a year or two old, at most, the last time Tochiro saw her before his death. The appearance of a child can change a lot in just a few years, and Tochiro was so involved in his work trying to get Earth back to where it belonged that he didn't pay much attention to "the girl." If he had taken the time to look close, he might have known her for who she was - as Harlock did, the first time HE saw her. Harlock recognized her at first sight - plus there's the ocarina music playing in the background whenever she appears. That's the biggest "dead giveaway" of all, if you'll pardon the pun. Whether or not Tochiro ever recognized Mayu, we'll never know. One can only hope he did for he had all of eternity to realize his mistake.] - Captain Harlock, having now lost his last reason to intervene in human affairs, turns his back on Earth and disappears into the Sea of Stars. He will not be seen again within the Solar System, save for the infrequent commerce raid, for decades. The look on his face during this time scares the living hell out of the few people who are unfortunate enough to cross him. [As a young and brash Ilita found out, while serving as a junior officer, in CHEO #08, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory." He later recalled that it was the only time he could recall that he ever feared for his life. See also CHEO #13, "Resolution and Finale: I Had a Dream."] - The Three-Seven disappears without a trace in this year and is never seen again. No clue is ever found as to its fate or that of its passengers. [GR1 #13, "Train Bound for Fate;" see also GE999a #109 & #110, "Maetel's Journey (Parts 1 & 2)," and #113, "A Vision of Youth! Farewell, Three-Nine." Layla Shura predicted in 2973 that the Three-Seven would be lost, although then she added, "it is not yet time." There is a slight possibility that Maetel was aboard when it disappeared, since she does not appear in any Leijiverse tale past this date and she is known to have ridden the ThreeSeven on occasion. This is conjecture on my part; however, it would fit with the common fan-held notion about her sister Emeraldas dying alone - with not even the equally long-lived Maetel around to give her comfort and keep her company. Maetel disappearing with the lost Three-Seven is thus an unsettling possibility - in at least one of the Rings of Time of the Leijiverse. Perhaps, if you'll pardon the pun, it was her time?] - Emeraldas again recovers the Cosmo Dragoon that used to belong to Tochiro Oyama. [QEa #1, "Departure." How it got from Hammer Redril, per SZ, back to Emeraldas in time for the events of QEa has never been explained.] ----------------------------------------2980 - QUEEN EMERALDAS (anime OVA series) ----------------------------------------- The short-lived Afressian Empire is conquered by the Metanoids. [QEa #3, "Friendship"] 2981-2998 - The Space Sheriffs are formed. They are an intergalactic paramilitary police force headquartered on Panopticon that are even more ruthless than were the Earth Garrison Forces in their heyday. [CHEO #02, "For Whom the Friend Sleeps" and #04, "Yattaran's 30Second Bet"] - The last of Earth's youth, along with most of its remaining skilled people, leave for better places in the Sea of Stars. The only humans left behind are those too old, infirmed, or too poor to relocate, along with a token government presence. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky." Harlock calls Earth "the forsaken world" for this reason later in the series in CHEO #05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet." This was the same thing that had happened to nearby Mars over six centuries earlier, per GE999a #003, "The Red Winds of Mars."] - Doctor Zero and many members of Captain Harlock's last pirate crew leave Earth and relocate to the Planet of the Rubbish Heaps. There Doctor Zero opens the Bar Arcadia. It is a place where he, his former crewmates, and other former space pirates and mercenaries can drink to the memories of the glory days of their fading past. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] - Kei Yuki also becomes disgusted with the recent turn of events on Earth. She recruits her own crew and resumes a life of piracy on the Sea of Stars aboard her own ship, the space pirate cruiser Flourite - modeled after the smaller of Captain Harlock's two pirate ships. It is one of the few ships in the history of space piracy to rightfully bear the skull and crossbones as its emblem, as defined by both Harlock and Emeraldas years before. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] - Sabu and Yasu are recruited as part of Kei Yuki's pirate crew. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] - Concerned about steadily declining world population numbers, the Tourism Department of the Earth Space Management Agency mounts its "Let's Head Back to Earth" advertising campaign. It quickly proves to be a colossal failure. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky." You can see one of the posters mounted on a wall inside the Bar Arcadia, and the barflies are always joking about going back to Earth.] - Captain Harlock receives a summons from Mello, a powerful being living in a parallel universe. She needs Harlock's help in securing the future of the Earth in her reality. Harlock accepts the mission and is given a full briefing by Mello as to what he will be facing. Harlock asks for and receives the assistance of the GRSPG and the venerable space battleship Yamato, one of the few ships aside from the Arcadia suited for the task. Together, the Arcadia and Yamato activate their Time Sweepers and jump into Mello's universe on this most unusual of missions. This will also prove to be one of the last of Captain Harlock's documented adventures on the Sea of Stars [DNA. I know a lot of people have issues with Captain Harlock's cameo and that of the Yamato at the end of this OAV. Still, it helps in part to explain what Harlock was doing in between his defeat of the attempted Mazone invasion of Earth and his reappearance during the Noo crisis some two decades later.] - Tadashi Daiba, son of the late Professor Tsuyoushi Daiba, gets married and follows in his father's footsteps as an academian. He eventually earns a position as professor of space physics at the Universal Comprehension University. On the side he becomes a lecturer on ancient galactic civilizations - a hobby he first took up after the events surrounding the thwarted Mazone invasion of Earth. He eventually moves to the Planet of the Rubbish Heaps along with his son, the third in the family line to bear the name Tadashi Daiba. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky."] - Professor Daiba is given an AI assistant to help him with his research in the virtual library of the Universal Comprehension University. He programs her in both the mood and likeness of the late Shizuka Namino, former secretary to the Earth Prime Minister and onetime Mazone spy and assassin. [CHEO #02, "For Whom the Friend Sleeps"). The real Shizuka Namino was featured in SPCHa #35-37 and Volume 1 of SPCHm. The reason why she has black hair instead of red (per SPCHa) is that her hair was black in the manga (SPCHm).] 2983 - Tadashi Daiba, the son and namesake of his father, Professor Daiba of the Universal Comprehension University, is born. His mother dies not long afterwards, cause unknown. [CHEO #01, "Tears for a Star-Filled Sky." This date presupposes that young Tadashi was 16, the same age as his father, when he first encounters Harlock.] c.2985 - At some point around this time, the original Arcadia receives its third and final upgrade. It gets new computer subsystems, data displays, and improved sensors and scanners. The power and range of its main pulsar cannons is improved significantly. Yattaran's new dimensional gravity engines replace Tochiro Oyama's older wave gravity engines. Perhaps the biggest upgrade, in visual terms, is the addition of a bow trencher ram similar to but much larger and of a different design than the one originally fitted on Harlock's other pirate starship. As before, Harlock will trade ships and use his other, somewhat smaller "Arcadia" while the bigger one is getting its refit. [CHEO #04, "Yattaran's 30-Second Bet" and #06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory." We know the "Studio Nue" Arcadia was being upgraded because Harlock is using the SPCH Arcadia during his first encounter with Yukihito Ilita.] c.2987 - Yukihito Ilita graduates at the top of his class from the Space Sheriff Academy. His ill mother, who had contracted a long-term space disease during the family's stay on Pluto, is unable to attend. She dies at home from her illness even as her son's graduation ceremony is taking place. [CHEO #06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory"] - Lieutenant Yukihito Ilita, now an officer on a Space Sheriff patrol cruiser, has his first encounter with the legendary Captain Harlock. It is one he will never forget, and he later describes it as "the only time I have ever felt fear in my life." [CHEO #06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory"] 2994 - The Ninth Solar System Expedition, led by Professor Gustav Karl von Hilz and based aboard the scientific survey vessel Fata Morgana, undertakes a study of the eons-old ruins of the Rainbow Planet in the Ulysses Nebula - along with studying other remains of the long dead civilization that once dwelt there. Among the team's carefully chosen members is Professor Daiba. Extensive research by the team of those ruins causes them to deduce the existence of even older artifacts, possibly intact, within the heart of the nearby Hourglass Nebula. An anti-psychotropic drug developed by one of the team members allows them and their ship's crew to withstand the nebula's unusually strong mental energies as they seek to unlock its secrets. [CHEO #07, "The Moon Waits in the Promised Land" and #08, "In the Depths of the Shadow of the Soul." The date of the recovery of the Fata Morgana from the Hourglass Nebula is part of its Space Sheriff investigation file. Professor Hilz later tells Kei in the dimensional plane (per the subtitles, not the spoken dialogue) that they were studying the ruins of an ancient civilization in the Ulysses Nebula. The only planet on record in the Ulysses Nebula in any iteration of the Leijiverse with ruins like the ones described in CHEO is the Rainbow Planet, per SPCHa #29, "Struggle for Survival on the Rainbow Planet"] - The Fata Morgana discovers the Gate of Yedar at the exact center of the heart of the Hourglass Nebula. Professor Hilz, Professor Daiba, and the other members of his team debark to conduct a close-up personal inspection of the Gate. What happens next becomes a mystery that will remain unsolved for the next five years. [CHEO #07, "The Moon Waits in the Promised Land" and #10, "Kei: Illusion"] - Captain Harlock is passing through the Ulysses Nebula on his own business when he chances upon the spacesuited and unconscious Professor Daiba drifting in open space. Harlock retrieves his old friend, who is near death, and once revived is obviously scared out of his wits. Slowly, after he has had time to recover, Professor Daiba shares the mystery of what happened at the Gate of Yedar to his old friend. He makes Harlock promise that if he ever acts to awaken the evil he found there, then Harlock will find and kill him - no questions asked. [CHEO #03, "The Voice Calling Noo From Afar" and #10, "Kei: Illusion"). - Not long after Harlock finds Professor Daiba, the Space Sheriffs find the badly damaged Fata Morgana adrift near the planet El Alamein. All of its crew and the research team, save the missing Professor Daiba, are apparently dead from severe shock. The mystified Space Sheriffs promptly impound the Fata Morgana and reassemble it as best they can for forensic analysis. They also store the bodies of the crew and the research team in stasis inside a warehouse not far from the area where the ship is being stored. [CHEO #03, "The Voice Calling Noo From Afar." A translation goof renders the location of the discovery of the Fata Morgana as "the El Aramein cruising area, located in the 9th Ulysses star system." - Professor Daiba mysteriously reappears, alive and well, some months after the discovery of the wrecked Fata Morgana. He refuses to divulge where he has been and how he was able to survive both the deaths of everyone on his team and the destruction of his ship - despite repeated and often intense questioning by the Space Sheriffs. Chief Ilita finally lets him go, but correctly suspects that Captain Harlock was somehow involved. [CHEO #05, 10, "Illusion"] c.2995 - Yukihito Ilita is promoted to Chief of the Space Sheriffs. [CHEO #05, 01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky" and #06, "A Gentle Smile on the Skull of Memory." He must be middle-aged (at least in his mid-30s) by the time the series takes place because it is uncommonly rare for anyone in their 20s to be head of any kind of law enforcement agency. "Mid-30s" is pushing it a bit - but then again, in comparison, Captain Kirk was supposedly 34 when he took command of the Enterprise in the original STAR TREK television series. I've chosen to err on the side of caution.] - Chief Ilita begins rounding up anyone and everyone who ever served on any of Captain Harlock's pirate crews, are still alive, and who still claims to live the life of a space pirate. His long-term plan is to use them as bait in an effort to capture Harlock himself. Every former crewmember they find is arrested on outstanding warrants, some dating back to the days of the Earth-Illumidas War. Yattaran, the Arcadia's former First Officer, is the first to be apprehended and is promptly deposited in a maximum security cell inside Panopticon to await the arrest of the rest of his comrades - no matter how long it takes. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] 2998 - Harlock makes his last trip to the Andromeda galaxy for some of its vintage red bourbon, which he favors. [DZ Chapter 4, "The Android Hunter." He briefly mentions the trip in a talk with his android friend Diver Zero. He also says, if I've interpreted the text correctly, that it was the last time he ever let himself get drunk.] ----------------2999 - DIVER ZERO ----------------2999 - Megapolis City on Earth is completely destroyed by an antimatter bomb - as is Tokyo Bay and the surrounding countryside for miles in every direction. There are no survivors. At least 8-10 million people die in the blast. The explosion is soon blamed on the android terrorist known as Diver Zero. This time its destruction is final, and it is never rebuilt. [DZ Chapter 2, "Escape From Megapolis." So ends perhaps the most famous city on Earth in Leijiverse lore. It wasn't Diver Zero's fault, and he was actually the lone survivor - but to learn more, you'll have to look up the story for yourself.] - The adult Revi Bentselle is crushed to death by the Barst, a giant sphere-shaped tank that her bounty hunter husband Yanma is using for his latest job. She manages to unlock the access hatch on the Barst before falling under it, though, so that her husband's mad rampage though the city streets while chasing Diver Zero, his latest bounty, can be stopped. [DZ Chapter 5, "City of Angels." The adult Revi in the DZ manga could very well be the child Revi from SSX - given the timeframe, location, and relative ages of both. As I see it, this is one way - kinda twisted, yes, but a way of redeeming for what many fans is the most annoying character ever to appear in a Leijiverse anime. This is retconning on my part, yes, but as you know by now I like tying up loose ends - especially in a way that makes some kind of sense.] -------------------------------------2999 - CAPTAIN HARLOCK ENDLESS ODYSSEY -------------------------------------- Death of Professor Tadashi Daiba at the hands of Captain Harlock. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] - Kei Yuki, the last member of Harlock's original crew still living the life of a space pirate, is successfully captured by the Space Sheriffs. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky"] - Captain Harlock reunites as many of his former crewmembers as he can round up to deal with a new threat facing humanity. Most of these are rescued from imprisonment on Panopticon, much to the irritation of Chief Ilita and the Space Sheriffs. [CHEO #01, "Tears For a Star-Filled Sky;" #02, "For Whom the Friend Sleeps;" and #04, "Yattaran's 30-Second Bet"] - The Earth disappears. [CHEO #02, "For Whom the Friend Sleeps] - The combined forces of the Earth Space Patrol and the Terrestrial Independent Fleet are practically wiped out in attempting to stop the agents of Noo within the Sol System. Every single base, every space warship and space fighter, every space station or observation post, is either destroyed or wrecked beyond repair. There are only a handful of survivors from among the hundreds of thousands that are dead - and almost all of these, save for a few strong-willed exceptions, have been driven violently insane. Some historians will later point to this event as the final end of the long slide, from decadence through impotence and finally insignificance, which has affected Earth's prominence in the stars over the past three decades. [CHEO #05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet." Fleet names come from HSa (the Earth Space Patrol) and CWZ (the Terrestrial Independent Fleet). Earth was already a backwater world by this time per the beginning of CHEO. Now she's without any interstellar military capability AT ALL, thanks to the Noo. You can just as easily see the political and cultural ramifications of that as can I.] - Destruction of the Pluto Observatory - along with an Extra Solar space fleet sent to investigate the disappearance of the Earth, the destruction of its interplanetary defense forces, and the sudden reappearance of the Fata Morgana within the Solar System. The only sane survivor is Chief Ilita, who is eventually rescued by a passing civilian freighter responding to his distress signal. [CHEO #05, "Battlefield: The Tombstone Planet"] - At last, Captain Harlock sees with his own eyes the eons-old evil that threatens the Earth - and has the force of will strong enough not only to survive, but triumph in the encounter. [CHEO #09, "In the Depths of the Shadow of the Soul"] - Kei Yuki receives her own facial scar. [CHEO #10, "Kei: Illusion"] - Death of Chief Ilita. [CHEO #10, "Kei: Illusion"] - Captain Harlock is reunited with both his late friend Tochiro Oyama and Tochiro's daughter, little Mayu Oyama, before finally defeating the Noo and restoring the Earth to its proper place in the Sea of Stars. [CHEO #13, "Resolution and Finale: I Had a Dream"] - Death of Captain Harlock. He is shot to death by the young Tadashi Daiba with his own Cosmo Dragoon for killing the young man's father. [CHEO #13, "Resolution and Finale: I Had a Dream." Harlock's death is never shown, merely implied. The last full scene of the series, before the credits roll, leaves little doubt as to what happened to him - thanks to the position in which he had placed young Tadashi Daiba (kill or be killed). The death of Captain Harlock can be traced all the way back to GPH, the earliest manga about the character.] - Kei Yuki assumes command of the Arcadia and departs the Planet of the Rubbish Heaps with all who will go with her. She assumes her late mentor Captain Harlock's role as the champion of freedom on the eternal Sea of Stars. [Implied by the end of CHEO. Kei was the former first mate, and had since commanded her own ship, so it logically follows. One might argue for Yattaran's sake, but it would have been completely out of character for him and the Space Sheriffs had taken Kei's own vessel. Besides, he was the second mate - Kei was first mate, although this order is reversed in one of CHQ1K's many mistranslations. Kei's assumption of command is in keeping with the Harlock legend as originally developed, per the short manga GPH - save that in CHEO's case, the young man (Tadashi) walks away, leaving his memories of Harlock and the Arcadia behind as shown in the closing credits, and Kei plays Sado's role from GPH - assuming command and moving on.] 3000-3999 - The radiation bathing the surface of Heavy Melder finally reduces to the point where humans can once again live on its surface. [QEm Volume 4, first bonus story. Not all printings include this.] - Death of Emeraldas. [GE999a Special 3, "Eternal Voyager Emeraldas;" see also SPCHm Volume 1 and QEm Volume 4. Fan lore has it that Emeraldas died from an unspecified illness she had suffered for many years, alone and without aid on the Sea of Stars, with no one to comfort her in her final hours and still grieving over the loss of her beloved Tochiro Oyama. How this came about remains unclear, although the seed of the idea may have come from the tale at the end of SPCHm Volume 1. In a story that at one time would have been the basis for an (unproduced) episode of KKA, Harlock is reminded of the fact that Emeraldas is dead, and that she died along with her lover Tochiro in some unknown past catastrophe. "He didn't go to his death alone," Harlock muses in this alternate take, after just having killed a Mazone agent posing as Emeraldas. He then destroys the Pirates' Island asteroid base (which had been built by Tochiro, per SSX) so the Mazone could never pull such a stunt on him again. This version of events is no longer canon (per QEa and the various GE999 materials), but it does serve as a starting point for any discussion regarding the death of Emeraldas. Fixing a revised estimate for the date for her demise is impossible - given the fact that Emeraldas had an extended LaMaetelian lifespan of at least 20,000 to 30,000 years by conservative estimate, and perhaps as much as 100,000 years (but not much more) at the extreme. Remember, the LaMaetel aged one year for every 285 or so human years per continuity analysis - or "1000 years," if you insist on going strictly by the rather poetic dialogue in QM. The simple fact is that even though her death date is not known, Emeraldas drops completely off the Leijiverse radar after the undated first short story in QEm Volume 4, regarding the rehabitation of Heavy Melder. Occam's Razor dictates that she eventually died, given what scant evidence we have - unless M-san comes up with another tale to the contrary. ADDENDUM - At one point M-san planned for Emeraldas to make a cameo appearance in GYm. This would have occurred at some point after the Great Yamato had left Earth. This idea never got past the concept stage, and thus does not appear in anything save some of the early press materials. Had M-san gone through with this idea, then Emeraldas would have been alive as late as 3199 in the "revival" Leijiverse.] - By this date, humans and Mechanoids have learned to live together in perfect harmony. [DYZG # 2, "Great Yamato vs. the Shadow Fleet." There are a number of Mechanoids among the crew of the Great Yamato - and none of the humans on board so much as bat an eye at this, as did Warrius Zero's crew aboard the Karyu over a millennia before in CWZ. Support Systems Officer Hongo Yuki explains the situation in a brief aside to the view about 1/3rd of the way into the episode.] - An extragalactic alliance known as the Seven Star Clan forms. The Metanoids, longtime foes of humanity, are among their number. The goal of the Seven Star Clan is to conquer the Amanogawa galaxy - their name for the Milky Way. [DYZG # 1, "The 7000-Strong Fleet vs. the Metanoid Dragon"] c.3180? - As a young boy, Cain's wound during a riot on come to the aid of his best friend is Captain [DYZG # 5. Best guess 3199 - Almost life on Earth has moved below its surface to vast underground cities not unlike humanity's situation a thousand years earlier. Few of its great above-ground cities and landmarks survive, and nature is slowly reclaiming the surface for its own - overgrowing the scrap and rubble of countless past wars. What humans remain above ground - either by choice or by need - have largely abandoned the sophistication of past generations for a simpler, more ruralor outdoors-oriented lifestyle. What advanced technology remains on Earth can only be found in the underground cities, or at the surface access points that service them. [DYZG # 2, "Great Yamato vs. the Shadow Ship"] - The Galaxy Railways - or its successor - is still in existence at this date. [DYZG #4. An special space train figures prominently in the episode - and the scene where it "lands" aboard via the "stack," does its business, then takes out through a special fairing in the foward bow, is IMHO one of the coolest in the entire series. It livens up an episode that's otherwise pretty much dull and boring ....] - The Great Yamato is reawakened from its icy berth under the Arctic icecap on Earth. best friend is shot and subsequently dies from his an Earth colony, in which the young human tried to alien friend. As it turns out, the father of Cain's Ozuma. based on the apparent age of Ozuma in the flashback.] [DYZG opening titles; see also GY Volume 1. Hongo Yuki's viewer aside in Episode 2 appears to say that the Great Yamato was built on Earth; however, I have as yet to discern (or get a translation of) the exact details. If this is true, then the Great Yamato might represent "old Earth's" last great technical triumph.] - All the worlds settled and ruled by humanity pool their resources to create the Galactic Fleet, in order to oppose the galactic invasion by the Seven Star Clan. The last ship to join the fleet is the "Great Yamato" (Dai Yamato), the oldest ship in the fleet, commanded by Captain Ozuma. She was modeled after the original Yamato (Argo) but is much larger, with far more armaments and a radically altered appearance. Even so, she is dwarfed by the smallest capital ships in the Galactic Fleet, and most of its captains refer to the Great Yamato as "the flying wreck" - due both to its age and antiquated appearance. The only reason the Yamato is even permitted to take part in the upcoming war is that humanity needs every capital ship it can muster against the strength of the Seven Star Clan - even a "flying wreck" such as the Great Yamato. [DYZG # 1, "The 7000-Strong Fleet vs. the Metanoid Dragon"] ------------------------3199 - DAI YAMATO ZERO-GO ------------------------- The Seven Star Clan's Metanoid Rakken - a twenty-kilometer-long spacegoing Metanoid dragon - makes mincemeat of the Galactic Fleet, which takes heavy losses. The Great Yamato is forced to observe the battle from afar, since it was earlier denied permission by Fleet Commander Rigel to join the fray; however, Captain Ozuma has not been idle. He and his crew devise a plan to save the remnants of the Galactic Fleet by detonating a nearby planetoid and totally converting its mass to energy. The resulting mini-sun is more than enough food for the ravenous, energy-hungry Rakken, and it turns away from the Galactic Fleet. Fleet Commander Rigel and his surviving ships thus escape, and he is forced to begrudge that "the flying wreck" might not be so impotent after all. Rigel then joins his fleet in fleeing though a nearby warp portal, which Ozuma - correctly sensing how the battle might go - had his crew conveniently prepare for such a contingency. [DYZG # 1, "The 7000-Strong Fleet vs. the Metanoid Rakken"] - A large squadron of the Galactic Fleet comes under attack from an invisible enemy and is wiped out, for all intents and purposes. Only seven ships survive. The Great Yamato, which was not on the scene of this latest battle, rushes to the aid of the survivors - and discovers the truth behind the mysterious and devastating attack. [DYZG # 2, "Great Yamato vs. the Shadow Ship"] - Captain Ozuma brings the Great Yamato to where the Galactic Fleet was destroyed, in order to assist the surviving ships with search-and-rescue operations. A Shadow Ship ambushes them during the attempt to rescue any Galactic Fleet survivors, causing additional casualties among its medical teams and shuttle pilots. Even the Great Yamato itself comes under attack for a time, before Captain Ozuma deduces that the Shadow Ship is homing in on the wave motion engines of the human ships. He has his ship cuts its main engine and switch to his remaining auxiliaries - after which the attacks on the Great Yamato cease. After that, it is just a simple matter of his crew working out a means of detecting and then defeating the Shadow Ship. They are eventually successful; however, their effort comes too late for the tens of thousands of lives lost in the battle. There is no sign neither of Fleet Commander Rigel nor his flagship, and both are presumed lost. [DYZG # 2, "Great Yamato vs. the Shadow Ship." BTW, the same dozen or so battle and search-and-rescue clips get repeatedly recycled during this episode - almost to the point of nausea.] - A suicide ship taking the form of a giant white comet targets Earth. The Great Yamato is too far away and has suffered too much damage from the Shadow Ship attack to come to Earth's aid in time. The salvation of Earth must come from a spacegoing colony of "tin wit" robots (apparently descendants - somehow - of the original IQ-9) and a vessel even older than the Great Yamato - the ancient super dimensional space battleship Mahoroba, which fought its last battle with the Metanoids almost a century ago. [DYZG # 3, "The Tin-Wit Fleet vs. the White Comet;" see also UTSM and GE999EFm Volume 2. IMHO, this is the one episode that pretty much nailed the lid shut on DYZG's coffin. It's the single dumbest piece of Leijiverse anime I've ever seen, and not even the cameo by the Mahoroba can save it.] - The Great Yamato again attempt to take on the Metanoid Rakken but the fight ends in a draw. It then meets briefly with its semi-sister ship, the Mahoroba, to take on additional supplies and replacement crew for those lost or injured in the battle. Among those who transfer to the Great Yamato is the Mahoroba's expert on fighting Metanoids - the mysterious Yo Haguro. She is there to use her experience and technical expertise in order to find a way for the Great Yamato to defeat the Metanoid Rakken. [DYZG # 4. Yo Haguro is an original character from UTSM, featuring prominently in the manga, and will do so in the soon-to-come MAHOROBA movie. In both UTSM and the movie her hair is blond. Why it is green here is a mystery - unless this is one of the clones/copies of Yo Haguro that would appear now and then in UTSM. We know the character name is the same, though, because the Great Yamato crew repeatedly adresss here as "Yo Haguro" or "Haguro-san." This Yo Haguro also has purple eyes, BTW ....] - Another squadron of the Galactic Fleet joins the hunt for the Metanoid Rakken. Its plan is to lure the Rakken into a rigged asteroind field, with a nearby sun as bait (its energy - ed.) through which there is only one clear and uncontested outlet - straight between two colliding planets. It is caught and crushed between them as planned; however, it escapes the trap by transforming into a golden-colored, high-power state and literally burning its way out. It then proceeds to make mincement of the attacking Galactic Fleet squadron - destroying all of its ships with the super-intense heat radiated by its own body - before regenerating itself by diving into the nearby sun. [DYZG # 4.] - Thanks to Yo Haguro's advice, and a special cargo from a visiting space train, the Great Yamato is able to lay its own trap for the Metanoid Rakken by tricking it into attacking above a deep canyon on a nearby planet. The ship uses its wing wave transition guns to blow out the bottom of the canyon, causing a massive eruption that completely envelops the Rakken. When the smoke clears, it can be seen drifting in front of the Great Yamato. Its power levels are zero, and it is encased inside a giant block of ice. This victory provokes the Seven Star Clan into sending an even more powerful adversary to deal with the Great Yamato .... [DYZG # 4.] - Having somehow managed to survive the earlier attack of the Shadow Ship, Galactic Fleet Commander Rigel and his fully repaired flagship lead a squadron against the newest threat from the Seven Star Clan - the Metanoid Insect. Rigel's attack is hampered by its ability to constantly shift its position in both space and time, literally "vibrating" its way past any incoming fire. Once its captain, the Chrono Commander, launches tens of thousands of small, wasplike beings at Rigel's fleet - each one capable of literally eating its way through any metal object - then the outcome of the battle is decided. The creatures are also capable of helping the Chrono Commander focus his time dialation powers against each of Rigel's ships, trapping them within individual stasis fields where the normal laws of space and time do not apply - and preventing them from using their weapons. [DYZG # 5. The Metanoid Insect looks like a gigantically stupendous bastard offspring of an armored black widow spider and a Shadow Ship from BABYLON 5.] - The Great Yamato is in the process of resupplying when it receives news of the appearance of the Metanoid Insect. Captain Ozuma orders the ship to get underway and proceed at all haste to the site of the battle. Yuki Hongo detects the time dialiation that the Chrono Commander is using to protect the Metanoid Insect. Yu Haguro is of the opinion that the Metanoid Insect is somehow directly linked to the origin of the source of the Seven Star Clan's power .... [DYZG # 5.] - To everyone's shock and horror, three Metanoid Rakkens appear out of nowhere and join forces with the Metanoid Insect. Even Yu Haguro, who has fought the Metanoids for millennia, is struck speechless at this development. Once she regains her composure, she sends out a mental cry to her comrades aboard the Mahoroba to come to the Great Yamato's aid. Within minutes, an even larger Seven Star Clan vessel materializes above the Great Yamato. It's captain is Supreme Leader Gaia, himself a Metanoid, who is the ruler of the Seven Star Clan, and has come in person to see for himself the ship and the space captain that has been behind every successful effort so far to thwart the Seven Star Clan's ambitions. Ozuma states unequivocally that he intends to continue fighting no matter what. As a demonstration of the power at his command, Leader Gaia effortlessly destroys all three of the Metanoid Rakkens that have so recently appeared with one single blast of energy from his command ship. He then departs, leaving the Metanoid Insect behind in order to see just how well Captain Ozuma can deal with this latest challenge. [DYZG # 5. Gaia is essentially a red-haired Desslock, right down to the original Japanese stock deep villain voice. He has a longer title whose kanji I can't read, but his subordintes always address him as "soto," or "leader." Sound familiar, STAR BLAZERS/YAMATO fans? His chief lieutenant, oddly enough, is Commander Cain. Ah, so THAT's where he ended up, classic BATTLESTAR GALACTICA fans!] - The Maharoba warps into the field of battle right after the Great Yamato has taken its first pounding from the Metanoid Rakken. Its attacks prove useless against the Maharoba, which uses its Time Sweeper to move out of the way of the beam. At the same time Fleet Commander Rigel rallies what is left of his forces in an effort to distract the Metanoid Insect while the two super space battleships come up with a means of destroying it. Guided by Yo Haguro, the two ships maneuver close together, link their weapons systems so they will act as one, and then fire a massive, highly charged, time/space dialation wave at the Metanoid Insect. The blast completely destroys the Metanoid Insect. Supreme Leader Gaia is shocked by this development, and retires to rethink the enemy he has just earned. As for the Mahoroba, it again departs the scene - but not before taking Yo Haguro back on board. As for Captain Ozuma, he promises that he will take the fight directly to the Seven Star Clan itself, if he has to, in order to thwart their schemes. [DYZG # 5. This is how the series ends. In one of those odd little Leijiverse ironies, DYZG ends uncompleted at five episodes - just like SPCHm ends uncompleted at five volumes.] 3813 - The famous human philosopher Hora da Vinci will make one of his most famous quotes in this year: "Nothing is more frustrating than a life in which one knows everything in advance, because dreams are born of uncertainty." [GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapter 1, "Destiny, the Station of Fate Pt. 1"] c.1 million (?) - Almost all of the most human-looking half of the population of the planet Salus, located in the Seselaselarium Natria Herania Lasu-Ulpana Sol System of the Etus nebula is exterminated by the Heds, a competing humanoid species with tails and whom they had been fighting a war lasting "thousands of your years. The survivors use space-time travel technology to travel to Earth in the late 20th century. Their compatible biology permits them to quickly assimilate into the native human population, and within a few generations they cease to exist as a separate species. The Heds are left as rulers of a war-wasted and barren planet, and eventually resort to the same technology themselves in a attempt (that ultimately fails) to exact their final vengeance on the survivors among their foes. [ME Volumes 1 & 2. This is the backstory that drives both volumes of this manga series.] "Billions of years" in the future - By this time, all humans still living on what is left of Earth have devolved into carnivorous primitive humanoids of limited intelligence. They are also cannibals, and frequently attack any beings that attempt to approach them or blunder into their midst. Fortunately, this devolution has not affected the vast majority of humanity, which is now scattered widely among the Sea of Stars. Mankind thus survives, but his original homeworld is now lost to him. It has become a primitive backwater world sparsely populated by savages, and with only the faintest of traces remaining above ground of the proud beings who once lived there, broke the bonds of their world, and went on to spread themselves across the Sea of Stars. [SR Volume 3, ME Volume 2; see also SBD. The idea of "the dying earth" is a popular one in late 20th and early 21st century sci-fi; indeed, there's an entire Western sub-genre of sci-fi writing almost exclusively devoted to such stories.] "The End of Time" - The Enforcers come from this era. They are a race of extremely powerful transdimensional beings, whose job it is "to ensure that Fate and Destiny remain unchanged." In other words, they act like DOCTOR WHO's Chronovores, correcting (or thwarting) any efforts to change the predestined flow of events in the particular Ring of Time assigned to them. [GROVA Part 4, "Pieces of Time." Layla Shura, the chief operating officer of the Galaxy Railways, is aware of them. She even summons them on occasion, as events require.] - Maetel will visit here, for a time, on a trip she began back in early 2974 before her second journey with Tetsuro Hoshino. She never reveals what she saw and experienced during her trip to "the end of time." [GE999EFm, Volume 1, Chapter 2, "Engine of Change."] - Layla Shura is finally allowed to relinquish her task of watching over destiny. [GROVA Part 4, "Pieces of Time."] ----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X COMMENTS REGARDING SPECIFIC TITLES IN THIS TIMELINE --------------------------------------------------GUN FRONTIER An exact date for GFa is never given but can be derived from numerous clues in both the anime and manga. It is post-Civil War, and there has been enough time for both the Colt Peacemaker SAA (single action automatic) revolver and the Winchester .44 caliber lever-action rifle to become common. That pretty much pegs a date no earlier than 1868. I favor a date not long after 1873, after the introduction of the Winchester '73 - the first model that could use the same kind of bullets as the Colt Peacemaker SAA. My choice of 1876 allows for events referenced regarding the founding (and subsequent massacre) of the Yellow Creek settlement, along with events in Japan that appear to have precluded it namely, the political turmoil and samurai wars leading up to the ascension of Emperor Meiji, and his reconciling with the surviving Choshu samurai. I strongly believe that the available evidence points to Yellow Creek being founded by former Choshu samurai and their families who emigrated to the United States in order to start their lives anew. It also ties in fairly well with what Tochiro says regarding his relationship with his friend Harlock: "We've been hangin' around together for a long time now." One fan has pointed out that if M-san would have ever given this a date, it might very well have been 1888 - based on how he assigns dates to other stories. In my opinion, this is too late given what few and sparse historical clues we have - in particular the first encounter flashbacks. Still, I'll concede the possibility, especially for GFm - which doesn't have the first encounter story, as it was derived from another of M-san's manga shorts. We know the manga can't take place any earlier than 1873, though, because the Winchester '73 is used in the manga per GMm Volume 2, Chapter 1, "Rubtown and Poketown." One final observation regarding Franklin Harlock. In GFm #01, "To the Gun Frontier," Tochiro describes his Western friend's ancestry. "His father is half French and half English, his mother is half Russian and half German. His grandparents have Finnish blood, Italian blood, and who knows what else?" This makes it pretty clear that Franklin Harlock is at best a distant relative of Phantom F. Harlock I of MYA through his mother, and not part of the same branch of the family as I presumed in the previous edition of this work. My bad at the time, and I've since fixed my timeline references accordingly. "Duel: Emeraldus vs. Harlock" manga short This fine bit of comedy really doesn't belong in the Leijiverse proper, but I'm providing a date for three reasons. First, it could be easily rewritten and retconned into a proper Leijiverse tale, as I did - in a way - in the earlier edition of this work, years before I was able to get a proper translation. Thus "Death Herlock" could be Phantom F. Harlock I and "Emeraldus" could be Selen, elder sister of La Andromeda Promethium. Second, the technology - battling zeppelins, machine guns too large to conveniently carry, modern-looking pistols and rifles, etc. - fairly fixes the timeframe as being between the two World Wars - as does the dominating presence of a British air fleet, indicative of a strong British Empire still very much present in the world. Third, fan opinion - most fans who read the earlier edition of this work appreciated my listing of it, and some even looked it up for themselves. That's how I was finally able to get my hands on a proper English translation (thank you, Red Rabbits!), and I am indeed most grateful. THE COCKPIT (BATTLEFIELD) manga series It should be noted that all of the stories in TCa take place in 1944-45, but that the original manga series, TCm proper (and its spin-offs - HARD METAL, BLUE METAL, CASE HARD, and COCKPIT LEGENDS), covers the whole timeframe of World War II and even dabbles a bit in other conflicts - such as World War I, Japan's various pre-WWII Chinese campaigns, some contemporary military-themed stories, and even a few sci-fi combat-related tales. Anyhow, for the curious, here is where to look in the bunkoban TCm release for the original manga shorts on which the three episodes of TCa are based: "Stratospheric Air Currents" - Volume 3, Chapter 3, pp. 89-103 (also known as "Slipstream") "Sonic Thunder Attack Unit" - Volume 1, Chapter 12, pp. 359-390 aka "Onsoku Raigeki-tai" "Steel Dragoon" - Volume 1, Chapter 13, pp. 391-426 aka "Tetsu no Ryukihei" There's a lot of M-san's WWII and combat-themed stories that don't appear in any of the manga collections - such as "Pilot 262," which you can find as an extra at the back of the CAPTAIN HARLOCK ANTHOLOGY by Play Comics. I also in passing that some of the stories from TCm and its related manga shorts might have wound up in SSX as the series was originally planned, if the two brief scenes shown in the KKA pilot film are any indication. "The Fangs of an Aurora," aka "Aurora no Kiba" in the original Japanese, is noted - although not discussed - because it is one of the many proto-Harlock stories mentioned in most write-ups about M-san's famous space pirate. In this case, the Harlock-like character is a German U-boat commander playing a deadly game of tag with a British Nelson-class battleship in the North Atlantic. He wins the game, but the exploding battleship causes a nearby iceberg to start "calving," smashing giant chunks of ice into his U-boat and quickly sinking it. This is the title story of the old Shonen Sunday SENJO (aka BATTLEFIELD) tankoban collection of the same name, and was eventually reprinted for the bunkoban release of the later TCm collection, Volume 2, Chapter 9. The character in question is featured in a color print by M-san on the cover of the old tankoban release. By the way, Chapter 2 of the TCm tankoban is also a proto-Harlock story - this time about a Focke-Wulf FW-190 pilot who gets shot down by a faster Allied plane and eventually exacts his vengeance with a brand new Me-262. The first part of the manga short "The Owen Stanley Witch," aka "Stanley no Majo," served as the basis for the opening of the MYA feature film. I don't know in which of the BATTLEFIELD manga it first appeared, but it was later reprinted as part of the TCm wideban collection, Volume 1, Chapter 9. That is from where my copy comes. The manga short "Eternal Arcadia" is also known as "Waga Seishun no Arcadia." This was first released in tankoban form as part of the SENJO (BATTLEFIELD) series, in the tankoban collection that bears the same name. The cover features an M-san color portrait of Harlock beside his airplane, and is a frequent sought-after prize of Leijiverse collectors. The story was later reprinted for the bunkoban TCm collection, Volume 2, Chapter 12. This too is a prized target by Leijiverse collectors - in particular those who cannot get the older tankoban release. It was supposedly the first volume of the TCm set to sell out, but reprints are available in the East (03/2012). QUEEN MILLENNIA All timeline entries in this document for QM are a mixture of events as described and depicted in the four main sources for the story of QUEEN MILLENNIA. These are, in no particular order, as follows: the original manga (QMm), the original 1980 Japanese television series (QMa), the oft-criticized 1986 English reversioning of the television series by Carl Macek (CHQ1K), and the original Japanese feature film (QMf). Where events among the sources are contradictory I have tried to pick the version that is both internally consistent and coincides with events depicted in stories that take place farther down the Leijiverse timeline, most notably ML and SSM. If there are any errors in my entries, then they are entirely my own. As of early 2012, I have finally gotten my hands on the full (untranslated) manga version. At first glance it is part TV series, part movie, and a LOT of extra stuff thrown in that isn't on screen in any form - save some things that later got reused in SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL, like Commander Leopold's space battlecruiser and Hajime's (later Nazca's) personal mobile robot, for example. There's a few things I can pick out here and there and I have, but I'm expecting a lot more as soon as I get my hands on a good translation. STAR BLAZERS: THE CALLISTO CRISIS SBC1 takes place shortly after the end of SB2, but some time passes before the events of YNV. In SBC1 itself, Colonel Fenalon says "weeks [have] passed" since the destruction of Gatlantis." It is safe to say that at least a couple of weeks have passed due to the extensive damage to the Argo. This would give an approximate date of 28 November 2201 for the start of SBC1, which is just enough time for the EDF to make the Argo spaceworthy again per the story. They are finishing repairs on the Argo as the story begins. YAMATO: THE NEW VOYAGE (YNV) The dates are derived both from internal evidence in the movie and SBC3's "Icarus" comic book story arc. Upon arrival at Icarus, Sasha writes in her diary that she is eleven months old. The implication is that the destruction of Iscandar took place on 25 December 2201, three days after Sasha was born and one year to the day of the invasion of Earth by the Black Nebula Empire (BFY, although this is never explicitly stated). YNV itself never gives any firm dates of any kind, although there are three instances of roundabout dating. First, at the start of the movie, the narrator says that it begins "one month after" the end of the Earth-Cometine War. Second, a Christmas 2201 date for Iscandar's destruction also reconciles reasonably well with Desslok's own comments at the start of the movie. He tells his people that it has been two years since the destruction of all life on Gamilon. The Battle of Gamilon took place on 23-25 April 2200, nineteen months prior to YNV. Third, Desslok himself makes the "nineteen months" statement later in the movie. Thus, the Christmas 2201 date for the destruction of Iscandar fits quite well with the three roundabout dates given in YNV itself. STAR BLAZERS: THE EURYTHMIA AFFAIR The date is set by Leader Desslok's discovery of the location of Galman, the original homeworld of the Gamilons, near the end of this story. The story of his battle with the Bolars over possession of Galman is recalled in a flashback during SB3. Desslok's conquest of Galman is generally accepted as having happened about the same time as or shortly after the events depicted in BFY. BE FOREVER YAMATO SBC3's partial BFY adaptation (Part 2, "Invasion: Earth!") fixes the date that the Black Nebula successfully penetrated the EDF's defenses in the Sol System - 25 December 2202 (Christmas Day). This is the scene that opens the movie. The action in the movie appears to take place across several days; however, no "last day" is ever given for the defeat of the Black Nebula Empire. My dates are conjecture, based on the way events appear to flow within the movie . STAR BLAZERS: THE BOLAR WARS We don't know the exact dates for events in SB3, but one can make a good guess based on the events that bracket it. The events depicted in BFY started on 25 December of 2202 and lasted through the first week of January 2203. FY takes place somewhere near the end of 2203. Allow a couple of weeks to a month for events that take place immediately prior to SB3, and one ends up with dates ranging from mid-January to 1 December 2203. The dates I give for the events of SB3 are based on this spread, and may be off by as much as a week in either direction. FINAL YAMATO This movie, the final in the original Yamato drama, takes place shortly after the events depicted in The Bolar Wars. How shortly we do not know; however, the background materials make clear that all events in the story take place in 2203. The only thing we know for sure is that the Dinguil's Uruku space fortress needed 20 days to force-warp Aquarius to Earth and that they started almost as soon as they made that determination. All other date references in the movie are pegged to this event. This, plus the fact that the entire movie takes place "in 2203" fairly well limits the possible dates involved. The dates I give are conjectural and may be off by as much as a week in either direction. YAMATO RESURRECTION and STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH There is a major continuity faux pas with this movie insofar as the Leijiverse goes - Pluto gets swallowed by a black hole and destroyed. So why does it reappear again, apparently intact and whole, in later stories? I don't the hell know! Maybe another Guardian Spirit restored it, as the Guardian Spirit of Arishna did with Earth's moon in SBC1. Who knows?! YR was primarily Nishizaki's vision and effort, not M-san's, so at least we know HOW this happened. I have little choice but to ignore this data point for continuity's sake - just like I've had to ignore or retcon such things in other Leijiverse tales. That's why I didn't note Pluto's destruction in the timeline, insofar as the events of YR are concerned. I have gone ahead and included every bit of data I can mine from Eldred's SBR without directly contradicting the events of YR. This includes the illfated maiden voyage of the Andromeda-II and what I call the Separatist Crisis which would actually be a bigger event in my timeline than what Eldred depicts. Retconning to take YR into account requires this. It also requires me to rework the disappearance of the Andromeda-II so that something else was the cause - in the case, a freak wormhole. How that happened I do not say. An wave motion engine imbalance is the first thing that comes to mind, but it could very well be something else. I'll leave this up to Eldred if he ever wants to revise his story in light of YR; otherwise, I can but pick and choose, and leave the rest open to speculation. KASKEI RYODAN DNA SIGHTS 999.9 Date as stated at the beginning of both the anime feature and manga original. This takes place in an alternate continuity, with the surface of the Earth being destroyed by a massive meteor shower early in the 21st century and the remnants of humanity being quickly subjugated by the surviving megacorporations and their private military - the so-called "Trader Forces." Captain Harlock's presence at the end of this tale, as well as that of the space battleship Yamato, raises a number of chronological and continuity issues which are not easily resolved - unless both vessels had been fitted with Time Sweeper technology at some point (UTSM; see also HSm Part 4, "Gotterdammerung" and HSm Part 2, "The Valkyrie"). This appears to be the case in the "revival" Leijiverse, of which DNA is a part. MARINE SNOW NO DENSETSU and SUBMARINE SUPER 99 The date I have assigned for MSD is a best guess, based on the look of the technology as seen in the movie - which evokes a near-future MACHINERS CITY sort of feel. It was made as a TV special during the "heyday" period of Matsumoto-san in the 1990s. One might supposed that the Dr. Oki featured in this movie is a direct ancestor of the Dr. Oki in CWZ. Same goes for the character of Hiroshi Umino, whom Matsumoto appears to have recycled from the original QEm for this movie. I am open to suggestions (along with supporting evidence) as to a better date. Dr. Oki is an aquatic research scientist in both stories, and both deal with underwater civilizations in Earth's oceans. Both of these apparently take place fairly early in the early 21st century, given the visuals. This is especially true of S99a, since recognizable variants of contemporary naval warship designs feature prominently in several scenes (Nimitz class aircraft carriers, the Japanese variant of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer, etc.). Also, a date of "20XX" is given in the various background materials of the anime version of SUBMARINE SUPER 99. I place MSD before S99a because it seems a better fit to me. It introduces the idea of intelligent life in Earth's oceans, and the events of S99a - namely the rise of the Oceanic Empire - can be interpreted as a natural development of the post-LaMaetellian crisis at the turn of the century (all QM materials). By the way, the original S99 manga has a date of "19xx." It was written as "near future" at the time, just as S99a is supposed to be "near future" in our time. AREI NO KAGAMI The date for AREI NO KAGAMI is an educated guess, based on the visuals and technology involved. This has yet to be translated for Western audiences, and more information would be appreciated. YAMATO 2520 This show is very well documented with regards to dates and such, so all I'm going to talk about here are the unproduced episodes. Eldred has done Leijiverse fans a big favor by posting an English translation of the original plot outlines and notes for the unproduced episodes on the official STAR BLAZERS web site. My entries for the rest of the story are based on this outline. I'll admit to doing a fair amount of rewriting the farther I got into the outline, as it became less and less a plot draft and more a collection or discussion of various ideas. I hope what I came up with is fairly consistent with what was actually produced ... and I hope Eldred or somebody else will at least adapt this as a web comic someday. Y2520, for all of its faults and differences, is intriguing enough a story that it deserves to be told in full. Here's hoping that will eventually happen. MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA feature film The date for MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA comes from various published materials that came out in Japan at the time the movie was originally released. Oddly enough, it is the one date that doesn't show up in the timeline presented in the ARCADIA ROMAN ALBUM (the four that do are for QMf - 1999, GE999f - 2973, and the start and end dates for SPCHa - 2977 to 2980). There is also another way to determine the date for MYA. In SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas," Green Izma says he's been hunting for Emeraldas for six months. We know that this takes place no later than the fall of 2967, because the crash of the Death Shadow on Heavy Melder happens on Christmas Day, 2967 (year adjusted) - per SSX #10, "Snowfall in the Sea of Stars." Six months prior to the fall of 2967 is the end of winter or early spring of 2967. This date matches with the MYA production and press materials. KAIZOKU KIKAN ARCADIA Translated "The Great Pirate Ship Arcadia," this is the fandom name for the short pilot film for what would become the ENDLESS ROAD SSX anime TV series. The reason why it's treated apart from SSX is because the series it proposed was VERY different from the way SSX turned out. It would have played a lot closer to the actual Harlock mythos as M-san had developed it in his older mangas. Of course, all of this is what was originally intended. If the pilot film is any indication, KKA would have had more of a classic GE999a feel to it, given its many sources - with Harlock and company voyaging and exploring new worlds and having new experiences, while only occasionally running into the Illumidas. In short, it wasn't what we eventually got. SSX turned out to be quite a different show than what was first proposed with KKA. Nevertheless, both because there is at least six months open for it, per SSX #7, "X = Emeraldas," and because it was supposed to be set in Harlock's first year as a space pirate, I have included KKA in my timeline. I'll let the other fans and true Leijiverse scholars argue about the who, where, why, and how. As for me, I'm documenting it as best I can and moving on. ENDLESS ROAD SSX The date for SSX is based on Tadashi Momono's statement that his parents "died two years ago during the war" (SSX #01, "Arcadia Blast Off!"). This still leaves a sizeable gap of at least a half-year between MYA and SSX, which the proposed (but never produced, much less scripted) tales of KKA might fill rather nicely. I date the death of Tadashi's parents to 2966, the same year as the Last Battle - which is the same line of reasoning that most fans accept, give or take a year. CAPTAIN HARLOCK RETURNS comic book series While the CHR stores are self-admittedly apocryphal, having never received official approval from either M-san or Toei, they are the only source for certain things in the "heyday" universe - such as the origins of the Illumidas, for example. There is just enough room between the events of SSX and SSM for their inclusion, and they do in fact provide a bridge of sorts for Harlock's fight with the Illumidas slowly transforming itself into his later fight against the Machine Empire ... which naturally leads into the events depicted in SSM, despite certain inconsistencies. This is the main reason why I have included these stories in my timeline. I leave it up to my fellow fans to revise and retcon accordingly. Rest assured that if M-san or his authorized heirs ever properly address this gap in the tales of the Leijiverse, and I am around for it, then I will adjust this document accordingly. SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL According to the official Avex Mode press release, this "revival" Leijiverse anime OVA series takes place two years after the events depicted in ML. The series is designed this way, featuring a still-youthful Maetel and a Captain Harlock who still has both his eyes - not to mention CWZ's "green SPCH Arcadia" - er, I mean HSm's "Deathshadow II." Oh-kay, 'nuff said there, moving on. It is an obvious prequel to COSMO WARRIOR ZERO given the fact that the Machine Empire as such is still in the process of building itself. It's also the last "revival" Leijiverse anime TV series to have been produced, taking all previous such efforts since HSa into account. Finally, for what it's worth, as this is a "revival" anime, Emeraldas has yet to get her facial scar - just like we see her in in CWZ. That event won't happen for a few years yet, per the flashback in the revival tale QEa Episode 4, "Siren the Witch." Having said all that, it's apparent that more than "two years" have passed since Maetel last saw her mother. Queen Promethium even says so herself at the start, when she is first reunited with Maetel. Her daughter is shocked that the queen has reassumed human form - apparently unaware of (or unwilling to believe) that the Promethium she meets is actually a clone. The clone Promethium says, and I quote, "A long time has passed since you saw me in this form." Two years isn't that long, relatively speaking - and on top of that, the planet LaMaetel is within months of reaching the planet Heavy Melder. Therefore, a few hundred years have passed - because it would take that long for LaMaetel to travel from Earth to Heavy Melder. Q.E.D. For more on the clone(s) of Queen Promethium, see my comments on QUEEN MILLENNIA. Interestingly enough, and I wasn't made aware of this until recently (02/2011), much of the material on which SSM is based comes from the QUEEN MILLENNIA manga (QMm) - in particular Volume 2, but also the first half of Volume 3. QMm plays more like a mashup of "BATTLESTAR GALACTICA meets James Blish's CITIES IN FLIGHT" than what we see either in the original TV series (QMa) or the feature film (QMf), so it's no surprise that this previously "unaired" material was ripe for farming by the producers of SSM. Examples include but are not limited to Nazca's robot, the giant space ark, Commander Leopold's battlecruiser and the Space Panzer fleet, Lady La Lela's secret chambers deep under the surface of LaMaetel, and so on. Someone could probably have a field day drawing all the various comparisons between and adaptations from QMm Volumes 2 and 3 and/to SSM! SSM appears to have been designed to replace the flashback depicted in SPCHa #31, "The Origins of the Arcadia." It can be successfully retconned into both the "classic" and "heyday" Leijiverse viewpoints once you understand this. The show starts three months before LaMaetel settles into orbit as Heavy Melder's moon (per SSM #08, "A Funeral March for Mother") and ends about a month later (implied by SSM #10, "Lightning Titan"). It also does a beautiful job of resolving the issues surrounding the building of Great Andromeda and the "exile" of Queen Promethium, as depicted at the end of GE999A and implied in at least one of the scenes of GE999EFa. All told, this is one of the rare instances of a "revival" Leijiverse story that actually fixes existing continuity issues instead of causing more, and I applaud both M-san and SSM's production staff in this regard. COSMO WARRIOR ZERO This isn't all that hard to date, given so much internal evidence. It's definitely a "revival" story - a patch-less young Harlock is flying his first pirate ship, the Deathshadow II (nee SPCH Arcadia, per HSm Volumes 3 and 9), so this is a few years after his father's death in 2964 (per HSm Part 3). The Machine Empire is now very much on the scene, so this is after 2968 and SSX - in fact, it's even after Gibson's CHR, too - but not by much. Can't be after HSa, though, because that's when Harlock switches ships (or switches them back, if you're a "heyday" fan like me). So, CWZ happens somewhere between 2969 (end of CHR) and 2972 (HSa). There's only one other major Leijiverse anime title in that gap, so the real question is this: does CWZ come before or after SSM? The answer is in CWZ itself. It happens AFTER the Big Galaxy War, where humanity and the Machine Empire clashed for the first time. The Machine Empire had yet to become a real threat - leastways in the Milky Way galaxy - in SSM, so that must have happened before the Big Galaxy War. Thus, CWZ follows SSM, and not the other way around. I recently got a chance to look at the videogame. It supposedly depicts a series of adventures undertaken by Warrius Zero and his crew aboard the Karyu PRIOR to what we see in the series. The problem here is that a lot of events in the series are either lifted directly from or adapted from ones in the videogame - so, in a sense, the two are for the most part mutually exclusive. The basic design of the Karyu is the same, although it has received a BLUE NOAH style "souping-up" for the TV series. The mixed human/Mecahnoid crew is pretty much the same, but certain extra characters - Marina, Grenadier, the bounty hunter Sylvia - are introduced differently in the game. I, like most fans, prefer the anime's version of events over those of the videogame. For most fans, therefore, any references in the anime TV series to past adventures by Zero and the Karyu crew can be taken as alluding to the "earlier" videogame, and after that pretty much ignored. Kind of a big wink by the TV series writers at a knowing audience, as it were. One thing the videogame DOES do, playing off the notion that it's in the past of the TV series, is confirm that BOTH Arcadias (SPCH, MYA) exist at this point in time. This lends credence to the tale in the TV series that the "real" Arcadia (MYA, et al) is in spacedock undergoing major upgrades. It also gives us the only color clip that I know of of the "original" pirate space battleship Deathshadow from the earlier Harlock manga (TT&2, DZ, et al). QUEEN EMERALDAS manga series While there is no date ever given in QEm, there is one major theme running throughout the last three volumes: Emeraldas is searching for Tochiro. She never finds him, but her search is mentioned more than once in each successive volume. Her recollections of Tochiro and how she met him make up the bulk of the last volume. That means QEm probably takes place shortly before GE999f where her search for Tochiro ends rather abruptly, once Harlock tells her of his death. An alternate but less popular interpretation is to place QEm in the early 2960s, leading up to the first meeting of the three as shown in SPCHa #30, "Tochiro, My Friend" -- assuming all the tales in the QEm series take place in chronological order. The latter is probably true for anybody trying to develop a "classic" Leijiverse timeline model. Unless you want to cherry-pick, like me, the events depicted in QEm and QEa are mutually exclusive. QEm is a "classic" period manga that also fits quite well in the "heyday" period, given the GE999f tie-in (intentional or not). QEa is quite clearly a "revival" period work. I supposed it might be possible to gandy-dance through both and come up with a sequence of events that works either way, but for me it's more trouble than it's worth. See my discussion on DIVER ZERO as to why I feel this way. GALAXY EXPRESS 999 The adjusted date for GALAXY EXPRESS 999 - 2973 - is given in the timeline presented in the ARCADIA Roman Album (ARA). This is actually for the feature film adaptation of the series. Since this date is part of M-san's "heyday" continuity revisions, I have accordingly adjusted all date references given in the TV series per the ARA dating. GALAXY RAILWAYS season 1 Like everybody else at the time, I was misled by the silhouette of Maetel and Tetsuro in the window of the Three-Nine during GR#1, "Departure Ballad." That's why I dated GR1 to 2980 in the second edition of this document. Since that time, however, GR2 and GROVA have been released - and the dating evidence they contain, as well as some of their press materials, blew that theory completely out of the water. To make a long story short, GR1 is supposed to take place in 2973, the same years as GE999, and GROVA begins not long after Tetsuro's visit to GRSDF headquarters on the planet Destiny, per GE999EF, and then GR2 follows. That's because GROVA happens during Tetsuro's second journey aboard the Three-Nine (GE999EF) as both the various GR sources and the final volume of GE999EFm make clear. So who were the couple in the window of the Three-Nine as Mamoru Yuki was leaving his homeworld of Tabito to enlist in the SDF? How can we explain away this obvious bit of fanservice (at the time)? Three ways, and all are equally valid. One, they're people who resemble Maetel and Tetsuro. This situation occurs a few times in the original GE999. Another equally valid theory, again backed up by the original GE999, is that the woman is Maetel, but the boy is somebody else. Another one of her "living Machine part" recruits over the long years. Third, it IS Maetel and Tetsuro, and they have jumped back in time due the events that occur with regards to their visit with Layla Shura in the seventh and final volume of the GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY manga. Most fans will probably favor the second theory; however, any of them will work in explaining who we saw in the Three-Nine's train window as it left the station on Tabito and how they got there. GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ETERNAL FANTASY Dating the GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY stories is rather difficult, because the information provided in both the anime OVA and the manga is contradictory. We know it takes place a full year later per the manga (Volume 1, Chapter 4, "Grand Epic Eternal"). At the same time, however, there are several references to events that happened in the second feature film (GE999A). The most notable of these is when Tetsuro describes how the Mechanoids of Earth eventually shut down en masse one their supplies of "clean capsule energy" (from the second film) were cut off. Throwing another monkey wrench into the works is GALAXY RAILWAYS. The departure of Manabu Yuki to join the GRSDF is supposed to have happened about the same time as GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY. Thus, I have tried to follow the path of least contradictions in assigning a date for my artificial timeline. In my opinion, putting the tales of GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY between the events of the two feature films - thus taking place a year after the original TV series, once its date is adjusted - is the best fit. The eventual failure of the Metanoid actions against Earth thus serve as a natural lead-in for the second feature film, where a resurgent Machine Empire once again threatens the galaxy. Almost all second feature film references in GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY can easily be explained away (it wasn't "clean capsule energy;" it was another source of power; et al). Finally, GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY works better with the "between" date, with regards to other revival Leijiverse tales (HARLOCK SAGA, GALAXY RAILWAYS, et al), than following the natural tendency to place it after ADIEU GE999. To be fair, many "revival Leijiverse" fans advocate another approach, which is far more simple. They eliminate ADIEU GE999 entirely and replace it with GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY. Toki no wa, I say. Of course, there is the slight problem of Sol going supernova and destroying Earth - a story element that is present in both the anime and manga versions of the tale (GE999EFa; GE999EFm Volume 2, Chapter 3, "The Shattered Solar System." Fortunately, its destruction is only imminent in GE999EFa, and can be conveniently hand-waved away - but it actually happens in GE999EFm Volume 2, right before Tetsuro's fight with Helmazaria. This catastrophe was supposed to have been set right and the Sol System completely restored at the end of GE999EFm. Sadly, like so many other major Leijiverse manga series, GE999EF was left uncompleted - and thus the deus ex machina for this event is never revealed. How was it to have been brought back? I suggest the Sol System could have been restored by another almost identical version being "ring-slipped" from a parallel dimension - like what happens to Earth in the HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE stories by Douglas Adams. Then again, the mysterious entity in the Eternal Galaxy we were supposed to meet at the end of Tetsuro's second voyage (but never did) could have also rolled back time itself prior to the event, so Tetsuro could prevent it. That's something like what is implied in the version hinted at in the end of GE999EFa - the mysterious entity would have intervened somehow to keep Sol from going supernova. The impending destruction of the Sol System gives GE999EFa an almost "STAR BLAZERS" feel - one that sadly went unrealized, since the anime was never continued (like the manga). In the end, we just don't know - and since there's no way to know for sure what M-san intended, I've ignored the event in my artificial timeline. You can reinsert it if you like, if you're going strictly by GE999EFa, but that's up to you. It depends on how you interpret Maetel and Tetsuro's "fanservice" cameo in GR1 #1 and how it ties to the end of the seventh and final volume in the GE999EFm manga series. You "revival" Leijiverse fans can have a lot of fun trying to resolve THAT particular issue! One other observation regarding the manga version. Practically all of the seventh volume serves to set up the tales of GALAXY RAILWAYS. When reading it, it almost feels like that M-san quit the series once he realized he wasn't telling the story of Tetsuro's new adventure anymore, but had followed a tangent into a whole new tale instead. Thus, what happens in the seventh volume of the manga after Tetsuro arrives at Galaxy Railways headquarters isn't strictly "canon" anymore, since a fair amount of this material wound up being recycled and reworked for GALAXY RAILWAYS. There's still a lot of material in here to data-mine, though, that didn't make it on-screen in any of the GR-derived shows - as well as seeing how some characters and events of GR were originally conceived. By the way, GE999EFa only covers the first volume of the manga series and two chapters pulled from the second. It ends with the Three-Nine landing at the planet of Technologia (CWZ), where the second volume of the manga begins. The first five volumes of GE999EFm are available in a page-flipped English translation by Viz Media. The complete seven-volume set is available in a non-flipped French translation by Kana Press. GALAXY RAILWAYS OVA - "A Letter from an Abandoned Planet" This appears to take place at some point after Maetel and Tetsuro visit planet Destiny, and pay their respects to Layla Shura - per GE999EFm Volume 7, Prologue Parts 1-3. The three main data points here are the presence of Layla Shura herself in the episode, the fact (alluded to by Tetsuro in Part 1) that the Three-Nine actually has an engineer this time around (the female android Kanon), and that the ultimate destination of the Three-Nine on its current trip is the Eternal Galaxy - just as in GE999EF. This would make it the next "story" in the GE999EFm series to involve Tetsuro and Maetel (which the last five stories of GE999EFm do not) - but just how long after their visit at Destiny this happened is anybody's guess. One other thing. The OVA as such has no individual titles for its four parts. The ones I use came from fans of the GR series, and might change should this ever get a proper English dub. GALAXY RAILWAYS (season 2) This takes place several months after the events of OVA series, based on the status of SDF cadet Killian Black in both shows. He has begun serious training with the Sirius Platoon at the start of the OVA, and has since been assigned to it at the beginning of GR2. Manabu states in GR2 #04, "Stardust Blues," that a year has passed since the First Alfort Crisis. QUEEN EMERALDAS OVA series Per the official OVA press release kit, the QUEEN EMERALDAS anime takes place "five years after the last GALAXY EXPRESS 999 feature film" - which in the case of this timeline would be ADIEU GALAXY EXPRESS 999. STATION ZERO This 16-part audio drama (13 episodes + 4 interludes) takes place when Hammer Redril is 16 and now works as a bounty hunter. That would place it four years after his initial appearance in GE999a's two-parter "Maetel's Journey," near the end of the series. It is my only data point so far for the Leijiverse Era year 2978. Since it also includes a (brief) appearance by the Queen Emeraldas, it helps fill the story gap between the events of QEa and SPCH. All I have for now is a summary and biographical data (thankfully translated) from some of my French readers. I will add more in later revisions as it becomes available. This audio drama is also known by the titles THE HISTORY OF YUMA: SYMPHONY NO. V and LEIJI MATSUMOTO STATION ZERO. SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK The dates for the start of the series, as well as the year in which Mayu was abducted, are given in the series itself. ARA lists Captain Harlock as having returned to Earth in 2980, after defeating Queen Lafresia, for the events depicted in the last episode of the series. DIVER ZERO This "classic" early manga series is set in 2999. It's best described as a trial run for many of the story ideas that eventually wound up in SPCH. Its most important contribution to the Leijiverse is that Mimay of Jura appears in its pages for the first time, albeit with an appearance and mannerisms more like those that were eventually given to Kei Yuki. By the end of the series, however, you already see that Mimay is starting to morph into the form by which she is more familiar. The other key dating factor is the appearance of a young woman named Revi. It is my belief that this the adult Revi Bentselle from SSX, given the dates and contexts of both stories. Of course, it could be two completely different characters with identical names, to be sure - but just such a twisted loop, given "Revi's" DZ story, is the kind of thing you would expect in the Leijiverse. Another factor to consider is that Harlock and Mimay are alone aboard Harlock's ship (in this case the Deathshadow, since this is a "classic" manga) - which is exactly the way the pair are depicted at the end of SPCH and at the start of CHEO. In other words, there's all kinds of factors pointing to this being a nice fit, in my artificial model of the Leijiverse, as a set of adventures taking place between SPCHa and CHEO - in fact, probably closer to CHEO, given the 2999 date. IMHO, I think it should be backdated at least a decade (2989) for a better fit, since it and CEHO are almost on top of each other timewise. Still, for the sake of you readers, I'll go with the date as given and let you develop you own personal timeline interpretations as you see fit. The only real problem with accepting the 2999 date is DZ's curious tie to another "classic" era manga, QEm. One of the revelations in QEm that didn't make it into QEa (the "revival" anime adaptation) is that Hiroshi Umino might be DZ's title character, Diver Zero, under an assumed name. It would neatly explain a lot of the strange things surrounding Hiroshi's character in QEm such as how he could take so much abuse and survive events that would kill any normal human. All of this was dropped for QEa - which meant that Hiroshi became human and a distinct character in his own right. This is a connection of which most Leijiverse fans will be unaware unless they have either read about it just now or have already read QEm Volume 3. Thus, since QEm's DZ connection was dropped for QEa, and for the sake of maintaining some kind of coherent consistency among the majority of my sources, I've had to reluctantly set aside this connection and date DZ by its stated date - instead of dating it as a QEm prequel, where it probably belongs in any attempt at a "classic" dating scheme (regardless of the stated date in the manga itself). CAPTAIN HARLOCK ENDLESS ODYSSEY Okay, I'll try to keep this simple. The original Japanese production staff intended this show to be set in the year 2999. This is a well-known fact, and there is multiple evidence both within and without the show to back it up. The stated age of Doctor Zero, for example - sixty - which tallies with his apparent age in SPCHa. The apparent ages of Harlock, Yattaran, and Kei which tally with HSm Part 3, CWZ, and SPCHa respectively. The flashback of SPCH's Arcadia (aka the second "Deathshadow" from HSm, SSM, and CWZ). The mention of the fight against the Mazone - which by Mimay's implication is still a somewhat recent event. I could go on and on, but just about every data point you want to pull points to a 2999 date. So ... from where the hell did the 3079 date come that I used before? That comes from the English subtitles of CHEO #5, "Battlefield! The Tombstone Planet. Chief Ilita's father is listed as having died in 3059 some 80 YEARS after the events depicted in SPCHa (2977-2980). Corn Pone Flicks, my opposites on the timeline debate, made a very good case for CHEO being set in 3079, based on that data, and I saw no reason to oppose their logic at the time. I have since gone back and looked at ALL of the relevant data, as well as re-watching ALL of CHEO. I now know better. The subtitles in Pioneer's release of CHEO for the Western markets are in error. They have to be. They must be. ALL of the other data points to a 2999 date for CHEO. Furthermore, the bumped-up dates only appear in that one scene, and nowhere else. Now where they got those dates, I don't know. I suspect, and I even said as much back then, that somebody with the original production may have decided to bump the date up after CHEO had already started production. Why? The dates in question do NOT appear on the tombstone of Chief Ilita's father in the actual episode! I have gone back and freeze-framed the scene in question - the funeral flashback. His framed picture is obscuring the dates on his tombstone, and all we see are the numbers "00" at the end of his death date. The same goes for the crypt to his left - its date is also cut off, and only "00" can be seen. What this tells me is that the animators didn't put in a specific date, or that's not a date at all - and that somebody came up with one when they did the English subtitles. Thus, the dates given in the English subtitles are BOGUS, and should not be considered in dating this story. That is why I have gone with the apparent original intent and changed the date for CHEO in my timeline to AD 2999. Now I know some wiseass is going to come along and say, "Well if the date of death for Ilita's father is wrong, then so is Doctor Zero's age. That's in the subtitles, too!" Granted, it is - but it's also consistent with every other data point that is NOT in the subtitles. That date reference is correct. It's the one in the funeral flashback that's wrong. Why? I dunno. I just report what I've researched, correct it accordingly, and move on. Personally, I like the correction, since it's a damn better fit for the Leijiverse than the bad situation I was forced to incorporate before. Once you think about it, and examine the data yourself, I believe you'll agree with me. DAI YAMATO ZERO-GO and the GREAT YAMATO manga The earlier GY manga, on which DYZG was partially based, has been called by others "380 pages of cut-and-paste artwork with 20 pages of story" (Eldred). Having seen the manga, I agree with the review. It's essentially the same as YR and SBR, but set centuries later and with the Metanoids behind the cascading black hole in M-san's version of the story. The only thing one might mine out of this is that DYZG's Great Yamato appears to be a rebuilt and modified version of the Yamato that appears in the GY manga. Other than that, I see nothing else I can cull from it for my timeline model. That pretty much sums it up. My entries on DYZG are rather limited because there is not a whole lot of translated material available - and frankly, judging from what little has been done, it's not worth the effort. Eldred calls DYZG "awful" and that's putting it mildly. I managed to sit through the first three episodes (all I could find without paying an arm and a leg for this overrated show), but I went through a whole case of Jolt cola trying to stay awake to the end. I got what I could, but it's not much - and frankly, wasn't worth the effort. Having said all that months ago (now), a contact managed to lead me to copies of the final two episodes of the series - just days before press time of the final release of the third edition of this timeline. While the animation hadn't improved, the writing definitely had - and I was able to trade the sixer of Jolt cola for a normal cup of coffee. Thankfully, I was able to watch these final two episodes all the way through without gagging once, and I must admit I was even entertained at times (despite having to watch it "in the raw.") It even comes to an ending of sorts - although a lot of plot threads are still left hanging by show's end. The only thing that ruins the ending is an unexpected and jarring use of recycled footage - the "classic portside flyby" so often seen in the original SB series is redone for the Great Yamato - but is repeated three times in a row! I guess they had finally ran out of money, and had to patch up the ending as best they could ... but the way the final scene transitions into the stock closing credits almost (but not quite) makes up for this. When all is said and done, I'm still of the opinion that DYZG is definitely not a "must-see" Leijiverse title. It's more of a "watch if you don't have anything else" or "watch if in you're serious need of a Leijiverse fix - ANY Leijiverse fix." You can miss it completely and its absence won't do a thing to your personal interpretation of the Leijiverse - save for that small handful of you out there in the ranks of the "revivalists" who are fans of the Mahoroba. I think this show proves my point that M-san is at his best when he has other equally creative people to help him with his stories (Rin Taro, Kazutaka Miyatake, etc.) - or in one or two extreme cases (Yoshinobu Nishizaki), to even rein him in, perhaps. In the long run, DYZG is like its GY manga predecessor - way too much flash (and far too large a cast, IMHO) for what little plot is available. ----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X ODDS AND ENDS ------------There are questions that have been asked - and likewise things that you should know - about the Leijiverse that don't necessarily fit neatly into a timeline format. Hence this section of this document. It's meant to address all those topics that I'd otherwise have to ignore or leave out, until I or some one else devises a different FAQ file to put them in. What Is a Sexaroid? ------------------A sexaroid is a android built in the form and likeness of a beautiful human female. The word is a contraction of the original term sexual service android, since these were originally intended for the sole purpose of being robotic prostitutes. A less savory name from the original era of their creation (the early 23rd century) is whore robot. Once it was realized, though, that they could serve many other purposes and functions beyond their planned design, then the term lost its original meaning. It is still common practice centuries later in the Leijiverse (leastways in Japanese, not in English dubs) to refer to any attractive female human-like android as a sexaroid. The Cosmo Dragoons and Their Owners ----------------------------------The Cosmo Dragoon is the most powerful beam-firing handgun in the Leijiverse. It was designed to take out Mechanoids with a single shot, and later upgraded to do the same with Metanoids. It has as much punch as a light-bore starship shock cannon, and has been known to take out a small spacecraft on at least one occasion (QEa Episode 1). That said, it has one helluva recoil when fired at full strength, and learning to use one properly takes a LOT of practice. It can be fired at lower beam strength settings, going all the way down to standard hand laser power. One of the later upgrades allows direct mental control of the beam strength , as opposed to manual setting (QEm Volume 4). With this upgrade, a Cosmo Dragoon can key its beam strength directly off of the mental/psychic/emotional state of the one firing it. In other words, the madder or more excited you get in a fight, the more powerful your Cosmo Dragoon becomes. This particular modificati on is only known to have been done with gun #2, but it is in theory available for any the others. Depending on the year in question and the upgrades a particular gun has had, it may or may not have a DNA lock that is coded to its owner. It will backfire on anyone else who tries to use it. The original version of the DNA lock can be bypassed if the person shooting the Cosmo Dragoon has had recent physical contact with its owner (Ludo, Hiroshi's friend, in QEa Episode 4). Later versions of the DNA lock will not permit a "skin flake" bypass; i.e. the actual owner or a living part of him must be handling the gun to fire it. A backfire triggered by the DNA lock will not damage the gun itself, but is enough to kill most biologicals and seriously wound any machine-based beings. Only six Cosmo Dragoons were ever made, all hand-crafted by Tochiro Oyama using a heavily customized P-38 Cosmo Gun Special as his base, and all during his short lifetime. No one has ever been able to duplicate his work, although many have tried. The only beam gunsmith in the universe known to be able to work on (and upgrade) Cosmo Dragoons is the space pirate Emeraldas (GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 10). She learned her craft at an early age (MLa), and she was Tochiro Oyama's lover for several years before his death. He taught her everything he knew about them. In theory she could build more, but she never has - for reasons of her own. Here's a complete list of all the Cosmo Dragoons in the Leijiverse, by serial number, and who has (or has had) them: Serial # Owner -------- -----------------------0 Originally Captain Harlock, but now in the possession of the time traveller Toshiro ("Nobotto") Oyama. Was kept by Layla Shura Destiny of the Galaxy Railways for a time. -------- -----------------------1 Captain Harlock -------2 Source(s) ----------------------------------CHR "The Fall of the Empire" #3 GE999EFm Volume 7, Chapters 4 and 9 -------3 -------4 -------5 -------- ----------------------------------GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 10 QEa Episode 1 ------------------------ ----------------------------------Originally Tochiro GE999EFm Volume 1, Chapter 1 Oyama, then Tetsuro GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 5 Hoshino, then Hammer QEa Episode 1 Redril, and finally GE999f (first feature film) Hiroshi Umino. Kept GE999a Episodes 109 & 110 by both Emeraldas and GE999g Maetel, respectively, SZ for safekeeping at various times. Also kept for a time by Setsuko Oyama, mother of Tochiro Oyama, until she gave it to Tetsuro Hoshino. ------------------------ ----------------------------------Emeraldas GE999EFm Volume 3, Chapter 10 QEa Episode 1 ------------------------ ----------------------------------The current senior male HSa; HSm Volume 1, Chapter 3 heir of the Daiba family - usually named Tadashi Daiba. Made as a gift by Tochiro for the first Daiba to join up with Harlock. Usually returned to Harlock after the current Daiba on board is ready to leave, and held by him until the next one joins up. ------------------------ ----------------------------------Made for Maetel QEa Episode 1 (although she never uses it and doesn't really need it) ------------------------ ----------------------------------- So, to reconcile with the various "totals" we've been given at times in various Leijiverse tales ... we only see four (the most common total) at any given time, Emeraldas reveals her sister Maetel has a fifth (which we never see her use in ANY tale to date), and the various manga/comic sources add the prototype as a sixth. Maetel's Clothes ---------------If you watch the "revival" Leijiverse stories in proper timeline order, you'll notice that the colors of Maetel's clothes change as the years pass. My friend a.k. has done an excellent article about this on his website (Kritik de Animationskraft), and my data comes from him: White MAETEL LEGEND (Maetel is still young and innocent at this point) Red/Black - SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL (Maetel is young but no longer innocent) Blue COSMO WARRIOR ZERO (Maetel has begun to play her part in events; she is now on familiar terms with death) GALAXY RAILWAYS (all tales) (Maetel is now old and well acquainted with death) Black - As I noted before, the black outfit that Maetel wears in the various GE999 tales was a gift from her mother, and were said to be clothes of mourning at that time (end of MLa). The Various pirate ships of Captain Harlock ------------------------------------------Here's a list of all the incarnations of Captain Harlock's various pirate ships of which I know about: Death Shadow (original) GREAT PIRATE HARLOCK This is the the original STAR BLAZERS-esque design, that looks more like an SB-224 type space battleship than anything else. It is unique to this manga. Per a later (possibly retconned) color version of the title page spread, it is green with a white underbelly and its skulland-crossbones logo is black. Death Shadow - THE TOCHIRO I (allusion?) (rounded prow) THE TOCHIRO II DIVER ZERO SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK (manga) COSMO WARRIOR ZERO (videogame) Essentially the same as the MYA Death Shadow, save for a snub nose resembling that of an X-wing's from STAR WARS. The only images I've manage to find of its bow are from the TT2 and DZ mangas. It is most normally seen from aft, buried in the sand on Heavy Melder - as depicted in most later Leijiverse tales. One oddity of note: In DZ, when the Death Shadow is parked on the ground and disguised as a building in Chapter 2, it bears a passing likeness to Desslok's command cruiser from SB1 - save for the dark paint job. In almost all of the old, pre-"revival" Leijiverse tales, this is the ship Harlock uses for his early adventures prior to Tochiro's building of the Arcadia. The Arcadia is built and Tochiro dies shortly thereafter, with the Death Shadow ending up buried bow-first in the sands of Heavy Melder, not far from Tochiro's grave. How the two are connected, much less how and why the Death Shadow ended up wrecked, is never explained in the old manga tales. Fans had to wait for the first GE999 movie and the SSX series (or CHR, if your a Gibson fan) for that answer. The only time this version of the Death Shadow shows up in later tales (aside from its wreck on Heavy Melder) is in CWZg. You can catch a brief glimpse of it during the Tochiro segment of the main titles. This is also the only time that I know of you can see it in color. Its basic color scheme is dark gray, with the occasional gold highlights. Death Shadow (horn prow) SPACE BATTLESHIP DEATHSHADOW MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA (military version) ENDLESS ROAD SSX (military version) The Death Shadow as most people know her, more or less. The original horn prow design was more shiplike, and is first seen in the SBD manga short. The "military" version used in MYA - and later termed by SSX as an Admiral class space battleship - is longer and more angular, with some extra greebles here and there. It is the penultimate refinement of the Death Shadow design. Death Shadow (horn prow hybrid) HARLOCK SAGA (manga volumes 3-8) This is essentially a hybrid of the Studio Nue Arcadia and Death Shadow, featuring the basic design of the latter but with the control tower and main gun placement and layout of the former, and all done up in Harlock pirate green. A "Studio Nue Arcadia" lite, so to say. Its horn bow also has a pronounced keel flare, echoing that of the original Death Shadow from the GPH manga short. It has the skulland-crossbones in bas-relief amidships, instead of painted inside a gold shield on the aft engine cowling as in MYA. Per HSm, this vessel is supposed to be the precursor of the Studio Nue Arcadia. SPACE PIRATE CAPTAIN HARLOCK (manga and anime, blue) GALAXY EXPRESS 999 (TV series and manga only, blue) HARLOCK SAGA (manga volumes 3-10, green) COSMO WARRIOR ZERO (anime, green) SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL (green) QUEEN EMERALDAS (anime - brief cameo, grey) CAPTAIN HERLOCK ENDLESS ODYSSEY (grey) The original design for the Arcadia, originally blue in color - as first seen in SPCH (all versions) and later retconned as the "green" Arcadia I, nee Death Shadow II, for the "revival" Leijiverse beginning with HARLOCK SAGA. Like the GPH Death Shadow, it is a unique design, with only its color changing depending on the tale involved. It becomes the Death Shadow II in the "revival" Leijiverse - that is, Captain Harlock's first ship - and the original Death Shadow (I) becomes the ship of Harlock's father, Arcadia I (aka Death Shadow II) Great Harlock. In almost all Leijiverse tales prior to the "revival" era, this is the Arcadia that Tochiro builds for Harlock as a replacement for the Death Shadow. Beginning with HSm and the "revival" Leijiverse, this becomes the Death Shadow II - designed by Tochiro but actually built by his father as a surprise present. It was meant to be a test bed for all the ideas Tochiro meant to later implement in the Arcadia proper. As such, it is not as powerful as the second Arcadia, but it can still wipe the mat with most ships of its class and displacement. It is still called the Arcadia at times in some of the "revival" stories. The only reason this ship is grey in QEa and CHEO is that it appears in flashback scenes, where the colors are deliberately muted. Arcadia II (Studio Nue version) MY YOUTH IN ARCADIA ENDLESS ROAD SSX CAPTAIN HARLOCK RETURNS and subsequent Gibson comics COSMO WARRIOR ZERO (videogame) COSMO WARRIOR ZERO (anime - by allusion only, never seen) HARLOCK SAGA (all sources) GALAXY EXPRESS 999 (all sources save the original TV series and manga) STORY OF GALAXY EXPRESS 999 (videogame) QUEEN EMERALDAS (anime - brief cameo) DNA SIGHTS 999.9 (brief cameo at end) CAPTAIN HARLOCK ENDLESS ODYSSEY SUPER DIMENSION CENTURY ORGUSS (last episode, brief cameo) The most famous and best-known version of the Arcadia, as first featured in MYA and remaining essentially unchanged ever since. The only major external modification it gets is in ENDLESS ODYSSEY, where a retractable Bowie knife style bow trencher ram has been added - not unlike the old "can opener" version that was part of the SPCH Arcadia. This new take on the Arcadia was expressly designed by M-san and Studio Nue in part to get around licensing restrictions (at the time) that prevented them from using the SPCH Arcadia in MYA. It took several years for M-san to effectively retcon how and why BOTH Arcadias exist. To make a long story short, the blue Arcadia (nee Death Shadow I) came first, as it was the prototype. The Studio Nue Arcadia is the "real" Arcadia - but that doesn't stop people from confusing the two, and referring to BOTH ships as the Arcadia. Does that make sense? I hope so .... CWZa illustrates this best. Harlock is flying the Death Shadow II (the "old" Arcadia), and constant references are made to his new ship, the Arcadia (the Studio Nue Arcadia) being under construction and nearing completion. The fact that the Studio Nue Arcadia came last, insofar as the "revival" Leijiverse is concerned, is also mentioned both in HSm (repeatedly) and in QEa (flashback scenes). The only time the Studio Nue Arcadia is depicted in anything but the color green is in Gibson's unlicensed CHR comics - where it is blue on at least two covers. Both Gibson (the author) and Dunn (one of his chief artists) have stated for the record that this was meant as an inside joke by them and the CHR staff, as an allusion to the old "blue" SPCH Arcadia. Ironically, M-san has since recolored the old SPCH Arcadia design green - like the Studio Nue Arcadia - for his "revival" tales. ----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X CHANGE LOG ---------v3.05 (final) - Added the CLOSING COMMENTS section. - Included a definition of sexaroid in the ODDS and ENDS sectionl - Added initial data from DYZG Episode 4 and 5 - and a special shout-out to the fellow (anonymous by request) who pointed me to decent copies of them. I got this literally days before I was supposed to release this version of the timeline, and only barely had enough time to do fair writeup on it. - Added an entry for the death of the Metanoid assassin Twist Barrel. - Added data from the final two episodes of GR2, (#25-26), of whose existence I was unaware until just a few days ago (thanks, a.k.!). - Rewrote the 1993 entry regarding the disappearance of Toshiro Oyama. - Added some notes regarding Nobotto Oyama and an apparent contradiction concerning his role in OO and a trip to Germany he might have made in 1976, per the manga original of the WWII flashback in MYA. - Relocated UTSM from c.2040 to 1993, per a.k.'s research on the story. - Added data concerning the "red" Jolly Roger that Emeraldas flies. You can find it in the entry for the granting of Arcadia to the Harlock family. - Added an entry for the Sword of Heaven (HSm). - Finally got the name of the WWII TCm short manga story on which an episode of KKA might have been based (thank you, Japanese Wikipedia!) - Added some initial data points from the 10-minute sampler of the new "2199" remake of SB1 (first full episode due out in summer of 2012). Do a search on '"2199" remake' for the new data. - Added the third ODDS & ENDS article, regarding ownerships of all the various Cosmo Dragoons floating about in the Leijiverse. - Added another alternate fate of Tetsuro Hoshino for the 2974 date, courtesy of GE999EFm. - Added more data on the background of GR2's Ariavenus, courtesy of GE999EFm Volume 7. - Added a paragraph to my discussion about GE999EF in the COMMENTS section, regarding the interesting twist that the manga series takes in its seventh and final volume. - Revised and updated all entries regarding the GE999 ETERNAL FANTASY manga, and added the rest of the entries for the additional two volumes that were never published in English. Do a keysearch on (GE999EFm) to see what's been added or changed. - Added data for SSX Episode #16. - Added the second ODDS & ENDS article, describing the various pirate ships Harlock has used over the years. - Added a.k.'s observations with regards to the changes in the colors of Maetel's clothes over the years. This is in a new section I've titled ODDS & ENDS. - Added, by request, my reasons to the comments on SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL as to why I date it the way I do. - Added a "banner" entry for the "Knight of the Iron Dragon" WWII TCm manga short (aka "Steel Dragoon" in TCa), thus correcting a long-standing and unintended omission. - Relocated the Harlock estate on Earth from Helibad Heligenstadt (in Barvaria) to Heilgenstadt in Oberfranken (Franconia), based on a number of new research sources and two recent interviews with M-san himself (thank you, animekritik and Tim Eldred!) - Added some intriguing data concerning the German town of Heilgenstadt and how it wound up as part of the Leijiverse (thanks, Tim Eldred!) - Corrected the date for the development of the Cosmo Dragoon prototype. - Added a new entry to the start of the 21th century regarding the births of Emeraldas and LaMaetel with regards to the "classic" period timeline. - Rewrote the COSMO WARRIOR ZERO discussion to include comments on the original videogame from which the anime TV series was derived. - Added a note to the 1972 entry regarding the "eating pets" running gag in OTOKO OIDON. - Added a pertinent quote by M-san himself from his 2010 interview with Tim Eldred regarding his current conception of the Leijiverse (thanks, Tim!). This replaces the opening quote I used earlier from Leijiverse writer Robert Gibson - but I save the latter and bumped it farther down in the intro. - Added an entry to the mid-2960s regarding Harlock's preference for red bourbon from Andromeda. - Added data regarding Battlyzer's origins and fate as depicted in CWZg. - Added the exact location where the Star Force met Captain Harlock XII while en route to Iscandar (thank you, Tim Eldred!). - Added additional data regarding the origins of the backstory for GFa (thanks, Tim Eldred!). - Added entries for the Internet radio drama STATION ZERO, due largely to its having Hammer Redril (a onetime companion of Maetel) as one of its characters. Thanks to TokiNoWa.com and some of my French readers for cluing me in on this one! Do a word search for "SZ" for all the related entries. - Added more data to the 2976 entry regarding Hammer Redril, the last known traveling companion of Maetel. Do a word search for "Redril" for all the related entries. - Rewrote part of the data in the 1880 notes concerning the "F." initial in the the name "Phantom F. Harlock." - Corrected the date in the 1865 entry for the ascension of Emperor Meiji (1867, not 1967 - sorry 'bout the typo!) - Rewrote the entry on the conquest of New Tokarga by the Mazone based on additional material gleaned from SPCHm Volumes 4 and 5. - Added an example to my description of the Leijiverse - trains running on parallel tracks - to help visualize how variances in different "versions" of the Leijiverse come about. - Added two words to my description of the Leijiverse - "n-dimensional SPIRAL OR Master Ring of Time" - to better fit with the concept of space-time as presented on screen in STAR BLAZERS Season 1. Why? A spiral combines the "straight flow" of a timeline with the "loop flow" of a Time Ring, and makes for yet another nice way to visualize the Leijiverse - as well as being able to better visualise jumping from one point in time to another via a time knot. A "2.5D" model of the Leijiverse, perhaps? M-san himself insists on the Ring interpretation many times; however, the spiral model may be of help to some of you. A spiral viewed from top-down looks like a ring, and one can think of a spiral (kinda) as a stack of linked rings. BTW, M-san himself has said he uses the "ring" model to help visualize the idea of being able to go both forward and backward in time and "meet up again." Make of that what you will ... but he's been saying something like this in various forms for decades! - Added a new footnote to the introduction regarding the manga origins of Mayu Oyama. - Moved all dates regarding the initial arrival of the Mazone in the Sol System from c.150 million BCE to c.180 million BCE, per all SPCH sources. The old date was my goof, and came from a faulty translation early on in my research. - Eliminated the c.180,000 BCE entry on the Mazone and corrected the entry regarding the collapse of the native civilization on Venus, c.180 million BCE. (thank you, Offtopia!) - Updated the comments on SPACE SYMPHONY MAETEL regarding the origin of many of its most recognizable story elements ... in the QUEEN MILLENNIA manga (QMm). - Updated the entry on the death of Selen, elder sister of Queen Promethium (QMm). - Added several entries regarding the origins of the space ark used in SSM to evacuate the humans from the surface of LaMaetel (QMm). - Added initial entries from the QUEEN MILLENNA manga, three-volume version and added to the comments article on the subject. Do a word search for "QMm" for all the related new entries. - Restored an entry to the year 2974 that could explain the start of the Machine War - leastways from the "revival" Leijiverse perspective (HSm Part 4). I had this in the first edition but dropped it in the second, due to lack of corroborating data at the time I was preparing the second edition. v3.04 - Added the rest of the data for the Diver Zero manga (DZ). - Added the rest of the data for the Harlock Saga manga series (HSm). - Added the rest of the data for the Space Pirate Captain Harlock manga series (SPCHm). - Added a note to the 2964 entry concerning the sexual assault on Emeraldas by Illumidas officer Murgison. - Added a note to the 2973 entry on Tochiro's visit to Vesperus, telling readers where to go for a color image of its double suns. - Corrected the date of the rise of Domoh civilization from c.3 billion BCE to c.2 million BCE, thus fixing an unintended goof on my part from before. - Expanded the note for the 2968 entry regaring the recurring image of the wreck of Captain Harlock's first starship, the Deathshadow. - Added additional information to the 2973 entry regarding the manga origins of the death of Tochrio Oyama. - Added more information regarding S99a's background and its possible ties to MSD. v3.03 - Added an entry for the death of Goro Yuki's wife (SSX). - Extended the entry for c.5 million BCE regarding the first attempted Mazone invasion of Jura (CHQ1K) and the c.1980 entry for the second, more successful effort. - Added a new entry at c.2500 CE regarding the collapse of the sun in the home system of the Mazone (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the 7000 to 1500 BCE entry regarding the age of the artifact that Tadashi retrieves from the university for Harlock (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the 130,000 BCE entry regarding the evolution of Neanderthal Man (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the 100 million BCE entry regarding the Mazone's first visit to the Sol System (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the 2967 entry on La Mime regarding her possible manga origins (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the list of unproduced KKA adventures about a visit to an interstellar void to which Captian Harlock alludes in SPCHm Volume 2 (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a note to the end of the "war of the gods" in the c.300,000 BCE entry regarding the age of the sunken Mazone pyramid in the Bermuda Triangle, per SPCHm Volume 1 (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added additional data from SPCHm Volume 1 to the discussion of the death of Emeraldas (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added a short discussion on the location of the planet Jura under the entry for the rise of Juran civilization (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added an entry from SPCHm Volume 1 regarding a temptation Captain Harlock once had to destroy the Earth (thank you, Offtopia!). - Added the year c.3 million BCE and an entry for the rise of the first Tokargan humanoid species, the Domoh (CHQ1K; see also SPCHa). - Added the year c.2630 and an entry for the arrival of the first humans on the planet Jura (QEm Volume 1). - Corrected some of the terminology used in the 333 CE entry for the crash of the alien spaceship at the Darkwood Estate - er, villa (I5555). v3.02 - 25 December 2012 - Rewrote the commentary for the 2973 entry regarding Maetel's trip to the Ice Graves of Pluto, and the body she visits there. - Fixed all STAR BLAZERS REBIRTH entires with the proper abbreviation - SBR, not SR (SEXAROID). - Corrected all the occasional wording errors caused by the pass with the spelling checker - urgh! That's why I hate using those things. I'd rather misspell the word I want than have a machine "correct" it to a word I didn't intend. Such a pain to find and fix these "fixes" .... v3.01 - 15 December 2011 - Added a note to the date of the death of Emeraldas concerning a cameo that was planned for her at one point in GYm. - Relocated the entry regarding the brief human colony on Jura from 2972 to c.2640, where it belongs. - Expanded the entry regarding the death of Maya Harlock to include a discussion about Captain Harlock's choice of a celibate lifestyle in his middle age. - Modified the first entry on the Separatist Crisis (2220) to take YR into account. - Added entries from QMa episode #11 (thank you, Liveevil fansubbers). - Added entries from SSX episodes #13-15 (thank you, Liveevil fansubbers). - Added a note near the end of the timeline comments for GE999EF concerning the "fanservice" cameo in GR1 #01, "Setting Out." - Moved the probable birthdate of Hiroshi Umino to 2966 (QEa fix). - Moved the date for the destruction of the Afressian Empire to 2980 (QEa fix). - Moved the date of QEa to 2980, five years after the end of GE999A, per the actual text of the press kit (unintended goof on my part). - Fixed all kinds of spelling, grammar and syntax errors. v3.00 - 07 December 2011 (Pearl Harbor 70th anniversary) - Initial release of the third edition. ----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X----x----X CLOSING COMMENTS ---------------This will be my final update to the third revision of this timeline. No, I'm not leaving the Leijiverse, and I still plan to be an active part of it for the foreseeable future. It's just that ... well ... I've gone just about as far as I can go with this, and other projects beckon. The basic structure is now pretty much locked into place, and I find myself more and more chasing odd bits of data (or even trivia) in obscure anime and manga. I sometimes find myself revisiting issues I thought I had settled before, and find out that I've come to exactly the same conclusion even with the new data. On top of that, all of this research has encouraged me to branch out on several other projects. Some of this has already been released, like my Leijiverse manga English adaptations. Some of it you have yet to see. Does that mean the Leijiverse Integrated Timeline project is dead? No, of course not. To quote Monty Python, "It's only a model." I'm sure there are still a lot of typos and other mistakes I've overlooked. I know there are a lot of you out there who, while agreeing with my general premise, have your own ideas about what an integrated or unified Leijiverse might look like. I say this will be MY final update. It doesn't have to be yours. So ... please feel free to do with this document whatever you want. Remember, that's why I created it in the first place. It's your guide to the magnificence that IS the Leijiverse, and I'd like to think that it's a good one. You can strive to keep it updated as new titles or revelations in the Leijiverse come out, or you can rewrite it to suit your own needs. As for me, I'm going to step back from it for a while, like I did with the second edition, and move on to other things. It's all yours, folks. I hope you treat it well. Oh, and one M-san himself if the wide expanse Who knows? last thing. Would one of you please forward a copy of this to you can? He might be interested in seeing how one fan views that is his unique creation. Maybe he'll get a good laugh out of it. -_^ May the Rings of Time bring us together again .... - Richard Evan Mandel 1 May 2012