Revenge of the Sith is arguably the most tragic film in the Skywalker Saga. And it contains a Shakespearean flair, with the disintegration of both a Republic and a romantic relationship. But how long did the events between the battle over Coruscant and the fall of the Republic take?
Revenge of the Sith occurred in 19 BBY. It started with the great battle over the Galactic Republic’s capital of Coruscant and ended tragically even with the arrival of a new hope. Despite a popular theory the events took months, they really took a few days.
Table of Contents
Revenge of the Sith’s Timeline of Events
Day One: Killing Dooku and Anakin’s Vision
After fighting their way topside of General Grievous’s flagship, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker located Chancellor Palpatine and confronted Count Dooku.
Despite giving Dooku a better fight than in 22 BBY, Dooku knocked out Obi-Wan to focus on Anakin. However, Anakin’s anger let him overpower and kill Dooku at Palpatine’s urging.
This event, plus the Battle of Coruscant, occurred within a single day. That night, Anakin experienced a vision of his wife Padmè dying in childbirth.
Day Two: Anakin the Spy and Darth Plagueis’ Tragic Fate
Ordered to spy on the Chancellor, Anakin sat with Palpatine in the private viewing box at the Galaxies Opera House to watch a production of Squid Lake.
Here, Palpatine propagated Anakin, insisting the Jedi wanted to rule the galaxy while Anakin revealed his growing unease with the Jedi.
Palpatine told Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis and how the Sith Lord’s midi-chlorian manipulation could save people.
Besides midi-chlorian manipulation, Plagueis used the dark side to unlock so much power he feared he would someday lose it. Which occurred when his Sith Apprentice killed him.
Interested, Anakin pondered whether Plagueis’ experiment to stop death could succeed. “Not from a Jedi,” Palpatine said.
Day Three: Obi-Wan Confronted Grievous and Anakin’s Betrayal
Obi-Wan and Anakin unknowingly shared one final moment as fellow Jedi when Anakin voiced disappointment in himself to Obi-Wan. Despite Anakin’s frustrations with the Council, Obi-Wan assured his former Padawan they would soon promote him to Jedi Master.
At the Jedi Council’s order, Obi-Wan arrived on Utapau, finding General Grievous on the Tenth Level in Pau City. Despite Grievous’ ability to wield four lightsabers, Obi-Wan quickly took the stolen weapons out of the equation but dropped his lightsaber in the process.
Disarmed, Obi-Wan pursued the cyborg and ended his reign of terror, killing him with a blaster.
On Coruscant, Palpatine revealed his true identity as Darth Sidioius to Anakin. Anakin informed the Jedi Council of Palpatine’s identity just when the Council prepared to ensure the Chancellor relinquished his emergency powers with the war ending following Grievous’ assassination.
Anakin offered to help with the arrest of Palpatine, but Windu ordered him to stay out of it.
However, Anakin took off after Windu’s crew of Jedi Masters and interfered in the ensuing fight between Windu and Palpatine, saving the Sith Lord from death.
Darth Sidious rechristened Anakin as Darth Vader and used the event to execute Order 66, which slaughtered most Jedi in the galaxy.
Day Four: End of an Era and A New Hope
Following Order 66, Palpatine transformed the Galactic Republic into the Empire while further demonizing and turning the Senate against the Jedi.
Yoda and Obi-Wan survived the Order, with Yoda electing to confront Palpatine while ordering Obi-Wan to seek Vader.
Padmè sought Vader on Mustafar, not knowing Obi-Wan snuck onto the ship. When Vader Force choked his wife, Obi-Wan confronted him and the two engaged in an epic duel.
In the Senate building, Yoda confronted Sidious and the two also dueled, with incoming clone troopers forcing Yoda to retreat. On Mustafar, Obi-Wan defeated Vader by severing his arm and both legs, leaving his former Padawan to die.
Sidious rescued Vader while Padmè fulfilled her husband’s fears and died after giving birth to Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Bail Organa agreed to split the twins up, hoping the Sith wouldn’t detect them.
Day Five? Concealing the Twins
To further conceal the twins, Padmè’s body still held a pregnant appearance at her funeral in Naboo’s capital of Theed.
Before heading into exile, Obi-Wan agreed to take Luke to his step-family’s farm on Tatooine while Organa claimed custody of Leia and brought her to Alderaan.
How Long Did Revenge of the Sith Take Place?
Screen Rant used a four-day timeline, however they did not account for Padmè’s funeral, nor did they account for Obi-Wan heading into exile. Yoda also arrived on Dagobah on Day Five, but this occurred in a deleted scene.
Screen Rant acknowledged that the funeral and the Jedi’s jaunts into exile could have happened on Day Five, or shortly thereafter.
Odds are, the events occurred on Day Five if Obi-Wan and Bail Organa wanted to conceal the twins quickly to prevent any possibility the Sith would detect them.
What factors backed up Screen Rant’s four-day timeline?
They cited The Clone Wars: Season 7. Toward the season’s end, the Siege of Mandalore took place the day after Obi-Wan and Anakin embarked on a mission to save Palpatine.
Following the siege, The Clone Wars included Mace Windu’s remark regarding the Jedi’s potential destruction. This occurred in one of the following two episodes, both of which covered Day Three given Windu’s remark.
Windu wasted no time and collected a small team of Jedi to apprehend the Chancellor. Order 66 occurred shortly thereafter, with Ahsoka Tano saving Rex from killing her. Immediately following the Order, Yoda and Obi-Wan went on their respective missions to confront the Sith Lords.
Conclusion
One prevailing theory is that Revenge of the Sith occurs over seven months given Padmè’s pregnancy. However, her looser clothing hid her growing stomach through most of Revenge of the Sith.
The only thing that has gone unexplained is why she waited so long to tell Anakin she was pregnant.
Her pregnancy is what fueled the seven-month theory, but given evidence shown in The Clone Wars, the four-day theory prevails, with the film’s falling action occurring either on Day Five or shortly thereafter.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in both Star Wars Canon and Legends. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.