Photos ©LucasFilm LTD. & TM.  All Rights Reserved.  Digital Work by ILM.

As twisty chronologies go, the Star Wars saga is no Memento. But with episodes IV-VI hitting screens 16-plus years before I-III, and George Lucas retroactively inserting characters into scenes—not to mention the spin-offs that expand on the story line—even a droid’s memory capacity could overload. Here’s a recap of the series’ major events, from Anakin to Vader.

PRE-EPISODE I
• Anakin Skywalker born. (Immaculate conception, or is mom Shmi just telling tales? You make the call.)

EPISODE I—THE PHANTOM MENACE
• The Jedi Master–Padawan dynamic is introduced via Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Power grab by the Trade Federation (and its battle droids), a political force that will begin paving the way for the Empire to control the galaxy.
• Enter shadow villain Darth Sidious , a Lord of the Sith, and his apprentice Darth Maul. Cue Imperial March.
• Jar Jar Binks first rears his floppy-eared head. Ewoks everywhere (see Episode VI) breathe sigh of relief to finally be out of fans’ crosshairs.
• First look at Tatooine, home of both Anakin and, one day, Luke.
• Meet Anakin, age nine, and his future love interest, the incognito (and substantially older) Queen Padmé Amidala. Try not to be skeeved out.
• R2-D2 beeps in; C-3PO likewise buttles onto the scene as a gadget built by Anakin.
• Jabba the Hutt first weighs in at a Tatooine pod race.
• Qui-Gon introduces Anakin to Obi-Wan.
• We meet Yoda, Mace Windu, and the rest of the Jedi Council. Ditto Senator Palpatine—the man who would be emperor—and the Galactic Senate.
• Darth Maul (above right) slays Qui-Gon, leaving Obi-Wan to train Anakin.

EPISODE II—THE ATTACK OF THE CLONES
• Meet Jango Fett (right), template for the clones of the title, who in turn are the template for the stormtroopers of episodes IV-VI. Jango’s young son, Boba—who’ll become a notorious, Han Solo–dogging bounty hunter—is also around.
• First appearance of Bail Organa, who will adopt Leia, and Owen and Beru Lars, who’ll adopt Luke.
• Shmi Skywalker dies after abduction by Sand People. Anakin massacres them in his first major Dark Side outburst.
• Count Dooku, a former Jedi turned Sith lord, gathers the Trade Federation and other Separatist forces against the increasingly fragile Republic, triggering the Clone Wars.
• Anakin loses part of his arm in a fight with Dooku.
• First glimpse at plans for Dooku and company’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star.
• Anakin (now of legal age) and Padmé fall in love, marry.

IN BETWEEN EPISODES
• Republic’s first encounter with General Grievous, the Dark Side killing machine spotlighted in Episode III. (Clone Wars animated series)

EPISODE III—REVENGE OF THE SITH
• Welcome to Kashyyyk, home planet of Chewbacca and the Wookiees.
• Palpatine revealed as Darth Sidious. (But you can call him Emperor.)
• Mace Windu goes out in a blaze of glory.
• Fateful duel between the now estranged Anakin and Obi-Wan on the lava planet Mustafar.
• Anakin falls into molten pit, emerging as . . . Darth Vader.

IN BETWEEN EPISODES
• Early adventures of Han and Chewbacca, two years before Episode IV events. (Han Solo at Stars’ End, Del Rey Books)