The Electric Castle Wiki
Register
Advertisement

For the album of the same name see Timeline (album).

Ayreon timeline rotated and cropped

One side of the fold out poster from Timeline which provides dates for most of the major events in the Ayreon saga.

The timeline of the Ayreon universe spans many billions of years.

Pre-big bang[]

  • The primoridal condition before the creation of the known universe, where all matter, energy and time exist as one. (Chaos)

Billions of years ago[]

14 billion BC[]

  • The Big Bang. The first soul, the Universal Migrator is born. It subsequently divides into inumerable individual entities that roam the universe, breathing life among planetary systems. (Dawn of a Million Souls)

8 billion BC[]

6 billion BC[]

  • Age of shadows

    The Age of Shadows was marked by huge mechanical skyscrapers dominating the land, sky and even sea.

The Age of Shadows begins on the planet Y. The Forever race's dependence on technology finally renders them slaves to their machines. After this transition, they are granted immortality through science but in the process forget the essence of their being, losing even the ability to feel emotion. (Age of Shadows)

5 billion BC[]

4 billion BC[]

Millions of years ago[]

65 million BC[]

Ayreon fifth extinction

The final moments of the dinosaurs.

  • The fifth extinction is caused when the Forever's comet collides with Earth. The cataclysm wipes out the dinosaurs which the Forever determine to be a "lower form of intelligence". The seed the Forever planted on Earth now waits dormant for the right conditions to flourish. (The Fifth Extinction)

Thousands of years ago[]

50,000 BC[]

6th century[]

584[]

  • Ayreon receives visions from the year 2084 sent back in time in an effort to change humanity's future. Blind all his life and suddenly able to see nothing but horror, Ayreon sets out on his quest to King Arthur's court to sing the visions to the most powerful man on Earth. (The Final Experiment: "Prologue" et. all).
  • Merlin overcome by jealousy of the true prophet's powers, deems him evil and untrustworthy and kills him using his magic. (The Final Experiment: "Merlin's Will" and "Ayreon's Fate")
  • Ayreon, though physically dead, his spirit is now set free to roam the universe and find his new home. (Carried by the Wind)

8th century[]

  • A Mayan girl observes the Jaguar Temple in Tikal in Central America. (Temple of the Cat)

16th century[]

  • Queen Elizabeth I of England gives a speech to her troops at Tilbury in preparation for an attack by the Spanish. The English fleet subsequently wins under the command of Sir Francis Drake. The speech is witnessed through the eyes of the queen by the Colonist. (Dragon on the Sea).

20th century[]

1900[]

  • The Forever accelerate Human development further, bringing about innovations in science and medicine. (Unnatural Selection).

1969[]

1990[]

The Computer Age: Forever intervenes with natural human development to accelerate progress in computer science and technology (Computer Reign - TFE, Web of Lies, Connect the Dots - 01)

1995[]

In accordance with the prophecy of Merlin is Ayreon's song (his prophecy of human extinction) is sung again. People could hear about the coming extinction through Arjen Anthony Lucassen's album The Final Experiment.

1998[]

Having lost their own emotions eons ago, the Forever race conducts experiments with human emotion in The Electric Castle Experiment (Computer Eyes - AF, Into the Electric Castle)

21st century[]

2007[]

2012[]

2082[]

2084[]

  • As the War of 2084 reaches its climax, scientists, in one last desperate attempt to save mankind, commence the final experiment, sending visions of Humanity's future back in time to be picked up by Humans of the past. Unfortunately the experiment is a failure, managing to change online a single line of history. The war reaches its conclusion, destroying virtually all life on Earth. (Prologue, E=mc 2, 2084).

2085[]

2092[]

  • In one of many experiments to learn more about human emotions, Forever plays the Human Equation program in the Mars Colony's Dream Sequencer. (The Human Equation)

22nd century[]

2112[]

  • The Colonist uses the Dream Sequencer located on Mars to preincarnate into his previous selves and becomes the new Universal Migrator.

Distant future[]

Advertisement