The Entire Rebel Moon Timeline Explained
Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” duology is unusual and momentous among contemporary space operas for a variety of reasons. The first of those reasons is that the film tells an original story: All the characters, plot turns, and world-building details were created for the films, which are scripted by Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Shay Hatten from a story by Snyder, with no preexisting source material.
Snyder and Netflix have announced that the “Rebel Moon” universe is getting more spin-offs than initially expected, including short films, an animated series, novelizations, comics, narrative podcasts, and a tabletop game. Given the poor reception the films have had, not all of these are likely to pan out — the tabletop RPG, for example, has already been canceled. In terms of stuff we already have, there’s the film “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire,” its sequel, “Part Two: The Scargiver,” the novelizations written by V. Castro, and a four-issue comic series titled “House of the Bloodaxe” — to say nothing of the possibly upcoming “Rebel Moon” director’s cuts. Those works alone are enough to send even a dedicated fan of dense sci-fi mythologies into a tailspin.
For that reason, we’re here to help. Pulling from the aforementioned media as well as the information provided by the official Netflix explainer, this article lays out the entire timeline of major events in the “Rebel Moon” universe, from the Motherworld’s dawn tens of thousands years in the past, all the way to the ending of “The Scargiver.”
The dawn of the Motherworld
True to Zack Snyder’s taste for dense lore, also reflected in his approach to superhero films and the Arthurian movie he hopes to one day make, the “Rebel Moon” franchise takes place in an intricate, expansive universe where planets, moons, and solar systems are linked via space travel, and the residents of various celestial bodies are all part of an interconnected population. That population, at least within the galactic region where the “Rebel Moon” films and other media released so far take place, is lorded over by a ruthless galactic empire based out of — and generally named after — the Motherworld. But there is a specific history that explains how that interconnection came to be.
At first, long before it took up its conquesting designs, the Motherworld was just one planetary cluster orbiting a pair of suns, with the planet Moa as its center; “the Motherworld” is sometimes used interchangeably to refer specifically to Moa. That cluster was ruled by an uninterrupted line of 1,000 kings before the royal bloodline’s thirst for power and wealth led to the depletion of natural resources in Moa — as the robot, Jimmy (Anthony Hopkins), puts it in voiceover at the beginning of “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire,” the rulers of Moa “consumed everything upon their planet.”
The kingdom takes off into the stars
Faced with the havoc they’d wreaked upon their own homeland, the rulers of the Motherworld set their sights on resources on other planets. It’s not specified in the media released thus far if faster-than-light space travel was invented on the Motherworld, but given that they’re shown to be the most technologically advanced civilization in the known universe, that is a possibility.
So it was that, either by inventing or availing themselves of existing technology, the Motherworld’s armies took off toward new stars and planets, made contact with new civilizations and sentient species, and began a process of interplanetary colonization, conquering and establishing dominion over new worlds by brute military force. That expansion process wore on for centuries and then millennia, allowing the Motherworld itself to recover from its own self-ravagement by extracting, securing, and rapidly accumulating a vast amount of resources around the galaxy — thereby becoming, once again, a powerful and highly organized kingdom.
The Realm is formed
Once the forces of the Motherworld had spread out their campaigns of conquest to virtually every reachable civilization in their region of the galaxy, the known web of planets and populaces was almost entirely unified into a single empire known as the Imperium — in one example of the “Star Wars” DNA in Zack Snyder’s franchise, remaining from when it was a story pitched to Lucasfilm.
Colonized by the Motherworld and its ruthless ruling class, the Imperium’s domain, known as the Realm, became an unimaginably sprawling interstellar site of pain, destruction, exploitation, slavery, and genocide, with one inhabited celestial body after another being forced to capitulate to the new order, having large swaths of its population wiped out, or both. Countless species and cultures were destroyed, and the few civilizations that weren’t forcibly incorporated into the Realm’s reach nonetheless became compliant with the Motherworld’s every demand, due to the near-impossibility of resisting its armed forces. Past a certain point, it was simply assumed that everyone within the Realm’s perimeter was a subject of the Imperium — an allegiance that was continuously enforced.
This state of affairs was enabled by the ongoing stability of the royal bloodline. After the beginning of the interstellar expansion, the same lineage of kings continued to rule the Motherworld, and by extension, the growing Realm, for hundreds more generations, adding up to 1,886 total reigns by the time King Athander (Cary Elwes) was crowned.
Fidel Damaqasha becomes Koseba and conquers Shasu
The Motherworld’s army had a complex structure comprising innumerable officers stationed around the Realm. In addition to enforcing the Motherworld’s rule on its subjects and ensuring that resources were collected, the armed forces were also tasked with quashing any potential subversion against the Imperium. One particular instance of such repression, about five decades prior to the assassination of the royal family, started a chain of falling dominoes that ultimately led to the events of the two “Rebel Moon” films.
It all started when Fidel Damaqasha, an officer stationed on the planet Aih Kalroo, took a leadership role in the repression efforts against a revolt known as the Diggers’ Uprising. For his work, Damaqasha was promoted and named an Imperial lord presiding over the planet Shasu. At the time, the Feodom of Shasu amounted to an outpost, as the Motherworld did not yet have power over the planet, which was considered unconquerable due to the strength and technological advancement of the native Tarungtusa people. Over time, Fidel ingratiated himself with the Tarungtusa, eventually marrying a native Tarungtusa named Hiraat and changing his name to Koseba. He then started a campaign that led to the conquer of Shasu and his own installation as ruler of the planet, earning him the nickname of Koseba the Conqueror.
Yisrael Bloodaxe becomes Lord Shasu
The son of Koseba and Hiraat was named Fidelio and was raised in Shasu according to Motherworld custom, with the expectation that he would one day succeed Koseba as the planet’s Imperium-appointed ruler. When he reached 30 seasons of age, as per the custom of Hiraat’s clan, Fidelio was given a clan name — Yisrael, meaning “two-hearted” in the Tarungtusan language. As a young man, Yisrael traveled to the Motherworld to complete his education at Lozor University, but when rebels hailing from Shasu attacked and destroyed an Imperium ship in orbit over the Motherworld, Yisrael was suspected of collaboration and expelled.
Returning to Shasu, Yisrael met Amirami, a Tarungtusan woman, and later married her. Following Koseba’s death, Yisrael, now known as Yisrael Bloodaxe, succeeded him as Lord Shasu, and he and Amirami ruled together for the following decades. Although Yisrael was much less fit for the role of lord than his father and did not earn the trust of the Tarungtusans to the same extent, Amirami’s native background and connection to her people made her respected among the populace and ensured the relative stability of their reign. They had two children, whom we see in “Rebel Moon” — Darrian (Ray Fisher) and Devra Bloodaxe (Cleopatra Coleman).
The Motherworld destroys the homes of Kora, Tarak, Nemesis, Milius, and Kai
While the emergence of the Bloodaxe family was taking place, the Motherworld continued to send legions to every planet and solar system it could reach, conquering more and more galactic territory. Their campaigns laid waste to countless communities and cultures around the Realm.
A few decades prior to the films’ events, young Kora (Elizabeth Martinez) was growing up on an unnamed planet alongside her parents, brother, and sister; her family ran a tea shop. When she was 9 years old, her planet was attacked by a Motherworld unit led by General Balisarius (Fra Fee). Kora’s entire family was killed, and Balisarius decided to spare her life, take her in, and raise her as his own daughter.
Elsewhere in the galaxy, the planet Samandrai was claimed by the Motherworld; its royal family fell, leaving Prince Tarak Decimus (Staz Nair) to flee to the planet of Neu-Wodi. Nemesis’ (Doona Bae) planet, Byeol, was also attacked; her fishing village was burned to the ground and her children were killed, sending her on a years-long revenge quest in which she managed to kill a total of 16 high-ranking Imperial officers. Milius (Elise Duffy), who lived in a farming community on Meadai, also had her planet overtaken by the Motherworld and was forced into mining work. Kai’s (Charlie Hunnam) planet Saaldorun, meanwhile, was straight-up destroyed by the Imperium.
Kora becomes an Imperium soldier under Balisarius’ wing
After being adopted by Balisarius, Kora was given a new name: Arthelais. Balisarius personally raised her in his dreadnought, and she grew to view him as her father. After that, Arthelais was trained to one day become an Imperium soldier. She eventually entered the Imperium’s military academy, graduating from it years later at the age of 18. Due to Arthelais’ (Sofia Boutella) outstanding performance in the academy as well as Balisarius’ political influence, she became the youngest officer in Imperium history to be named a field commander, and she went on to lead campaigns of her own, successfully conquering several planets.
Arthelais’ military achievements came to a point where her post as commander was too small for her. With some help from Balisarius, she was appointed to the role of seneschal — an official bodyguard to the Motherworld royal family. More specifically, she was named the personal protector of Princess Issa (Stella Grace Fitzgerald), the young daughter of King Athander and his Queen (Rhian Rees).
Princess Issa changes King Athander’s perspective
Princess Issa’s birth fundamentally changed the dynamics of the Motherworld. She was named after an ancient queen, revered in legends for her peaceful demeanor and her ability to bring about life and light. It was rumored among the populace of the Realm that the ancient Queen Issa would keep reincarnating across the centuries and that one of her reincarnations would eventually be responsible for ending the war. As Princess Issa’s trusted guardian, Arthelais shadowed her at all times, which allowed her to witness seemingly inexplicable events and actions — all pointing to the possibility that the princess could, indeed, be the Redeemer of myth.
So powerful was Issa’s light that she even caused a change of heart in her father. Inspired by his daughter’s immense capacity for love and compassion, Athander reconsidered the Imperium’s millennia-long expansionist policy and vowed to transition into a new era of peace in the Realm, in which the campaigns of colonization would finally be put to an end.
Balisarius stages a coup, and Kora flees the Motherworld
Athander’s newly mellowed disposition was not viewed favorably by the rest of the Motherworld’s political apparatus, who wanted the Imperial expansion to continue at full throttle. While ostensibly going along with the king’s tentative steps toward demilitarization, prominent political figures of the Motherworld began to gather in a conspiracy against the royal family, including the majority of the senate. The man leading the conspiracy was Balisarius, who by then had become a senator.
Despite Balisarius’ involvement, Arthelais was kept in the dark about the plot, and continued to uphold her duty of watching over Issa. One day, during a ceremony where Issa was to dedicate the last dreadnought in Imperium history, named the Peaecemaker, Balisarius and other senators finally staged their coup against the royal family. The king and queen were slain, and Arthelais was ordered to shoot Issa dead. She hesitated, prompting Issa to declare that she forgave her; although deeply moved, Arthelais fired her gun at Issa.
Balisarius and the senators then turned on Arthelais. Branded a murderer, traitor, and insurgent, she realized that she was to be used as a scapegoat. Feeling that she owed it to Issa to escape and become a better person, Arthelais fled the Motherworld, becoming the galaxy’s most wanted fugitive.
Darrian and Devra Bloodaxe start an insurgency movement
Over on Shasu, Lord Yisrael’s rule became unstable following the death of Amirami, which happened in the same week as the coup against the Motherworld royals. As the coup caused the Imperium’s communications network to go dark for a week, word of the king and queen’s death reached Shasu via Colonel Helika, now working under the orders of newly self-appointed Regent Balisarius. Helika ordered Yisrael to wipe out the Black Mountain Tarungtusans, Shasu’s most ancient community of residents, who were being officially blamed for the coup due to the presence of anti-Imperium radicals among them.
This order caused Darrian Bloodaxe to revolt against Imperial rule; he joined forces with the Suthen people and endeavored to resist the Imperium’s attempts to eradicate the Black Mountain Tarungtusans. Eventually, his sister Devra joined his side and the two started a full-blown insurgency movement against the Imperium, staging small but effective attacks that disrupted the Motherworld’s supply lines; in one such attack, they liberated Milius, who joined their ranks.
General Titus turns against the Motherworld
One of the most celebrated military leaders of the Imperium in the years leading up to the coup was General Titus (Djimon Hounsou). Some time after the royal family was assassinated and Balisarius appointed himself regent of the Motherworld, Titus was sent to the planet of Sarawu, where he was tasked with hovering over the parliament with his ship to exert pressure as the people took a vote on whether or not to declare independence from the Realm. The citizens of Sarawu voted for independence, and Titus was ordered to open fire on the capitol; when he refused, Balisarius shot down his ship. He then turned his men against the Motherworld, resulting in the Battle of Sarawu.
Although Titus’ unit fought for as long as it could, the renegade soldiers were overpowered by the Motherworld’s forces. Realizing the fight would only end in death for his men, Titus surrendered and offered his own life so that the lives of his soldiers could be spared. Instead, to punish Titus more harshly for his insubordination, Balisarius had all of Titus’ men killed in front of him and spared the general’s life, merely banishing him from the Motherworld.
Kora lands in Veldt and makes a new life there
While traveling around the Realm to escape her past, Arthelais, now once again going by the name Kora, took up a nomadic lifestyle, never settling down in any one place for too long — the better to avoid being discovered by Imperial forces. After three years of hopping from one planet to another, she found herself on Veldt, a moon orbiting the gas planet of Mara. On Veldt, Kora was discovered and taken in by a farmer, Hagen (Ingvar Sigurdsson), who helped her settle into a local rural community. The smallness, tranquility, and uneventfulness of life on Veldt allowed Kora to stay for much longer than she ordinarily would. For the first time since fleeing the Motherworld, Kora began to develop an attachment to a new place.
Although the residents of Kora’s village on Veldt believed they were staying entirely out of Imperium business, that wasn’t quite the case. During the months Kora spent on Veldt after arriving, the farmer responsible for overseeing the harvest, Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), sold the surplus of that year’s crops to Darrian and Devra Bloodaxe — out of pure economic interest rather than any sort of belief in the siblings’ cause.
Atticus Noble lands The King’s Gaze on Veldt to demand supplies
The Bloodaxes’ activities were becoming a serious nuisance for the Imperium, and so Regent Balisarius sent his go-to man for rebellion-quashing activities, Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), to deal with them. Although the Imperium knew the galactic area in which the Bloodaxes were concentrating operations, Noble wasn’t able to find the siblings, nor their ragtag army of rebels. As they continued to evade the Motherworld’s grasp, Noble eventually found himself short on provisions for his men.
He then set course to Veldt, knowing that a small farming village on the moon had recently sold wheat to the Bloodaxes. The people of the village played along with the pomp and circumstance of the Imperial visit, but village leader Sindri (Corey Stoll), preferring to be left alone as quickly as possible by Noble, claimed that they had barely been harvesting enough wheat for themselves, and had no surplus to sell to Noble’s unit. Gunnar, fixated on the wealth Noble promised to bestow upon the village in exchange for the wheat, revealed that they actually had a significant amount of wheat to spare. To make an example of Sindri for not telling him the truth, Noble beat him to death with his staff in view of the whole village. He then demanded that the village provide him and his men with an unreasonable amount of wheat within 10 days, leaving practically nothing for the village to eat and survive on.
Kora and Gunnar set out in search of help
After leaving Veldt and returning to his ship, The King’s Gaze, Noble left behind a small group of soldiers to intimidate the townsfolk and force them to fall in line. The soldiers were openly cruel and sadistic toward the villagers, brutalizing them for fun and forcing them to work tirelessly to meet Noble’s enormous quota of wheat.
Faced with Noble’s impossible demand, Kora decided to break camp and run away again. Yet for all her efforts to remain as detached as possible from the village around her, she couldn’t help but get into trouble after a while. One night, she overhead Noble’s soldiers terrorizing Sam (Charlotte Maggi) and preparing to sexually assault her, and went in to kill them all and save the girl with the unexpected help of Jimmy the robot — who by then had fully defected the Imperium.
With all of Noble’s detachment killed except for Aris (Sky Yang), who also defected and was victimized alongside Sam during the other soldiers’ attack, Kora knew that it was only a matter of time before the admiral returned to wipe out the whole village. Feeling partly responsible, she decided to search for help and mount a viable stand against Noble’s forces.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Kora’s group teams up with Darrian Bloodaxe
At first, knowing that General Titus had fallen from grace in the Imperium’s appreciation for turning his own forces against the Motherworld, Kora’s idea was to track down Titus, assemble an army for him, and ask him to lead the impending resistance effort.
To carry out that plan, Kora teamed up with Gunnar. Their first lead — the contact who linked Gunnar to the Bloodaxe siblings — brought Kora and Gunnar to the larger port city of Providence. There, they met Kai, a mercenary, who agreed to fly them to Titus to recruit other fighters. They stopped on Neu-Wodi, picking up Tarak, and on Daggus, picking up Nemesis. Finally, they reached the moon known as Pollux, where Titus had been spending his post-exile years drinking himself numb and fighting in gladiator matches to make a living. Approached by Kora, he initially refused to help, but his mind was changed by the promise of revenge against the Imperium.
Kora and Gunnar were able to locate Darrian, Devra, and the rest of the Bloodaxe insurgents, who were stationed on Sharaan — a planet with a civilization known for offering refuge and shelter to the downtrodden of the galaxy. Unwilling to jeopardize the whole resistance for one small mission, the Bloodaxes refused to help the Veldt farmers. However, Darrian had his mind changed by Kora and rallied a small detachment of insurgents to join Kora’s band aboard Kai’s freighter. As punishment for hiding and providing for the insurgents, the entire 10,000-year-old peaceful civilization of Sharaan was destroyed by Noble with The King’s Gaze’s weapons.
Kai leads the group to a trap at a Gondival trade depot
With a small army and a group of highly skilled fighters en route to Veldt, the rebels briefly appeared to have actually decent odds against Noble. Kai, who was initially in it only for the money but had seemingly begun to develop a genuine enthusiasm for the rebels’ cause, requested a stop at a trade depot on one of the five moons of the planet Gondival — claiming that he wanted to tie up the final loose ends of his life as a mercenary before officially joining the resistance. When the band arrived at the depot, it turned out to be a trap, with Noble waiting to ambush them; knowing Kora, Tarak, Nemesis, and Titus were all wanted by the Motherworld, Kai’s plan all along had been to sell them to the Imperium.
Gunnar managed to kill Kai and free the captured rebels. A battle ensued, in which nearly the entirety of Darrian Bloodaxe’s detachment of insurgents was killed, including Bloodaxe himself. Milius was the only survivor. Kora got into a bitter, brutal scuffle with Noble, which apparently ended with Kora causing the admiral to fall to his death.
The remaining warriors return to Veldt while Noble is revived
With the admiral seemingly killed, Kora presumed that his fleet would be called back to the Motherworld, thus sparing the Veldt farming village from the impending wheat extraction and any potential conflict. Satisfied and relieved, Kora and Gunnar set course for Veldt, taking Titus, Tarak, Nemesis, and Milius along to be paid what they were promised.
What Kora and Gunnar didn’t count on, however, was that Noble’s body was partly cybernetic and that the power harnessed from the interdimensional giants known as the Kali could be used to bring him back to life. Therefore, the crew of The King’s Gaze retrieved his body from the rubble of the outpost battle, placed him into a chrysalis-like recovery chamber, and waited for him to heal, returning command over the fleet to him as soon as possible. When Noble came to, his first order was to go to Veldt to retrieve Kora, whom he now knew was the disgraced Arthelais.
Arriving on Veldt, the rebels were eager to share the good news that Noble’s fleet was no longer a problem, but the celebration was cut off by Aris’ revelation that the fleet was still maintaining communication with him and still intended to arrive on the planned date to get their wheat. Deducing that Noble had somehow survived the fall, the rebels realized their fight was just beginning.
Titus mounts a defense plan against Noble’s forces
Because the only six people in the entire village with any combat experience were Aris, Kora, and the four outsiders Kora brought along, it became clear that the Veldt farmer had to rely on smarts and resourcefulness as much as brute force if they were to engage in a stand against an Imperium fleet.
Thus, Titus concocted an elaborate plan to make the best of the resources that the Veldtian farmers had at their disposal. First, he came up with the idea to use the wheat bags themselves to build barricades and protect citizens’ homes, assuming that the Imperium would never open fire on such a valuable resource. Secondly, he ordered citizens to gather every weapon in the village, which extended to turning tools like scythes and dull cooking knives into weapons. He also had the fighters study the terrain and build tunnels, to maintain a geographical advantage over Noble’s forces and sneak up on them with surprise attacks. He also led basic training to teach the farmers how to handle weapons and bombs. As a final major strategy, the small spacecraft in which Kora had come to Veldt was found, cleaned up, fixed, and positioned in a well-hidden launchpad for future use.
The Battle of Veldt
Admiral Atticus Noble arrived on Veldt and landed his ship at the farming village once again. This time, however, the village was ready for him. As everyone hung on in anxious silence waiting for the toll of the bell that cued the battle to begin, Noble attempted to entice Kora into a negotiation: As Belisarius’ primary interest was in capturing Kora and publicly executing her, Noble promised that the lives of everyone on Veldt would be spared if she were to turn herself in. Kora wanted to take the deal, but Gunnar stopped her at the last minute and rang the bell.
A massive battle then took place on Veldt, during which many lives were lost, including that of Nemesis. The first wave of Motherworld forces was successfully kept at bay, but the second one was much stronger, more technologically advanced, and more aggressive, forcing the rebels to fall back; it was then that Jimmy stepped in to lend a hand. Kora and Gunnar boarded Kora’s spacecraft and set about their plan to infiltrate The King’s Gaze, planting bombs that blew up the entire ship. Gunnar killed Noble but was fatally injured himself, dying shortly after. Finally, with the Imperium forces dwindling, Devra Bloodaxe arrived with the insurgents to deliver the final blow to the remaining few Motherworld ships and troops.
The rebels resolve to find Princess Issa and fight
Despite the rebels’ victory, the post-battle mood wasn’t exactly celebratory, as many men, women, and children had perished. Their sacrifices were honored in a large-scale funeral rite. Nemesis and Gunnar, along with the rest of the dead, were burned. Kora finally revealed at the funeral that she was the infamous Arthelais, assassin of Princess Issa. Titus then told her that he already knew that and revealed that Princess Issa was still alive.
Shocked and at a loss of what to do, Kora was advised by Titus to hold on to that knowledge as a newfound purpose. Devra, Milius, Tarak, and Titus all endeavored to help Kora and fight against the Imperium if she chose to seek out Issa, and the robot Jimmy volunteered as well — protecting Issa was built into his programming, after all. With renewed resolve, the group reaffirmed and officialized their mission: to find Issa and to fight the Imperium.
As for what the future holds, there’s plenty more mythology to excavate. Zack Snyder has teased that the titular “rebel moon” wouldn’t even appear until a potential third installment. “The Rebel Moon is not the moon that they’re on,” he told Empire. “The title was conceptual, but there’s a planet named Vanna, and Vanna is the rebel moon. It’s not even in one shot of this movie!” While we wait to see whether Netflix wants more “Rebel Moon” movies, we can only imagine how deep the lore and the timeline of this bold new sci-fi universe can get.