Star Wars: Skeleton Crew takes viewers on a whole new adventure. As with every new Star Wars installment, the first question that fans usually have is, “When does it take place?” Star Wars canon has been through some changes since Disney took over the franchise in 2012. The Sequel Trilogy takes place thirty years after the Original Trilogy, Solo, Rogue One, and Andor take place before the OT, Clone Wars and Bad Batch take place during and directly after the Prequel Trilogy, and Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Book Of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka take place not long after the Original Trilogy – nine to eleven years. The Acolyte was a hundred years before the Prequels. So, with all of that in mind, where does Skeleton Crew take place? The Mandalorian time frame, but definitely at some point before the third season.
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Star Wars: The Mandalorian started nine years after the Battle Of Yavin, so 9 ABY. That puts that show at nine years after A New Hope and six years after Return Of The Jedi. Skeleton Crew definitely takes place after the fall of the Empire – the show’s first episode establishes this in its opening scenes, talking about the end of the Empire. However, the events of the beginning of the first episode don’t seem to take place at the same time as The Mandalorian. The easiest way to tell this is the state of the galaxy that Skeleton Crew‘s opening establishes.
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At the beginning of the show, there is an attack on a bulk freighter by a group of pirates. At one point, the captain of the ship that was attacked tells the pirates that they aren’t carrying any Republic credits. This means that the Republic is sending out ships full of money with little to no protection at this point in the chronology. Looking at what we know about Star Wars canon, this would place Skeleton Crew closer to the end of the war against the Empire. By the time of The Mandalorian, the Republic seems to have its business together when it comes to protecting member worlds and constituents. Viewers see Captain Teva on patrol, meaning that if the Republic was sending out ships full of credits, they’d have some kind of protection.
The fact that they didn’t during the beginning of Skeleton Crew points to a time before the Republic had most of the galaxy under control or could spare ships to protect freighters. While The Mandalorian does show that the Republic still has something of a pirate problem, the way the Skeleton Crew sets it up makes it seem like the problem is worse. The Mandalorian and Ahsoka are currently at 11ABY, so it seems like Skeleton Crew takes place before this, at the latest in the first year of The Mandalorian, but possibly a few years before. This is a very interesting time in Star Wars history, one that fans have only experienced so far in novels and comics. As the show goes on, there will likely be more clues as to exactly where Skeleton Crew takes place, hopefully illuminating more on the early days of the New Republic.