Here's your complete Arrowverse timeline to date - including every show and crossover in the sprawling DC world. We are truly living in the golden age of the superhero genre, with comic book adaptations flourishing on the big and small screens alike. When Arrow launched in 2012, nobody really imagined the TV series would become the launchpad for an entire shared universe of popular superhero shows, including characters like Supergirl, the Flash, and Batwoman. The CW was initially wary of booking too many DCTV shows, but that wariness seems to have faded given their success, and as a result the franchise is set to expand even more over the next few years.
But here's the catch with shared universes: they are, by nature, complicated things, where everything connects to everything else. All the pieces fit together like a spectacular jigsaw puzzle, and if you're missing part of the puzzle, you don't really get to appreciate the big picture. That means continuity is pretty much baked into the shared universe model, and naturally viewers need to have a sense of just how the timeline works. When it comes to TV shows, where each individual series has hundreds of episodes, an effort to keep track of continuity can feel quite intimidating. That's especially the case given that the Arrowverse embraces multiple different timelines, and "Crisis on Infinite Earths" further complicated the issue by bringing several of these timelines into collision.
Consequently, it's best to realize the timeline visually and then explore it in detail. Here's the timeline as it stands to date. The horizontal lines represent the different shows, with each season marked; vertical lines indicates crossover events.
Let's explore this timeline in detail, and see how things play out. (Note: This timeline ignores the animated Vixen and The Ray web-series, simply for efficiency.)
Arrow Seasons 1 & 2
It all began with Arrow season 1, which saw long-thought-dead billionaire playboy Oliver Queen return to his home of Starling City. He suited up as the Hood, brutally attacking Starling City's crime lords. The episodes feature flashbacks to reveal what Oliver Queen was doing during the time he was missing, initially stranded on the island of Lian Yu in the South China Sea. These flashbacks are carefully woven into the show's overarching narrative, so it's best to view them in context. The second season continued both the ongoing story and the flashbacks, and introduced Central City CSI Barry Allen, with season 2 episodes 8 and 9 serving as backdoor pilots for The Flash season 1. Major events include:
- Oliver Queen was retrieved from the island of Lian Yu, and suited up as The Hood (Arrow season 1, episode 1). He soon gathered a team around him.
- The introduction of Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress (Arrow season 1, episode 8).
- Malcolm Merlyn's "Undertaking" wreaked havoc on the Glades, but The Hood successfully limited the scale of the disaster. Tommy Merlyn died (Arrow season 1, episode 23).
- Sara Lance returned to Starling City, having survived Lian Yu and trained under the League of Assassins. Oliver soon found himself dealing with a significant League of Assassins operation in his city (Arrow season 2).
- A vengeful Slade Wilson arrived in Starling City, adopting the Deathstroke identity (Arrow season 2, episode 11), and murdering Oliver's mother (Arrow season 2, episode 20).
Arrow Season 3 & The Flash Season 1
Returning to Central City, Barry Allen was exposed to the Speed Force and transformed into the Flash. The accident that grants Barry Allen his powers is responsible for the creation of numerous other superhumans, with the Flash working hard to keep his city safe from these super-powered people. Meanwhile, Arrow season 3 took a different approach, focused on the growing threat of the League of Assassins and its master, Ra's al Ghul. The Flash season 1, episode 8 and Arrow season 3, episode 8 are a two-part crossover called "Flash Vs. Arrow," officially the first crossover in the history of the Arrowverse. The two shows remained closely connected, with supporting cast occasionally moving from one series to another. Major events include:
- The particle accelerator at STAR Laboratories exploded, and the flare of power created metahumans across Central City. Barry Allen became the Flash, allying with the team at STAR Labs to deal with rogue superhumans (The Flash season 1, episode 1).
- Sara Lance was murdered (Arrow season 3, episode 1), and her sister Laurel took up the Black Canary identity in her honor.
- Queen Consolidated was sold to businessman Ray Palmer, who soon suited up as the Atom (Arrow season 3, episode 15).
- The superhero Firestorm was created (The Flash season 1, episode 13).
- Thea Queen trained with her father, Malcolm Merlyn.
- Barry learned the time traveling Reverse-Flash was responsible for the death of his mother years ago; Reverse-Flash was apparently erased from the timeline when his ancestor committed suicide (The Flash season 1, episode 23).
- With the League of Shadows presence in the city increasing, Oliver dueled Ra's al Ghul and was almost killed (Arrow season 3, episode 9). He later managed to beat Ra's al Ghul and prevent the release of a deadly bioweapon; Malcolm Merlyn subsequently became Ra's al Ghul's successor (Arrow season 3, episode 23).
- In the season 1 finale, a wormhole threatened Central City (The Flash season 1, episode 23).
Arrow season 4, The Flash Season 1, & Supergirl Season 1
Supergirl season 1 launched in 2015. The show was broadcast on NBC, and so was initially considered to be tangential to the Arrowverse; still, a Multiversal crossover was able to take place due to Barry Allen's growing powerset. Meanwhile, Arrow continued to focus on supernatural threats, with Damien Darhk becoming particularly prominent in the renamed Star City, while The Flash confronted the speedster Zoom. The Flash season 2, episode 8 and Arrow season 4, episode 8 constituted another crossover, "Heroes Join Forces," which served as setup for Legends of Tomorrow. Major events include:
- With Ra's al Ghul defeated, Damien Darhk launched his own attack on Oliver's city, which was renamed Star City in Arrow season 4, episode 1. Oliver Queen was ultimately appointed Mayor of Star City (Arrow season 4, episode 23).
- Oliver Queen learned he had a son, William (Arrow season 4, episode 8).
- Malcolm Merlyn agreed to use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Sara Lance (Arrow season 4, episode 3).
- Team Flash learn about the existence of the Multiverse (The Flash season 2, episode 2), and Cisco learned of his own breaching powers (The Flash season 2, episode 5).
- The Flash unwisely used the Speed Force to travel back in time to prevent his mother's death (The Flash season 2, episode 23).
- On Earth-38, Kara Danvers suited up as Supergirl, and allied with the DEO against the threat of Myriad.
Legends of Tomorrow Season 1
Legends of Tomorrow season 1 launched off the back of "Heroes Join Forces," and is self-contained, with no crossovers. Of course, this is where any Arrowverse timeline gets complicated, because Legends of Tomorrow exploits the concept of time travel. Still, it's best to stick with the characters' own personal timelines, because those are (relatively) consistent. Major events include:
- Time Master Rip Hunter created the Legends of Tomorrow in order to prevent Vandal Savage's rise to power in 2166.
- The Legends ultimately discovered the Time Masters were working with Vandal Savage (Legends of Tomorrow season 1, episode 14).
- The team managed to beat Vandal Savage in three time periods, and prevented a meteor destroying Earth (Legends of Tomorrow season 1, episode 16).
Arrow Season 5, The Flash Season 3, Supergirl Season 2, & Legends of Tomorrow Season 2
The Flash season 3 launched with "Flashpoint," with Barry Allen rewriting history; the ripple-effect from the story was felt on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow as well, with DCTV using it to straighten out some kinks in the timeline created by various time travel adventures. Meanwhile, Supergirl moved to The CW for season 2, and as a result the 2016 crossover - "Invasion!" - was an extremely ambitious one, bringing all four Arrowverse shows together. There's a sense in which this period is the beginning of the modern Arrowverse, with multiple superhero TV series running concurrently, and occasionally crossing over with one another. Major events include:
- Barry Allen's attempt to change the past backfired terribly, creating the Flashpoint reality; he was forced to reverse his previous acts, but the timeline had been changed forever (The Flash season 3, episode 1).
- The Legends of Tomorrow found themselves battling to save the timeline from "aberrations," which escalated due to the use of the Spear of Destiny (Legends of Tomorrow season 2).
- Oliver Queen's run as Mayor of Star City descended into chaos due to systemic attacks from Prometheus (Arrow season 5).
- Caitlin Snow gained cyrokinetic powers, beginning her transformation into Killer Frost (The Flash season 3, episode 2). Wally West gained the speed powers he possessed in the Flashpoint timeline, and became Kid Flash (The Flash season 3, episode 7).
- An alien race called the Dominators invaded Earth, prompting the heroes to unite against them - and summon Supergirl for help ("Invasion!").
- Team Flash successfully defeated the monstrous Savitar, and subsequently Barry Allen sacrificed himself by running into the Speed Force to save Central City (The Flash season 3, episode 23).
- Arrow season 5 ends with the detonation of an explosive device on Lian Yu, with fatal consequences for Team Arrow (Arrow season 5, episode 23).
- On Earth-38, Supergirl and the DEO confronted the Daxamites, beings who matched Kara Danvers in all her power. Fortunately they were helped by the rogue Daxamite prince Mon-El, who sacrificed himself to drive back the invasion (Supergirl season 2, episode 22). Jimmy Olsen adopted the "Guardian" identity (Supergirl season 2, episode 6).
Arrow Season 6, The Flash Season 4, Supergirl Season 3, Legends of Tomorrow Season 3
This next period essentially saw the Arrowverse stabilize before it began preparing for "Crisis on Infinite Earths," with each series building upon its own mythology and expanding its core cast. The annual Arrowverse event, "Crisis on Earth-X," was a key moment in the history of the shared universe; it featured a double-wedding, with Barry Allen marrying Iris West and Oliver Queen marrying Felicity Smoak. Major events include:
- Team Arrow attempted to recover from the havoc on Lian Yu, with Oliver Queen forced to take on responsibility for his son William (Arrow season 6, episode 1).
- Team Flash broke Barry Allen out of the Speed Force, but doing so released a wave of energy that created more metahumans (The Flash season 4, episode 1). The Mad Thinker launched an insane plan to destroy the Flash's life, by absorbing the abilities of people empowered by this incident.
- Rip Hunter established the Time Bureau to replace the Time Masters and police the timeline (Legends of Tomorrow season 3, episode 1).
- Doppelgangers from Earth-X disrupted the wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West, forcing the various Arrowverse heroes to work together to defeat them. In the aftermath, Barry and Iris tie the knot, as do Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak ("Crisis on Earth-X").
- Ralph Dibny began training to his his new super-powers as the Elongated Man (The Flash season 4).
- Drug dealer Ricardo Diaz successfully took control of Star City, and although they were defeated, Oliver Queen was forced to do a deal with the FBI that saw him imprisoned for his vigilante activity (Arrow season 6, episode 23).
- A demonic being called Mallus attempted to dominate this dimension, but it was defeated by the Legends of Tomorrow with the assistance of Wally West (Legends of Tomorrow season 3, episode 18).
- On Earth-38, Kara Danvers and her friends battled the Kryptonian entity called Reign. They were assisted by the Legion of Super Heroes, time travelers from the 31st Century (Supergirl season 3).
- Reign ultimately attempted to terraform Earth, turning it into a New Krypton, but she was successfully defeated (Supergirl season 3, episode 23).
Black Lightning Seasons 1 & 2
Although it launched on The CW, at first Black Lightning appeared to be completely separate from the Arrowverse. It was set on another of the various Earths, and it didn't feature in the 2018 crossover. As a result, it's best to view the first two seasons of Black Lightning as a separate entity at this point, even though events were probably concurrent with what was happening on the other Earths. It features retired superhero Jefferson Pierce, who is forced to suit up as Black Lightning in order to deal with increasing crime and corruption in his community of Freeland.
Arrow S7, The Flash S5, Supergirl S4, Legends of Tomorrow S4, & Batwoman S1
The Arrowverse had been building up to "Crisis on Infinite Earths" since The Flash season 1, but it now began to commit to the idea. Arrow season 7 took a fresh approach, abandoning its previous flashback sequences in favor of flash-forwards to Oliver's children, who became vigilantes 20 years in the future. Meanwhile, The Flash season 5 focused on the relationship between Barry Allen and his time traveling future daughter, Nora, who would be brought up without her father in the wake of the Crisis. The different future timelines became irreconcilable, with time clearly in flux as the Crisis approached. This period is further complicated by Batwoman season 1, which technically didn't air until a year late. The first four episodes are set before the 2018 crossover, "Elseworlds," which introduced Ruby Rosa's Kate Kane to viewers ahead of her own series. Major events of this period include:
- Nora West-Allen traveled from the future to spend some time with her dad, who was destined to go missing during the Crisis. In reality, she was attempting to change the timeline in order to save Barry Allen's life (The Flash season 5).
- Oliver Queen was freed from prison, and the members of Team Arrow were deputized to work with the Star City Police Department (Arrow season 7, episode 8).
- Oliver's half-sister Emiko Queen and a terrorist group called the Ninth Circle launched devastating attacks on Star City in an attempt to destroy Oliver's legacy (Arrow season 7).
- Kate Kane returns to Gotham City, and becomes the new Batwoman (Batwoman season 1, episodes 1-4).
- The "Elseworlds" event saw the Monitor initiate a judgment on different Earths in the Multiverse. Earth-1 came close to destruction, with Flash and Supergirl willing to sacrifice themselves to save it, but Oliver Queen struck a mysterious deal with the Monitor in order to save everything and everyone.
- Nora was actually being manipulated by Eobard Thawne, and she unwittingly changed the timeline to allow him to escape incarceration and execution. This also moved the Crisis forward in time to 2019, for still-unknown reasons (The Flash season 5, episode 22).
- The Legends of Tomorrow worked with Constantine and the Time Bureau to defeat a demonic force called Neron that sought to unleash Hell on Earth (Legends of Tomorrow season 5).
- On Earth-38, Lex Luthor launched an insane plan to take advantage of anti-alien prejudice. He was defeated, and apparently killed, but not before he revealed Kara Danvers' secret identity to his sister Lena (Supergirl season 4, episode 22).
Crisis On Infinite Earths
After years of buildup, "Crisis on Infinite Earths" finally arrived. This was the grandest and most ambitious crossover event in the history of the Arrowverse, and it radically rewrote the timeline. In the aftermath of the Crisis, several different timelines were combined into the new Earth-1, meaning all the various Arrowverse shows now happen on the same world - including Black Lightning. The coronavirus pandemic means the Arrowverse won't actually be returning until early 2021, but in this case it seems oddly appropriate; the post-Crisis Arrowverse will essentially be relaunching. Major events include:
- Oliver Queen was sent on missions across the Multiverse by the Monitor (Arrow season 8).
- Barry Allen and Team Flash learned the Multiverse was undergoing some sort of Crisis, with countless Earths obliterated in an antimatter wave. They strove to learn more, and avert Barry's impending sacrifice (The Flash season 6).
- The Monitor's plan to save the Multiverse worked because of Oliver Queen's sacrifice, with Barry Allen spared death. The "Crisis on Infinite Earths" transformed the Multiverse, with Earth-1's heroes believing this was the only Earth now, a single reality constructed out of the remnants ("Crisis on Infinite Earths").
- Lena and Lex Luthor began working together before the Crisis, and when history was rewritten it was with Lex as a celebrated industrialist - a result of his having possessed the Book of Destiny during the Crisis (Supergirl season 5).
- Team Flash successfully defeated the threat of the Mirrorverse, but Iris mysteriously vanished (The Flash season 6, episode 19).
- Kate Kane's feud with her insane sister Alice took a devastating turn as a result of the Crisis. Alice ultimately transformed Hush into a true Bruce Wayne doppelganger, planning to unleash him on Gotham City (Batwoman season 1, episode 20).
- The Legends of Tomorrow faced yet another threat attempting to rewrite the timeline, the Fates (Legends of Tomorrow season 5).