Timeline (Mythological Arc)
Dates are tricky in Supernatural. Some dates are significant dates are made explicit in the script, but most are not. Sometimes dates that appear within an episode relate to the the date when an episode was shot rather than when the events are supposed to occur.
It is generally accepted by fans that the time covered in each season roughly corresponds to the air dates e.g. from September/October to May.
Dates here taken from killa's timeline and hells_half_acre's timeline, canon where available and some wild speculation. The episode an event relates to is included so readers can make their own decision.
See the timelines category for other alternative dates.
In the Beginning
- God and his sister the Darkness come into being.
- Wanting to create against his sister's wishes, God splits away from the Darkness causing the Big Bang and forming the universe.
- God and the Darkness go to war. With the help of the archangels, God was able to beat back and trick the Darkness, locking it away. God creates a Mark to act as both lock and key to keep the Darkness imprisoned.
- Death comes into existence.
- God entrusts the Mark to his most loyal lieutenant, Lucifer.
- God creates the Leviathans, but grows concerned that they will try to destroy His other creations. He creates the realm of Purgatory to contain them, and seals the Leviathans away.
- God then creates celestial beings known as angels, all of which will dwell in Heaven with Him, creating an angelic society collectively known as the Host of Heaven.
- God creates hellhounds to serve as his companions/pets. The hounds prove to be too vicious and God has them destroyed, but not before Lucifer saves a pregnant female named Ramsey.
- God builds himself into the framework of the universe, in order to allow him leave to create other universes.
- Castiel joins Anna's garrison and is stationed on Earth. He watched the very first fish crawl onto land and an older angel told him not to step on it, because God had big plans for that fish.
- The Grigori are some of the first angels to be placed on Earth to watch and protect humanity. However, when they begin feeding on the souls of humans, they are believed to have been wiped out.
- The Mark begins asserting its own will and begins to corrupt Lucifer, amplifying his jealously of mankind. When God instructs the angels that they should bow down to humanity, Lucifer refuses because he sees humanity as flawed and unworthy. Lucifer entreats his brother Michael to support him but he refuses.
- Gabriel tires of the family arguments and leaves Heaven, hiding on Earth he discovers Loki bound in a cave, freeing him, the two come to an agreement with Gabriel assuming the Trickster's identity.
- Lucifer persuades Gadreel to allow him access to the Garden/Earth.
- In defiance of God, Lucifer takes humans, strips them of their humanity and creates demons. The first of these is Lilith.
- God instructs Michael to cast Lucifer out of Heaven.
- The first generation of demons are created after Lilith, the Princes of Hell, with the purpose leading Hell's army against Heaven.
- Lucifer begins communicating with Abel, when Cain realizes what Lucifer has planned he strikes a deal with the archangel: Abel's soul in Heaven, for his in Hell. Lucifer accepts the terms, on the condition that Cain be the one to kill Abel.
- Lucifer passes the Mark on to Cain. Unwilling to become the killer the Mark wants him to be, Cain attempts to kill himself with the First Blade, but is resurrected as a demon.
- Lucifer hand picks humans for Cain to turn into demons (of which include Abaddon), and has him create the demonic order known as the Knights of Hell.
- Having seen enough, God imprisons Lucifer in the deepest regions of Hell in cage, with six-hundred seals, sixty six of which have to be broken for Lucifer to escape his confinement.
- Zeus took away fire from the humans, leaving them dependent of him and defenseless against monsters. But, Prometheus gave it back to them to protect them from the monsters in the world. Zeus cursed Prometheus to die every day, and imprisoned him in a mountain range.
- In the 10th millennium BC Eve finds her way from Purgatory to Earth, and begins birthing the first monsters -- the Alphas, before she is sent back.
- 2200 B.C. Castiel witnessed the fall of the Tower of Babel.
- The angels were recalled to Heaven on Michael's orders, not returning to Earth until the coming of the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse two thousand years later.
Recent Past
- 1300
- The human Ruby sold her soul to the demon Astaroth and became a witch. During the Black Plague epidemic in Europe (1348-1350), she died and her soul went to Hell, where she was tortured and eventually became a demon.
- 1315
- Sister Agnes writes the Book of the Damned. After receiving visions of darkness, Sister Agnes locked herself away for decades, using slices of her flesh to make the pages of the Book of the Damned
- 1600s
- Crowley is born in Scotland as Fergus Roderick McLeod in 1661 to Rowena and an unnamed wealthy father, whom was engaging in an affair with Rowena.
- Rowena intended to sell Crowley in exchange for three pigs, however dismissed it.
- Rowena after being forced to flee Scotland after being charged with practicing witchcraft came across a Polish family who helped her out of her poverty. In return, she granted the family's dying son, Oskar, immortality.
- Crowley seeks out a crossroads demon to whom he sold his soul for a longer penis. After a decade, he was killed by a hellhound and his soul was taken to Hell. In Hell, Crowley was tortured brutally until he became a demon. He would eventually become the right-hand to Lilith, and King of the Crossroads.
- Late 1800s
- Cain gives up being a Knight of Hell when he falls in love with the human Colette Mullen, and attempts to live of life of peace.
- 1863 -- events of 9.11 First Born
- Abaddon kidnaps Colette in an attempt to lure Cain back into the Knights of Hell.
- Cain slaughters the entire demonic order while searching for his wife.
- Cain tracks Colette down to a cabin in Jasper Springs, Mississippi and kills the demons guarding her. When he realizes Abaddon has taken possession of his wife, he attempts to kill her with the First Blade. Abaddon escapes just before the blade pierces the body. As Colette lays dying, she asks Cain to not seek revenge as there has been enough killing.
- Cain disposes of the First Blade in the deepest part of the ocean.
- 1901 -- events of 12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets
- 1936
- The first known time the wendigo of Blackwater Ridge claimed victims.
- March 10, 1937
- At a dinner party, H.P. Lovecraft and his associates perform a ritual opening a doorway to Purgatory, allowing a creature to take possession of Lovecraft's maid, Eleanor.
- March 15, 1937 -- events of 6.21 Let It Bleed
- Eleanor kills Lovecraft to keep anyone else from obtaining the ritual to open the door to Purgatory.
- 1937
- The six other people who performed the ritual with Lovecraft either disappear or die over the course of the year.
- November 1943 -- events of 11.14 The Vessel
- Delphine Seydoux posing as Befehlsleiter Gumprecht mistress, stabs him in the neck and steals the Hand of God on orders of the Men of Letters.
- November 25, 1943 -- events of 11.14 The Vessel
- Dean Winchester is sent back in time back by Lucifer (masquerading as Castiel) to a World War II submarine, the USS Bluefin to try acquire an artifact known as the Hand of God. When the sub is attacked by a German destroyer led by Befehlsleiter Gumprecht, Delphine Seydoux activates the Hand of God destroying the Bluefin as well as the German destroyer.
- 1959
- 1972 -- events of 4.22 Lucifer Rising
- Azazel possesses Father Lehne at St. Mary's Convent Ilchester, Maryland. In the chapel he kills eight nuns. This enables him to speak to Lucifer, who tells him he needs Lilith to be released from Hell to break the 66 Seals that hold him captive. Lucifer tells Azazel he also needs to find a very special child.
- April 30 - May 2, 1973 -- events of 4.03 In the Beginning
- Mary Campbell and her parents - Samuel Campbell and Deanna Campbell - are hunters living in Lawrence, Kansas. People in the area are dying, and it appears their deaths may have been caused by a man with "yellow-eyes" who makes a deal with someone who wanted the person dead (for example the son of a violently abusive man, a woman whose father is terminally ill) in exchange for permission to return to them in ten years time.
- Dean Winchester is sent back to this time by Castiel, and warns the Campbells that the being is a demon. He steals the Colt from Daniel Elkins, but fails to kill the demon we will later know as Azazel.
- Azazel meets Mary Campbell and likes her bravery and hunting prowess.
- Azazel possesses Samuel Campbell and reveals to Dean that he makes the deals with people he deems "perfect parents" so he can return and feed demon blood to babies, which will endow them with demonic powers.
- Azazel tells Dean that the aim is not only to create beings to lead a demon army and taunts that "my end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that."
- Azazel kills both Samuel and Deanna Campbell and Mary's fiancee John Winchester. He offers to bring John back to life if Mary will make a deal to allow him to enter her home in ten years time. He adds "as long as I'm not interrupted, nobody gets hurt, I promise."
- Mary agrees to the deal and Azazel seals it with a kiss.
- 1978 -- events of 5.13 The Song Remains the Same
- Mary is pregnant with Dean.
- The angel Anna travels back in time to kill John and Mary before Sam can be born in order to avert later events.
- Castiel takes Sam and Dean back to stop Anna.
- Anna enlists Uriel's help to kill the Winchesters.
- Anna kills Sam.
- Michael possesses John Winchester and kills Anna.
- Michael wipes John and Mary's memories, heals Sam and sends Dean and him back to the present.
- January 24, 1979
- Dean Winchester is born
- 1982
- The wendigo of Blackwater Ridge kills eight people.
- May 2, 1983
- Sam Winchester is born
- November 2, 1983 -- events shown in flashback during 1.01 Pilot and 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One
- Sam is 6 months old.
- Azazel enters his nursery, and slicing his own wrist, drips demon blood into infant Sam's mouth.
- Mary Winchester enters the room, and recognizes the Yellow-Eyed Demon. He kills her and burns the nursery.
- December 1983 -- The Journal (diary entries)
- John Winchester learns from Missouri Mosely that something supernatural killed Mary.
- Soon after he takes to the road with Sam and Dean to hunt down the creature that killed Mary.
- 1989 -- events of 1.18 Something Wicked
- John is on a shtriga hunt and entrusts Dean to look after Sam. Dean gets bored and goes out, and comes back to find the shtriga attacking Sammy. John returns in time to scare the shtriga off.
- September 29, 1990
- Adam Milligan, the son of John Winchester and Kate Milligan is born.
- 1983 - 2006 -- information from Ruby in 3.04 Sin City
- People associated with Mary Winchester including family, friends and her doctor are killed by Azazel.
- December 25, 1991
- March - April, 1995 -- events of 9.07 Bad Boys
- Dean loses the food money gambling when John is on a hunt, and is arrested for stealing peanut butter and bread. John allows Dean to stay at a boys home, and ships Sam off to Bobby's while he continues on his hunt.
- April, 1998 -- events revealed in 3.15 Time Is on My Side
- Bela Talbot makes a deal with a crossroads demon to kill her abusive parents.
- 2002/3 -- as revealed in 5.20 The Devil You Know
- Early October 2005
- Sam's prescient visions of Jess' death start (1.05 Bloody Mary).
- Max Miller's telekinetic abilities surface (1.14 Nightmare).
- John Winchester cuts off contact with Dean (John is in Jericho, Dean in New Orleans) (1.01 Pilot).
- Possession of Meg Masters begins (1.22 Devil's Trap).
- November 2, 2005 -- the death of Jessica Moore
- In 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One the Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals he killed Jessica because he wanted Sam to return to his training and hunting, in order to prepare him to lead the demon army.
- May 2006 - events of 1.14 Nightmare
- Sam has visions of Max Miller's father and uncle dying.
- Max Miller reveals his mother died in a nursery fire.
- Sam uses his powers to move a sideboard that is trapping him in a closet.
- Max Miller kills himself.
- July 2006 -- events of 1.20 Dead Man's Blood, 1.21 Salvation & 1.22 Devil's Trap
- Death of Pastor Jim.
- Death of Caleb.
- Death of Meg Masters.
- While possessing John Winchester, the Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals that he has "plans for Sam and all the children like him."
- July 2006 -- events of 2.01 In My Time of Dying and 4.16 On the Head of a Pin
- John Winchester makes a deal with the Yellow-Eyed Demon offering his own life to save Dean. John reveals that he has known known the "truth" about Sam and the other children for "a while."
- Before he dies John tells Dean a secret about Sam.
- John Winchester dies and goes to Hell where over the next year he is tortured by Alastair, who recounts that he never broke.
- September 2006 -- events of 2.05 Simon Said
- Sam and Dean meet Andy Gallagher and his evil brother, who are more of the Special Children and find out that not all of them had a mother who dies in a nursery fire when they were six months old.
- Late November/Early December 2006 -- events of 2.09 Croatoan and 2.10 Hunted
- Dean reveals to Sam the secret John told him - that he has to save Sam "that nothing else mattered; and that if I couldn't save you, I'd have to kill you."
- Sam proves to be immune to a demon virus that spread and infected nearly an entire town.
- Scott Carey, one of the Special Children, is visited by the Yellow-Eyed Demon who tells him a war is coming and he will be part of the army.
- Gordon Walker kills Scott Carey and tries to kill Sam after learning of his destiny to lead a demon army.
- Sam meets Ava Wilson, another of the Special Children, after she has a vision of Sam.
- Ava disappears, and her fiancee is killed. Sam and Dean find sulfur at the scene, indicating the involvement of demons.
- December 2006 - May 2007
- Ava is taken by the Yellow-Eyed Demon to Cold Oak, South Dakota. Over the months she learns how to use her powers to summon demons. Other Special Children arrive at intervals, and Ava uses the demons she controls to kill them.
- Late January 2007 -- events of 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign
- Sam is possessed by the same demon who had possessed Meg Masters.
- May 2007 -- events of 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One and 2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
- The Yellow-Eyed Demon brings together Sam and the other Special Children to choose a leader for a demon army.
- The Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals to Sam that on the night of the nursery fire, he fed his blood to Sam, and that Mary Winchester recognized him.
- Ava kills Lily, Andy Gallagher and is about to kill Sam when she is killed by Jake Talley.
- Sam is killed by Jake Talley.
- Dean makes a deal with a Crossroads Demon to bring Sam back to life, which leaves Dean with a year to live.
- According to the Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 2 Dean's deal takes place on May 2, 2007
- Jake Talley opens the Devil's Gate unleashing an uncountable amount of demons and souls including Lilith and John Winchester.
- The Yellow-Eyed Demon tells Dean that Sam may have been changed somehow after being bought back.
- The Yellow-Eyed Demon is shot by Dean using the Colt, with help from the spirit of John Winchester.
- 2007, late May. Events of 3.01 The Magnificent Seven
- The demon Pride refers to Sam as "the Boy King"
- A demon named Ruby tails Sam, and helps him fight the Seven Deadly Sins
- 2007, early to mid-June. Events of 3.02 The Kids Are Alright
- Following a hint from Ruby, Sam learns that after his mother's death, all her friends and "her doctor, her uncle -- everyone who ever knew her" were killed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon
- 2007, early July. Events of 3.04 Sin City
- Ruby helps Bobby restore the Colt.
- The demon possessing Casey tells Dean that the Yellow-eyed Demon was actually Azazel, and that after his death, the demon hordes that escaped the Devil's Gate in Wyoming are in chaos, since Sam did not take on the role Azazel had planned for him to lead the demon army. She says that she would've followed Sam. She also reveals that demons believe in a higher power – Lucifer.
- Dean expresses his concern to Bobby that something has changed in Sam since he came back from the dead.
- 2007, late October. Events of 3.05 Bedtime Stories
- Sam shoots the Crossroads Demon with the Colt, but it doesn't break Dean's deal.
- 2008, January. Events of 3.09 Malleus Maleficarum
- 2008, early February. Events of 3.10 Dream a Little Dream of Me
- 2008, February. Events of 3.12 Jus in Bello
- For the first time demons take the offensive in trying to kill Sam and Dean
- Ruby reveals that Lilith,the new leader referred to by Tammi, is behind the attack
- Ruby offers to help, but when her plan is rejected by the boys, she leaves
- Lilith, appears and kills all the survivors of the demon attack, except for Sam and Dean
- early April, 2008. Events of 3.15 Time Is on My Side
- Bela reveals that Lilith holds her contract
- Lilith told Bela she would release her from her contract if she killed Sam
- Hellhounds come for Bela
- 2008, May 1-2. Events of 3.16 No Rest for the Wicked
- Sam summons Ruby who reveals Sam's powers are only dormant, and that he could use them to defeat Lilith
- Dean opposes this plan, and steals Ruby's Knife to use against Lilith
- As the hellhounds appear for Dean, Lilith takes over the body Ruby has been in,sending her 'far, far, away'.
- Lilith lets the hellhounds take Dean.
- Lilith tries to kill Sam, but her powers have no effect.
- Sam takes Ruby's Knife and is about to kill Lilith, when she disinhabits "Ruby's" body.
- 2008, May to September. Events recounted in 4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer and 4.10 Heaven and Hell
- Sam tries to get Dean out of Hell by trying to open the Devil's Gate and making a deal with a Crossroads Demon but to no avail.
- Ruby returns from Hell, having promised Lilith she would kill Sam.
- Ruby starts teaching Sam to use his powers to kill Lilith
- Sam starts drinking Demon Blood from Ruby because she tells him it will enhance his abilities
- In Hell, Dean is tortured by Alastair
- 2008, August. Events recounted in 4.10 Heaven and Hell and 4.16 On the Head of a Pin
- Angels assail Hell to try and save Dean
- The first of the The 66 Seals binding Lucifer is broken when Dean, a righteous man, breaks and begins torturing souls himself
- 2008, September 18. Events of 4.01 Lazarus Rising
- Castiel rescues Dean from Hell and tells him God has work for him
- September 21, 2008 4.02 Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester
- Lilith breaks one of the The 66 Seals by bringing on the Rise of the Witnesses
- 2008, October 29 to November 1st. 4.07 It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester
- The Rising of Samhain breaks another of The 66 Seals
- Castiel and Uriel are ordered to do whatever Dean tells them to do, as a test of him under battlefield conditions.
- Sam and Dean fail to stop the breaking of this seal.
- Sam uses his demonic abilities to exorcize Samhain.
- 2008, November. 4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer and 4.10 Heaven and Hell
- Anna Milton an angel who has become human, is being pursued by both angels and demons. She eventually reverts to being an angel.
- 2008, December. 4.12 Criss Angel Is a Douchebag
- Ruby informs Sam that 34 of The 66 Seals have been broken
- Sam agrees to start drinking Demon Blood again in preparation to kill Lilith
- 2008, 20-21 December. 4.15 Death Takes a Holiday
- Sam and Dean stop Alastair breaking a seal that requires the death of two reapers on the night of the solstice.
- Alastair reveals Death's Scythe, and refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- 2009, early months. 4.16 On the Head of a Pin
- Castiel and Uriel enlist Dean to interrogate Alastair and find out what is killing angels
- Alastair reveals Dean was responsible for breaking the first seal
- Anna tries to get Castiel to rebel against the angelic hierarchy
- Uriel is revealed to be a follower of Lucifer, and has been killing angels who will not join him
- Anna kills Uriel
- Sam drinks Ruby's blood
- Sam kills Alastair with his demonic abilities
- 2009, March. 4.17 It's a Terrible Life
- Zachariah wipes Sam and Dean's memories in order to show Dean that hunting is a part of who he is
- 2009, late March/Early April. 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book
- Chuck Shurley, a prophet protected by an archangel, prophesies the events surrounding Sam and Dean
- Lilith tries to make a deal with Sam because she knows she won't survive the apocalypse
- Sam tries to kill Lilith but fails
- 2009, Early May 4.20 The Rapture
- Castiel has important news for Dean but is forcefully taken back to Heaven
- Castiel's vessel, Jimmy Novak is hunted by demons and mortally wounded.
- Returning from Heaven, Castiel possesses Claire Novak but Jimmy begs for Castiel to possess him
- Castiel refuses to tell Dean the news he had for him
- 2009, Mid May 4.21 When the Levee Breaks, 4.22 Lucifer Rising and 5.01 Sympathy for the Devil
- Dean swears fealty to God and the Angels
- Castiel helps Sam escape from Bobby's Panic Room
- Ruby tells Sam there are only 2-3 seals left to break and that only "Lucifer's first" - Lilith - can break the final seal.
- Zachariah holds Dean in limbo and finally reveals that he wants Lucifer to rise and the Apocalypse to start so that the angels can battle and defeat Hell so that they can live on Earth in eternal peace despite the fact that this will devastate humanity.
- Castiel reveals to Dean that Lilith is the final seal and that her death will release Lucifer
- Castiel helps Dean escape from Heaven. They go to Chuck to find Sam's and Lilith's whereabouts.
- Castiel is killed by Raphael
- Sam kills Lilith
- Ruby tells Sam that she was manipulating him all along for this end.
- After being helped by Castiel, Dean arrives too late to stop Sam killing Lilith, but he does kill Ruby using Ruby's Knife
- Lucifer rises
- God puts Sam and Dean on a plane to save them from Lucifer, and resurrects Castiel
- Chuck gets a message to Dean and Sam about the whereabouts of "the Michael Sword"
- A demon possesses Bobby, and with Meg, tries to kill Dean.
- Bobby overpowers the demon possessing him and stabs himself in the stomach, releasing the demon and is left wounded but not dead.
- Zachariah reveals that Dean is Michael's vessel and that he needs to consent to possession so Michael can kill Lucifer
- Lucifer possesses a human named Nick
- 2009, Late May - the events of 5.02 Good God, Y'All
- 2009, Summer - the events of 5.03 Free to Be You and Me
- 2009, Summer - the events of 5.04 The End
- Zachariah transports dean to a possible future where the Croatoan Virus swept the globe and the Angels have left Earth
- In this future Sam is Lucifer's vessel, following a confrontation in Detroit.
- Future!Castiel has lost most of his angelic abilities
- Future!Dean tries to use the Colt to kill Lucifer
- Lucifer kills Future!Dean and tells Dean that he will always win
- 2009, Fall - the events of 5.06 I Believe the Children Are Our Future
- Sam and Dean find Jesse Turner who is the Antichrist also known as Cambion.
- Castiel tries to kill Jesse Turner
- When the truth of his circumstance is revealed to him Jesse Turner disappears
- 2009, Fall - the events of 5.08 Changing Channels
- 2009, Fall - the events of 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters
- 2010, January - the events of 5.10 Abandon All Hope...
- 2010 Jan/Feb - the events of 5.13 The Song Remains the Same
- Sam, Dean and Castiel follow Anna back in time to 1978 as she tries to kill John and Mary Winchester.
- 2010, February 14 - the events of 5.14 My Bloody Valentine
- Famine causes people to fulfill their hungers in often deadly ways
- Sam drinks Demon Blood again and exorcises all of the demons from Famine
- They take Famine's ring
- 2010, March - the events of 5.16 Dark Side of the Moon
- Sam and Dean are killed by hunters and go to Heaven
- An angel called Joshua tells them God is not interested in intervening to stop the Apocalypse
- 2010, Mid-Late March - the events of 5.17 99 Problems
- The Whore of Babylon rises
- Dean kills the Whore of Babylon - who can only be killed by "a true servant of Heaven"
- 2010, Mid-Late March - the events of 5.18 Point of No Return
- 2010, March/April - the events of 5.19 Hammer of the Gods
- 2010, April - the events of 5.20 The Devil You Know
- Crowley helps Sam and Dean get Pestilence's whereabouts from the demon Brady
- Crowley goes to Bobby and offers to help find Death - but requires the temporary use Bobby's soul
- 2010, April - the events of 5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight
- Sam and Dean stop Pestilence's Croatoan virus from spreading across the world.
- Castiel cuts off Pestilence's ring
- Death hands over his ring to Dean in return for Dean's promise to let his brother say yes to Lucifer and jump into his cage.
- 2010, May - the events of 5.22 Swan Song
- Sam prepares to assent to be Lucifer's Vessel
- Sam consumes enough Demon blood in preparation for containing Lucifer's overwhelming spirit
- Sam consents to Lucifer
- Lucifer kills Castiel and Bobby
- Sam regains control over his body while he is still containing Lucifer. Sam then opens Lucifer's Cage and jumps in with Michael following close behind
- God resurrects Castiel. Castiel heals Dean and brings back Bobby
- Dean and Bobby part. Dean goes to stay with Lisa and her son
- There stands Sam, staring silently into the window at Dean.