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Comments
Thanks for the sources. I really want to add these dates but I can't rationalize* it just yet.
*Obviously the timeline will never make complete sense but it's worth giving it our best shot.
Side note: looking at the timeline it appears that the majority of Skyfall takes place over a period of roughly 12 days (from the day of the MI6 explosion to M's death). I'd like to do a similar timeline estimate for CR/QoS too. Also how many actual days are shown on screen versus how many days are fast forwarded in-between scenes and films.
I've also added a small stats section about the timeline. I think it's interesting to compare the apparent length* each film spans now that we have this data. The dates aren't 100% objective but I researched everything from flight durations and time zones to temperature records and fracture recovery periods. A lot of the working out was basic common sense too.
Will hopefully watch SPECTRE later this week and be able to add its timeline.
*From start to finish: CR = 80 days, QoS = 17 days, Skyfall = 148 days
No dates are explicitly shown/stated in SPECTRE but it does open with the Day of the Dead parade and we have the 11 November Tangier boarding pass info from @QBranch, which both work perfectly together. Although I can't yet choose the parade's date (sometime between 27 Oct-1 Nov) until we know the year that SPECTRE takes place and this depends on NTTD.
I must say that working out the timeline for SPECTRE has been the hardest yet, but it has also been the most rewarding. The screenwriters must've thought it through because they lay out a logic puzzle that only works with one solution. For instance, whether you've noticed it or not the characters in this film frequently say 'X is happening in Z days'. E.g. meet Q tomorrow, Sciarra's funeral is in 3 days, the Tokyo security conference is in 3 days, White died 2 days ago or Nine Eyes goes live in less than 72 hours. This exposition wasn't common in the previous three films. Thankfully this made it easy to tell the time between events and when everything had to happen within those as well. Knowing that the film starts around late October/early November and they need to be on the train by the 11th narrowed the timeline further, which is a good thing because it provides less room for interpretation. So this had made SPECTRE's timeline as complete as that of QoS which is surprising with so much going on. As mentioned before, I will leave out the DOTD and final day's dates until watching No Time To Die because that is the final piece of the puzzle.
Breakdown
Life-changing events:
- Guardianship (mentioned from 21/1/83 - winter of 83/84)
- Meeting Madeleine
- Deciding to quit active service for Madeleine
Important firsts for Bond:
- First time meeting Dr. Madeleine Swann
Stats:
- NOT YET DETERMINED
27 Oct to 02 Nov/daytime/Mexico City, Mexico: Day of the Dead parade. Bond tracks down Marco Sciarra, takes his SPECTRE ring and kills him. In the process he accidentally sets off an explosive which destroys a building. (Stadium attack was planned for 6pm that day.)
3 Nov/09:00-09:05/London, UK: M berates Bond's behavior in Mexico, grounding him indefinitely. He is told to report to Q for medical tomorrow. Bond then talks to C.
3 Nov/daytime/London, UK: MP confronts Bond with his belongings but is told to meet him that night at 9pm.
3 Nov/21:00/London, UK: MP arrives at Bond's apartment and hands his belongings. Bond then plays a recording of M, asking him to find and kill Sciarra, then attend the funeral (in 3 days). The recording was left in his mailbox just after she died. Order of Guardianship at 12y, temporary guardianship began 21/1/83 ~12y.
4 Nov/daytime/London, UK: Bond and Tanner head to Q's workshop. MI6 rigged for demolition in 'a week', new CNS building. (C wrote a dossier 'last year' on how the 00 program was obsolete. Tokyo security conference in 3 days. While Bond was away SPECTRE caused a train bombing in Hamburg and industrial explosion in Tunisia.)
4 Nov/daytime/London, UK: Q injects Bond with the smart blood.
4 Nov/15:46/London, UK: Q reveals the DB10/Omega watch to Bond. The smart blood program will have a drop in coverage for first 48h. (Bond's DB5 'taking a bit of time' to rebuild. Q already has his two cats.)
5 Nov/morning/London, UK: MP receives a phone as a gift from Bond. Her birthday was last week.
5 Nov/morning/London, UK: Q discovers that the DB10, originally for 009 (male), has gone missing.
6 Nov/daytime/Rome, Italy: Bond drives around Rome with his DB10.
6 Nov/daytime/Rome, Italy: Bond attends Sciarra's funeral with Lucia Sciarra and Blofeld also present.
6 Nov/dusk/Italy: Lucia pours herself a drink waiting to be executed but Bond saves her life.
6 Nov/night/Italy: Lucia tells Bond SPECTRE is meeting later at midnight. They then make love.
6 Nov/night/Italy: Bond says he's called Felix who'll get her out of there to safety.
7 Nov/past midnight/Italy: Bond arrives at SPECTRE meeting using Sciarra's ring.
7 Nov/past midnight/Italy: During the SPECTRE meeting Hinx challenges Guerra and kills him, succeeding Sciarra to kill Mr. White. Bond flees the meeting while being chased by Hinx across Rome and the Vatican. Bond calls MP who tells him The Pale King is Mr. White who's last confirmed sighting was 4 months ago in Altaussee, Austria. He escapes but the DB10 ends up in the Tiber. (Hannes Oberhauser (42y ski/mountaineering instructor to tourists for 20y and Bond's guardian) reportedly died in an avalanche while skiing with his son Franz (16) - also presumed dead - in Kitzbühel, Austria.)
7 Nov/night/Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo security council meeting. The vote is 8-1 for the Nine Eyes program. Q misleads M saying that Bond is in Chelsea when he's in Altaussee.
7 Nov/15:08/Altaussee, Austria: Bond reaches Mr. White's cabin. Mr. White reveals he has a daughter and her whereabouts (Hoffler Klinik) so that Bond can protect her in return for Blofeld's location. Knowing that he'll die from radiation poisoning having found Thallium in his phone last month, he kills himself using Bond's gun.
9 Nov/daytime/London, UK: M and C discuss modern espionage and the latter reveals that they watch everyone.
9 Nov/09:26/Altaussee, Austria: Mr. White's body is found by Hinx.
9 Nov/daytime/Sölden, Austria: Bond arrives by plane at the Hoffler Klinik.
9 Nov/daytime/Sölden, Austria: Bond and Dr. Madeleine Swann meet for the first time. Madeleine is there to give Bond an evaluation test to determine his physical and psychological needs. Swann ends the evaluation after Bond presses her for information. He must leave in the next 10 minutes or face security. (Bond's parents died in a climbing accident when he was young, tells her that Mr. White died 2 days ago. Madeleine trained at Oxford and the Sorbonne, became a consultant and then spent 2 years at the Médecins sans frontières.)
9 Nov/daytime/Sölden, Austria: Q meets Bond at the clinic's bar. Q states Oberhauser died 20 years ago. They'll meet at Q's Pevsner room in 1h (~15:42) to discuss ring findings. Madeleine is kidnapped by Hinx.
9 Nov/daytime/Sölden, Austria: Bond chases Hinx via plane, ultimately rescuing Madeleine who reluctantly must stay beside him. At the same time, Q evades capture by SPECTRE's men.
9 Nov/16:42/Pevsner hotel, Austria: Q shows Bond and Madeleine proof that all of their enemies have been part of the same organisation: SPECTRE. On TV it's shown that Cape Town suffered a bombing.
10 Nov/daytime/Tangier, Morocco: Bond and Madeleine check in at the White's L'Americain hotel room.
10 Nov/daytime/Tangier, Morocco: Bond is told that this room was where her parents spent their wedding night and would return every year and with her. They kept coming back even after their divorce.
10 Nov/daytime/Tangier, Morocco: Bond searches the room for Mr. White's belongings in vain.
10 Nov/night/Tangier, Morocco: Bond finds Mr. White's hidden room, finding coordinates to Blofeld's base.
11 Nov/daytime/UK: M and MP confront C about the now-approved Nine Eyes program going live in less than 72h. The Home Secretary has decided to close down the 00 program with immediate effect.
11 Nov/daytime/Morocco: On the train Madeleine demonstrates her confidence using guns, despite admitting to hating them ever since Safin's visit.
11 Nov/night/UK: MP and Q interrupt M's dinner to show where Bond is heading. M states that Bond's on his own as it's for his best.
11 Nov/night/Morocco: Bond and Madeleine have drinks together, discussing the possibility of him quitting his profession. Hinx attacks them but Bond is able to beat him with the help of Madeleine who saves his life.
11 Nov/night/Morocco: Bond and Madeleine make love in their cabin.
12 Nov/daytime/Morocco: Bond/Madeleine get off the train and wait in the empty desert until they are picked up by Blofeld's driver.
12 Nov/daytime/Morocco: They arrive at the base. Told to meet Blofeld at 16:00.
12 Nov/daytime/Morocco: They are held captive in their rooms while waiting.
12 Nov/16:00/Morocco: Bond/Madeleine meet Blofeld. He says he met her the first time at her house when she was just a girl to meet her father yet she doesn't remember.
12 Nov/16:20*/Morocco: Blofeld shows off his facility, including a *live feed of M saying goodbye to his staff as well as a recording of Mr. White's suicide. Bond is knocked unconscious.
12 Nov/daytime/Morocco: Bond awakens in a torture device. Blofeld explains that Hannes Oberhauser taught Bond how to ski, climb and hunt over the course of two winters. Had to treat him as *little* brother. 'Franz died 20y ago'. Bond is tortured but escapes with Madeleine's help. Bond fights his way out of the base and they steal a helicopter.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: M/Tanner/Q meet Bond and Madeleine at the safehouse. They have until midnight to stop the Nine Eyes program.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Madeleine says goodbye to Bond and leaves them.
13 Nov/23:27/London, UK: Q begins hacking into the CNS system as Bond/M's car is T-boned. Bond is brought to MI6 by SPECTRE's men, while M evades capture.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Bond kills guards blindfolded outside MI6 and enters.
13 Nov/23:51/London, UK: C arrives at the CNS building and is held at gunpoint by M while Q orders a shutdown.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Bond wanders around MI6 which is still rigged for demolition.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: C attempts to shoot M but he removed the bullets.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Bond continues to wander around MI6.
13 Nov/23:54/London, UK: Q still tries to stop Nine Eyes from going live.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Bond spots photos of deceased allies/fiends on the walls of MI6. He fails to shoot Blofeld who is behind bulletproof glass. He challenges Bond to find Madeleine before the explosive charges detonate in 3 minutes.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Q successfully stops the Nine Eyes program from going live. M and C wrestle before the latter plummets to his death.
13 Nov/night/London, UK: Bond still searching for Madeleine with 1m53s left.
14 Nov/past midnight/London, UK: Bond rescues her with 45s to go. As MI6 implodes they escape via boat and chase down Blofeld who's helicopter eventually (@00:03) crash lands. Bond spares Blofeld's life and walks away with Madeleine. M places Blofeld under arrest.
Date?/morning/London, UK: Bond approaches Q to get his DB5 despite having 'gone' from active service.
Date?/morning/London, UK: Bond and Madeleine drive off in the DB5.