Timeline

Dead Space 3 - The Story so Far

A definitive summary of the Dead Space timeline narrated by Ellie Langford.

The following page is a timeline providing a general order and brief description of all of the major events occurring in the Dead Space universe. For an overview of the history of human colonization, see the Earth article.

An official lore and backstory page from Motive Studio, the developers of Dead Space (2023), can be read here.

Chronology

65 million years ago

• The Black Marker, traveling through space, hits Earth and causes the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

2 million years ago

• The alien inhabitants of Tau Volantis discover a Black Marker.
• The aliens build Red Markers across the planet's surface in the hopes of harboring more energy for their uses.
• The Black Marker triggers a Convergence Event by creating a Brethren Moon.
• The aliens construct a Machine, flash freezing Tau Volantis and halting the Convergence Event.
• The Tau Volantis aliens become extinct.

2045-2050

• The first permanent off-world colony, the New Horizons Lunar Colony, is established on the Moon as a Sino-US joint mining base.
• The Bering Sea conflict occurs between the United States and the Soviet Union.

23rd century

• Under the banner of the Sovereign Colonies, a unified Earth turns to the stars to escape environmental collapse, political unrest, and resource deprivations. Bold pioneers and wealthy corporations begin to rapidly expand into space, founding colonies on new worlds. In this era, space travel is still somewhat limited and requires large investments of money and materials as well as military supervision by the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces.

2214-2215

• The Black Marker is discovered in the Chicxulub crater near the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, with the researchers determining that it appears to be a source of limitless energy. Michael Altman reveals the existence of the Black Marker to the public against the government's wishes.
• March 15, 2215: Michael Altman is assassinated, becoming a martyr for a new religion founded in his name, the Church of Unitology, which will eventually grow to become the single largest religion in human space.

2294-2311

• Eighty years after the original Black Marker disaster, Sovereign Colonies researchers successfully reverse-engineer the Black Marker. The result is a series of replicas that are dubbed Red Markers. They are believed to be a source of limitless power and a solution to the resource crisis that plagues mankind.
• The Red Markers with their research teams are covertly deployed together to isolated worlds including Aspera, Kreemar and Aegis VII to test them.
• The Red Markers are activated for the first time and trigger Necromorph outbreaks on all planets' test sites.

Dead Space 3- Tau Volantis Mission Briefing (CMS Roanoke)

Dr. Earl Serrano recounts the history of humanity's encounters with the Markers from 2214 to 2311.

2311-2314

• The previous incidents lead to the discovery of a Master Signal that is received by the Red Markers.
• Three new Markers are built and used via the Ptolemy Station Marker array to locate the "Master Signal" by tracking it to a remote and frozen planet.
• The Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces Galactic Expedition to Tau Volantis is launched. The hope is to find the source of the seemingly unlimited energy of the Markers, which can solve humanity's resource crisis as well as end its resulting Resource Wars and Secession War.
• August 29, 2311: An initial drop zone is established on Tau Volantis.
• Alien life forms are found on the surface of Tau Volantis. Doctor Earl Serrano spearheads the research dig teams' efforts to unearth the alien artifacts and the Markers. "Rosetta" is discovered, leading to breakthroughs in understanding the Markers and the aliens themselves.
• The prolonged exposure to the Markers begins to affect the dig team personnel.
• The Markers that had been transferred to the flotilla for research begin to affect the SCAF personnel. They begin exhibiting symptoms of dementia, headaches, sleeplessness and hallucinations.
• Admiral Marjorie Graves is quarantined to her quarters on the orders of General Spencer Mahad, following a deterioration of her mental state as the Markers try to use her to shut the Alien Machine off that is keeping the Moon frozen.
• The Sovereign Colonies Council evaluate the accumulated research and evidence. They conclude that Tau Volantis is a Class 5 first contact scenario (Extinction-level threat to humanity). Scenario Five is put into effect.
• June 18, 2314: General Mahad and his loyalists complete the implementation of Scenario Five at Tau Volantis. The science data and the artifacts that had been gathered during the expedition are destroyed. The science staff is executed and all vehicles and spaceships are rendered inoperable. The mine-laying ship that had been accompanying the flotilla releases the space mines to deny access to Tau Volantis. Private Tim Caufman is asked by Earl Serrano to recover the Codex from the The Mule transport that had been shot down and deliver it to him. Caufman is intercepted by Mahad and executed. After wiping the Codex and ensuring the completion of Scenario Five, Mahad commits suicide.
• All research and personnel related to the Sovereign Colonies' research into the Markers are destroyed. The extent of the purges effectively nullifies the Colonies' ability to continue fighting in the Secession War, which is considered an acceptable price for mankind's survival. The Sovereign Colonies collapse, leading to the formation of an Earth-centric government in its place called the Earth Government Colonial Alliance (EarthGov).

2446

• After planetcracking becomes a reality with the harvesting of Saturn's moon Titan, the USG Ishimura is launched as the first of the Planet Cracker-class ships. The Ishimura is also one of the first capital starships to be equipped with a ShockPoint Drive.

Welcome to Ishimura video DEADSPACE 2023

A Concordance Extraction Corporation video briefly covering the history of the USG Ishimura, the first of the Planet Cracker-class ships.

2461

• June 5: Isaac Clarke is born.

2477

• April 21: John Carver is born.

2497

• Wanat Disaster: Three supply ships, one planet-cracker and a CEC colony are lost to gravity tether failure.

2505

• The CEC illegally enters the Aegis Cluster, scanning planets for cracking. Aegis VII is found to have extremely valuable mineral deposits. CEC proceeds with constructing a colony in preparation for planet cracking.

2507

• The CEC personnel begin preparing Aegis VII for planet crack.

2508

• 5 weeks prior to Dead Space: CEC personnel rediscover Marker 3A on Aegis VII. Its existence reaches both the leadership of the CEC and the Church of Unitology. CEC prepares to dispatch the USG Ishimura to Aegis VII.
• Insomnia cases drastically increase among the Aegis VII Colony personnel.
• 4 weeks prior: The Aegis VII Colony experiences increasing cases of insomnia and dementia. Colony Management refuses to take increasing violence seriously, even as the first insomnia-related homicide occurs.
• 1-2 weeks prior: Marker 3A is extracted from its pedestal and brought inside the Aegis VII Colony. Fifty Unitologists kill themselves in the Union Square Mass Suicide.
• Several colony personnel and extraction team members are slain by an engineer experiencing extreme hallucinations.
• Less than 1 week prior: The USG Ishimura arrives above Aegis VII. Marker 3A is immediately taken aboard the Ishimura.
• Captain Benjamin Mathius issues a no-fly order, denying travel between the Ishimura and Aegis VII. The CEC personnel aboard the Ishimura begin experiencing insomnia, depression and dementia.
• 2 days prior: The USG Ishimura commences the Aegis VII planet crack. Significant interference jams communications between the Ishimura and the Aegis VII Colony. The colony comes under attack from Necromorphs originating from dead colonists.
• The Aegis VII Colony Shuttleport Disaster destroys five of the six emergency shuttles on the ground and kills numerous colonists. The sixth emergency shuttle is later destroyed by the Ishimura when it attempts to land.
• Almost all of the CEC personnel on Aegis VII are killed.
• The USG Ishimura is compromised as the Necromorphs multiply and spread quickly throughout the ship.
• The Ishimura Captain dies in a botched arrest attempt. All but one of the escape pods are mysteriously launched with no one on board.
• All of the decks of the USG Ishimura are compromised. Some sections remain isolated. The majority of the ship's personnel are dead.

Dead Space (2008/2023) begins

• The USG Kellion arrives at Aegis VII in search of the USG Ishimura.

3 weeks after Dead Space

• The events of Dead Space: Aftermath occur.
• Isaac Clarke is found aboard the Executive Shuttle USG-09.

1 month after Dead Space

• The events of Dead Space: Salvage occur. The Magpies discover the derelict Ishimura. EarthGov recovers the Ishimura.

2511

Prior to Dead Space 2

• February 7: Unitologists sabotage the Government Sector on Titan Station, enabling the Necromorphs to spread to the Titan Mines and beginning the events of Dead Space (mobile). They trick a fellow member named Karrie Norton into opening the crossover tubes, allowing the Necromorphs to flood into Titan Station's Public Sector.

Dead Space 2 begins

• The Site 12 Marker is destroyed.
• Titan Station is destroyed. Isaac Clarke and Ellie Langford escape and eventually settle down on the New Horizons Lunar Colony.

2514

• Damara Carver rediscovers information regarding the Sovereign Colonies' experimentation with the Markers. The Circle attacks Uxor's Marker.
• Damara and her son are killed by Jacob Danik in search of the information on the Marker origins.
• Uxor is decimated by the Necromorph outbreak. However, Ellie Langford, aided by Robert Norton, manages to recover Damara Carver's research and reactivate the Ptolemy Station to triangulate the location of the origin of the Marker signal. Ptolemy Station is scuttled by USM Eudora. After reaching Keyhole Station, under siege from Necromorphs and The Circle, Ellie acquires a shockpoint beacon and assembles a team to try and find the origin of the Markers.
• Ellie Langford attempts a blind jump through ShockSpace to Tau Volantis. The USM Eudora loses contact with her ship.
• EarthGov Marker facilities are systematically attacked by the followers of Unitology.
• Captain Robert Norton and John Carver locate Isaac Clarke on Luna.

Dead Space 3 begins

• The USM Eudora reaches Tau Volantis and is destroyed by the SCAF space mines still active after two centuries. Survivors, including Clarke and Carver, regroup at the CMS Roanoke and eventually acquire the CMS Crozier. Believing that the planet is the Marker homeworld, they attempt to reach the surface, rather than evacuate, and are scattered on landing. Followed by Jacob Danik, who was contacted by Norton in a desperate attempt to secure passage off-world, the team is reduced to Ellie, Isaac and Carver by the time they reach the SCAF science complex. After reconstructing the Codex and apparently losing Ellie, Isaac and Carver pursue Danik into the buried alien city, to stop him from deactivating the Alien Machine and restarting the Tau Volantis Convergence. After a confrontation at the top of the Machine, the Brother Moon successfully awakens and is defeated in a desperate battle in space by Isaac and Carver.

Dead Space 3: Awakened begins

• Isaac Clarke and John Carver, seemingly doomed to die after defeating the Moon in orbit and sent falling down towards the planet, wake up on its surface after mysteriously surviving. Rallying together, they pursue the evacuating Unitologists under The Cult Leader to the CMS Terra Nova. Manipulated against one another by the awakened Brethren Moons, they lose valuable time fighting each other and miss the chance to warn Earth. They successfully jury rig the mass driver to use a modern ShockPoint drive and return to Earth, only to find it under attack by the Brethren Moons.

Gallery

All Dead Space media briefly sorted with all of the key characters for every story. See full size image for details.

A list of Markers seen throughout the series' timeline.