Dead Space 3 - The Story so Far
A definitive summary of the Dead Space timeline narrated by Ellie Langford.
The following page serves as both a general order of events and a disambiguation page for all of the events relating to the Dead Space franchise. As with all transmedia, conflicts and discrepancies in the canon may arise as a result of developer oversight or a shift in direction.
A new, official lore and backstory page from 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.[1]
- 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.[2]
2045-2050[]
- The New Horizons Lunar Colony, originally known as the "New Lunar Base", is established on the Moon as a Sino-US joint mining base.[3]
- The Bering Sea conflict occurs between the United States and the USSR.[3]
23rd century[]
- A seemingly 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.[4]
- The Sovereign Colonies administration is created,[5] serving as the government of Earth and its fledging colonies in a time when space travel is limited and requires large investments of money and materials as well as military supervision.[6]
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.
2214-2215[]
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Dead Space: Martyr takes place. (semi/dubious canon - see article) |
2294-2311[]
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Dead Space: Catalyst takes place. |
2311-2314[]
- The previous incidents lead to the discovery of a Master Signal that is received by the Red Markers.[11][12]
- 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.[11][12]
- The Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces Galactic Expedition to Tau Volantis is launched.[13] 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.[5][14]
- August 29, 2311: An initial drop zone is established on Tau Volantis.[15]
- 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.[16]
- The prolonged exposure to the Markers begins to affect the dig team personnel.[17]
- 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.[18][19][20]
- 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.[21]
- 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.[22][23][24][25]
- 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.[26]
- 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).[5][23]
2446[]
- After planetcracking becomes a reality with the harvesting of Saturn's moon Titan,[27][28] the USG Ishimura is launched as the first of the Planet Cracker-class ships.[29] The Ishimura is also one of the first capital starships to be equipped with a ShockPoint Drive.[4]
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.[30]
2477[]
- April 21: John Carver is born.[30]
2497[]
- Wanat Disaster: Three supply ships, one planet-cracker and a CEC colony are lost to gravity tether failure.[31]
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[]
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Dead Space (comics) and Dead Space: Downfall begin. |
- 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.[34]
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Dead Space: Extraction begins. |
- Less than 1 week prior: The USG Ishimura arrives above Aegis VII. Marker 3A is immediately taken aboard the Ishimura.[32][34]
- Captain Benjamin Mathius issues a no-fly order, denying travel between the Ishimura and Aegis VII.[34][36] The CEC personnel aboard the Ishimura begin experiencing insomnia, depression and dementia.[37]
- 2 days prior: The USG Ishimura commences the Aegis VII planet crack.[32][34] Significant interference jams communications between the Ishimura and the Aegis VII Colony.[32][34][38] The colony comes under attack from Necromorphs originating from dead colonists.[34][38][39]
- 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.[34][38]
- Almost all of the CEC personnel on Aegis VII are killed.[32][34][38][39]
- The USG Ishimura is compromised as the Necromorphs multiply and spread quickly throughout the ship.[32][40][41]
- The Ishimura Captain dies in a botched arrest attempt.[41][42] All but one of the escape pods are mysteriously launched with no one on board.[32]
- All of the decks of the USG Ishimura are compromised. Some sections remain isolated. The majority of the ship's personnel are dead.
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Dead Space (comics), Dead Space: Downfall and Dead Space: Extraction end. Dead Space (2008)/Dead Space (2023) begins. |
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3 weeks[44] after Dead Space
1 month after Dead Space
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. Sources[]
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