SID Timeline

[rheasilvia]

From what I can tell, Guardian approaches time the same way epic poetry does - that is, it almost always seems to be measured in numbers more notable for dramatic value than likelihood (ten thousand years! a thousand years! ten years! NOW!).

Even so, I've put together a timeline of the Special Investigation Department's history. Please be aware that it contains spoilers for the entire series.



BGS – Before Guardian Series
ABS – After Beginning of Series
? – date uncertain; estimated based on corroborating evidence


SID Timeline


10,000-9,920 BGS*
- Ma Gui becomes first Guardian of Haixing in spirit (ep 38) through peace treaty ratified by Ma Gui, Fu You and Nameless Dixingian Second-in-Command (ep 35)
* Note: Ma Gui is Zhang Shi's teacher, so 9,920 BGS (or later) is probably more accurate, given human lifespans.

9,900 BGS
- Zhang Shi born; remains on Haixing as only Dixingian after others leave (ep 38)

? 40-30 BGS*
- Hallows are lost; more and more Dixingians escape to Haixing because of resulting lack of ressources (ep 35)
- Haixing’s Supervisory Department allows Dixing’s rulers to send people to Haixing to find out what’s happening (ep 35)
- Black-Cloaked Envoy is found in Haixing by Dixingian envoy Dingdun (ep 35)**
* Note: In ep 36, Zhang Shi says the Hallows were lost 10 years ago, but this doesn’t match up with the rest of the timeline. Also, in ep 2 Shen Wei says the Hallows were scattered 10,000 years ago, which doesn't match the rest of the timeline unless "scattered" is not synonymous with "lost" here.
** Note: The Black-Cloaked Envoy is awake to send an expedition to Haixing around 30 BGS or earlier (ep 5).

? 40-30 BGS
- Black-Cloaked Envoy expresses wish to go to Haixing; Justiciar asks Haixing contacts for cover identity (ep 35)

20 BGS
- Rumors of new department being planned to deal with Dixingians reach cops Zhao Xinci and Gao Jingfeng (ep 31)
- Zhao Xinci possessed by Zhang Shi; begins to rise rapidly through the ranks (ep 31)

? 19-18 BGS
- SID established at 4 Guangming Road under authority of Department of Supervision; purpose: arrest criminal Dixingians in Haixing (ep 13)
- Zhao Xinci becomes first chief of the SID (ep 31)

10 BGS
- Homeless man (?) Li Hongchun hits Da Qing with a stick (ep 27)

? 10-9 BGS
- Da Qing joins SID under Chief Zhao Xinci (ep 27)

? 9-8 BGS
- Li Hongchun joins SID as custodian (ep 27)

? 8-5 BGS
- Zhao Xinci promoted out of SID, new position unknown (ep 16)*
- Unknown Chief becomes second chief of the SID (ep 16)*
* Note: Zhao Yunlan is termed the „third-generation Chief of the SID“ in ep 16.

3 BGS
- Zhao Yunlan becomes third chief of the SID (ep 34)

3 BGS
- Lin Jing joins SID as Professor Ouyang’s spy (ep 30)

3 BGS
- Chu Shuzhi transferred to SID by Black-Cloaked Envoy (eps 18 / 32)

? 3-2 BGS
- Wang Zheng found by Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing; joins SID

? 3-2 BGS
- Zhu Hong joins SID

? 2-0 months BGS
- Zhao Xinci promoted again to Head of the Xingdu Bureau (ep 14)*
* Note: This presumably takes place no more than a few weeks before ep 14, since at that point Zhao Yunlan has not yet been informed of a personnel change that concerns an important superior.

? 2-0 months BGS
- Dixingians „suddenly“ appear on Haixing with increased frequency (Da Qing in ep 1 / Shen Wei in ep 2)


0 (Guardian Series Begins)


0 ABS
- Guo Changcheng assigned to SID by Zhang Shi posing as Zhao Xinci (ep 16)

0 ABS
- Black-Cloaked Envoy meets Chief Zhao Yunlan and contacts Ex-Chief Zhao Xinci for information on him (eps 1 / 27)

?? ABS
- Sang Zan joins SID as librarian (ep 11)

?? ABS
- Professor Shen Wei becomes official consultant of the SID (ep 14)

?? ABS
- Zhang Shi becomes de facto chief of the SID (ep 40)

+1 / ?? ABS
- SID is considerably expanded and highly respected
- Guo Ying is Minister
- Zhao Xinci is Director of the Xingdu Bureau*
- Li Qian is Science Institute Director
* Note: Zhao Xinci has been promoted again, so Director of the Xingdu Bureau is a higher position than Head of the Xingdu Bureau.



If you have any additions or I got something wrong, please let me know! I'd be very grateful for input on how much time passes between the SID-relevant events of the series itself, for one thing.

Alternately, tell me about your SID feels! :-)

Comments

[lynndyre]

This is fantastic!

I'd somehow not connected it that the Hallows weren't just keeping Dixing and Haixing separate, they were also keeping Shen Wei buried alive. I wonder why- just to keep him in reserve for later, when the other half of their time-crossed favourites would exist? Or something else?

[extrapenguin]

Crack theory: they were concerned he might try to bust Ye Zun out of prison. After all, they're related!

(There's also that scene in ep 23 where Shen Wei says his awakening was a cruel joke at his expense, and Ye Zun implies that Shen Wei waking up was related to him. Either he did it by accident, or he really hoped that gege might bust him out.)

[rheasilvia]

Ye Zun implies that Shen Wei waking up was related to him

It could be related to Ye Zun without him having an active role to play - as in, the Hallows maintained the seal on Ye Zun, and Shen Wei was caught up in a "corner" of the seal by mistake. When the Hallows were lost, Ye Zun's seal began to weaken, and the other edges trapping Shen Wei dissolved.

Or Ye Zun thinks he inadvertently released Shen Wei by weakening the seal himself (though he was only trying to escape himself, not help Shen Wei).

/theory

[extrapenguin]

Oh, it very likely wasn't intentional, but Ye Zun would've resented gege for it nonetheless. He woke gege up and gege didn't help him! So ungrateful. Whatever happened to sibling loyalty?!

[likealeafonthewind]

Fu You said that the hallows were meant to help "all of Haixing" so I think one of those intended functions was to create peace on Haixing (i.e., end the war). So when they activated, they separated the major participants in the battle in order to stop the fighting. Zhao Yunlan was easy - he doesn't belong in that time period so he's sent back through the wormhole. Ye Zun and Shen Wei are isolated and confined separately, but it looks like it was kind of random which one got which form of stasis. I would guess that the awl is responsible for the pillar and maybe the longevity dial for Shen Wei's sleep?

[rheasilvia]

Hmmmm... that's definitely a possibility, but it seems slightly more likely to me that Shen Wei was simply caught up in Ye Zun's seal accidentally, by physical proximity.

Even if the Hallows were maintaining Shen Wei's sleep, I wouldn't actually assume intent on the Hallows' part here. It actually looked as though Shen Wei could simply have stepped back and NOT been buried, if he'd really wanted.

OR maybe Shen Wei put himself to sleep subconsciously...?

[likealeafonthewind]

Hm, that's true. Another possibility is that when he let himself fall into the crater, he was buried alive but not in a magical stasis and it was his healing power that kept resuscitating him until finally the earth shifted enough that he resurfaced? (We don't know when exactly he got this power, but it was definitely before the show and he did survive being thrown off the cliff when he was a kid by the Chieftain with just a few scratches.)

[rheasilvia]

That's definitely another possibility! Though then he must have been deeply unconscious the entire time, because otherwise he would have been in a far worse state when found.

Maybe the earth shifted because of tremors from the pillar...? Or general tremors caused by the loss of the Hallows, or the resulting changes in Dixing...

(I agree, it makes sense that he already had the healing power as a child!)

[likealeafonthewind]

Yeah, if this is what happened, he was probably never brought back enough to regain any awareness or consciousness before dying again.

Those could all make sense, I think. It could also have been completely unrelated. Maybe there was a natural earthquake and it was the because things shifted after the quake that the passageway between Dixing and Haixing opened enough for Dixingren to escape up to Haixing. And for Shen Wei's body to be brought closer to the surface.

[rheasilvia]

I hope you find it helpful! :-) Time is a complex phenomenon on this planet. ;-)

I'd somehow not connected it that the Hallows weren't just keeping Dixing and Haixing separate, they were also keeping Shen Wei buried alive.

But do we know for certain that this is the case?

I mean, it does definitely seem like a strong possibility that Shen Wei was caught in the seal that locked away Ye Zun - but then I wouldn't assume real intent on the Hallows' part (ack, semi-sentient artefacts, always a joy), but would just assume it happened because they were so close together, and Shen Wei more or less let himself fall into the pit when the seal formed.

But there are also other options. Shen Wei's own power could have granted him the subconscious wish to sleep until Kunlun returned, for example (not that I think this is very likely, it's just what first occurred to me as an example!)...

And he might have woken up simply because the massive power fluctuation caused by the change in the Hallows shocked him awake.