Alternate timelines

Isaac's calculations to use a quantum accelerator to send a person back in time. (The Road Not Taken timeline.)

This article presents alternate timelines of events on The Orville which are distinct from the main timeline. There are currently two alternate timelines:

1. The Pria timeline (also known as the original timeline). A timeline discussed by the time-travelling antiquities thief Pria Lavesque, who said that the USS Orville was destroyed in a dark matter storm in 2419. This version of events was permanently altered when Pria rescued the Orville in a failed attempt to sell the ship in the 29th century.
2. The Road Not Taken timeline. An alternate timeline created when Kelly Grayson turns down Ed Mercer for a second date in 2414.

Pria timeline

Strictly speaking, the timeline explored in the episode Pria is not an alternate chain of events, but the original timeline. In the original timeline, the USS Orville was destroyed by an undetectable dark matter storm. That version of events was forever altered when the time travelling antiquities thief Pria Lavesque unsuccessfully attempted to bring the Orville to the 29th century. Instead, the Orville survived the storm and the original timeline was erased.

Late 2419

• The Orville is caught in a dark matter storm and lost.
  • Deaths of Ed Mercer, Kelly Grayson, Bortus, Alara Kitan, Claire Finn, Steve Newton, Gordon Malloy, John LaMarr, Isaac, Yaphit, Klyden, Topa, Marcus and Ty Finn, and roughly 300 others.
    • Untitled character deaths: Alien Bartender (Mess Hall bartender), Crewman #1 (Shuttle Bay officer)

29th century

• Pria Lavesque lives in this century.
  • This implies that despite the Kaylon's hostility toward biological life, in this timeline, either the Kaylon did not declare war against organic lifeforms or at least some humans survived until the 29th century.
• Benzians purchase antiquities from the Milky Way galaxy.

The Road Not Taken timeline

This timeline is created when young Kelly Grayson decides not to go on a second date with Ed Mercer in Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. This timeline is explored in The Road Not Taken and in the comic book issues Digressions, Pt. 1 and Digressions, Pt. 2.

2414

• Kelly decides not to go out with Ed for a second date.
• Gordon Malloy takes Ed to Olix's bar to commiserate. Ed and Olix become friends.

2414-2419

• Cassius is assigned to the USS Orville as its schoolteacher.
  • He meets Kelly at a terminal and transfers to the USS Jefferson.
  • Cassius and Kelly marry.
• Barrett becomes Captain of the USS Watson.
• Ed becomes Second Officer of the Watson.
• Al Mosley becomes Captain of the USS Jefferson.

• Kelly becomes First Officer of the Jefferson.
• Olix joins the Watson as its bartender.

2419

September

September 10:

• Griffith becomes Captain of the Orville.
• Steve Newton is promoted to First Officer of the Orville.
• John LaMarr is promoted to Chief Engineer of the Orville.
• Isaac joins as Science and Engineering Officer of the Orville and Emissary of the Kaylon.
• An unknown helmsman and an unknown Chief Medical Officer join the Orville.

September 11:

• The Orville under Captain Griffith fights in the Battle of Epsilon 2. The Orville successfully prevents the Krill from stealing the quantum accelerator from Epsilon 2.

Later in September:

• Admiral Ozawa visits the Orville via the Jefferson.
  • As Ozawa leaves for the Orville, Kelly sees Isaac on the Bridge of the Orville and realizes the Kaylon conflict will repeat itself.
• Ed applies for a transfer to the Jefferson, but Barrett rejects the bid.

October

• First Officer Felson of the Watson leaves to become captain of another ship.
• Ed becomes First Officer of the Watson.
• Klyden and Bortus have a daughter whose sex is then surgically altered to male. The child is given the name Topa.

• The Orville does not encounter a fatal dark matter storm, which would have destroyed the ship and its crew.

2420

Summer

• "A few months" before September 2420, Kelly tells Cassius the truth of their distorted timeline. Cassius advises her not to tell Planetary Union Central.

September

• Chief of Security Alara Kitan's body begins to weaken. She leaves the Orville and returns to her home on Xelaya.
• Talla Keyali replaces Alara as the Orville's Chief Security Officer.

September 2420 - January 2421

• Helmsman Jacobs departs the Watson.
  • Ed recommends Gordon to fill Jacobs' spot, but Barrett rejects the suggestion.
  • Sometime after, Ed becomes commanding officer of the Epsilon Science Station.

2421

January

• Isaac spontaneously deactivates, prompting the Orville to return to Kaylon 1.
  • The Kaylon disassemble Isaac.
• Doctor Claire Finn and her children go on vacation to Arboreus 1.
  • Their vacation is cut short by an outbreak of Betelgeusean flu at Outpost 73, where Claire is stationed.
  • Claire and his sons board the Jefferson, which is on its way to Outpost 73.
• Kelly realizes that because Isaac never met Claire, he will not betray the Kaylon. Out of desperation, she sends warning messages to Admiral Tom Halsey, Chief Security Officer Talla Keyali, and John.
  • Talla and John report Kelly to Griffith.
  • Griffith reports the matter to Kelly's captain, Al, but also instructs his officers to boobytrap the Orville in the event of a betrayal.
• Gordon becomes Chief of Staff of the Epsilon Eridani Station.
• Kelly resigns her commission on the Jefferson.
  • Cassius leaves the Jefferson to join Kelly.
  • A few days later, Kelly and Cassius convince Claire and her sons to join them in an attempt to correct the timeline.

February

• The Kaylon, not including Isaac, seize the Orville.
• Kelly and her team secure a Scavenger ship at Outpost 73.
• The Kaylon attack and destroy Earth and its moon during the Battle of Earth.
  • With the aid of their boobytraps set in January, the crew retake the Orville when they are very near the Solar system.
  • Captain Griffith and First Officer Newton die, Bortus becomes acting captain.
  • The Orville, while not destroyed, evacuates its crew, then crashes into the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Many crew members evacuate to safety, including Talla, John, Klyden, Topa, and probably Yaphit.
    • Klyden and Topa flee to Moclus.
  • Bortus remains on the ship under the ocean where he will survive on minimal ship power for many months.

March-September

• The Kaylon attack Outpost 73.
  • Cassius dies.
  • The Scavenger ship - with Kelly, Claire, Ty, and Marcus in it - flees for Calivon space.
    • John and Talla are picked up by the Scavenger ship.
      • "A few days later," Bortus holds a burial at sea for the dead officers, including Captain Griffith and First Officer Steve Newton.

• The Kaylon destroy or kill "half the known galaxy" in their ensuing genocide of all biological life.
  • The Kaylon destroy Moclus.
    • Klyden and Topa die.
  • The Kaylon decide not to attack the extremely advanced Calivon species, "probably because it's close to an even match."
  • The Kaylon attack and destroy the Epsilon Eridani Station.
    • Ed and Gordon flee in a shuttle. Attacking Kaylon destroy the shuttle's Food Synthesizer.

• Remnants of the Union form a Resistance, though the Kaylon destroy most of it.
  • After the Kaylon destroy most of the Resistance, Alara Kitan takes a group of survivors to a secret base.
• Ed and Gordon begin surviving by scavenging supplies by shuttle.
• Kelly seeks out John, Claire, Talla Keyali, and Ty and Marcus Finn. The team steal a freighter and repurpose it as a scavenger ship.
  • Later, they recruit Ed and Gordon to restore the original timeline.

September-December

• Yaphit loses a piece of body containing his memory during a fight with Kaylon.
• One week later, some time between six and nine months after the Battle of Earth, Kelly and her team find Ed and Gordon.
• Kaylon find and destroy Alara's Resistance base.
  • Deaths or imprisonment of Alara, Yaphit, and many Resistance fighters.

November-December

• Kelly and her team recover the USS Orville from the bottom of the Mariana Trench and rescue Bortus.
• John LaMarr reactivates Isaac in a disembodied Kaylon head.
• Claire Finn is sent back in time and restores the original timeline. Meanwhile, a Kaylon attack destroys the Orville, killing all hands, when its quantum drive overloads.