Other series may present a countdown timer. However, Andor, now back on Disney+ for its final and second season, provides something entirely different: a countdown calendar.
At the beginning of Season 2, Episode 1, the display reads “BBY 4.” If you’re unfamiliar with that abbreviation, you’re not the only one — and you might not recall that Season 1 kicked off with “BBY 5.” These temporal markers serve as more than mere Star Wars references; they form the foundation for the show’s narrative progression.
Prepare for additional time leaps. The forthcoming episodes, debuting next week, occur in BBY 3. The third installment will jump to BBY 2. Finally, the last three episodes — set to release on May 13 — are situated in BBY 1, directly leading into the storyline of Rogue One.
But what does “BBY” actually signify? While it’s tempting to conclude that the “Y” denotes “year,” BBY actually stands for “Before the Battle of Yavin.” This moment is pivotal in the 1977 original Star Wars film (subsequently retitled Episode IV: A New Hope) when the Rebel Alliance succeeds in destroying the Death Star. It functions as a key point of reference for establishing the timeline of events within the Star Wars expanded universe — with ABY, meaning “After the Battle of Yavin,” representing everything that occurs thereafter.
Although it’s never explicitly referred to in the films, BBY and ABY found widespread usage in Star Wars literature, comics, and fan conversations. For instance, The Empire Strikes Back occurs in ABY 3, whereas Attack of the Clones is set in BBY 22.
Nonetheless, this system has its detractors. Some fans — and even some insiders at Star Wars — have raised questions concerning why the timeline hinges on the Death Star’s destruction, instead of a more monumental occasion such as the Empire’s downfall in Return of the Jedi (ABY 4). A former Lucasfilm employee even humorously remarked in a now-deleted tweet: “‘I know! Let’s create a calendar centered around our second-biggest triumph!’ — The Rebels.”
In 2014, Lucasfilm officially overhauled the Star Wars canon, reclassifying older novels and comics as part of a non-canonical “Legends” timeline. This effectively pushed the BBY/ABY system to the sidelines — at least in an official capacity. However, it continued to thrive among fans and on Wookieepedia, the fan-curated Star Wars encyclopedia.
When director Tony Gilroy started working on Andor as a prequel to Rogue One, he required a system to illustrate the passage of time clearly. BBY turned out to be the ideal choice. After all, Cassian Andor (portrayed by Diego Luna) perishes in Rogue One, just days prior to the Battle of Yavin. So rather than fading into obscurity, BBY made its presence known on-screen — and reclaimed its status as canon.
The first three episodes of Andor Season 2 are set to premiere on April 22 on Disney+, with new episodes arriving every Tuesday.