The Epic Saga of Tales of Arcadia: A Timeline of Trollhunters' Beginning, Middle, and End

Unraveling the Tales of Arcadia

The Tales of Arcadia watch order isn't as simple as watching Netflix and Dreamworks animated series by release year — although the complicated timeline is part of the reason the show captured the hearts of young viewers. Created by Guillermo del Toro, Tales of Arcadia functions somewhat as an anthology series, with different characters in the same setting exploring their magical world. With the stories and characters of Trollhunters, 3Below, and Wizards interacting together, it is difficult to know which subseries to watch first. Tales of Arcadia features a world of magic and wonder hidden just outside humanity’s view, centered on the unassuming town of Arcadia.

The cast of Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia

Many aspects of the Tales of Arcadia series draw audiences; the action and humor are abundant, and the animation is excellent, particularly in the intense battle scenes. Most of all, Tales of Arcadia has a uniquely complex story for a youth-geared audience. This takes full effect in Wizards and the climactic Rise of the Titans, the series’ film finale, as characters across all stories are fighting together in a unified story relating to each of their arcs. With that in mind, a guide is needed to be sure of the Tales of Arcadia’s timeline, the Trollhunters timeline, and the best order to watch the shows.

Trollhunters season 2 banner

Deciphering the Trollhunters Timeline

It is exciting to see favorite characters returning in stories outside their own, and each story benefits from overlapping one another, allowing Guillermo del Toro’s Arcadia vision boundless potential. However, while this does create thrillingly high stakes for the final two installments, it may seem confusing to new viewers where to begin watching, making it a little more difficult to understand the Tales of Arcadia order. Here's the best order to watch Trollhunters:

Netflix's Trollhunters

Trollhunters: Part 1 (2016) Trollhunters: Part 2 (2017) Trollhunters: Part 3 (2018) 3Below: Part 1 (2018) 3Below: Part 2 (2019) Wizards (2020) Rise of the Titans (2021)

Merlin from Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia

Unveiling the Chronicles Within the Trollhunters' Timeline

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia centers around the story of James “Jim” Lake Jr., a 15-year-old high school student who stumbles upon a magical amulet. This inadvertently causes him to be chosen as the next Trollhunter, a hero who defends the worlds of trolls and humans from evil forces, making him the protagonist in the Trollhunters' timeline. Though he is initially reluctant to accept his new responsibilities, Jim grows to understand and fulfill his heroic destiny as the Trollhunter.

Characters from Trollhunters

Trollhunters: Part 1 takes place from the fall of 2016 through the winter of 2017, in which Jim amasses his team from allied trolls and his friends, Toby Domzalski and Claire Nuñez, and attempts to recover Claire’s baby brother from evil trolls. In Trollhunters: Part 2’s spring of 2017, Jim gets rescued from the Darklands and is subsequently put on trial for violations against the troll law, secretly a plot orchestrated by the evil sorceress Morgana. Trollhunters: Part 3 concludes in 2017’s midsummer, freeing Claire from Morgana’s possession, culminating in the final battle between Jim, Morgana, and series antagonist Gunmar.

Unveiling the Chronicles Within the Trollhunters' Timeline

The Interwoven Saga of 3Below and the Trollhunters Timeline

3Below: Part 1 follows a new cast of characters and takes place during the events of Trollhunters: Part 3. In this part of the Tales of Arcadia order, royal alien siblings, Aja and Krel Terron, crash-land in Arcadia while escaping a coup on their home planet. While they avoid numerous attempts by bounty hunters to locate them, the siblings attempt to build a ship to travel their way home, ultimately finding themselves trapped on Earth.

3Below Tales of Arcadia three characters looking happy

3Below: Part 2 takes place over the remainder of summer 2017, during which Aja and Krel get introduced to the troll world, getting assistance from Trollhunters’ Toby Domzalski. The series’ primary antagonist, Morando, gains long-sought power and attempts to destroy the siblings for good. In the end, it is only by a surprise sacrifice that the galaxy and the Terron siblings are saved.

Wizards Tales of Arcadia two characters using magic

Unraveling the Intricacies of Wizards and the Trollhunters Timeline

The Wizards installment of Tales of Arcadia is where the Tales of Arcadia order gets complicated. Although the first episode, “Spellbound,” mainly occurs immediately after the events of 3Below: Part 2 the bulk of the series is in 12th-century Camelot, far before Trollhunters. Apprentice wizard Hisirdoux “Douxie” Casperan is the central figure in this series, though characters from Trollhunters and 3Below play significant roles here.

Characters assembled for Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans poster

In Wizards, the Arcane Order, a group of evil demigods, attempts to destroy the world to rebuild it. As the master wizard Merlin defends the Earth, Douxie and the trollhunters get sent to ancient Camelot. There, they struggle to secure the timeline while participating in King Arthur’s anti-magic war, before returning to the present to again combat the Arcane Order. While Douxie and allies appear able to defeat the Arcane Order, the Order’s leader survives, foreshadowing an act of coming revenge.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans on Netflix

The Climactic Conclusion in Rise of the Titans

Rise of the Titans: Tales of Arcadia and its ending occur towards the end of 2018, during fall, about a year after Wizards in the Tales of Arcadia order. In this movie, the Arcane Order attempts to kidnap Nari, a demigod of the order who became good in Wizards. While the Order forces her to complete their ritual summoning enormous, world-ending Titans, Jim, Douxie, and Claire lead various missions to unlock Jim’s amulet, slow down the Order, and recover a time-traveling device called the Krohnisphere.

Gun Robot in Trollhunters Rise of the Titans

Nari, freed, manages to destroy one of the Order’s Titans, but sacrifices herself in the process. Jim figures out the secret to unlocking his amulet and combats the final Titan. Toby delivers an alien device that disrupts magic, neutralizing the final Order member and their Titan, allowing for Jim to end the battle, although Toby is crushed in the resulting debris. Using the Krohnisphere, the Trollhunters ending sees Jim return to the first episode, where he allows an alternate version of Toby to become the hero Trollhunter, effectively resurrecting his friend and ending the series.

Trollhunters Rise of the Titans Jim

The Impact of Rise of the Titans

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans was the perfect ending point for the Tales of Arcadia order and Del Toro's time with Tales of Arcadia. It finally brought the cast of all three shows together for an epic adventure and, by the end, had wrapped up pretty much all loose ends. Fans even got to see Steve and Aja have kids, since the 7th kiss with an Akiridions inseminates the male in the relationship, even if they're human. Steve and Aja's seven babies aside, though, Rise of the Titans finished with Jim resetting the timeline.

Guardians of Arcadia in Trollhunters Rise of the Titans

Not only was this necessary to save Toby, but it also meant the movie ended with Jim as the only person who remembers anything about Trollhunters, Arcadia, aliens, and magic. It's insinuated that because of Toby's sacrifice, Jim is setting up events in the renewed timeline so that it's Toby, and not himself, who finds the Trollhunter amulet by the canal from episode 1. By sacrificing himself, Toby more than proved he's the defender both Earth and Arcadia need, and Jim seems to be making sure Toby's allowed to become the hero he should always have been.

Morgana le Fey on Trollhunters Tales of Arcadia