The Fringe Timeline

THE FRINGE TIMELINE

The Fringe Timeline is a contribution from FringeBlogger LizW65. The timeline illustrates the key dates across all universes and timelines throughout seasons 1-5 of Fringe (spoiler alert).

Editors note: Out of courtesy, please do not copy/paste any part of this timeline to other sites without express permission. If you find it useful, please feel free to share the link and refer back to this page as often as you desire.

FRINGE TIMELINE

Cretaceous Period (299-250 MYA)
The “First People” aka Walter and Peter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, and Ella Dunham, transport the Vacuum Machine through a wormhole in time to pre-history and bury its components (ref. 6955 KHZ, The Day We Died)

1770
Boston Massacre; documented Observer sighting (ref. August)

1793
Marie Antoinette executed; documented Observer sighting (ref. August)

1897
Seamus Wiles (an anagram for Samuel Weiss and one of his ancestors) writes The First People.  Several other volumes of the same work in different languages are published at the same time (ref. 6955 KHZ, Reciprocity.)

Guglielmo Marconi begins to transmit and receive radio frequency signals; the first of these include the mysterious “numbers stations” (ref. 6955 KHZ)

1912
Robert Bishop, née Bishoff, born, Germany  (ref. The Arrival, The Bishop Revival)

1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated, Sarajevo, triggering World War I; documented Observer sighting (ref. August)

1940
Over There, Cary Grant stars in The Maltese Falcon (ref. Amber 31422)

Over Here, numbers stations documented by ham radio enthusiasts (date approximate, ref. 6955 KHZ)

1943
Nazis conduct experiments to halt human aging process; SS officer Alfred Hoffman was likely test subject (ref. The Bishop Revival)

Over There, Ronald Reagan stars in Casablanca (ref. Entrada.  Note:  it would seem Humphrey Bogart had no film career to speak of in the AU!)

1946
Robert Bishop dies (ref. The Arrival, The Bishop Revival.  Note:  this date has been called into question, as it suggests Robert Bishop died two years before the birth of his son Walter; it may be a cover for some classified activity)

1948
Walter Bishop born

1960
Over Here, John F. Kennedy elected President of the United States

Over There, Richard M. Nixon elected  President of the United States (speculative; ref. Jacksonville)

1963
Over Here, John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, TX; becomes subject of silver dollar

Over There, Richard M. Nixon assassinated in Dallas, TX; becomes subject of silver dollar (speculative; ref. Jacksonville)

Date(s) unknown, presumed mid 1970’s to around 1991
Walter Bishop and William Bell develop the Yatsko Project, involving tissue preservation after death, in an attempt to interrogate the deceased; the project apparently continued after Walter’s incarceration in St. Claire’s (ref. Marionette)

1978
Peter Bishop born (ref. There’s More Than One of Everything, Peter)
Olivia Dunham born

Date(s) Unknown, presumed late 1970’s-early 1980’s
Walter Bishop and William Bell create a window through which they are able to view the parallel universe and copy its technology (ref. Peter, Over There, Part II.  This is likely to have occurred some years before the events of Peter.)

William Bell steals alternate world technology which he later uses to build the Massive Dynamic empire.   While Over There, he develops shape-shifting soldiers for Walter Bishop’s alternate-world counterpart, and presumably acts as double agent for both universes (ref. Over There, Part II.)  He may also have met and worked with Thomas Jerome Newton (speculative)

1979 (approx.)
Rebecca Kibner given LSD in an experiment conducted by Walter Bishop and William Bell, enabling her to identify shape-shifting soldiers from the parallel universe (ref. A New Day in the Old Town, Momentum Deferred.  Note:  By this time the shape-shifters, AKA the First Wave, had apparently already crossed over into our universe, suggesting that either Walter’s kidnapping of Peter #2 from the Other Side did not, in fact, precipitate their introduction into our universe, or that Rebecca Kibner was somehow able to see visions of future events.)

1981
Cortexiphan trials conducted in Wooster, OH and Jacksonville, FL.  Known test subjects include Lloyd Becker, Sally Clark, Olivia Dunham, Miranda Greene, James and Julie Heath, Nick Lane, Nancy Lewis, Timothy Michael Ober, Susan Pratt, Nate Reed, and Alex Taylor.  Olivia Dunham displays pyrokinetic ability and is able to identify objects from the parallel universe.  At least sixteen small objects from the parallel universe have been brought Over Here by this time (ref. Ability, The Road Not Taken, Jacksonville, Olivia.  In The Lab.  With The Revolver, Over There, Part I)

1982 (approx.)
Over There, pens and paper become obsolete (ref. The Plateau.  Note:  Perhaps trees are scarce due to The Blight?)

Date Unknown, presumed early-to-mid-1980’s
Over There, Walternate founds Bishop Dynamic in Jacksonville, FL; creates the Star Wars Missile Defense System for president Ronald Reagan (ref. Subject 13)

1985
Over Here, Walter Bishop creates a device known as the Diz-Ray, which theoretically can retrieve anyone from anywhere; he intends to use it to bring researcher Alfred Gross to the present to cure Peter Bishop.  Walter searches for a cure; Peter #1 dies of a genetic wasting illness.  Back To The Future, starring Michael J. Fox, is released in theaters.  Walter Bishop creates a device enabling him to travel to the Other Side (ref. There’s More Than One of Everything, Peter)

Over There, Walter Bishop, AKA Walternate, finds a cure for his son but is interrupted by the Observer.  Back To The Future, starring Eric Stoltz, is released in theaters.  Zeppelins, digital cell phones, and double-decker cars are mainstream (ref. Peter)

Over Here, Nina Sharp, attempting to prevent Walter Bishop from going to the alternate universe, loses her right forearm (ref. Peter.)  She later claims she lost the arm to cancer in 1997 (ref. Pilot.)  Peter Bishop #2 kidnapped and brought to our universe by Walter Bishop, where he is cured of his illness.  Over There, this is referred to as the Zero Event. Returning from Over There, Walter and Peter fall through the ice of Reiden Lake and are rescued by the Observer, who tells Walter that Peter is “special” (ref. Peter, Over There, Part II)

In the new Amber Timeline, created when Peter Bishop built the bridge between universes, the Observer (September) fails to rescue Peter from his fall through the ice of Reiden Lake; both versions of Peter die at age seven (ref. Neither here Nor There )

Six months after the events of Peter, Peter Bishop fails to assimilate into this universe; jumps into Reiden Lake, attempting to return to the AU.  Walter Bishop, his wife Elizabeth, and their AU counterparts deal with the aftermath of Peter’s kidnapping.  Contrary to Nina Sharp’s assertion in Ability, the Jacksonville Cortexiphan trials are seen to have continued up to this point.  Triggered by intense emotion, Olivia Dunham spontaneously starts a fire and crosses universes several times.  During one of her spontaneous crossings, she unknowingly divulges the secret of parallel universes to Walternate.  Olivia and Peter are revealed to have met as children, though neither retain any memories of these incidents (ref. Subject 13)

Peter Bishop catches a firefly, setting off a chain of events leading to the death of Violet Sedan Chair keyboardist Roscoe Joyce’s son Bobby and ultimately, the breakup of the band.  Prior to his death, an Observer brings Bobby forward in time to 2011, where he relays a message for Walter Bishop to his father (ref. The Firefly)

Amber Timeline, exact date unknown:  Elizabeth Bishop, overcome with grief and guilt at the death of both Peters, commits suicide (ref. Alone in the World, Enemy of My Enemy)

1986
An automobile is sent to the parallel universe by Walter Bishop and William Bell, causing one from Over There to return to this universe, where it fuses with the statue of John Harvard (ref. Jacksonville)

1987
The first documented Observer beacon appears in Quantico (ref. The Arrival)

Olivia Dunham, age nine, shoots her abusive stepfather (ref. The Cure)

Amber Timeline:  Olivia Dunham shoots and kills her stepfather (ref. One Day in October)

Date(s) Unknown, presumed mid-to-late 1980’s
Over There, Walternate abandons science for politics, eventually becoming Secretary of Defense (ref. Over There, Parts I, II)

Over Here, an Observer visits Walter Bishop, explaining that he can never allow Peter Bishop to return to the Other Side, as this will precipitate the destruction of our universe (ref. Over There, Part I)

1989
October 17.  Over There, amber quarantine substance created and implemented at the “Harvard Yard incident” (ref. Amber 31422)

1990
Over There, 165 people sucked into vortex in the East River (ref. Entrada)

1991
Over Here, Carla Warren killed in lab fire; Walter Bishop found mentally incompetent to stand trial for her death; incarcerated in St. Claire’s Mental Institution (ref. Pilot)

Amber Timeline, exact date unknown:  Walter Bishop incarcerated in St. Claire’s Mental Institution, presumably driven mad with grief and guilt over the deaths of both Peters and his wife Elizabeth

Over There, the Peter Bishop Act, in which all kidnappings are treated as Fringe events until proved otherwise, is implemented (ref. The Abducted)

1992
Over Here, Marilyn Dunham (Olivia’s mother) dies of cancer (ref. Olivia)

Amber Timeline, date presumptive: Nina Sharp given legal guardianship of Olivia Dunham and her sister Rachel after their mother’s death (ref. The End of All Things)

Shape-shifter Thomas Jerome Newton arrives in this universe (date approximate)

With the backing of a small group of investors, William Bell forms Bellmedics, a company that manufactures nanoelectronic moveable prosthetics.

1993
Peter Bishop drops out of high school and begins nomadic existence (ref. Pilot, The Ghost Network )

X Division formed with FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (ref. Wikipedia.  Note:  Whether The X-Files takes place in the same fictional universe as Fringe is questionable; however, the Senator’s remarks in A New Day in the Old Town suggest that it does.)

Date(s) Unknown, presumed mid-1990’s
William Bell, calling himself Dr. Paris, visits Walter Bishop at St. Claire’s six times.  At Walter’s prior behest, he surgically removes three pieces of Walter’s brain, which he implants into the brains of three other individuals, causing them to go insane (ref. Grey Matters, Over There, Part II)

Amber Timeline, mid-1990’s
At Walter’s presumed behest, William Bell surgically removes three pieces of Walter’s brain, which are stored in a secure facility at Massive Dynamic (ref. Letters of Transit)

Amber Timeline, exact date unknown:  William Bell begins building a third universe over which he has complete control (ref. Brave New World, part II)

1995
Over There, Walternate writes and publishes ZFT, a manuscript apparently markedly different from its counterpart Over Here (ref. Over There, Part I)

1997
Over There, Armand Silva applies for a grant to find a vaccine for avian flu, utilizing the sheep parasite known as the Skelter Beetle (ref. Immortality)

1998
William Bell partners with a group of investors to create Fleming-Monroe Aeronautics.  Re-designing commercial jet engines from the ground up, they go on to develop the PEARL Aerocontrol System.

1999
Bellmedics acquires Fleming-Monroe and officially changes its name to Massive Dynamic, under the slogan “What do we do?  What don’t we do?”

2000
Peter Bishop travels to Europe, Elizabeth Bishop commits suicide (ref. The Man From The Other Side, Over There, Part I.  Note:  Word of God states that Elizabeth killed herself when Peter was seventeen, calling this date into question.)

2001
Sept. 11.  Over Here, terrorists destroy the World Trade Center and damage the Pentagon building.

Sept. 11.  Over There, terrorists destroy the Pentagon building and the White House (ref. There’s More Than One Of Everything, Momentum Deferred, Jacksonville)

Over There, sheep become extinct, frustrating the attempt of scientist  Armand Silva to create a bird flu vaccine from a sheep parasite, the Skelter Beetle (ref. Immortality)

2003
Over Here, daughter Ella born to Olivia Dunham’s sister Rachel (ref. Over There, Part II, Amber 31422)

Over There, Rachel Dunham and daughter die in childbirth of VPE, or Viral Propagated Eclampsia, a disease which does not exist in this universe (ref. Over There, Part II, Bloodline)

Amber Timeline, date unknown:  son Eddie born to Rachel Dunham and her husband Greg (ref. Nothing As It Seems)

2005
Shapeshifter leader Thomas Jerome Newton detached from his head, which is cryogenically frozen (ref. Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?)

Amber timeline:  On New Year’s Eve, a terminally ill William Bell visits Walter Bishop at St. Claire’s to say goodbye before faking his own death in a car accident (ref. Brave New World Part I)

2008
Over There, Alt-Olivia Dunham joins the existing Fringe Division (ref. The Abducted)

Over Here (date approximate)  Senator James Van Horn replaced by shape shifter (ref. Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?)

Date Unknown, approx. nine months prior to the Pilot Episode:  Agent Philip Broyles and his associates begin to document The Pattern (ref. The Ghost Network)

Date Unknown: documented use of amber substance as weapon in Prague (ref. The Ghost Network)

Season One, 2008-2009

Glatterflug Flight 627 lands safely at Logan Airport with all passengers dead.  FBI Agent John Scott killed.  Walter Bishop released from St. Claire’s into the custody of his son, Peter.  The new Fringe Division assembled by Special Agent Phillip Broyles; includes FBI Agents Olivia Dunham, Charlie Francis and Astrid Farnsworth, and Walter and Peter Bishop.  First reference to “The Pattern”, a series of seemingly unexplainable events to which corporate giant Massive Dynamic has suspicious connections.  Olivia Dunham placed in sensory deprivation tank; shares consciousness with John Scott.  Possibly recalling emotional memories of the Amber Timeline, Nina Sharp displays maternal attitude toward Olivia Dunham (ref. Pilot)

Autumn.  Weaponized use of substance in which victims are trapped “like insects in amber”; this is later revealed to be alternate universe technology used to “quarantine” areas in which Fringe events have occurred (ref. The Ghost Network, Over There, Part II)

A second Observer beacon appears in Brooklyn, New York.  Walter Bishop reveals prior knowledge of the Observer, stating that the Observer saved him and Peter from drowning on the way to a Thanksgiving dinner.  This is later revealed to be a cover story.  Olivia Dunham begins to see visions of her deceased lover, John Scott (ref. The Arrival, Peter)

Olivia Dunham continues to see visions of John Scott, one leading to a cellar full of Pattern cases and personal effects, some of which were intended for Olivia (ref. Power Hungry)

First in-show reference to ZFT.   FBI Agent Mitchell Loeb is in league with David Robert Jones, a British national imprisoned in Frankfurt, Germany; both men hold strong ties to ZFT and The Pattern.  Plan to break Jones out of his prison cell is set in motion.  Peter recalls being experimented upon by Walter as a child (ref. In Which We Meet Mr. Jones)

A child piano prodigy and a fellow inmate of Walter’s at St. Claire’s hold the key to an equation which enables those who use it to travel through solid matter (ref. The Equation)

Black marketeer George Morales believes The Pattern is a smokescreen enabling Massive Dynamic to do whatever it pleases unhindered.  Olivia Dunham returns to sensory deprivation tank to access John Scott’s buried memories (ref. The Dreamscape)

FBI agent Mitchell Loeb and three others travel through solid matter and break into series of safety deposit boxes, stealing parts of teleportation device; Walter Bishop recalls that he was creator of device, which he called the Diz-Ray.  He states that theoretically it could retrieve anyone from anywhere; he intended to use it to bring researcher Alfred Gross to the present to cure Peter Bishop of his illness, but Peter “recovered.”  Olivia Dunham abducted by Mitchell Loeb’s team and given spinal tap to determine whether she was treated with Cortexiphan; test proves positive (ref. Safe)

2009
Winter.  Olivia Dunham escapes her captors.  Mitchell Loeb identified by the team as ZFT mole and Olivia’s abductor; claims he was only trying to “save” Olivia.  David Robert Jones is teleported out of his German prison cell; suffers numerous physical side effects  (ref. Bound)

First in-show reference to Cortexiphan.  Only known extant copy of ZFT manual located by bookseller Edward Markham; described as cross between anti-technology manifesto and call to arms.  David Robert Jones issues Olivia Dunham a “test” in which she must turn off a panel of lights with her mind, thus defusing a bomb.  She successfully passes the test, possibly with assistance from Peter Bishop.  ZFT manual revealed to have been typed on Walter Bishop’s old manual typewriter, presumably by either him or William Bell (ref. Ability)

Spring.  A feral child, likely an immature Observer, discovered in a sealed room in the basement of a building about to be demolished; he displays emotional connection with Olivia Dunham (ref. Inner Child)

Nick Lane, a Cortexiphan test subject formerly paired with Olivia Dunham, can affect the emotions of those around him, causing several to kill themselves.  Walter Bishop links Olivia mentally with Nick, enabling her to locate him.  Peter Bishop seen to have some significant ability relating to touch.  Nick Lane contained and placed in medically induced coma for safety of public (ref. Bad Dreams)

Late Spring.  Nancy Lewis, a Cortexiphan test subject, displays pyrokinetic abilities.  Olivia Dunham sees flashes of the parallel universe, leading to discovery of Nancy’s twin sister, Susan Pratt, another Cortexiphan child with similar abilities (ref. The Road Not Taken)

David Robert Jones attempts to cross over to the Other Side to kill William Bell; is prevented by the Fringe team and dies in the attempt.  Olivia Dunham travels to the Other Side, where she encounters William Bell in his office in the World Trade Center.  She is given a cup of tea containing “soul magnets” that will propel Bell’s consciousness into her body in the event of his death (ref. There’s More Than One Of Everything, Stowaway)

Season Two, 2009-2010

Olivia Dunham returns violently from the Other Side and is declared brain dead; a touch from Peter Bishop apparently revives her, though she has no memory of the parallel universe.  On videotape, Rebecca Kibner, a former student and test subject of Walter Bishop, reveals existence of shape shifting soldiers from Over There, AKA The First Wave, to the team.  A shape-shifter kills FBI agent Charlie Francis and assumes his identity.  First seen use of the IBM Selectric-251 as a means of communicating with the parallel universe (ref. A New Day In The Old Town)

Autumn.  Olivia Dunham experiences heightened senses.  Shape-shifter/Charlie Francis begins to display physical side effects of staying too long in one body.  Nina Sharp refers Olivia to Sam Weiss, whom she says helped in her rehabilitation following her “cancer”; he coaches Olivia in performing simple tasks.  She begins to experience headaches and flashbacks of her time in the AU (ref. Night of Desirable Objects, Fracture)

Colonel Raymond Gordon attempts to warn Broyles of the upcoming Observer invasion. In a possible emotional recall of the Amber Timeline, Walter Bishop finds a new home for him and his son Peter (ref. Fracture)

Shape-shifter/Charlie Francis and his colleagues search cryogenic facilities for frozen head of their leader, Thomas Jerome Newton.  Rebecca Kibner recruited for experiment to identify shape-shifters.  Olivia drinks flatworm “cocktail” to boost memory; recalls her meeting with William Bell, in which she was told to find Newton’s head before shape shifters and given cryptic message in Greek intended for Peter Bishop.  Charlie Francis ID’d as shape-shifter; killed by Olivia.  Head of Thomas Jerome Newton grafted onto new body (ref. Momentum Deferred)

Peter Bishop reveals he experienced nightmares as a child until Walter Bishop gave him a mantra to control them, after which he remembered no dreams from the age of eight to nineteen.  Later, he dreams of being dragged from his bed by Walter, or perhaps Walternate; decoration of bedroom suggests this occurred in parallel universe (ref. Dream Logic)

Nina Sharp attempts communication with William Bell using an outdated computer.  Mind control and cloning shown to be some of Massive Dynamic’s more successful experiments (ref. Of Human Action)

Observers seen to predict future events based on probability, but not permitted to intervene in human affairs, except to correct “errors” that occur.  Walter Bishop states that he never learned why an Observer rescued him and Peter from drowning in Reiden Lake, but the truth of this statement is questionable (ref. August)

Winter.  Thomas Jerome Newton and colleague visit three mental patients and extract a piece of tissue from their brains, curing their illnesses.  Tissue belongs to Walter Bishop, from whom it was removed by William Bell during Walter’s stay at St. Claire’s.  It is temporarily re-connected with Walter’s brain, enabling Newton to learn how to travel between dimensions.  First reference to The Blight, a destructive force that has killed much vegetation on the Other Side.  Olivia Dunham reveals that Bell told her Newton would open a door between universes, leading to global destruction.  She chooses to save Walter’s life rather than kill Newton (ref. Grey Matters)

SS officer Alfred Hoffman, who has survived apparently un-aged since World War II, creates deadly gas that targets specific genetic traits; is later revealed to have worked with Robert Bishop, a German national secretly supporting the Allied cause (ref. The Bishop Revival)

2010
Winter.  A “Manhatan” office building from Over There is brought Over Here by Thomas Jerome Newton, where it fuses with its Manhattan counterpart, killing all occupants.  Olivia Dunham treated with Cortexiphan in an attempt to re-activate her ability to see objects from the Other Side (they “glimmer.”)  She successfully identifies a building about to travel to the Other Side to replace the one brought Over Here; its occupants are safely evacuated.  She sees the “glimmer” on Peter Bishop and realizes he is from Over There (ref. Jacksonville)

Walter Bishop relates the story of Peter’s abduction to Olivia Dunham, explaining his motivations for stealing the child back in 1985 (ref. Peter)

Olivia Dunham struggles with decision to keep Peter Bishop’s origin a secret.  James Heath, a Cortexiphan test subject, is able to kill people by touch, infecting them with a rapidly spreading form of cancer.  He is contained and placed in a medically induced coma (ref. Olivia.  In The Lab.  With The Revolver)

Scientist Alistair Peck travels through time in an attempt to save his fiancée, who was killed in a car accident (ref. White Tulip)

Spring.  Embryonic shape shifter taken into custody of Fringe team; it appears to recognize Walter Bishop before dying.  Using information extracted from Walter’s brain, Thomas Jerome Newton successfully brings The Secretary, aka Walternate, to our universe from Over There.  Peter Bishop realizes he is from Over There; abandons Fringe team (ref. The Man From The Other Side)

Newton and Walternate track down Peter Bishop in Washington State.  Walternate persuades Peter to follow him to the alternate universe, telling him he can never return to this one (ref. Northwest Passage, Over There, Part I)

Over There, Peter Bishop reunites with his mother, Alt-Elizabeth.  Walternate shows him the blueprints to the Wave Sink, a device he is told will repair the damage done to the alternate universe.

Over Here, an Observer gives Olivia Dunham a more complete version of the Wave Sink schematic.  Walter Bishop reveals that if Peter uses the device, it will destroy our universe.  Olivia and Walter, accompanied by Cortexiphan test subjects Nick Lane, Sally Clark, and James Heath, travel Over There to retrieve Peter.  Nick, Sally, and James killed.  Alternate versions of Fringe Division encountered.  (ref. Over There, Part I)

Over There, effects of Blight and quarantine “amber” substance seen to be widespread.  Peter Bishop examines Wave Sink power source; discovers it is keyed to his own DNA and will not work without him.  Olivia Dunham reveals true purpose of Wave Sink to Peter, convincing him to abandon the project and return to her universe.  A chalkboard in Walternate’s old lab contains an anagram for “Don’t trust Sam Weiss”.  During the team’s attempt to return to our universe, Olivia Dunham captured and replaced by her counterpart from Over There.  William Bell presumed killed.

Over Here, Alt-Olivia assumes identity of Olivia Dunham.  Using the IBM Selectric-251, she reports successful infiltration of Fringe Division.

Over There, Olivia imprisoned in dark cell by Walternate (ref. Over There, Part II)

Amber Timeline:  Olivia Dunham kidnapped and replaced by her alternate, who seeks the missing pieces of the Vacuum machine.  She is returned unharmed upon completion of the mission (Ref. Neither Here Nor There, One Day in October)

Season Three, 2010-2011

Over There, Olivia Dunham treated with “Leukocyte Memory B” to replace her own memories with those of her AU counterpart; she escapes her captors but the treatment kicks in and she returns to her counterpart’s life, believing the artificially induced memories are her own.

Over Here, the Fringe team is debriefed by a skeptical Senator James Van Horn (actually a shapeshifter.)  It is suggested that several weeks have passed in the AU since the events of Over There, Parts I and II, while only a few days have gone by in this universe (ref. Olivia)

Over Here, Alt-Olivia plots with her contact, Thomas Jerome Newton, and initiates an intimate relationship with a seemingly unsuspecting Peter Bishop.  A mysterious box that immobilizes and kills those who open it proves to be a key component of Walternate’s Doomsday Device, aka the Wave Sink.  Walter Bishop inherits Massive Dynamic from the deceased William Bell (ref. The Box)

Over There, Olivia Dunham, believing she is her alternate universe counterpart, begins to hallucinate Walter and Peter Bishop; the Peter-vision encourages her to remember her true identity. As alternate Charlie Francis suspects something is amiss, Walternate and Alt-Brandon prepare to unlock Olivia’s universe-traveling ability.  Milo Stanfield, a mentally challenged man given experimental drugs to boost his IQ, displays abnormal intelligence and Observer-like qualities (ref. The Plateau)

Over Here, Thomas Jerome Newton arranges shape shifter/Senator Van Horn’s “death” after a car accident exposes him as a shape shifter; activates sleeper shape shifter/Ray Duffy to retrieve shifter/Van Horn’s memory chip.  Long-term shape shifters seen to develop human emotions and relationships.  Peter Bishop expresses suspicion of Alt-Olivia.  Newton captured and taken into custody of Fringe division; commits suicide by swallowing Van Horn’s memory chip.  Alt-Olivia, her self-confidence shaken by Newton, seduces Peter Bishop (ref. Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?)

Over There, serial bank robber Matthew Rose, posing as his twin brother Joshua, rescues his brother from the amber quarantine substance and revives him; it is revealed that all amber victims are alive and cognizant.  Olivia Dunham continues to communicate with her subconscious mind in the form of Peter Bishop, who reminds her of her true identity; under the direction of Walternate and Alt-Brandon, she briefly travels Over Here twice, after which she recovers her own memories.  Walternate and Alt-Brandon discover the presence of a synthetic compound (Cortexiphan) in her brain (ref. Amber 31422)

Over Here, tuning into a numbers station causes several ham radio enthusiasts to lose all their memories.  As Peter Bishop continues to analyze the Wave Sink device, Astrid Farnsworth discovers that the numbers stations are broadcasting a code that reveals the locations of parts of the device (from now on referred to as the Vacuum), apparently a creation of the First People.  Alt-Olivia and her shape shifter contact work to ensure that only the Fringe team cracks the code and recovers the parts of the device (ref. 6955 KHZ)

Over There, serial kidnappers Wyatt Toomy and Reverend Marcus, aka The Candyman, abduct children and drain hormones from their pituitary glands in an attempt to reverse the aging process.  With help from cabdriver Henry Higgins, Olivia Dunham attempts to return to her own universe; her plan is foiled at the last minute by Walternate and Alt-Brandon (ref. The Abducted)

Over Here, Alt-Olivia exposed as agent of parallel universe.  The owner of the typewriter shop reveals he was promised AU technology to heal his crippled legs in exchange for aiding shape shifters.

Over There, as Walternate and Alt-Brandon plot to kill her and study her remains, Olivia Dunham makes last-ditch attempt to escape her captors and return home, enlisting help of Alt-Broyles.  Meanwhile, Walternate has synthesized Cortexiphan.

Over Here, Alt-Olivia steals crucial part of Vacuum device and delivers it to typewriter shop owner; she is captured by Fringe team but returned to her own universe while in custody.

Over There, Alt-Broyles killed by Walternate’s men for aiding in Olivia’s escape; his body is swapped for Alt-Olivia’s as she returns to her own universe.  Utilizing Cortexiphan and sensory deprivation tank in Walternate’s old lab, Olivia Dunham returns home (ref. Entrada)

Stanfield Chemical Company heir Roland Barrett re-animates a deceased ballerina using her own donated organs, harvested from their recipients.  Olivia Dunham re-adjusts to life Over Here and attempts to deal with damage done by Alt-Olivia’s theft of her identity.  The Observer reports to a colleague that someone, most likely Peter Bishop, is still alive (ref. Marionette.  Note:  Could this company be connected to Milo Stanfield’s family?)

Former Violet Sedan Chair keyboardist Roscoe Joyce is visited by his deceased son Bobby, brought forward in time from 1985 by the Observer.  Bobby gives Roscoe a message for Walter Bishop:  “Give him the keys.  Save the girl.”  This is revealed to be part of a complicated Observer plot to determine whether Walter will allow Peter to die should circumstances require it (ref. The Firefly)

The Fringe team continues to investigate the Wave Sink, the remaining pieces of which have been collected and assembled.  The device activates in the presence of Peter Bishop, affecting his physical and mental state.   Walter experiments with William Bell’s technology, attempting to re-grow his missing brain tissue.  Meanwhile, someone is killing shape-shifters.  The killer is revealed to be Peter, whose proximity to the Wave Sink device apparently has triggered this response (ref. Reciprocity)

Former Cortexiphan subject Simon Phillips has the ability to read minds.  Despite his inability to function in normal society, he is recruited by the Fringe team to assist in the case of a killer utilizing a powdered bio-weapon.  Sam Weiss tells Nina Sharp that whichever universe survives is dependent upon Peter Bishop’s emotional state, and by extension, which version of Olivia Dunham he choosesbut his motives are questionable.  Simon reveals to Olivia that Peter  “still has feelings” for her alternate (ref. Concentrate and Ask Again)

Over There, the alternate Fringe team investigates scientist Armand Silva’s attempt to create a bird flu vaccine by bringing back the extinct parasitic Skelter Beetle, which died out with its host, the sheep, in 2001.  Walternate receives the final piece of the Wave Sink device, stolen by Alt-Olivia Dunham while Over Here; he and Alt-Brandon observe the results of their synthesized Cortexiphan, which has killed nine adult test subjects.  Walternate rejects Alt-Brandon’s offer to test the substance on children.  Alt-Olivia is revealed to be pregnant with Peter Bishop’s child (ref. Immortality)

Brooklyn resident Alice Merchant’s grief over her husband Derek’s recent death unwittingly opens a vortex between worlds; she encounters visions of his alternate, whom she believes to be a ghost.  When this threatens the integrity of the world, Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop persuade her to let him go.  Their differences temporarily resolved, Olivia and Peter spend the night together (ref. 6B)

Scientist Dr. Krick combines two heavy elements, Osmium and Lutetium, to create lighter-than-air humans in an attempt to “fix” his disabled son; this works only because the laws of the universe are breaking down.  Peter Bishop reveals to Olivia Dunham that he killed the shape-shifters.  Triggered by the ringing of a bell, the soul magnets ingested by Olivia at the end of Season One are activated and her body is taken over by William Bell (ref. Os)

William Bell, inhabiting the body of Olivia Dunham, works with Walter Bishop to solve the puzzle of why a murdered woman, Dana Gray, cannot die; they are assisted by Peter Bishop and Over Here-Lincoln Lee.  “Bellivia” offers Peter a cup of tea, possibly attempting another body-switch; church bells ringing in the distance briefly cause Olivia’s consciousness to reassert itself (ref. Stowaway)

Over There, Alt-Olivia’s pregnancy is accelerated by a shadowy group later revealed to be headed by Walternate and Alt-Brandon; although a carrier of VPE, or Viral Propagated Eclampsia, both Alt-Olivia and her infant son, Henry, survive the birth (ref. Bloodline)

In an attempt to return Olivia Dunham’s mind to her body, Walter and Peter Bishop and “Bellivia” enter Olivia’s consciousness by means of LSD.  A cartoon universe inhabited by animated versions of familiar characters and a mysterious “X” man is encountered.  Olivia returns to her body seemingly freed from her past traumas, and tells Peter that she is fated to be killed by the “X” man (ref. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)

Over There, Walternate and Alt-Brandon activate their Vacuum Device using DNA extracted from baby Henry’s blood; this accelerates the breakdown of both universes.  While attempting to stop them, Alt-Olivia is captured and imprisoned.

Over Here, the team determines to activate their own device, which rejects Peter Bishop, injuring him (ref. 6:02 EST)

Peter Bishop awakes from coma believing he has lived his entire life in the AU and attempts to return home, as Olivia Dunham seeks Sam Weiss’s assistance in solving the mysteries of the Vacuum.  Peter, his memory restored, enters the Vacuum and finds himself propelled into the year 2026 (ref. The Last Sam Weiss)

In a dark, speculative future, the AU has been destroyed, Walter Bishop has been imprisoned for crimes against humanity, and Walternate is a fugitive Over Here.  Seeking revenge, he kills Olivia Dunham, who is now the head of Fringe Division and married to Peter Bishop.  In an attempt to change the course of events, Walter and Peter plan to return Peter to 2011 and take the Vacuum parts through a wormhole to pre-history.  Peter returns to his own time, where he creates a bridge connecting the two universes and then disappears; the Observer explains that he never existed (ref. The Day We Died)

Season Four, 2011-2012

In a new timeline in which Peter Bishop did not grow to adulthood, Blue Lincoln Lee joins Fringe Division when his partner is killed by a “human” shape-shifter.  The Observer is told by a colleague that against expectation, Peter has continued to bleed into the timeline, confirmed when Walter Bishop begins to hallucinate his son.  The Observer builds a device to fully erase Peter from existence, but finds himself unable to use it (ref. Neither Here Nor There)

Olivia Dunham assists the AU on a case involving a serial killer whose Over Here counterpart is a respected professor of forensics.  Walter Bishop is increasingly terrified by the voice of his son Peter calling to him (ref. One Night in October)

While investigating the case of an empathetic fungus that bonds with a lonely boy, Walter Bishop continues to see and hear visions of his son Peter.  Olivia Dunham confides in Walter that she has been dreaming of Peter for three weeks (ref. Alone in the World)

Former Cortexiphan subject Cameron James, who exhibited astral projection abilities in the past, is linked to a mysterious blue energy.  Peter Bishop re-materializes in Reiden Lake, but the Fringe team has no memory of him (ref. Subject 9)

The remaining “human” shape-shifter kidnaps Dr. Truss, a former Massive Dynamic employee who developed the tech used to create her, demanding his help to perfect her design.  Peter Bishop’s re-appearance and classified knowledge confounds his old associates.  First use of a 1950’s portable Hermes typewriter to communicate between worlds (ref. Novation)

An outward-spiraling series of dangerous time bubbles is linked to Raymond Green’s attempt to travel back to a time before his physicist wife, Kate, developed Alzheimer’s; meanwhile, Peter Bishop suspects that the timeline he has returned to is not his own (ref. And Those We’ve Left Behind)

As the team investigates the case of an invisible man, Olivia Dunham fears the Cortexiphan trials damaged her emotional growth, and Peter Bishop believes that the Vacuum machine can return him to the old timeline.  Olivia is drugged and injected with Cortexiphan by a shadowy group led by Nina Sharp (ref. Wallflower)

Peter Bishop enlists the help of Olivia Dunham and Lincoln Lee to cross universes and request aid in returning home from Walternate. We learn that the creation of the Bridge Room has prevented further degradation of both universes.  As Walternate exposes Alt-Brandon as a shape-shifter, Alt-Broyles is revealed to be working with David Robert Jones, the likely creator of the new shape-shifters.  Mortally wounded, the Observer appears to Olivia and warns her that he has seen all possible futures, and in all of them she must die.  (ref. Back To Where You’ve Never Been)

Over There, Peter Bishop continues to search for a way home, as the AU agents investigate the human shape shifters.  Over Here, David Robert Jones mines for a large quantity of Amphilicite, the same mineral used to power Nina Sharp’s prosthetic arm.  Olivia Dunham is troubled by the Observer’s warning, and a version of Nina is revealed to be working with Jones.  Alt-Elizabeth tells Walter Bishop she forgives him for kidnapping Peter (ref. Enemy of My Enemy)

The Fringe team’s investigation of a teenage girl who can predict death leads Olivia Dunham to ponder her own mortality and the Observer’s message, while the old relationships between the principal characters begin to re-assert themselves (ref. Forced Perspective)

Following her father’s death, Alt-Astrid Farnsworth crosses universes to meet her double and hopefully resolve her own relationship issues.  Meanwhile, the Fringe team investigates a series of murders committed by a former MIT professor who has adapted Observer technology, which he found at Reiden Lake, for his own use (ref. Making Angels)

Olivia Dunham and Walter and Peter Bishop find themselves trapped in a small town which David Robert Jones and his associates are attempting to fuse with its Over There counterpart.  As the town disintegrates around them, Olivia’s memories of the old timeline and her relationship with Peter begin to return (ref. Welcome To Westfield)

Olivia Dunham continues to recall memories of the old timeline, suggesting to Peter Bishop that he may be home after all.  Meanwhile, mental patient Sean Keenan visualizes a series of murders as they are being committed, leading the team to investigate a shady fertility doctor.  Walter Bishop warns Peter that he may be projecting his own memories onto Olivia.  Walter and Lincoln Lee discover that Olivia has recently been dosed with Cortexiphan.  Olivia’s romantic reunion with Peter is interrupted when she is kidnapped and imprisoned in an abandoned hospital along with a version of Nina Sharp (ref. A Better Human Being)

Olivia Dunham’s kidnapper is revealed to be David Robert Jones, who, with Alt-Nina Sharp, attempt to activate Olivia’s Cortexiphan powers.  Meanwhile, the mortally wounded Observer visits the lab at Harvard.  Inside the Observer’s mind, Peter Bishop gains knowledge of the Observers and their origins as well as the existence and death of his son, Henry.  Olivia’s memory of the old timeline and Peter’s presence enable her to activate her powers and escape captivity.  Peter’s new insights further convince him he is in the wrong timeline and must find a way home (ref. The End of All Things)

As Olivia Dunham’s memories of the old timeline continue to supplant her new ones, the team investigates a serial killer who steals human pheromones.  Meanwhile, Peter Bishop follows clues left by the Observer to a third Beacon and the realization that he is in the proper timeline after all (ref. A Short Story About Love)

A case involving Marshall Bowman’s transformation into a porcupine-like creature resembles one Peter Bishop recalls from his first year in Fringe Division in the old timeline.  David Robert Jones is revealed to be behind a cult dedicated to creating a super species of hybrid humans (ref. Nothing As It Seems)

Lincoln Lee assists the AU in a case involving a vigilante shape-shifter; when his AU counterpart is killed, he opts to remain in the other universe (ref. Everything In Its Right Place)

A case involving parallel deaths in both universes prompts Walter Bishop to travel to the AU as a consultant.  Alt-Broyles revealed to be working  with David Robert Jones in exchange for a cure for his son’s ailment (ref. The Consultant)

As David Robert Jones’s plot to merge the universes into one threatens the stability of both, the Fringe teams opt to shut down the Vacuum device and close the bridge between worlds (ref. Worlds Apart)

A case involving deadly nanites leads to the revelation that William Bell is still alive and controlling David Robert Jones.  As Olivia Dunham’s Cortexiphan abilities continue to grow, Bell’s plan to create a third universe over which he has complete control is put into action (ref. Brave New World, Part I)

Olivia Dunham realizes she is meant to be the “battery” designed to power William Bell’s new universe.  To prevent this, Walter Bishop shoots and kills her, fulfilling September’s prophesy, but the Cortexiphan in her system revives her.  She reveals to Peter Bishop that she is pregnant with their child.  September appears to Walter and warns him that “they are coming”, presumably referring to the future Observer invasion (ref. Brave New World, Part II)

Date Unknown (late 2012-early 2013) daughter Henrietta born to Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop (ref. Letters of Transit, Brave New World, Part II)

2015
The Observers travel back in time and take over Earth, killing much of the human population and subjugating the rest. Olivia Dunham’s and Peter Bishop’s memories of the event differ in several small yet significant ways (ref. Letters of Transit, Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11, In Absentia)

2016
Led by Walter Bishop, the Fringe team amber themselves to escape the Observers (ref. Letters of Transit)

2036
The original Fringe team, minus Olivia Dunham, is removed from amber to assist a resistance movement against the Observers, led by Fringe agents Simon Foster and Henrietta Dunham-Bishop (ref. Letters of Transit)

Season Five, 2012-2013

In 2036, Olivia Dunham is released from amber and reunited with the rest of the Fringe team. Walter Bishop, whose memory of how to defeat the invaders was previously scrambled by September, is captured and interrogated without success by Observer Windmark. Later, a piece of music apparently assists his confidence (ref. Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11)

The Fringe team revisit Walter Bishop’s old lab at Harvard, where they retrieve a Betamax recorder and videotape containing further instructions on how to implement the plan against the Observers. Olivia Dunham and daughter Etta clash over ethical considerations in interrogating a Loyalist (ref. In Absentia)

A secretive human colony in rural Pennsylvania dedicated to recording history since the Observers’ invasion is visited by the Fringe team, who seek an ore which will aid in their war against the Observers (ref. The Recordist)

The team’s search leads them to a sub-basement below Walter Bishop’s Harvard lab containing souvenirs of old Fringe cases. The orifice-sealing substance first encountered in Season One is utilized in a plan to enter Grand Central Station and locate a scroll containing cryptic physics equations. Agent Broyles revealed to be a mole working for the Resistance movement. Etta Dunham-Bishop killed by Observer Windmark (ref. The Bullet That Saved the World)

The team attempts to thwart the Observers’ mission to transport vital components of their carbon monoxide-creating machine from the future. Peter Bishop, overcome with anger and grief at the loss of his daughter Etta, removes a subcutaneous computer chip from a captured Observer and installs it in his own body (ref. An Origin Story)

Walter Bishop enters a pocket universe where he seeks the child Observer encountered in Season One and a mysterious ‘Donald’; meanwhile, his son Peter begins to exhibit Observer-like qualities (ref. Through the Looking Glass and What Walter Found There)

William Bell’s severed hand is used to open a secret vault and retrieve two Observer beacons vital to Walter Bishop’s plan. Peter Bishop uses his new-found abilities to assassinate three top Observers, as his transformation to full-blown Observerhood continues (ref. Five-Twenty-Ten)

2603
Having damaged the Earth to the extent that it is no longer habitable, the Observers travel back in time to 2015 and conquer humanity in a bloody coup (ref. Letters of Transit)

A massive thanks to Liz for compiling and updating the timeline. You can visit http://www.elizabethkwadsworth.com/ to read excerpts from Liz’s newly published mystery novel, Murder Ballad!

Editors note: Out of courtesy, please do not copy/paste any part of this timeline to other sites without express permission. If you find it useful, please feel free to share the link, use the information, and refer back to this page as often as you desire – thanks!

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