Timeline

This section may contain major spoilers!

Please refrain from reading if you are not yet familiar with all the latest media released.

The sequences of events in each timeline.

The phases of the moon in March and April 2011, Tokyo time.

All Timelines

• Backstories of Kyoko and Mami. It is implied in the series that they knew each other, and that Mami somehow knows Kyoko's backstory (Kyoko is likely to be the magical girl who made a wish for others and whose story did not have a happy ending who Mami and Kyubey talked about in episode 3).
• The events in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica probably happened before the timelines diverged, although it's unknown whether this series takes place before or during the anime.

Timeline 1: Normal Homura

• March 16 (Wed, offscreen): Homura is released from the hospital.
• March 18 (Fri, estimate): Madoka contracts with Kyubey.
• March 25 (Fri): Homura transfers into school and meets Madoka. She is attacked by Izabel and is saved by Madoka and Mami. She learns about magic.
• March 25 - April 30: The first drama CD, Memories of You takes place during this timeline.
• April 30 (Sat) - May 1 (Sun): Walpurgis Night. Mami is killed, while Madoka sacrifices herself to destroy the witch. Homura contracts, her wish being to redo her first meeting with Madoka. Time resets.

Inferences: Sayaka never contracted. Kyoko never came to Mitakihara.

Timeline 2: Homura is a Magical Girl

• March 16 (Wed): Homura's time loop starts. She is released from the hospital.
• March 18 (Fri, estimate): Madoka contracts with Kyubey.
• March 25 (Fri): Homura transfers into school and tells Madoka she's a magical girl.
• In between March 25 and April 30, but closer to March: Homura shows her powers to Mami and Madoka. Later she makes pipe bombs, and uses them to defeat Patricia. Madoka, Mami, and Homura fought as a magical girl trio.
• April 30 (Sat) - May 1 (Sun): Walpurgis Night. Madoka destroys the witch, but becomes a witch herself. Time resets.

Inferences: Sayaka never contracted. Kyoko never came to Mitakihara. Mami probably died fighting Walpurgis Night, but since we never see it happen, it's possible she survived (or died earlier).

Timeline 3: The Magical Girl Team

• March 16 (Wed): Homura is released from the hospital.
• March 18 (Fri, estimate): Madoka contracts with Kyubey.
• March 25 (Fri): Homura transfers into school. We can infer that she told Madoka and Mami she was a magical girl.
• In between March 25 and April 30, in estimated chronological order:
  • Sayaka contracts and becomes a magical girl.
  • It can be inferred that Madoka, Mami, Sayaka, and Homura fought together at least once, and that Sayaka was concerned about getting caught in an explosion.
  • It can be inferred Kyoko is somehow contacted, likely by Homura and/or Mami, to help with Walpurgis Night.
  • Homura tells Sayaka, Mami, and Madoka about the true nature of witches. Sayaka doesn't believe her, and also distrusts the idea of Kyoko coming to Mitakihara. She tells Homura to find a new weapon.
  • Homura steals firearms from the Yakuza.
  • Kyoko comes to Mitakihara town. It can be inferred that she began to care for Sayaka in some fashion (based off her last words in this timeline).
  • Sayaka becomes a witch. Madoka, Mami, Kyoko, and Homura fight her, and she is destroyed by Homura. After the battle, Mami snaps and kills Kyoko, and then is killed by Madoka to stop her from killing Homura. It is possible that Madoka picked up Sayaka's Grief Seed after the battle. This event probably happened shortly before April 30th.
• April 30 (Sat) - May 1 (Sun): Walpurgis Night. Madoka and Homura defeat the witch, but are in danger of becoming witches themselves. Madoka uses one last Grief Seed (possibly Sayaka's) to purify Homura's Soul Gem. She then asks Homura to kill her in the current timeline, and stop her from contracting in the next timeline. Homura does what she says. Time resets.

Timeline 4: Homura Fights Alone

• March 16 (Wed): Homura is released from the hospital.
• March 18 (Fri, estimate): Homura prevents Madoka from contracting with Kyubey.
• Between March 18 and April 30:
  • Homura kills Kyubey at least once, and warns Madoka against contracting. The exact time is a bit unclear. It is possible that Homura killed Kyubey on March 18th. On the other hand, because Madoka seems to recognize Homura when she appears outside her window, it's possible Homura killed Kyubey on or after March 25th, after transferring into school. It's also possible Homura never went to school in this timeline, focusing entirely on killing witches, and Madoka only recognized Homura from dreaming about a previous timeline.
  • Homura steals weapons from the military and fights as many witches as possible.
• April 30 (Sat) - May 1 (Sun): Walpurgis Night. The witch appears different from the one seen in the first timeline. Homura fails to defeat the witch. Madoka contracts with Kyubey and kills the witch with one shot. She then becomes an even more powerful witch that can destroy humanity in ten days. Time resets.

Inferences: Mami, Kyoko and Sayaka were unseen in this timeline, which opens several possibilities. But it's likely that Sayaka didn't contract, Kyoko never came to Mitakihara, and Mami died before or on Walpurgis Night.

Additional Timelines

It's speculated that an unknown number of timelines fell between Timeline 4 and Timeline 5 while Homura repeatedly attempted to save Madoka.

• Timeline 4.1: The scenes at the end of episode 10, where Homura kills Kyubey, appear to be showing one of them. There are minor differences between these scenes and the similar ones at the beginning of the anime.
• Timeline 4.x: The spin-off manga, Puella Magi Oriko Magica, takes place in a timeline that is not shown in the anime. This timeline happens after Homura changes her hairstyle, but before Madoka eliminates witches. It is believed to fall between timelines 4 and 5, but there has also been speculation that it is part of a separate story continuity and might not fit in with anime timelines.
  • It has been speculated however that Oriko's prediction of Walpurgis Night happened in prior timelines. It would explain why Mami knew that Walpurgis Night was coming in Chapter 1; Kyubey learned it from Oriko and then told Mami.
• Timeline 4.y: Sunny Day Life, the second drama CD, probably takes place in one of these timelines, since Homura's behavior indicates that she has experienced multiple timelines and matured beyond her initial "Moemura" stage. However, some fans speculate that this timeline occurs earlier or that it is not part of the real story continuity at all.

Timeline 5: The Main Anime Timeline

The number of repetitions Homura has been through before this timeline is much greater, but this is the fifth timeline covered by the anime, so it is still referred to as timeline 5. This is the main timeline, and the majority of the anime takes place in it.

• March 16 (Wed): Homura's time loop starts again. She is released from the hospital.
• March 18 (Fri, estimate): Homura prevents Madoka from contracting with Kyubey. Note that Homura does NOT kill Kyubey at this point, suggesting she found some other way to keep him away from Madoka.
• March 25 (Fri): Madoka dreams about Walpurgis Night from the previous timeline. However, the witch again appears different. Homura transfers into school. Madoka and Sayaka are introduced to magic and meet Mami. Homura kills Kyubey (for the first time in this timeline), and chases his second body until he meets Madoka. This was the originally scheduled airing date for the final episode.
• March ?? (School day): Madoka tells her mother about visiting Mami's apartment the previous evening. Madoka brings Kyubey to school and encounters Homura on the rooftop. Mami, Madoka, and Sayaka hunt down and defeat Gertrud. Japanese students attend school on Saturday, so it's possible for this to be March 26.
• March/April ?? (School/work day): Sayaka visits Kyousuke to deliver a CD. At night, she and Madoka discuss wishes with Mami. Madoka's mother comes home drunk.
• April 4 (Mon, estimate): Mami dies.
• April 5 (Tues, estimate): Waxing crescent moon. Definitely the next day. Madoka talks to Sayaka and Kyubey on the school roof. Madoka speaks with Homura after visiting Mami's apartment and mentions that Mami's death was yesterday. Sayaka contracts and defeats Elly. Kyoko arrives in town and talks to Kyubey.
• April 6 (Wed, estimate): Hitomi returns to school and mentions her troubles the night before. Sayaka visits Kyousuke, who still has to complete rehabilitation before being released, but plays his violin. Kyoko observes Sayaka through binoculars.
• April 8 (Fri): Kyoko attacks Sayaka in the alley.
• April 9 (Sat): Kyoko talks with Homura, who states that Walpurgis Night is in two weeks. (This is a discrepancy in this interpretation of the timeline, since Walpurgis Night falls on April 30, 22 days later. Two weeks before the 30th is the 16th, after Sayaka went missing, and two weeks after the 9th is the 23rd.)
• April 9 (Sat): After Kyoko and Homura's chat, Sayaka visits the alley in which she fought Kyoko to search for the familiar and refers to the battle as happening last night.
• April 10 (Sun): Sayaka visits the hospital only to discover that Kyousuke was released the day before. Sayaka approaches Kyousuke's house and encounters Kyoko, who mentions that Sayaka has been chasing after Kyousuke all day. They fight on the bridge where Madoka throws Sayaka's soul gem.
• April 10 (Sun): Full moon (In the real world, slightly more than a quarter moon). Kyubey tortures Sayaka through her soul gem. Based on Sayaka's comments, this most likely happened immediately after the bridge confrontation.
• April 11 (Mon): Sayaka and Kyoko meet in the church. Sayaka skips school on this day.
• April 12 (Tue): Full moon (In the real world, waxing half moon). Kyousuke returns to school and Hitomi mentions Sayaka's absence the day before. Hitomi delivers her ultimatum to Sayaka. At night, Sayaka goes on patrol and battles Elsa Maria. Sayaka goes missing after this day, according to the news report during her funeral scene in Episode 11.
• April 13 (Wed): Sayaka is absent from school. Hitomi and Kyousuke become a couple. Madoka searches for Sayaka, and learns that she hadn't returned home since the night before.
• April 22 (Fri): Episodes 11 and 12 aired at 2:40 am. Good Friday.
• April 23 (Sat): Two weeks have passed since April 9, when Homura stated that Walpurgis Night was two weeks away. This is a possible alternative date for Walpurgis Night's attack on Mitakihara.
• April ??: Waning crescent moon. Sayaka is killing familiars, and Homura offers her a grief seed. Based on the change from a full moon to a crescent moon, there must be a time skip between the romance scene and the confrontation between Sayaka and Homura.
• April 27 (Wed, or 28th Thu): Waning crescent moon. Homura kills Kyubey in the park (the second kill in this timeline) and Sayaka becomes a witch.
• April 28 (Thu, or 29th Fri): Waning crescent moon. Kyoko kamikaze attacks Oktavia, killing them both.
• April 29 (Fri, or 30th Sat): Sayaka's funeral is held, Junko drinks with Kazuko, and Madoka visits Homura's apartment. Homura states that is has been approximately one month since she transferred into school.
• April 30 (Sat) - May 1 (Sun): Nearly new moon. Walpurgis Night. At the evacuation shelter, Junko is not wearing the same clothes she had on when she met Kazuko.
• May 1 (Sun): If Walpurgis Night appears on the midnight following April 30 according to the time zone of the Brocken mountain, it would appear in Japan at 8:00 AM. When Madoka defeats Walpurgis, the clouds part to reveal a blue daytime sky. The sun is not visible, so it is most likely still close to the horizon, as it would be if Walpurgis Night followed Brocken time. Germany is in UTC+1, and JST is UTC+9. Since time zones are rounded off, the exact time of appearance would be between 7:20 AM and 8:20 AM depending on where Mitakihara City is located in Japan.

Discrepancies: When Homura talks to Kyoko at the arcade, she states that Walpurgis Night is two weeks away, although the estimated date of Walpurgis Night falls just over three weeks later. On April 10 and 12, the full moon shown in the anime does not match the half moon that occurred in real life.

Timeline 6: The New World

A new timeline begins after Madoka makes her wish in Episode 12 and recreates the universe.

• April 2011: Kyousuke is healed, auditions, and becomes a concert violinist.
• Spring 2011: Sayaka kills herself by using up all of her power. Homura, Mami, and Kyoko, who were fighting alongside her, mourn her death in the train station.
• Spring 2011: Homura talks to Madoka's family in the park.
• Full moon. Homura discusses the history of the universe with Kyubey and battles demons in Mitakihara City.
• Unknown year: Homura battles demons in the middle of a wasteland outside of Japan. It is unclear whether this happens shortly after the other events, or takes place in the distant future.

Walpurgis Night occurs the night of April 30. Judging from the moon, that means that the point we left off at the end of episode 9 is either the 28th or 29th.

The calendar we see in Homura's hospital room coincides with our actual calendar, year 2011. March has 31 days with the 25th falling on a Friday, and is the only such month in 2011. This means that the events in the anime take place while the show is airing in the real world. Episode 12 was originally set to air on the night before the events of Episode 1, and Homura's time loop restart point is during the week after the airing of Episode 10. Since Episodes 11 and 12 were delayed, their final airing dates occur during middle of Sayaka's downfall, on Good Friday.

In the anime, Hitomi gives one day's notice in Episode 7 and makes her move in Episode 8. Madoka is desperately searching for Sayaka and learns from Sayaka's parents that she hasn't come home since the previous night. These scenes occur only one day after the events of Episode 7. However, the moon is a thin waning crescent in Episode 8 and is full in Episode 7. A time skip must have occurred between those scenes and the confrontation between Sayaka and Homura. The news report heard during Sayaka's funeral suggests that she has been missing for some time, supporting the idea of a time skip.

All shots of the moon collected so far feature either a full moon or a narrow crescent, so it is likely that SHAFT is adjusting moon phases for dramatic effect.

Number of Timelines

The total number of timelines Homura went through is not stated. Gen Urobuchi, the writer, left many other issues open-ended, and most likely did not decide on a specific number. However, there are various speculations regarding the number of timelines.

Each timeline runs from March 16 until May 1, assuming Homura always resets immediately after Walpurgis Night. This is a span of 46 days. Eight loops add up to 368 days, just over a year. Sixty loops would require about seven and a half years, and Homura would have to loop 795 times to break a century. Since Homura is willing to reset time earlier if the situation calls for it, the 46 days per timeline figure is only an upper bound. However, if Homura is able to reset time from a later point, there may have been timelines in which Homura avoided fighting Walpurgis Night and a larger amount of time passed before a reset became necessary.

• Absolute minimum: The four timelines explored in depth in episode 10, the timeline at the end of episode 10 that looks similar but slightly different than the scene in episode 1, the main anime timeline, Oriko, and Sunny Day Life add up to eight timelines that have been explicitly shown, assuming they are all canon and the end of episode 10 was free of animation errors.

• Small numbers: There are 14 strings of fate attached to Madoka in the symbolic image displayed during Kyubey's lecture to Homura. If they directly represent timelines, rather than being drawn in that quantity for artistic reasons, there would be 16 timelines counting the main one and the new world. The anime's opening shows 11 slides when the scenes of Madoka as a magical girl are displayed with Madoka and Kyubey sitting in the foreground, which has lead to speculation that the main timeline is the 12th. Some fans believe that Homura's level of experience and degree of personality change indicate that she has only been through a small number of timelines: She was shocked to see Mami die in battle against Charlotte, she still has trouble handling misunderstandings with other people, she didn't hear Kyubey's explanation as to why Madoka is so powerful until the main timeline, her vulnerable inner personality remains under her cold outer shell, and she's still entirely sane, despite being heavily stressed.

• Medium numbers: It's likely that Homura experienced dozens, but less than a hundred timelines. This would allow her to exhaustively test a number of different strategies, but still have new ideas to try. She appears to have only tried the "give Madoka the cold shoulder" strategy a few times, and probably wouldn't attempt it before convincing herself that other plans won't work. Homura has her statistics, she's practiced enough at acting to come off as naturally cool and stylish to everyone despite having been extremely awkward in the beginning, she has memorized all the math perfectly even though homework is the least of her problems, and her elaborate setup against Walpurgis surely required quite a bit of trial and error to perfect and involved gathering a lot of gear that would be tricky to steal. However, she still encounters unexpected situations and hasn't figured out the ideal way to handle every issue that arises.

• Large numbers: Some speculators believe that Homura has truly been through countless timelines. One common estimate is 83 years in 1000 timelines, which assumes an average rate of one month per timeline. One might believe that Homura spent 80 years studying how to be cool.

• 

  Homura's calendar at the hospital.

• 

  The moon on the night when Sayaka fought Elly in Episode 4.

• 

  The moon at the start of Episode 7 when Kyubey tortures Sayaka.

• 

  The moon later in Episode 7, when Sayaka fights Elsa Maria.

• 

  The moon when Homura confronts and threatens to kill Sayaka in Episode 8.

• 

  The moon during the Episode 8 park scene where Kyubey eats his own corpse.

• 

  The moon during the Episode 8 park scene when Homura reveals the name Incubator.

• 

  The moon at the end of Episode 8 after Sayaka becomes a witch.

• 

  Another shot of the moon at the end of Episode 8.

• 

  The moon in the beginning of Episode 9 when Homura and Kyoko escape from Oktavia's barrier.

• 

  The moon at the end of Episode 9, on the next night when Oktavia is defeated.

• 

  Walpurgis Night is defeated, and daylight appears.

• 

  The moon near the end of Episode 12, when Homura discusses the history of the universe with Kyubey.