How to Watch Sword Art Online – Unsheathing the Franchise’s Timeline

Based on the popular light novels by Reki Kawahara, Sword Art Online is one of the best-known anime of the past decade. The fantasy sci-fi series has captured the imaginations of viewers with its adventures through different game worlds that often blur the lines between virtual reality and real life.

Newcomers can be intimidated by the isekai series’ unique timeline and lengthy titles for story arcs and films. Here’s a breakdown of the full series timeline and the best Sword Art Online watch order.

Begin Watching Sword Art Online with Season 1

The first season of Sword Art Online is split into two arcs, the “Aincrad” Arc and the “Fairy Dance” Arc. “Aincrad” introduces protagonist Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya, who in November 2022 is trapped, along with 10,000 other players, within the VR world of Sword Art Online. The threat is real: Anyone who dies in the game dies in real life; all 100 floors must be cleared in order to return to the real world. It’s filled with exciting battles and heartbreaking deaths — love even blossoms in the midst of the life-or-death struggle.

“Fairy Dance” begins two months after the end of “Aincrad, with 300 players from the SAO incident — including Kinto’s girlfriend, Asuan — still trapped. She remains unconscious and extremely frail in the real world as Kirito discovers she is being held hostage in another VR game, ALfheim Online. The world and cast start to expand here, with the introduction of Asuna’s family and connections, along with a mysterious government representative whose influence grows with each season.

SAO Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night Retells the Aincrad Arc

Released in 2021, SAO Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night is a film that retells the Aincrad Arc from Asuna’s point of view. It covers how she struggled in the beginning with her school friend Mito and her initial encounter with Kirito. Asuna was not nearly as experienced as she appeared, but thanks to Mito’s experience as a beta tester, she helped Asuna level up more quickly and embrace her situation.

Follow SAO Season 1 With SAO: Extra Edition

This short film SAO: Extra Edition originally aired in Japan on Dec. 31, 2013. Extra Edition features Kirito giving a full recap of Season 1’s events to government official Seijirou Kikuoka. There’s also some new content, as the girls have a swimming adventure in the real world, and the full cast finally enjoys a non-life threatening quest in ALO.

Sword Art Online II Follows Extra Edition with 3 New Arcs

Season 2 begins with the “Phantom Bullet” Arc, a full year after the SAO incident. As the new shooter VR game Gun Gale Online grows in popularity, authorities are alarmed by two mysterious incidents involving a player named Death Gun. When Death Gun shoots a player’s avatar, that player also dies in the real world. Due to Kirito’s gaming knowledge, he is asked to dive into GGO and investigate. He teams up with sniper extraordinaire Shino “Sinon” Asada and learns the antagonists are more familiar than he realized.

The “Calibur” Arc is a short but fun filler adventure for the full cast — now including Sinon — back in ALfheim Online. It’s a lighthearted story that sits in between two significantly heavier ones. “Mother’s Rosario” is an emotional story that gives Asuna her long-awaited turn in the spotlight. Back in ALO, she hears of an expert sword fighter named Zekken who is undefeated in one-on-one battles, including a victory over Kirito. Asuna and Zekken, whose real name is Yuuki, become fast friends, and Asuna joins her guild for a time. Reality, however, isn’t so lighthearted, as Yuuki carries a devastating real-world burden connected to her desire to compete in ALO. Have tissues at the ready.

SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online Is a Separate Series

SAO Alternative is a separate series, with a different cast of characters. Based on the light novels by Keiichi Sigsawa, its only similarity to the main series is that it takes place in the already-established world of Gun Gale Online. It can be viewed as a standalone story, although a couple of references to Sinon and Kirito might be missed if you haven’t watched the “Phantom Bullet” Arc first.

Shy college student Karen Kouhirimaki struggles with making friends due to her exceptional height. She decides to try VR games as an escape, and comes to love the thrill of Gun Gale Online. The game also allows her to create her own avatar and become the short, pink-clad girl she always wanted to be. Now full of confidence as Llenn, she guns down all who stand in her way as she competes in a tournament that means life or death for one particular player.

The SAO: Ordinal Scale Film Returns to the Main Timeline

Returning to the main timeline, the Ordinal Scale film takes place a few weeks after the end of the “Mother’s Rosario” Arc. It also has the distinction of being an anime exclusive, as the story doesn’t appear in author Kawahara’s light novels. A new augmented-reality device called the Augma is all the rage, with a combat-based game called Ordinal Scale becoming the first ARMMORPG.

Kirito shows little interest in AR until Asuna and the others tell him that boss monsters from the original Sword Art Online have started to appear. The mysteries compound when the game’s second-ranked player, Eiji, purposely injures Klein and his guild, leaving them in the hospital. Multiple SAO survivors who interact with Eiji, including Asuna, begin to lose memories of their time in SAO.

Season 3: Sword Art Online – Alicization Splits Into Two Parts

The third season of SAO is its longest and most expansive date. Split into three arcs — “Alicization,” “War of Underworld Part 1” and “War of Underworld Part 2” — it begins a few months after the events of Ordinal Scale. “Alicization” sees Kirito working with the top-secret, government-run company Rath to test an experimental full-dive machine called the Soul Translator (STL).

After being attacked in the real world by a member of the Death Gun plot from Season 2, Kirito suffers significant brain damage, and is only kept alive with the help of the STL. As Kirito wakes up in the Underworld with his real-world memories intact, he must figure out how to survive in a more realistic VR world, while Rath’s true goals for the STL become clear.

The subsequent “War of Underworld” arc continues the events of Alicization as a world-spanning conflict breaks out in the Underworld, with major international consequences for the real world as well. “Part 2” is available to stream on Crunchyroll. It is also streaming on Netflix, where the second half is listed as Season 4.

It can be confusing, but the SAO anime’s chronology does fit in a proper order, even though many of the stories begin very shortly after their preceding arcs. Seems Kirito and friends get even shorter spans of peace and quiet than the Dragon Ball cast.