Timeline of the Borderlands Story – Where Could Borderlands 4 Fit In?

Today we’re taking a deep dive into Borderlands lore, because honestly, with all the reveals and theories flying around for Borderlands 4, it’s getting wild.

If you’re like most gamers, you probably mostly shoot stuff and make builds, but the story implications for BL4 look massive, bringing back characters from BL3 and even bigger plot threads we’ve been waiting years for.

It’s easy to get lost, especially since the lore is so scattered. So, let’s try to piece together where we’ve come from and where we’re heading with Borderlands 4.

Why the Borderlands Timeline Matters

The Borderlands timeline is chaotic, messy, and scattered across spin-offs, side quests, and half-remembered echo logs. And it absolutely matters whether you’ve been around since Borderlands 1 or you’re just starting with Borderlands 4.

This series is built on decades of in-game history, ancient alien tech, and characters who’ve been fighting, dying, and evolving across multiple planets. If you skip the lore, you miss why the big moments hit as hard as they do. And from the looks of it, Borderlands 4 is about to bring back some of the most important story threads the series has ever dropped. Stuff that goes all the way back to The Pre-Sequel.

Understanding the timeline gives context to why Lilith’s gone, why The Watcher’s warning still matters, and why we might finally see answers to what the hell “the war is coming” even means. For newcomers, it makes the whole universe feel bigger and more connected. For veterans, it’s payoff. Years of buildup finally leading somewhere.

Ancient Lore: Eridians, Vaults, and Sirens

Millions of years ago, the Eridians were an advanced alien race from Nekrotafeyo. They built Vaults, created Guardians to protect them, and studied the powers of the Sirens. Sirens are women with unique abilities, and only seven can exist at once. When one dies, her powers transfer to someone new.

The Eridians sacrificed themselves to trap a creature called The Destroyer inside the Great Vault. That Vault is so big it eventually became the planet Pandora. A Siren named Nyriad sealed the Vault using a powerful machine, then blocked her powers from being passed on by locking them away.

Pandora’s Beginnings: Corporate Intrigue and Bandits

Fast forward a few million years, and humans are exploring the galaxy. Typhon DeLeon, the first Vault Hunter, found an Eridian Vault on Promethea and sold its contents to Atlas. That turned Atlas into a major corporation. Then Dahl showed up and used convicts as miners on Pandora. When the planet’s long winter ended and the monsters woke up, Dahl bailed and left the prisoners behind. Those prisoners became the first bandits.

Atlas eventually went bankrupt after the events of Borderlands 1, and Hyperion bought them out. Around this time, the mineral Eridium started to appear on Pandora.

The Pre-Sequel: Jack’s Origins and The Watcher’s Warning

Jack started off as a Hyperion engineer stationed on Helios. He recruited Vault Hunters like Athena to help fight off the Lost Legion on Elpis. Jack eventually found the Elesser Vault and got a vision of another, more powerful Vault on Pandora. But Lilith, Roland, and Moxxi betrayed him and smashed the artifact, leaving Jack scarred. That moment turned him into the Handsome Jack we know.

This is also when The Watcher showed up. An Eridian Guardian, The Watcher saved Athena from being executed and warned everyone that a war was coming. That warning has been hanging over the series ever since.

Borderlands 2: Jack’s Reign and The Warrior

Jack took over Pandora and tried to open the Vault containing The Warrior. He used his daughter Angel, a Siren, to charge the Vault Key. The new Vault Hunters ended up killing Angel to stop Jack’s plan.

Tannis secretly received Angel’s Siren powers. Jack also killed Roland, and Lilith was captured but later freed. In the end, they killed The Warrior and Jack. Lilith accidentally triggered a map showing more Vaults spread across the galaxy.

Tales from the Borderlands: Rhys and Atlas’s Rebirth

Rhys, a former Hyperion middle manager, ended up taking control of Atlas with help from Zer0. The game also introduced Gortys and The Traveler, and Vaughn became a bandit leader.

Leading to Borderlands 3: The Calypso Twins and Lilith’s Sacrifice

Colonel Hector attacked Sanctuary, forcing the Crimson Raiders to leave. Ellie built Sanctuary III, a spaceship base.

Tyreen and Troy Calypso, children of Typhon DeLeon, became cult leaders and united the bandits into the Children of the Vault. There’s a six year gap between BL2 and BL3, during which Lilith reformed the Crimson Raiders.

Borderlands 3: Clash of the Sirens

The new Vault Hunters helped Lilith take the fight to the Calypso Twins across Promethea, Eden-6, and other planets. Maya was killed, her powers transferred to Ava.

Typhon revealed that Pandora is actually the Great Vault, and Tyreen planned to absorb the Destroyer’s power. After defeating her, Lilith regained her powers and sacrificed herself to protect the universe, leaving her Firehawk symbol burned into the moon Elpis.

The Six Year Gap to Borderlands 4: What’s Happening

Sanctuary III crashed on Kairos. Our new Vault Hunters were likely aboard, along with Zane and Amara.

The Watcher is back. We see it testing Vault Hunters and still talking about the coming war. It might not be the war itself, but a setup for something bigger. The Watcher seems interested in Kairos for a reason.

Elpis also crashed into Kairos. We may end up exploring it again. Lilith could be there. Moxxi has history on Elpis and might know something useful.

The Vaults on Kairos look different and glow with a unique energy. They’re possibly created by the Timekeeper, who is rumored to be immortal. Randy Pitchford mentioned that the “treasure” of Kairos could be immortality. These Vaults might be trials, which is why people think you can rerun them.

The Timekeeper uses “bolts” to control people. The Ripper Queen managed to remove her bolt and started a rebellion. The Psycho mask became a symbol of freedom after the Elpis crash. Not all Rippers are insane. Some are allies, some are enemies. They’re drilling into Kairos, maybe for Vaults or for a new explosive material called Ordinite.

Harlo is a Trant who copied Maya and Amara’s powers using gadgets. This might be revenge or a power grab. Vex is another mystery. Possibly a necromancer or an anti-Siren, her powers could come from Commander Steele. Some think she is Emily Swan, the girl saved by The Watcher in The Pre-Sequel.

Nyriad has Echo logs on Kairos. That’s a big deal. It suggests she had a connection to the planet even before dealing with the Eridians. She mentioned the Timekeeper in her Borderlands 3 logs, so their history goes deep. She might have released him. This could link to the mystery of the seventh Siren.

Our Vault Hunters are bolted at the start of BL4, under the Timekeeper’s control. But we break free. How? One theory says Tannis uses her Siren powers to interface with tech and overrides the control.

Ava and Tannis were likely on Sanctuary and may have survived. They could be hiding or regrouping somewhere on Kairos. Zer0 is probably still with Rhys. Lilith is missing, and finding her might drive much of the story. Marcus is probably not dead. He would not miss a new planet full of loot and chaos.

Timeline of the Borderlands Story

Borderlands 4 is shaping up to finally connect years of threads. The Watcher’s warning, Siren origins, Vault tech, the Timekeeper, and maybe even immortality. If the past games built the stage, this one might be the moment everything comes together. Let’s see where this ride goes.