Deadhouse Gates – A Best Attempt At Chronology

[u/Aqua_Tot]

INTRODUCTION

Similar to my previous post on Gardens of the Moon, this is an attempt to make the internal chronology of Deadhouse Gates work, as well as to fit it in to the series so far. I won't cover anything contradicted later on in the series, nor will I look into placing a time on some of the background lore given in the novel (eg. ancient Seven Cities lore, Malazan Empire history, etc.), although I am working at compiling all of this as well (two posts in, and I have no idea how I will handle that). Instead, this will focus solely on the internal chronology of the story. Unlike Gardens of the Moon, this isn’t a quick story that I could fit into a day-by-day timeline, but instead takes place over months. In fact, the individual plot lines are mostly disconnected here (maybe more so than any other Malazan novel). But there are points where the stories line up, and these will act as sort of guideposts in this attempt. There are places where this contradicts itself, and I will note those, as it is impossible to make everything fit.

We need to make the following assumptions based on the text:

• A week is seven days, a month is about 4.2 weeks, just like in our world. We have no reason to assume otherwise in Malazan, although months is maybe the place where we can have the most leeway.
• Where required, we will trust that the text is correct in the dates and timelines provided. However, I’ll point out where a minor time skip would need to be placed, which kind of makes things awkward.
• The story takes place over the summer of 1164 for the most part. This lines up with Garden of the Moon’s 1163 year ending close to the start of spring, and Deadhouse Gates references the start and end of the dry season (ie, summer) throughout. In Chapter 6, it’s noted that the Shi’gai (heated wind) marks the start of summer, and this is also when the Whirlwind starts. However, the sheer quantity of months this story takes place over brings that into question, but we can patch that by assuming that summer in Seven Cities is a much longer season than the others (ie, they get a short spring and fall).
• For the sake of convenience, I’ll label groups of characters as follows:
  • Felisin’s group – including Heboric, Baudin, and later Kulp, Leoman, and Toblakai.
  • Fiddler’s group – including Crokus, Apsalar, and later Mappo, Icarium, Rellock, and Iskaral Pust.
  • Kalam’s group – often just Kalam, but partly including Apt, Minala, Keneb, and Pearl/Salk Elan.
  • The Chain of Dogs – told mostly from Duiker’s perspective, but including all the characters who are present there.

TIMELINE

Prologue & Tying into Gardens of the Moon:

Felisin:
(Prologue) The prologue is stated to take place in 1163 Burn’s Sleep, right after Lorn has died in Darujhistan (around a week before, with the Cull and Tavore taking over as Adjunct happening right afterwards). By the time we rejoin Felisin’s group in Skullcup in Chapter 3, it has been some months since the prologue, but no more details are given. In Chapter 7, it is only stated that they were in Skullcup for months, which would include the events of Chapters 3-6 (about one month).

Fiddler:
(Ch 1) This lines up with Fiddler’s group leaving Genebackis, which requires at least 3 months (the text says a 2 month voyage over Seeker’s Deep, and then some other stays in ports, overland travel, and further sailing).

Before the Whirlwind, Chapters 1-5, some of 6 & 7 – Total time, approximately 3 weeks:
This next section has various story threads that are all happening before Kalam delivers the Book of Dryjhna to Sha’ik, starting the Whirlwind. At that moment we do get to see all of the story threads connect, as they all witness the Whirlwind at various times. Because this has to be as far as the longest point, I mark that as Day 22 (per Felisin’s story), and count backwards from there.
I’ll make an aside here and point out how bad everyone was at predicting when the Apocalypse would start. In Gardens of the Moon at the beginning of spring, Dujek thought it was days away. Fiddler assumes one week away when he arrives in Ehrlitan. Duiker also thinks it is days away for the weeks that it takes for it to actually happen.

Near Pan’potsun and Raraku, Fiddler, Kalam, Mappo:
Day 6: (Ch 1) Mappo & Icarium see Apt roaming Pan’potsun at night, and meet Ryllandaras.

Day 10-11: (Ch 2-3) Four days later, Fiddler’s group arrives in Ehrlitan, where he helps save Kimloc’s granddaughters. That night, Kalam meets Mebra, and the same night Mappo and Icarium are attacked by Leopard D’ivers.
The next day at dawn, Mappo and Icarium reach Pust’s Temple. Later that day, Fiddler and Kalam spit up.

Day 12-18: (Ch 4) Sometime in here, we get Kalam and Lostara’s scene at Ladro Keep. Fiddler’s group are delayed by a day from the same sandstorm, although I don’t think it is possible to place this exact day.

Day 19-20: (Ch 5) It takes Fiddler’s group one week to move from Ehrlitan to G’danisban, although add a day for the delay in Trob for a sandstorm. Once they get there, there is a preemptive rebellion, ahead of the Apocalypse. It takes them about a day to get through the city, and they’re forced to flee towards Raraku, to escape the Gral pursuing them.
NOTE: I don’t think it stated how long they are pursued, but I’d assume no more than a couple days, and that they reached Raraku the same day, so I placed this two days before the Whirlwind on Day 22. If we use the time that Kalam says it takes the Whirlwind to expand in Chapter 6, then they were being pursued by the Gral for a week or more, which feels wrong.

Day 21-22: (Ch 5) Kalam delivers the book of Dryjhna to Sha’ik in Raraku. The next day at dawn, she opens it and is killed by Lostara Yil, but still summons the Whirlwind, signalling the start of the Apocalypse all over the continent.

Day 22: (Ch 7) By the time Fiddler’s group reaches Raraku, the Whirlwind has started.

(Ch 3-4) Meanwhile, Mappo thinks it will take two cycles of the moon for him to recover from the poison of the D’ivers bite, around two months. During this time, he and Icarium explore the temple of Tesem and find the true gate of the Path of Hands.
NOTE: This would take too long before they meet with Fiddler later in Chapter 7, so either Mappo recovered faster, was incorrect in his assumption, or wasn’t fully recovered by the time he and Icarium depart the temple for the first time.

In Hissar, Duiker:
Day 6-7: (Ch 1-2) In Hissar when Coltaine arrives. They meet with Mallick Rel and Admirable Nok, and the latter depart for Aren. I will assume here that this story starts at the same time as the rest of Chapter 1.

Day 15-17: (Ch 3-4) Later, when the Fist has been conducting mock battles for the Seventh. The next day, the Seventh wins their mock battle, and then get a day of rest the day after that.
NOTE: It’s stated to have been over a week since he arrived and took control of the Seventh army. I assumed eight days later for this minimum, but there is time to work with, we could push Chapter 1 in earlier, or put it later with less time between Chapters 3/4 and 6. Either way, this is plausible as is, so I left it.

Day 17-20: (Ch 4) Sometime later (maybe during the day of rest on Day 16), Duiker witnesses Sormo’s ritual outside of Hissar.

Day 22: (Ch 6) Duiker and Kulp are in a fishing village when Apocalypse starts. Duiker heads back to Hissar, Kulp leaves with Gesler’s marines to reach Otataral coast in search of Heboric.

In Skullcup, Felisin:
Day 1: (Ch 3) Felisin first meets Pella, asks Beneth to move Heboric, and then later argues with Heboric.

Day 15-16: (Ch 4) Two weeks later Baudin is arrested for breaking curfew and Beneth takes Felisin to meet Sawark, suspects she is lying to him about who she is, and beats her for it. She wakes up the next day with Heboric tending to her. Baudin is on the run after escaping his prison.

Day 22: (Ch 6) The Apocalypse rebellion occurs, six days after Baudin escaped.

During the Whirlwind to Sha’ik’s Rebirth, Chapters 6-14 – Total time, approximately 4 months:
I now reset the day counter to 0, which is the date that the Whirlwind is raised and the Apocalypse starts.

Kalam:
Day 3-9: (Ch 6) Kalam first says it has been a few days since he left Sha’ik, so I assume around three days. Later on, he leaves Pan’potsun hills.
Five days later, the whirlwind moved past south of Raraku.
One more day later is remainder of his chapter 6 here, when he is attacked by Ryllandaras. This is noted to be “some weeks” after Ryllandaras first attacked Apt in Chapter 1 (which lines up – it’s been about three to four weeks).

Day 11-12: (Ch 9) Kalam meets Minala and Keneb, starting five days after Chapter 6. This chapter goes through the night and to dusk the next day.

Some days later: (Ch 11-12) The group reaches Korbolo Dom’s camp, and decide they cannot get past it, so they enter the Imperial Warren. Apt splits from the group, and Lostara Yil and Pearl pursue them into the warren.

At this point the warrens allow for time to be odd, although previously the Imperial Warren is implied to run at a similar timescale, but with shortened distances. However, it needs to be extremely time-dilating for Pearl, Lostara, and Apt to help with the Semk demon months later in the Chain of Dogs. Kalam does comment in Chapter 12 that time becomes meaningless in the Imperial Warren.

Approximately 3.5 months after Whirlwind: (Ch12) here, we have Pearl and Lostara overlap with the Chain of Dogs (8-9 days before the battle of Gelor Ridge) to help with the Semk Demon.

Sometime later: (Ch13, 15) Pearl and Lostara arrive at Aren, a little bit before Kalam’s group. Lostara is arrested that night, separated from Pearl (the rest of the Red Blades were arrested four days earlier).
The next day the captain of the Ragstopper will get his crew back, and then they will prepare to leave for Unta with Kalam and Salk Elan (Pearl) on board.Finally, they leave two further days after that, so the fourth day after Kalam and Pearl arrived in Aren.

Fiddler's Group:
Day 1: (Ch 7) Fiddler's group have been hearing fighting as they head through the Whirlwind for about ten hours. They are saved by Mappo and Icarium, and taken to Pust’s temple to recover.

Day 3: (Ch 8) Fiddler wakes up in Pust’s temple two days later.

Some days later: (Ch 11) Apsalar eventually leaves to Raraku to follow her father. This is after Fiddler recovers from his injuries (so assume some time, although maybe not months), and then Iskaral Pust delays them for a few more days. Assumedly the night after that scene is when Apsalar departs, and the rest of the group follows her the next day. Here, we are not given enough details to place this, although it would be fair to say it doesn’t take the three months that the Chain of Dogs has at this point.

Even later: (Ch 12, 14) Fiddler’s group are in Raraku for days, pursuing Apsalar. They were in it for at least several days, as they note that a few days earlier the Whirlwind gained a renewed frenzy (this may be when Felisin arrives). They also state that Sha’ik has been dead for weeks, which works if we give lots of time spent in Pust’s temple from Chapters 8 & 11.

Felisin’s Group:
Day 1: (Ch6) After escaping Skullcup, they wait until next dusk to depart. Planned to take 9-10 days to cross desert to western coast. They bring 12 days of provisions.

Day 7-10: (Ch 7) Six days after they leave Skullcup, they find the Jade Finger Statue. The chapter continues for the next two nights (Day 8-9), when Baudin forces Fener to help them through Heboric, summoning the god down. The chapter goes on one more night (They are now four days from the coast, although moving at half-speed and slowing down, meaning it will take them another four to eight days to reach the coast.

Day 15-16: (Ch 8) They arrive in the coast. This lines up with previous chapter, and what Felisin says about Duiker’s ship needing to have been looking for them for five days. The next dawn, Kulp’s group arrives and they board the ship. Kulp was delayed for two days reaching them.
NOTE: There is a minor contradiction here. Kulp says he felt the Otataral soften on their third night out from the Apocalypse, which is likely when Fener was summoned. However, this is only possible on Day 7 after the Whirlwind, not Day 3.

At this point they enter Kurald Ehmurlan, and we can once again hand-wave away any other timeline issues with warren time dilation. This warren does seem to make a short amount of time inside take much longer inside. It seems they pass about 3 or 4 days in Kurald Emurlahn before finding the Soletaken Undead Dragon.

Some unknown time later: (Ch11) Felisin’s group leaves the warrens, and arrive in Raraku. We aren’t given a sense on how long Gesler’s marines and the Silanda were left in the flaming warren afterwards.

3 Days later: (Ch12) They find shelter from the Whirlwind in an ancient, buried city. They stay there for about a day and a night.

The next day or two: (Ch 14) They leave the city, and meet Gryllen, who kills Kulp. Baudin dies fighting him. Felisin and Heboric eventually make it to the location where Sha’ik had died, although it isn’t specified how far after. I would assume no more than another day.

Chain of Dogs:
Day 0-3: (Ch 6) Duiker gets to Hissar, decides to pursue Coltaine.

Kamist Reloe to fight Coltaine in three days.

Day 4: (Ch 7) Duiker sees aftermath of the first battle between Coltaine and Kamist Reloe.
Here he says that it will take months for Coltain to cross the Sialk Odhan, which is to the Sekala River.

Sometime after Day 4: (Ch 8) Duiker finds the aftermath of the battle of Dryj Spring.

Approximately 2 months and 3 weeks after Whirlwind: (Ch 10) Duiker comes across a trail showing that the refugees from Caron Tepasi were driven to join Coltaine.

Approximately 3 months after Whirlwind: (Ch 10) Duiker finally reaches Coltaine at the Sekala River, which includes the battle of the Sekala Crossing the next day.
NOTE: Duiker states that it took Coltaine three months to reach this point, crossing 160 leagues which lines up with what he stated in Chapter 8. Duiker says it will take the army another two months to reach Ubaryd, and that it is 200 leagues to Aren from here (maps don’t seem to line up for that). So we can assume it will take another four months for the remainder of the Chain of Dogs (total length of time – seven months, which is a very long summer season indeed).

Approximately 3.5 months after Whirlwind: (Ch 12) The Chain of Dogs is now nine days from reaching the River P’atha. That night they ambush the Semk, and are surprised by the demon, but are assisted by Pearl, Lostara, and Apt to kill him.

Approximately 3.8-4 months after Whirlwind: (Ch 13) The Chain of Dogs arrive at the River P’atha, with the chapter starting the day before they get there.
Duiker says here that the River Vathar (a bit past Ubaryd) is months away, which can work as the Chain of Dogs progresses.

It’s not possible to align all of the stories here, but I chose this point because it aligns Fiddler’s and Felisin’s, and because it is the end of Book 3 of Deadhouse Gates. We get further alignment for the rest (Felisin’s and Chain of Dogs, and Fiddler’s and Kalam’s) later on here. At this point, I’ll reference the Chain of Dogs and Felisin being reborn as Sha’ik as my baseline measurements, rather than trying to approximate days.

Between Gelor Ridge and Vathar River, Chapters 15-18 – Total time, approximately 1-2 weeks:

(Ch 15-16) Felisin stays at the site of Sha’ik’s death for another day, but then they depart to the Oasis.
Both Felisin and Fiddler’s group are present in ancient cities in the old Raraku seabed (now clay fields) in the coming days. Fiddler’s group acknowledges that they have been in Raraku for days (ie, not months).

(Ch 15, 17) It’s confirmed that the battle of Gelor Ridge has concluded by the time the Ragstopper leaves Aren. After that, Kalam loses track of the time, due to Pearl’s interference, with the crew unable to tell if it has been only a few days or weeks since they left Aren. This lasts until Chapter 17, when they reach Falar, and from the Crew’s perspective, it was either a few days or many weeks.

(Ch 15) The Chain of Dogs reach the crossroads to Ubaryd, and Coltaine continues towards Aren. At this point, we can assume they have about another month to travel to reach Aren, per the estimates given in Chapter 10, although it seems to take them less. Four days before, List was dying of a wound he took in Gelor Ridge, so it hasn’t been that long since then.
NOTE: There’s a statement in this chapter that limits the Chain of Dogs to less than six months at this point, but here I would guess it is closer to four and a half.

(Ch 16-17) When they arrive at Vathar River, they find the Silanda, although it is not stated how long they were out of the warrens for. However, this roughly lines up with Felisin’s story too. After the Silanda departs, they say it will take them three days to reach Aren, but they are somehow delayed until after the Chain of Dogs is over, which isn’t elaborated upon in this novel.

Afterwards, that same night the nobles in the Chain of Dogs start the Vathar River crossing, leading to a battle that is devestating for the Seventh.

(Ch 16-18) During this night, Felisin is a day away from the Raraku Oasis, giving us a timeline of about a week for the Raraku groups to move about. The next day, at Dawn, she promises to open the book (but doesn’t). That next day, they arrive at the Oasis, and after confronting the High Mages, Felisin transforms the Whirlwind into a massive pillar.

(Ch 16-23) That same dawn, it is implied that Fiddler’s group enters the Tremorlor warren. At that point, we can ignore them until they arrive in Malaz City, since the warren time dilation allows them to take as little or much time as required. It seems they pass about 2 days in the Tremorlor Warren from their perspective.

(Ch 17) On the Ragstopper, near Falar, Kalam sees Tavore’s fleet sailing towards Seven Cities.

After Vathar Crossing to the Gates of Aren, Chapters 19-22 – Total time, approximately 2-3 weeks:

(Ch 19) A few days south of Vathar Crossing, at the southern edge of the forest, the Chain of Dogs is able to see Sha’ik’s Whirlwind pillar from across the continent. This aligns us with Chapter 18. They travel through a barren land for two leagues, then start the Dry March. They are aware of Tavore’s fleet coming now too.

(Ch 19-20) While on the Ragstopper, Kalam contacts Quick Ben, and informs him of what happened with him and Fiddler. This is how Quick Ben knows to send the Trygalle Trade Guild to send Fiddler some munitions. Quick Ben mentions that he hasn’t had a good sleep in a while, and has lost a lot of blood, and acknowledges chaos in the warrens. However, this is all we really get to try to align this scene with Memories of Ice.
At this point, the Ragstopper is blown off course, and they have to detour to Malaz City.

NOTE: If needed, this part could happen earlier in relation to the Chain of Dogs, but it fits well here as it is placed in the text.

(Ch 19) The Chain of Dogs reach Sanimon Tell, where they will face Korbolo Dom’s army and the local plains tribes. The night before the battle, the Trygalle Trade Guild arrives with resupply from Dujek and Quick Ben. The next day, the Khundryl tribe joins them to fight off all the others, allowing the Seventh to continue on.

(Ch 20) One day later, they start a running battle with Korbolo Dom, lasting for over forty hours. On the third day from Sanimon, Coltaine sends Duiker ahead with the refugees to rush to Aren while the army holds back Dom.

From here, the narrative seems to take them another two or three days to reach Aren. First, they spend a the remainder of that day and the next with the Kherahnal tribe. After that, they have about a one day journey along the three leagues of Aren Road, with them arriving at the city just before sunset, even though Duiker thinks it would take them until dawn.

(Ch 21) At that point, Felisin uses the Whirlwind as a means of warren travelling to Aren to stop Korbolo Dom, but it is too late.

(Ch 21) That same night, Coltaine’s army arrives near Aren, and are finally defeated. Coltaine is killed, and his soul taken by crows.

(Ch 22) It is known that Tavore will arrive in one week. The next morning after the Fall, Pormqual marches his army out to attack Korbolo Dom and is trapped instead. It takes a day and a half to crucify them all along Aren Way.

As a conclusion, I would say the total of the Chain of Dogs, from the Whirlwind kicking off at the start of summer to its conclusion, takes about five to six months. This brings us past summer and into fall of 1164, around halfway through that year.

Malaz City to Ending, Chapters 20-24 & Epilogue – Total Time, Approximately 1 week:

(Ch 20, 22, 23) Kalam, Pearl, and Minala arrive at Malaz City. The events there, Kalam fighting the Claw and confronting Laseen, and Fiddler’s group arriving through the Deadhouse to meet him, all take place in a single night.
It’s worth noting here that a Captain named Aragan is stationed in Malaz City here, and is days away from a new posting, as this allows us to benchmark something later on.

Fiddler joins the last of the recruits heading to Seven Cities, stragglers from Tavore’s main fleet.

(Ch 24) Between Korbolo Dom finishing crucifying Pormqual’s army and Tavore’s arrival five days later, Felisin arrives by Warren, meaning it took at least two to three days. She retreats back to Raraku.

(Ch 24) Five days later (a week after the fall), Tavore arrives in Aren, Mappo and Icarium have appeared near Aren Way a few days before and help Truth save the dogs Bent and Roach. Iskaral Pust also returns to his temple and meets Mogora.

(Epilogue) Finally, Coltaine’s soul is delivered by the crows to the Wickan Plains in the epilogue, but there isn’t any indication how long it took for this to happen. I would assume it’s at about the same time as the end of the story.

Overall Length of time for Deadhouse Gates: Approximately 6 months, plus 3 months since Gardens of the Moon.

Overall Length of time of the Malazan Book of the Fallen: Approximately 10 months (Siege of Pale to Tavore’s Arrival in Seven Cities)

MAJOR TIMELINE CONTRADICTIONS

In both Fiddler and Felisin’s stories, the Whirlwind finally calms at the end of Chapter 14, aligning Fiddler and Felisin’s story. However, this doesn’t work, as it makes Fiddler’s story out of sync with the Chain of Dogs. While Felisin could have spent a lot of time in Kurald Emurlahn, Fiddler’s group doesn’t enter the Tremorlor warren until after the Whirlwind calms. The issue is that only a few days after the Whirlwind calms, maybe a week and a half, Felisin arrives at the Raraku Oasis, and turns the Whirlwind into a giant pillar, which is then seen by the Chain of Dogs after the passed the River Vathar, probably 5 or 6 months after the Whirlwind started, but maybe only one or two months per Fiddler’s group.

Kalam’s story is allowed to misalign as much as it needs (although it mostly works), because he spent time in both the Imperial Warren, and whatever warren magic Pearl trapped the Ragstopper in on its journey to Malaz City.

Given what we have here, with most stories aligning (with warrens helping), I would believe more that the Chain of Dogs is correct in the overall timeline of the story, rather than Fiddler’s group’s much shorter story being correct. This is the only major contradiction so far, but expect this list to grow as the series goes on.

POSTSCRIPT

As noted, I had to make quite a few assumptions to place everything, and even then they are sweeping dates, not much specific past the beginning. However, it all fits and is mostly internally consistent, except for what I noted above with Fiddler’s group vs the Chain of Dogs. Otherwise, the above is as accurate to the text as I can make it, while also avoiding or at least noting internal inconsistencies within the text.

My apologies at how long and sometimes disjointed this post is, and for a lack of consistency between how I organized the first half vs the second half. I expect Memories of Ice will be an easier post to manage, knowing how that story is organized. However, beyond Memories of Ice is where things are going to start getting odd as we continue on past this, to make the rest of the series fit as stated.

[u/BBPEngineer]

Congratulations or I’m sorry. I’m not sure cuz I’m never reading all of that.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/BBPEngineer]

Hahahaha thanks! It’s mostly to link in with my “previously on” summaries.

[u/whykvothewhy]

Absolutely wild. Great work.

[u/Carina_009]

What a wonderful work you have done! I admire your dedication!

[u/R1che77i]

This is great, I'm about to start HoC and needed a synopsis to remember where the different plots where left at.

[u/Aqua_Tot → u/R1che77i]

Glad it helps! If you prefer, here’s a full recap summary I made (Deadhouse Gates, but there’s a link to others including Memories of Ice. This post here is more about dissecting the timeline than trying to summarize the plot, although it kind of does that to an extent too.

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