With The Lego Ninjago Movie hitting theaters this week. I think it’s a good time to go over The Lego Movie franchise timeline. After watching The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie, I was sure the timeline was cut and dry and the studio was releasing the films in chronological order. This all changed after I left my screening of The Lego Ninjago Movie. My mind was opened to a few possible timelines Warner Bros. could be presenting to the audience.

(Beware: there are minor spoilers for The Lego Movie franchise below!)

As I said before, one would assume that the studio is releasing the films in chronological order. This would mean that the events in The Lego Movie take place first, followed by the events in The Lego Batman Movie, then the events of The Lego Ninjago Movie and The Lego Movie Sequel’s events would be the most recent in the timeline. However, there is no mention of “Master Builders” — people capable of building anything from their imagination without the need of instructions — in The Lego Ninjago Movie or any other Lego characters outside of the land of Ninjago. This would mean that the films are not being released chronologically. I propose that there are three possible timelines in The Lego Movie franchise. Let’s go over how I arrived at these possibilities.

In The Lego Ninjago Movie, Lloyd Garmadon had not mastered Spinjitzu or learned his elemental ability. However, he appears in all of his ninja glory in The Lego Movie as a “Master Builder” along with Batman and the others. This leads me into the first two possible timelines.

• Timeline 1: The Lego Batman Movie ­– The Lego Ninjago Movie – The Lego Movie
• Timeline 2: The Lego Ninjago Movie – The Lego Batman Movie ­– The Lego Movie

Since Lloyd Garmadon is not a “Master Builder” in The Lego Ninjago Movie, the film must take place before The Lego Movie. If that is the case, then it can also possibly take place before The Lego Batman Movie. The Lego Batman Movie, on the other hand, has the possibility of taking place before or after The Lego Movie. Considering that Batman was already a “Master Builder” during the events of The Lego Movie his film could indeed take place before it. However, there is a good chance that it takes place after, which leads me to the next timeline.

• Timeline 3: The Lego Ninjago Movie – The Lego Movie – The Lego Batman Movie ­

Many of the DC superheroes that appear in The Lego Movie as “Master Builders” also appear in The Lego Batman Movie. They do not play a major role in that film, but it does provide continuity. Batman does continue to use his master building ability in The Lego Batman Movie, adding to this continuity. Also, Robin does not appear in The Lego Movie with Batman. This could either mean that Batman chose not to bring Robin on his adventure with the other “Master Builders” or that he had no Robin at the time. If we believe in the latter situation, then The Lego Batman Movie would take place after The Lego Movie. This situation also leads me to my final timeline.

• No Timeline: The Lego Movie – The Lego Batman Movie – The Lego Ninjago Movie

The fact that The Lego Ninjago Movie is shown to take place in an antique store and not in Finn’s basement could mean that there is no timeline. This would make the films connected in name only with the only true sequel to The Lego Movie being The Lego Movie Sequel, which is due to hit theaters on February 8, 2019. There is also the possibility that The Lego Ninjago Movie is the only film not connected, making it a true spin-off. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will give us a definite answer in the coming years.

The Lego Ninjago Movie hits theaters this Friday.