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A PROVISIONAL ARKNIGHTS READING ORDER

act 1: between your love and mine ("Shatter of a Vision")

1. Main Theme chs 0-3: "Evil Time" thru "Stinging Shock"
2. Shining Operator Record: "On A Rainy Night", Nightingale Operator Record: "A Song and a Blue Feather", Nearl Operator Module: "Improved Knight's Shield"
3. Main Theme chs 4-7: "Burning Run" thru "The Birth of Tragedy"
4. Darknights Memoir + Operational Intelligence story: "The Anonymous One's War"
5. Vigilo stories 1-3: "Spes", "Memoria", "Valorem", Blaze Operator Record: "Will You?", operator profiles: Touch, Pith, Sharp, Stormeye
6. Main Theme ch 8: "Roaring Flare" (+ "Burnt Fragments" EG-1 thru EG-5)
7. postscript: Twilight of Wolumonde/A Light Spark in Darkness

act 2 prelude: all my ribbons

8. Vigilo stories 4-6: "Cogitatio", "Anterior", "Pignus" + A Walk in the Dust, Folinic Operator Module: "Mother's Cravat"
9: Rewinding Breeze stories: "Homecoming", "Recollection" + Beyond Here story: "Sword and Scale"
10. Kazimierz Major Trilogy:
    Part 1: Maria Nearl
    Part 2: Pinus Sylvestris
    Part 3: Near Light: Cinematic Teaser PV, Near Light, in that order
    Postscript: Nearl the Radiant Knight Operator Record: "Starting Point", An Obscure Wanderer

entr'acte: that's how the light gets in

11. La Morte di Texas: Overture (Code of Brawl, To Be Continued story: "Wolf and Wolfpack")
12. Children of Ursus
13. To the Sea, Prelude: Grani and the Knight's Treasure + Heart of Surging Flame, Skadi Operator Record: "Endless Journey"
14. Break the Ice

act 2: a million candles burning ("Shadow of a Dying Sun")

15. Main Theme ch 9-10: "County Hillock" + "Stormwatch"
16. What the Firelight Casts
17. Main Theme ch 11-12: "Return to Mist" + "All Quiet Under the Thunder", Amiya (Caster Form) Operator Module: "DWDB-221E"
18. Main Theme ch 13: "The Whirlpool That Is Passion"
19. Babel, operator profiles: "Ascalon", "Kal'tsit"
20. To the Grinning Valley
21. Main Theme ch 14: "Absolved Will Be the Seekers" (+ EG-6 "Lingering Mercy")
22. postscript: Ending a Grand Overture/When Elegies Are Ashes

act 3 prelude: half the perfect world

23. To the Sea:
    Part 1: Gladiia Operator Module: "Consul's Handmirror", Under Tides, Gladiia Operator Record: "Dehydration"
    Part 2: Stultifera Navis, Specter Operator Record: "I, Namely I", Specter the Unchained Operator Record: "Selfhood"
    Part 3: Path of Life
    Postscript: Thorns Operator Record: "Anniversary"
24. Sui Regulators:
    Prelude: Nian's Ancient Forge
    Part 1: Who Is Real
    Part 2: Invitation to Wine
    Part 3: Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
    Interlude: A Death in Chunfen
    Part 4: Here A People Sows
    Interlude: Leizi Operator Record: "One Who Controls Lightning", operator profile: Leizi, Blaze Operator Module: "Overloaded Weapons, Overheated Heart"
    Part 5: Such Is the Joy of Our Reunion
25. Hymns and Recitations (Lateran and Leithanian):
    Part 1: Lingering Echoes
    Part 2: Guide Ahead
    Part 3: Hortus de Escapismo
    Part 4: Zwillingstürme im Herbst
26. Rhine Labs Trilogy:
    Part 1: Mansfield Break
    Interlude: operator profiles: Rosmontis, Ifrit, Ifrit Operator Module: "Team Captain"
    Part 2: Dorothy's Vision
    Part 3: LONETRAIL

entr'acte: a blaze of light in every word

27. The Rides to Lake Silberneherze
28. La Morte di Texas, Act I (Il Siracusano)
29. To the North (Operational Intelligence story: "Polaris", The Black Forest Wills A Dream, Integrated Strategies 4: "Expeditioner's Jǫklumarkar", all endings, in that order)
30. Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures
31. Exodus from the Pale Sea
32. A Kazdelian Rescue + Integrated Strategies 5: "Sarkaz Furnaceside Fables", all endings
33. La Morte di Texas, Act II (I Portatori del Velluti)
34. See You Soon

act 3: the only engine of survival ("Nexus Point of [the] Future")

35. Main Theme, Chapter 15: "Dissociation Complex"
36(?). Hymns and Recitations, Part 5: The Masses' Travels

coda: leaving the table

???. To the Sea, Act III(?) (Mizuki Operator Record: "The Fifth Contact", Integrated Strategies 3, "Mizuki and Caerula Arbor", all endings)

some notes on the nature of this effort:

(the text of this comment originally appeared preceding the reading order it discusses. for various reasons but mostly boiling down to concerns about legibility and potential new reader alienation, it has been moved into a comment below the reading order, instead. like the reading order, it will remain provisional, and subject to edits for further clarification in perpetuity.)

bear in mind: this is not entirely chronological. nor is this a list in order of best-writing-first; what this reading order purports to be, at best, is an order to read arknights' assorted materials in that functions as the best order in which to experience it as a full narrative, in accordance with both (my interpretation of) lowlight's seemingly preferred intent for it to be read in and with a desire to enhance the impact thereof as powerfully as possible.

to that end, this does not merely provide a suggested order for the main story and side stories alone, but also where necessary i have inserted those operator records, modules, and individual vignettes that explain or preface the events of both, and where applicable i have also included cases of the same that simply ... intensify the moment, for the sake of doing so.

this is, by necessity, not an exact science, and i freely admit to some interpretive bias here, so i invite you, where you choose to, to ignore my recommended order and dive into whatever interests you instead; however, while i admit to a bias, that bias is shaped by a sincere intention to present what i perceive to be arknights' core narrative spine with both as few distractions but as much contextualization and narrative impact as possible. i am not trying to shove my least favorite events to the back - in fact, several of my favorite pieces of writing in arknights are some of the last to be listed in this order, precisely because they feel like stories that require just that much context to truly sing, they require that much investment in the rest of the world for the implications they have for the rest of it to truly sink horribly or awesomely home. to that end, i have included placements for stories yet to be published globally, with knowledge of what's contained within gained by their release on the domestic chinese version of the game, and with full intent to return here and update the reading order accordingly once they're archived as well.

(n.b. i have received strong enough disagreement as to my choices in one regard i feel a need to address them, specifically in re: the fact that i include "grani and the knight's treasure" and "heart of surging flame" as relevant at all, much less that they are included where they are. it is true that the bulk of both these events are a great deal of silly antics that don't really matter, but in the process of happening - and in particular, in their resolutions - they provide a great deal of surprise puzzle pieces that will become helpfully relevant later, some much sooner than others ... and as to why they are placed so much earlier than the events that they provide said moving pieces for in advance, well ... if you've made it through "children of ursus", your feelings probably need a break to indulge in something light-hearted and without any greater stakes than "oh no! hijinks!", at that point. and that is the real benefit of them both, in the wider narrative context. take this as the chance to psychologically recover it's meant as.)

likewise, all the names for the various non-"main" storyarcs are my own, as there is no official name given for any of them, and the particular framing of the act breaks, while intended to match the same canonical act breaks provided by the game, is similarly my own bit of funny business. the only one collectively agreed upon by all of the english speaking fanbase is that of the so-called "kazimierz major trilogy"; the rest remain communally unnamed. i have collected them thus under the following identifiable labels that sounded fitting to my ear because a) they break up the list and make it easier to read and b) it makes me happy to play with words and it harms nothing so why not; if they make you, personally, cringe, simply ignore them and replace them with your own - they're not meant to be anything but a bit of fluff, for my own personal amusement.

should you wish, instead, to peruse an alternate reading order guide, say: just following along in chronological release order, specifically, you may simply click the previous link to a googledoc - compiled by a friend - listing just that. alternately, consider: the arknights terra wiki's self-maintained in-universe timeline, complete with mentions of which storylines are being referenced in those events as they are described. both of these options are certainly worth looking at even if you choose not to avail yourself of them for comparison's sake, and currently very well-maintained. i am not so good with fancy color coding or googledocs or wiki formatting, so i'm making do as best i can with what i know i can provide, time and energy permitting. i hope between all these efforts, you find the help you need.

and, finally: none of this would have been possible to assemble in as helpfully linkable a fashion as this effort became without the herculean efforts of both the terra wiki and the arknights story reader. i cannot thank all involved enough for their dedication and willingness to help the community to which they belong. i only hope you also appreciate the efforts they've put forth for your benefit, should you take advantage of the list above, too.

Edited 2025-04-10 16:31 (UTC)

supplemental visual aids:

it seemed necessary to make an addendum like this, as well, because hypergryph has a delightfully frustrating tendency of releasing extremely fascinating deep dives into the setting elements of arknights that explain details of the storyline that aren't immediately relevant, or important, to the events of the actual narrative of the game's storylines, but that nevertheless help contextualize, or in one case define, terminology that characters themselves choose to leave ambiguous or take for granted - as well as providing fascinatingly teasing glimpses into the way the game itself desires the audience to interpret its contents.

this is a post collecting those ancillary materials, in case new players wish to seek out such things but have no clue where to begin. it will be updated less often than the reading guide, for obvious reasons.

the DISCOVERED TERRA series:
(an annual series breaking down the history and geography - the geopolitics - of terra and its nations. if you crave a more expanded view of the places involved in all the events of arknights, go here.)
  explored terra (effectively discovered terra 1.0)
  discovered terra 2.0
  discovered terra 3.0
  retraced terra (effectively discovered terra 4.0) [personal advice: while the others can be watched at any time, if you wish to experience the storyline as minimally spoiled for major climactic reveals as it's possible to be, then this one is best set aside to be watched only after reading through LONETRAIL. but only if that is your wish.]

assorted other ancillary material:
(look, this is just here for one video at the moment, but they could inflict another video like this on us all at any time, and then everyone still using this guide will be very glad i have a place to put it already ... or at least, that's what i'm hoping will happen.)
  beast lords: invisible companions (note: link goes to an unofficial reupload of a video originally only posted to the official arknights channel on chinese video streaming platform bilibili, and contains/explains spoilers for code of brawl, il siracusano, integrated strategies 4, and so long, adele.

the concept PV series:
(very erratically - the release of the first of these predates even the game's beta release domestically, and truly does serve as a concept pitch selling the game's basic setup at-launch to an audience that needs some groundwork explaining what it is the studio wants them to buy into, then the second released upon the game's public launch out of alpha, then the third two years later, then the fourth a whopping three years after that - hypergryph releases a roadmap laying out the overarching subject matter and themes the game intends to cover for the duration of its next cycle of development, set perpetually to a new song by the game's unofficial spokesband, starset. nothing here truly spoils the game's narrative directly, only hints, tantalizingly, at what awaits.)
  concept trailer 1: "monster"
  concept trailer 2: "unbecoming"
  concept trailer 3: "infected"
  concept trailer 4: "telescope"

original animated shorts:
(sometimes, hypergryph releases a surprisingly lavish side-story focusing on a moment in the life of a faction or character important to the greater story's events that's illustrative of who they are when the focus is elsewhere and can be inferred as happening during other events but is otherwise not referenced in the wider narrative, and thus is interesting, but not integral. thus far there's only a few of these, but there could be more to come.)
  penguin logistics in: "Holy Knight Light"
  lee's detective agency in: "a day in lungmen" (note: link goes to unofficial playlist containing all officially-released episodes on youtube. subtitles will need to be enabled using youtube's closed-caption option.)
  ceobe and friends in: "kay's daily doodles!" (note: link goes to official playlist of all episodes. schedule a visit with your dentist about the resultant cavities inflicted on your own time.)
  w in: "the dagger's inheritors" (note: contains spoilers for darknights memoir, babel, and main theme chapter 14)

the ARGs:
(so, remember the concept trailers? the ones that don't directly spoil anything in the storyline? well. that's true. but another thing the trailers have done, since the second trailer officially launched alongside the game leaving beta and entering wide release, is include clues leading obsessive enough audience members down an Alternate Reality Game-shaped rabbithole containing massive reveals about the setting and its history, some of which wouldn't be fully contextualized or explained until main theme chapter 14 and LONETRAIL. in other words, even though some of this information has been floating around to be tripped over and uncovered by dedicated enough fans since the very earliest days of the game's lifespan, most of it nevertheless constitutes major spoilers for almost every narratively important plot reveal in the game. so if that isn't something you wish to risk learning about sooner than the narrative itself prompts you to wonder, do not read these links until at least having read up through babel, or, if you're really serious about avoiding this stuff, not till after the previously mentioned events.)
  ARG #1: "The Record of the Recorder"
  ARG #2: "The Last Letter, The Last Order"
  ARG #3: "Stand by Her Side"

Edited 2025-04-09 23:14 (UTC)

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