I was just looking at the timeline... did we ever rationalize the 5 month gap between episodes in Agents of SHIELD season 5? I know we need to make the last several episodes to go with Infinity War and Ant-Man 2 complicates things with the house arrest sentence, but that seems extremely clunky.
In the MCU Wikia, our main piece in the timeline, BEJT, here known as Agamotto came to this reasoning... And I completely agree with it, tho the December 6th date will not longer matter apparently.
The placements for ''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'': [[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season Five|Season 5]], Episodes 14-22 and ''[[Ant-Man and the Wasp]]'' both connect with the placement of ''[[Avengers: Infinity War]]''. It should first be established that ''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place over a little under 24 hours, from Wednesday (as shown on Tony Stark's flip phone) to Thursday.<br>The main events of ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' begin on a Sunday, with Cassie saying, "I had a fun weekend Daddy." On that day, Scott has 3 days remaining of his house arrest sentence, and the sentence finishes right after the climax, making that Wednesday. Scott replies to her, "Me too, Peanut. Just wait until next weekend!" This means the next time he will pick her up will be Saturday. After he is released following the climax of the film, we see Scott picking up Cassie, meaning it is a Saturday, at a minimum the Saturday 3 days after the climax. Following this, the X-Con group get the deal they wanted, Hank and Janet set up their house by the beach, and Hope and Scott watch ''Them!'' with Cassie in a shrunken car, acting like a drive-in theatre. This final scene with Cassie should also be a weekend. At a minimum, the final scene of the film is the Saturday or Sunday 3-4 days after the end of the climax. Following this final scene, the mid-credits scene takes place at the same time as the ending of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' on a Thursday. As will later be explained, the gap between ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' needs to be as short as possible, so assuming the 4 epilogue scenes all take place during the weekend 3-4 days after the climax, the mid-credits scene could then take place on the Thursday after that - 8 days after the climax of the film. Therefore:
*Sunday Week 1 - Beginning of ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events.
*Monday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events continue.
*Tuesday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events continue.
*Wednesday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' climax and end of main events.
*Saturday-Sunday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' epilogue.
*Wednesday Week 3 - Beginning of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' events.
*Thursday Week 3 - End of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' events/''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' credits scenes.
As for ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', Episode 19 - ''[[Option Two]]'' to Episode 22 - ''[[The End]]'' take place concurrently with ''Avengers: Infinity War'' over Wednesday-Thursday. Episode 18 - ''[[All Roads Lead...]]'' takes place shortly prior to ''Option Two''. Deke is shot in the arm in Episode 17 - ''[[The Honeymoon]]'', the day before the end of ''All Roads Lead...''. Following this, he wears a sling until the beginning of Episode 21 - ''[[The Force of Gravity]]''. This should mean that several weeks pass between him being shot and having the sling taken off. However, the only possible gap in time during the period in which Deke has his sling is between ''All Roads Lead...'' and ''Option Two''. The show treats it very much like it has been merely hours when ''Option Two'' begins. However, this would in total mean that Deke had the sling for barely over 1 day, which is impossible. Stretching the gap between ''All Roads Lead...'' and ''Option Two'', it really can be no more than about 5 days, considering the agents' actions, discussions, and behavior. 5 days is pushing it very much. However, even if we consider that the surgery on Deke was very successful and he healed very fast and he took off the sling very prematurely - as soon as he could, to help him be more able in the times of crisis that were occurring, it really cannot be shorter than about 2 weeks of recovery time, which would involve a 13-day gap between ''All Roads Lead...'' and ''Option Two''. Overall, a 9-day jump is necessary, giving 10 days of recovery time before taking off the sling. It absolutely cannot be any longer based on all of the dialogue/actions/behavior, yet it absolutely cannot be shorter for him to be taking the sling off.<br>So, considering a 9-day gap before ''Option Two'', which is set during the early events of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' on Wednesday, ''All Roads Lead...'' must end the prior Monday. Working backwards, the episode begins the day before, the Sunday, Episode 17 - ''The Honeymoon'' is earlier that Sunday, and Episode 16 - ''[[Inside Voices]]'' is earlier that Sunday. In ''Inside Voices'', Ruby Hale says, "So then why not talk to Coulson about it? He has experience with it. I think after 2 days in isolation, maybe an olive branch..." which places the "24 hours ago" portion of Episode 15 - ''[[Rise and Shine]]'' as being 2 days prior, Friday, thus meaning that ''Rise and Shine'' spans from Thursday-Saturday. Finally, Episode 14 - ''[[The Devil Complex]]'', takes place earlier on Thursday.<br>Overall, adding this to the timeline:
*Thursday Week 1 - Episode 14 - ''The Devil Complex''. Beginning of Episode 15 - ''Rise and Shine'' events.
*Friday Week 1 - Episode 15 - ''Rise and Shine'' "24 hours ago" events.
*Saturday Week 1 - End of Episode 15 - ''Rise and Shine'' events.
*Sunday Week 1 - Episode 16 - ''Inside Voices'' events, Episode 17 - ''The Honeymoon'' events, beginning of Episode 18 - ''All Roads Lead...'' events/Beginning of ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events.
*Monday Week 2 - End of Episode 18 - ''All Roads Lead...'' events/''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events continue.
*Tuesday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' main events continue.
*Wednesday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' climax and end of main events.
*Saturday-Sunday Week 2 - ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' epilogue.
*Wednesday Week 3 - Beginning of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' events/Episode 19 - ''Option Two'' events, Episode 20 - ''The One Who Will Save Us All'' events, beginning of Episode 21 - ''The Force of Gravity'' events.
*Thursday Week 3 - End of Episode 21 - ''The Force of Gravity'' events, Episode 22 - ''The End'' events/End of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' events/''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' credits scenes.
Now it needs to be established which weeks in the timeline this applies to.<br>First, there is a latest possible date for the events of ''Avengers: Infinity War''. The Wednesday of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' is still during school time, as Peter is on a school field trip. It is during Peter's junior year, since ''[[Spider-Man: Far From Home]]'' will be set after ''[[Avengers 4]]'', itself set after ''Avengers: Infinity War'', and will take place in the summer vacation between Parker's junior and senior years ([http://www.slashfilm.com/spider-man-homecoming-2-avengers-4/ 1], [https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-avengers-4-trailers-are-going-to-have-a-weird-marke-1827106179 2]). With Parker beginning sophomore year in ''[[Spider-Man: Homecoming]]'' in September 2016, he would finish junior year in June 2018. This means that the Wednesday of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' should be before Tuesday, June 26, 2018, when New York high schools finished for summer ([http://schools.nyc.gov/Calendar/default.htm 1], [http://www.hsas-lehman.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Calendar17-18.pdf 2], [http://hsmse.org/about-us/school-calendar/ 3]). If necessary, it can be assumed that either Parker's school finished 1 day later than most, or the New York high schools in the ''MCU'' finished 1 day later than those in the real world, making Wednesday, June 27, 2018 the absolute latest that ''Avengers: Infinity War'' could begin.<br>The earliest possible is January 2018, as all these events must take place in 2018. This is evidenced by many things:
*''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place 2 years after the main events of ''Captain America: Civil War'', which are firmly placed in June 2016 (see [[2016]] references).
**In ''Avengers: Infinity War'', Vision says, "Wanda, for 2 years, we've stolen these moments, trying to see if this could work."
**Later, Rhodes says to Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon, "You guys really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple years."
**[http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/fe...n-net-visits-the-set-of-avengers-infinity-war A set visit claimed that the film is set "years" after the mid-credits scene of ''Captain America: Civil War''], placing it in at least 2018, and as mentioned, June 2018 is the latest possible, so again, this suggests 2 years.
**[http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/03...r-two-three-years-after-civil-war-scarlett-j/ Scarlett Johansson stated the film is "2 or 3 years" after ''Captain America: Civil War''] in June 2016, suggesting a 2018 or 2019 placement, and as mentioned, June 2018 is the latest possible, so again, this suggests 2 years.
**[https://www.comicbookmovie.com/aven...-war-questions-answered-by-the-russos-a158696 The Russo brothers stated the film is "roughly 2 years" after ''Captain America: Civil War''], specifying that it is roughly the amount of time that has passed in the real world between the release dates of ''Captain America: Civil War'' and ''Avengers: Infinity War''.
**[https://www.comicbookmovie.com/aven...and-iron-man-in-avengers-infinity-war-a158724 Chris Evans said it has been a "couple years" since ''Captain America: Civil War''].
**Scarlett Johansson said in [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Avengers-Infinity-Official-Movie-Special/dp/1785868055 ''Avengers: Infinity War - The Official Movie Special''], [https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81ODB2+iaVL.jpg "There is a two-year period between <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Captain America:''<nowiki>]</nowiki> ''Civil War'' and the start of <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Avengers:''<nowiki>]</nowiki> ''Infinity War''].
*''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place 3 years after the events of ''[[Avengers: Age of Ultron]]'', which are firmly placed in Spring 2015 (see [[2015]] references).
**[http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/fe...n-net-visits-the-set-of-avengers-infinity-war A set visit claimed that the film is set 3 years after ''Avengers: Age of Ultron''].
*''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place 4 years after the main events of ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2]]'', which are placed in October 2014 (see [[2014]] references).
**[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/16...vengers-infinity-war-according-to-kevin-feige Kevin Feige confirmed that ''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place 4 years after ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2''].
**[https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...-based-on-announced-sequels-so-say-the-russos The Russo brothers said, "There's 4 years between <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2''<nowiki>]</nowiki> and <nowiki>[</nowiki>''Avengers: Infinity War''<nowiki>]</nowiki>."]
*''Avengers: Infinity War'' takes place 6 years after the events of ''[[The Avengers]]'', which are firmly placed in May 2012 (see [[2012]] references).
**In ''Avengers: Infinity War'', Tony says to Doctor Strange, "It's you who doesn't understand that Thanos has been inside my head for 6 years, since he sent an army to New York - and now he's back!"
*''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' takes place 2 years after the main events of ''Captain America: Civil War'', which are firmly placed in June 2016.
**In ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'', Scott is finishing a house arrest sentence. Jimmy Woo says, "As a part of his joint plea deal with Homeland Security and the German government, he was allowed to return to the U.S., provided he served 2 years under house arrest followed by 3 years of probation," meaning the sentence was 2 years
**Later, Scott says to Hope, "Give me a break, I haven't driven in 2 years," referring to the time since he left for Germany in ''Captain America: Civil War'' and got arrested.
**At the end of his sentence, Scott asks Woo, "Are my 2 years up already?"
**[http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/06/25/ant-man-wasp-avengers-infinity-war-timeline-feige/ Kevin Feige stated, "<nowiki>[</nowiki>Scott Lang<nowiki>]</nowiki> answered a call when heroes needed him and now he's been under house arrest for 2 years."]
*''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'': Season 5, Episodes 14-22 take place in 2018.
**In Episode 8 - ''[[The Last Day]]'', a flashforward is shown with events that, as shown in Episode 22 - ''The End'', would take place on the Thursday of ''Avengers: Infinity War'', and the on-screen text specifically says "2018".
**The agents return to the present day in Episode 11 - ''[[All the Comforts of Home]]''. Later that day, Yo-Yo Rodriguez has her arms sliced off. The agents perform surgery on her amputated arms, and she begins to heal. 2 days later, in Episode 12 - ''[[The Real Deal]]'', the monitor by her bed shows "12-06-2017", making it December 6, 2017. This fits with Hale saying, "This is the first time Ms. Johnson's been sighted in months," referring to the time since she went traveled to the future in May 2017, and thus suggesting it is no later than December 2017. It fits as being soon after the main events of Episode 5 - ''Rewind'', which take place on November 25, 2017, 197 days (as given by the number of monkey faces Fitz has drawn on his cell wall) after Fitz was incarcerated on May 12, 2017, and then November 26, 2017. It lines up with the fact that the events of ''Thor: Ragnarok'' are referenced as being recent in ''All the Comforts of Home'', with ''Thor: Ragnarok'' taking place around November 2017, and ''All the Comforts of Home'' beginning on December 4, 2017. It also lines up with the fact that in Episode 13 - ''[[Principia (episode)|Principia]]'', Coulson jokes with Fitz, asking if he comes bearing "tidings of comfort and joy". It would indeed be Christmas time, a couple of weeks since ''The Real Deal''. By Episode 14 - ''The Devil Complex'', the skin on Rodriguez's arm stumps has healed over, which takes 4 weeks to 2 months ([https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/definition-amputation#2-5 1], [https://www.sharecare.com/health/amputation-physical-disability/take-to-recover-from-amputation 2]). With Rodriguez having lost her arms and had surgery performed on them on December 4, 2017, earliest that ''The Devil Complex'' can take place is January 2018, thus meaning that from Episode 14 onward, it is 2018.
**In Episode 15 - ''Rise and Shine'', events set at the time of [[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season Three|Season 3]], Episode 17 - ''[[The Team]]'' and Episode 18 - ''[[The Singularity]]'' in April 2016 are shown on-screen to have been "2 years ago".
**In Episode 16 - ''Inside Voices'', events set immediately after [[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./Season One|Season 1]], Episode 22 - ''[[Beginning of the End]]'' in January 2014 are shown on-screen to have been "four years ago".
So, all of these events take place in the first half of 2018. However, there is contradictory evidence for when exactly in the first 6 months of the year. ''Avengers: Infinity War'' and ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' would suggest June 2018, while ''Thor: Ragnarok'' and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' would suggest closer to January 2018.<br>The evidence from ''Avengers: Infinity War'' and ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' is mainly based on Scott Lang's house arrest. His 2-year sentence coming to an end would imply that it has been 24 months since the end of the main events of ''Captain America: Civil War''. In that film, Scott is arrested on June 24, 2016 (a firmly established date - see [[2016]] references). Steve Rogers breaks him out of the Raft 2 days later, on June 26, 2016, and very soon after (as shown in ''[[Avengers: Infinity War Prelude]]''), Scott returns home after making his deal. The exact date that the sentence would end depends on a few factors, such as when the sentence counts as beginning from - the date of his initial imprisonment, the date of his deal being made, or the date he returned home - and if it counts from his initial imprisonment, whether each day spent in prison counts as double towards his sentence, hence removing a couple of days from the term. At the latest, if the deal counted from him returning home and he didn't return until around June 28th, Lang's house arrest would finish on June 27, 2018. Seemingly, at the earliest, if the deal counted from the start of his incarceration on June 24th and each day incarcerated counted as double, plus Scott spent an extra day incarcerated after turning himself over and before the deal was finished and he returned home, thus totalling 3 days incarcerated and therefore 3 days off of his sentence, Lang's house arrest would finish on June 20, 2018.<br>As explained, the arrest finishes on a Wednesday, and at the very shortest, the events of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' start 1 week later on the following Wednesday. And as also mentioned, the very last day that the events of ''Avengers: Infinity War'' can possibly begin is Wednesday, June 27, 2018. So, with what is seemingly the very earliest day that Lang's house arrest can possibly end being Wednesday, June 20, 2018, these would have to be the dates taken - the only possible dates to use: Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Lang's house arrest finishes, and Wednesday, June 27, 2018 ''Avengers: Infinity War'' begins. This would also line up well with the references to the time between previous films and ''Avengers: Infinity War'', with them placing it ideally around mid-2018.<br>However, there are several things in ''Thor: Ragnarok'' and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' suggesting it is much earlier in the year.
*Firstly, ''Thor: Ragnarok'' is firmly set in 2017 (see [[2017]] references). At the very latest, it takes place in November-December 2017, before ''All the Comforts of Home'' on December 4, 2017, which features a reference to the events of the film. There is a jump in time between the end of the main events of the film and the film's mid-credits scene, which is set mere minutes before the opening of ''Avengers: Infinity War''. However, the gap should be minimal, for several reasons:
**The film finishes with Thor deciding to head back to Earth. Only in the mid-credits scene do he and Loki seem to actually begin discussing the problems with bringing Loki back to the planet. This would imply that it is very soon after the decision was made.
**Thor's hair is exactly the same in ''Avengers: Infinity War'' as it is in ''Thor: Ragnarok'', including the streak on the side from the Watcher Informant's poor cutting. While it's possible that Asgardian hair grows slower than humans', it nonetheless implies very little time has passed.
**The ''Statesman'' has a few hundred Asgardians on board that need food and water and other general living standards, and the ship itself is highly unlikely to have enough on board to sustain a few hundred people for very long. It is possible that they could have gone a little longer if one assumes they stopped at other places for resources on the way and/or that Asgardians need less sustenance than humans, but nonetheless, the longer the gap, the more and more assumptions have to me made.
*''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'': Episode 12 - ''The Real Deal'' is firmly set on December 6, 2017, as given by the "12-06-2017" date on Rodriguez's monitor, and which lines up with all the other evidence as mentioned above. Episode 13 - ''Principia'' takes place shortly after and, as is evidenced by Coulson's mention of "tidings of comfort of joy", it is Christmas. When Episode 14 - ''The Devil Complex'' begins, it is heavily implied to be merely another few days later:
**The Fear Dimension rift is still an urgent problem. The agents managed to temporarily close it on December 6, 2017 in Episode 12 - ''The Real Deal'', but as Fitz knows, it was only temporary and is still very much a pressing issue. He is still trying to find a way to close it permanently, knowing it is rapidly reopening, suggesting it has been absolutely no more than a few weeks since Episode 12 - ''The Real Deal''.
**Yo-Yo Rodriguez is still recovering from her arms being sliced off. This would take no more than a few weeks.
**The robotic arms recovered in ''Principia'', at Christmas time, from Hale's sleeper mechs are still only just being programmed for Rodriguez. With geniuses such as Fitz and Simmons, who have created and programmed similar things very fast, this would not take more than a couple of weeks, maximum.
**Nothing has progressed or changed for the agents. They are still hiding in the Lighthouse and working on the issues with Hale and with Rodriguez's arms. Similarly, nothing has progressed with Hale, who deploys a plan in ''The Devil Complex'' that would not have taken very long to come up with. The lack of events or change between the episodes considering the rapidity at which events unfold once the agents return from the future and the urgency of saving the world from destruction means that it cannot be more than several days since ''Principia''.
*In ''The Devil Complex'', snow is shown on the ground, suggesting it is still winter.
*In Episode 15 - ''Rise and Shine'', Coulson says to Hale, "Listen, my team wasn't hiding all these months. We traveled to the future." From this, it can be taken that it has only been "months" since May 12, 2017, when the agents were sent to the future. While it has to now be 2018, it should not be later than early 2018. As well as this, this piece of dialogue suggests that the amount of time that his team have been back in the present is negligible, because he is generalizing the whole time since May 12, 2017 as the time that they were not around, but in the future.
Even a 1-month jump in time from ''Principia'' to ''The Devil Complex'' is a big stretch, so a 6-month jump is almost impossible. While ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' does indeed suggest June, because of the contradiction with ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' and difficulties with ''Thor: Ragnarok'', any possible leniency has to be taken to make a compromise and place these events earlier in 2018. As such, the assumption has to be made that Scott Lang underwent the legal process of, after 18 months, applying for his final 6 months to be halved due to good behavior or other reasons, thus removing 3 months from the sentence. Therefore, while originally his sentence would have finished somewhere between June 20th and 27th, it now finishes somewhere between March 20th and 27th. The Wednesday between these dates is March 21st. So, Scott's sentence ends on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, meaning ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' begins on Sunday, March 18, 2018. With ''Avengers: Infinity War'' needing to be as early as possible for ''Thor: Ragnarok'' and ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', the gap between ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' and ''Avengers: Infinity War'' should be minimal - as can now be seen, in any eventuality, the gap needs to be minimized, hence why only 1 week was placed between the main events of either film from the start - meaning ''Avengers: Infinity War'' picks up the following Wednesday (as explained above), Wednesday, March 28, 2018.<br>This means that:
*There is a 4-month time jump between ''Thor: Ragnarok'' and its mid-credits scene. Not ideal, a bit too long, but manageable.
*There is a 3-month time jump between ''Principia'' and ''The Devil Complex''. Much, much longer than is implied or ideal, but necessary. It does mean that it is still 10 months since Coulson's team were taken to the future, which works well enough with "all these months" - better than 13 months, which would be the case if it were June. It also just about fits with the snow in ''The Devil Complex'', which would not work at all in June.
*Scott's sentence is 3 months shorter than what is heavily implied. Also far from ideal, but necessary.
Until further evidence, this is the placement of the events which fits best, considering all things.