Odyssey Time, by Mr. Whit's

Mr. Whit's End has done an elaborate editorial on Odyssey Time on his site, The Cryin' Brian Dern Blog.  Check it out on his blog here, or read it on the AIOFansite below:

Odyssey Time

It's the age old question: Odyssey Time. AIO has never given an answer on it, but gauging from several references in the show, we may make several reasonable guesses at the rate time passes in Odyssey.

Before we start, some background information:

The year in album 1 will always be assumed to be 1987.

The formula for time passage per album is: number of albums passed / number of years passed

The Eugene Method: Eugene started college when he was 13. When he was 20, he moved to Odyssey (A License to Drive, he says he's been in college for seven years). Seven years later, he finds his father in Album 45 (His father was missing for 20 years and disappeared when Eugene was 7). Eugene is 20 in A License to Drive (album #14), and 27 in Prisoners of Fear (album #45).

Taking the number of albums between 14 and 45 (31 albums), and the amount of time that passed in those albums using this method, each Odyssey album occupies about 0.23 years, or 84 days, or just under three months. Therefore, using this method of AIO time counting, 13.34 years have passed since AIO began. Assuming the year in Album 1 is 1987, AIO is currently in the year 2000.

The Connie Method: Connie moved to Odyssey in Album 1 when she was 15. She was in high school at the time, and at 15, she was either an old freshman or a young sophmore. Either way, we can surmise she graduated when she was 18. Connie graduated in album 31, therefore she was about 18 in album 31.

Taking the number of albums between album 1 and 31 (30 albums), and the amount of time that passed in those albums using this method, each Odyssey album occupies about 0.06 years, or 23 days, or just under a month. Therefore, using this method of AIO time counting, 3.74 years have passed since AIO began. Assuming the year in Album 1 is 1987, AIO is currently in the year 1990.

This method is practically disproven by the current technology level of Album 58 and the Novacom saga. However, the aging rate of the characters gives some credence to this method. All in all, it is very unlikely to be true.

The Lucy Method: This method relies on a bit of guesswork. We can guess that Lucy was about ten when she entered the show in Rumor Has It (Album #3). From this reference point, Lucy states that she is fourteen (one year left in middle school) in Cousin Albert (Album #9) (confirmation needed as I don't remember the episode very well).

Taking the number of albums between 3 and 9 (6 albums), and the amount of time that passed during these albums using this method, each Odyssey album occupies about 1.5 years. Therefore, using this method of AIO time counting, 87 years have passed since AIO began. Assuming the year in Album 1 is 1987, AIO is currently in the year 2074.

This method is practically disproven by the current technology level of Album 58, and the aging of the main characters of the show.

The Eugene method seems to be the best and most accurate way to tell Odyssey time, but currently faces several problems, such as the advanced technology level for the year 2000, and the entire Novacom saga. However, as TigerShadow from the Soda Shop forums pointed out, with Whit's influence, technology could have developed faster.

If you've noticed anything about Odyssey Time, shoot me an email at cryinbriandern@outlook.com and I'll look into it!

Trenton here again. Adding my own theory to Odyssey Time, I also think that the albums are more random, some may take a year, some may take a week. Also I think some episodes like, The Holy Hoopster, took place throughout several albums (being the complete basketball season). I guess we may never know the true date of Odyssey, but we can guess!

-Trenton Landmark