Everything, Everywhere (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

In the Alphaverse, Alpha-Evelyn was the first to discover verse-jumping, but unlike other Evelyns who became kung fu masters or film stars, this version stayed in her original life running a laundromat. The Alphaverse labeled her a failure because she achieved nothing remarkable by their standards. Alpha-Waymond believed this very failure, living a mundane, struggling life, gave her untapped potential that could stop Jobu.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Waymond explains that Evelyn's ordinary life in her universe is what makes her different from the others.

• alphaverse
• evelyn
• greatest failure
• alpha-waymond
• verse-jumping

Verse-jumping is a technology and technique that allows a person to access the skills, memories, and even take control of the bodies of their alternate selves from parallel universes. Every choice creates a new universe, so countless versions of each person exist. By reciting a specific verse and focusing, jumpers can tap into those other selves, borrowing their abilities to fight, solve problems, or navigate dangerous situations.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Waymond demonstrates this by taking over his own body in the IRS building to warn Evelyn.

• verse-jumping
• multiverse
• alpha-waymond
• ability
• jump

Jobu Tupaki is the Alpha-Joy, Evelyn's daughter from the Alphaverse. After being forced to verse-jump endlessly by her mother Gong Gong to find a version of Evelyn who could fight, Jobu's mind shattered from experiencing too many realities at once. She gained immense power to manipulate matter and verse-jump at will, but her psychological break made her create the Everything Bagel as a way to end everything.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Waymond explains that Jobu's mind broke from verse-jumping beyond endurance.

• jobu tupaki
• alpha-joy
• threat
• multiverse
• mind break
• everything bagel

The Everything Bagel is a black-hole-like toroid singularity created by Jobu Tupaki. It represents infinite possibility gone wrong, a hole that contains all possible outcomes and meanings simultaneously. Jobu intended to use it to destroy the entire multiverse, believing nothing truly matters. At the climax, she plans to enter it to achieve true nothingness.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Waymond first introduces the Everything Bagel as a weapon that could unravel all of reality.

• everything bagel
• jobu
• black hole
• toroid
• destroy multiverse

Alpha-Gong Gong, the Alphaverse version of Evelyn's father, temporarily possesses Gong Gong during his visit. He orders Evelyn to kill Joy because Jobu is using Joy's connection to Evelyn as a pathway to access Evelyn's specific universe. Alpha-Gong Gong believes killing Joy is the only way to prevent Jobu from destroying that reality. Evelyn refuses this order, choosing to find another solution.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Gong Gong appears briefly and delivers this command before being defeated.

• gong gong
• kill joy
• alpha-gong gong
• order
• jobu

At the Everything Bagel, Evelyn nearly succumbs to nihilism after seeing all the meaningless possibilities. But she hears Waymond from her own universe, his real-world plea asking her to choose kindness and find happiness even when nothing makes sense. This grounded, loving message snaps her out of despair. She realizes empathy and connection are worth choosing even in a meaningless universe, giving her the power to fight back.

Foreshadowing: Waymond's earlier attempts to give Evelyn divorce papers foreshadow his role as the one who reaches her emotionally.

• waymond
• plea
• kindness
• nihilism
• everything bagel
• empathy

Jobu decides to enter the Everything Bagel alone to end everything, but Evelyn uses her new empathic powers to fight through and save Jobu from being pulled in. Joy also pleads with Evelyn to let Jobu go, showing trust in her mother's choice. In the end, Evelyn pulls Jobu back from the brink, and Jobu is saved along with the multiverse. She returns with Evelyn's family, her relationship with Joy potentially beginning to heal.

Foreshadowing: Jobu's revelation that she just wants someone to understand her emptiness foreshadows her eventual redemption.

• jobu
• ending
• everything bagel
• saved
• joy

After her transformation and confrontation with Jobu, Evelyn returns to her home universe with a new perspective. Rather than seeing Becky's girlfriend status as a problem, she accepts Joy's relationship as part of who Joy is. This acceptance is part of Evelyn's broader emotional growth, choosing love and connection over judgment or control. She even tells Gong Gong about the relationship, standing up to her father's traditional expectations.

Foreshadowing: Evelyn's initial struggle with Becky reflects her broader difficulty accepting change and letting go of control.

• becky
• joy
• accept
• relationship
• family
• evelyn

Alpha-Waymond travels to the Alphaverse to find Evelyn and continues trying to reach her. Jobu locates him there and kills him because he was the one who brought Evelyn into the multiversal conflict. His death removes the primary person who believed Evelyn could succeed and serves as a major emotional blow, making Evelyn's ultimate victory more costly.

Foreshadowing: Alpha-Waymond's willingness to risk himself was established when he first came to warn Evelyn.

• alpha-waymond
• jobu
• killed
• alphaverse
• death

Looking into the Everything Bagel shows Evelyn all the infinite, meaningless versions of herself and everything that could ever matter. The weight of this possibility temporarily breaks her, and she acts cruelly across several universes, beating people up, pursuing shallow power. This represents the seductive appeal of nihilism when confronted with cosmic meaninglessness. Waymond's call for kindness is what pulls her back from this edge.

Foreshadowing: The film sets up Evelyn's sense of failure and overwhelm as vulnerabilities that could be exploited by nihilism.

• nihilism
• everything bagel
• evelyn
• meaningless
• cruel