Tomorrow Ever After (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Shaina is a historian from 600 years in the future who has only read about past eras through idealized academic texts. She genuinely believes human generosity is the norm everywhere because that's what her historical training has taught her. Her trust isn't naivety, it's a deeply held worldview shaped by her profession and the values of her future society.

Foreshadowing: The summary establishes early that Shaina approaches strangers expecting kindness, setting up every subsequent interaction.

• shaina
• trust
• strangers
• historian
• future

Shaina's implement is a futuristic smartphone-like device from 600 years ahead. It can partially communicate with modern systems, but the connection is imperfect. Its most surprising capability is accessing financial systems, during the mugging, it cracks the ATM and dispenses unlimited money, something neither Shaina nor her attacker expected.

Foreshadowing: The device is introduced as 'partially functional' with 'tentative communication and data access' before its unexpected financial power is revealed.

• implement
• device
• atm
• money
• technology

Milton agrees to help because he sees the potential to exploit Shaina's device for himself. After witnessing the device's ability to generate unlimited ATM cash, he calculates that staying with her could be more profitable than running away with a single haul. He's skeptical but sees an opportunity for personal gain.

Foreshadowing: The timeline notes Milton 'rationalizes it as a chance to steal more later,' revealing his self-interested motivation from the start.

• milton
• mugging
• robbery
• help
• money

The Great Despair is Shaina's term for the 21st century based on her historical research. She views this era as a time of pain, exploitation, greed, pollution, and loneliness, essentially the worst period in human history from her future perspective. This framing directly influences how she interprets the coldness she encounters.

Foreshadowing: Shaina frames the entire era as historically negative, which explains her surprise when reality doesn't match her academic expectations.

• great despair
• history
• 21st century
• shaina

The ending leaves Shaina's return uncertain. She and her companions continue trying to power up the device, but the narrative closes without confirming whether she successfully goes back. The focus shifts to the impact she's had on the people around her rather than resolving her journey home.

Foreshadowing: The final timeline point describes an 'uncertain future' and notes the original mission 'remains unresolved.'

• return
• home
• ending
• future
• uncertain

The device's partial functionality is never fully explained, but it seems connected to the travel error that stranded Shaina in the wrong place and time. She arrived separated from her research group, and the device's compromised state mirrors her own displacement. It's unclear whether the device was damaged in transit or if connecting to past technology inherently limits its capabilities.

Foreshadowing: The timeline establishes early that Shaina landed 'far from her intended era' due to an error, suggesting the device's malfunction is tied to this displacement.

• device
• implement
• broken
• malfunction
• time travel

The mugging becomes a turning point because it forces Shaina to interact with someone who has clear hostile intent, breaking her passive approach to seeking help. More importantly, it reveals the device's hidden capability to access unlimited funds. This transforms Milton from a threat into a reluctant ally who sees value in helping her, effectively launching the main quest to power the device.

Foreshadowing: The timeline explicitly marks the mugging as 'A mugging at gunpoint redirects her fate,' signaling its importance as a narrative pivot.

• mugging
• milton
• turning point
• weapon
• threat

Yes, the narrative explicitly shows that some people she encounters become more caring and kind in response to her earnest optimism. While not everyone is swayed, her steadfast willingness to trust others despite rejection creates a ripple effect. Small acts of kindness emerge from those around her, suggesting her faith in humanity has genuine influence.

Foreshadowing: The timeline notes her actions cause 'a subtle shift in those around her' and 'gradually cause the people around her to become more caring.'

• change
• kindness
• people
• influence
• optimism

Milton mugs Shaina as a straightforward criminal act, he sees an opportunity to steal from someone who appears vulnerable and unfamiliar with the city. The summary presents it as a random street crime rather than anything specific about Shaina. His targeting her suggests he perceived her as an easy target, not someone with a valuable device.

Foreshadowing: The timeline describes the mugging as a random encounter on an NYC street, not a calculated targeting of her device.

• milton
• mug
• rob
• crime
• street

Shaina carries the values of her future society, which apparently has evolved beyond the conflicts and cruelties of earlier eras. As a historian, she has studied the past through scholarly lenses that emphasize cooperation and progress. She has never personally experienced the darker aspects of human nature, so she genuinely cannot conceive that people would harm others without cause.

Foreshadowing: Her belief system is established in the opening as 'deeply rooted in the values she carries as a historian' from a presumably more utopian future.

• goodness
• values
• future
• society
• human nature