Lore FortressHow Long Was the Second Great War? About Six to Seven Months
The StarCraft Wiki dates the Second Great War from September or October 2504 to early April 2505, so roughly six to seven months of fighting. Here is how that range is built, how it compares with the first Great War, and why it is an estimate and not a number the games print.
The Second Great War lasted roughly six to seven months. The StarCraft Wiki dates it from September or October 2504 to early April 2505, which is about half a year of fighting after four years of peace. (StarCraft Wiki, Second Great War)
How long was the Second Great War?#
Count from the wiki's dates. The war starts in September or October 2504, which is why I say six to seven months and not a flat six. It ends in early April 2505. September to April is seven months and October to April is six, so the figure is my estimate from those dates. The wiki's lead puts the start in 2504, four years after the first Great War, and says the main fight was between the Zerg Swarm and the Terran Dominion. (StarCraft Wiki, Second Great War)
What years did it cover?#
Two. It broke out in 2504 and finished in 2505. The wiki describes the lead-up as four years in which the zerg were relatively quiet and stayed out of large armed conflict with the terrans and protoss. Emperor Arcturus Mengsk spent a disproportionate amount hunting rebels such as Jim Raynor, which left the Dominion Fleet neglected. (StarCraft Wiki, Second Great War)
How did it end?#
On the wiki's account the result was a Zerg Swarm and Raynor's Raiders victory. Mengsk was overthrown, Amon was resurrected, and Prince Valerian Mengsk ascended the Dominion throne. The final battle was on Korhal, where Raynor destroyed the remote control of the emperor's xel'naga device and Kerrigan killed Mengsk by infusing him with psionic energy. (StarCraft Wiki, Second Great War; StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm)
The wiki says the Swarm withdrew from Augustgrad straight afterward because Sarah Kerrigan wanted to prepare for the coming End War. With the zerg gone, the Daelaam saw its chance to retake Aiur, and that plan ran straight into Amon's return. (StarCraft Wiki, Second Great War)
How does it compare with the first Great War?#
The first Great War is listed as running from 8 December 2499 to June 2500. That also comes to about six months, so the two wars are close in length on paper. They don't feel close. The first Great War ended with the Dominion replacing the Confederacy and the Swarm splitting apart. The second one ended with the Dominion emperor dead and the Swarm on the winning side. (StarCraft Wiki, Great War and Second Great War)
Canon Notes: why "six to seven months" is an estimate#
The six-to-seven-month figure is my own arithmetic from the wiki's dates, and you should hold it loosely. Our own Second Great War page notes that Wings of Liberty and the timeline in Devils' Due agree on a 2504 start but neither gives an exact date for the end. The wiki's "early April 2505" is the wiki's own date range, and the start is hedged as "September/October" in the box itself. So the honest answer is "around half a year, give or take a month", which is still a surprisingly short war for something that killed an emperor and brought back a fallen xel'naga. See the StarCraft timeline for where it sits among the other wars.
Frequently asked questions
- How long was the Second Great War in StarCraft lore?
- About six to seven months, going by the StarCraft Wiki dates of September or October 2504 to early April 2505. The wiki gives the dates, the month count is my own arithmetic from them, and no game states a length.
- What years did the Second Great War span?
- It began in 2504 and ended in 2505. The wiki says it broke out four years after the first Great War.
- How does the Second Great War compare with the first Great War?
- Similar in length on the wiki dates. The first Great War runs from 8 December 2499 to June 2500, which also comes to about six months, but the first one has an exact start day and the second does not.
- How did the Second Great War end?
- With a Zerg Swarm and Raynor's Raiders victory, the overthrow of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, and the resurrection of Amon. Valerian Mengsk then took the Dominion throne.
Sources
- WikiStarCraft Wiki: Second Great War and Great War, starcraft.fandom.com, CC BY-SA, read 8 November 2026; the battle boxes give the date ranges
- GameStarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Blizzard Entertainment, 2010
- GameStarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard Entertainment, 2013
- BookStarCraft II: Devils' Due, Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books), 2011; its printed timeline gives the 2504 start
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
The End War, explained: how Amon's war began on Aiur and ended in the Void
Amon's war on the galaxy started the moment the Golden Armada reached Aiur, cost the protoss Shakuras, and ended in 2508 when Kerrigan became a xel'naga. Here's the order of events, who joined Artanis and why, and where the Overmind's vision went wrong.
Great War: protoss against zerg over Aiur
The Great War was the first open fight between protoss and zerg, with the terrans caught between them. It ended over Aiur with the Overmind destroyed.
Second Great War: Swarm vs Dominion, 2504
The Second Great War broke out in 2504 and ended on Korhal with Arcturus Mengsk dead at Kerrigan's hand. Deinfesting her mid-war let the xel'naga Amon return.
StarCraft Timeline: every major event from the xel'naga to the One-Day War
The full StarCraft chronology, from the xel'naga uplifting the protoss and the zerg to the peace that followed the End War. Events are grouped into ten eras, oldest first, with Gregorian years wherever the games and novels give one.
Amon
Amon was a malevolent xel'naga who turned against the Infinite Cycle of his kind and sought to end all life and remake it in his image. He created the Overmind and the Zerg Swarm, enslaved the Tal'darim, and was finally destroyed in the Void by an ascended Sarah Kerrigan during the End War.
Jim Raynor, explained: from Shiloh farm boy to the badge left on Mar Sara
Jim Raynor is the everyman lead of the StarCraft story, a Shiloh farm boy who became a marine, outlaw, marshal and rebel. This covers why he broke with Mengsk, why he shot Tychus, where the novels and the early bio contradict each other, and what happened to him in the end.
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