How many apprentices did Jigsaw have? Does Saw II come before or after Saw IV? If the
continuity has you saying "game over," this is the entire "Saw" timeline explained.
John Kramer's sinister arc begins with his time as an engineer and building designer.
John works with his friend, attorney Art Blank, on creating low-income housing for needy families
through their Urban Renewal Group. Jill, John's wife, works at an addiction recovery clinic.
John is concerned over the safety of Jill's workplace, and his fears prove to be well-founded
when a patient named Cecil Adams attempts to rob the facility. He shoves a heavy door into Jill's
stomach on the way out, causing her to miscarry Gideon, the son she and John have been awaiting.
Cecil had been encouraged to go to the clinic by Amanda Young, a fellow addict and patient who was
once arrested by Detective Eric Matthews. John, who is waiting for Jill in his car,
has a brief encounter with Addison Corday, who makes a sexual advance John turns down.
John and Jill's relationship falls apart shortly after this incident. A
doll John had created for his unborn son later inspires Jigsaw's ominous visage.
Shortly after the decline of his marriage, John is diagnosed with terminal cancer by
Dr. Lawrence Gordon of the Angel of Mercy Hospital. During his treatment,
John befriends an orderly named Zep Hindle. Zep makes it clear that he dislikes Dr. Gordon. John
is also treated by Dr. Lynn Denlon. His tumor is deemed to be inoperable because
John was diagnosed too late, thanks to an X-ray labeling error by Logan Nelson.
John seeks approval for an alternative treatment option with insurance executive
William Easton. John is warned he will lose his coverage with Umbrella Health if he pursues
experimental treatment, as the company is quick to cut off clients in need of care,
like cardiac patient Harold Abbott. This decision comes back to haunt Easton.
"You've just given me a death sentence. Who's going to cover me? You just killed me."
After experiencing severe depression, John drives himself off a cliff. But he survives
the crash and gains a new perspective on life — and an incessant urge to force this revelation on
others. He begins his deadly series of games with a bit of retribution, concealing himself with a
pig mask and capturing Cecil at a carnival. John places Cecil in restraints in his lab and tells
him that he has the choice to either bleed out from the wounds on his wrists, or press his face
through a series of blades. If he chooses the latter, he'll become as scarred on the outside
as he is on the inside. But, John insists, he'll escape with a renewed lease on life.
"It's the tool that's going to save your life. I want to play a game."
Cecil is unable to complete his challenge. But then, his chair breaks apart and allows him to
escape. Cecil proceeds to attack John, but he stumbles into a cage full of razor wire and dies.
"Jigsaw" reveals Logan Nelson to have been John's first sidekick. Logan fails to wake up
during the initial Bucket Head trap at Tuck's Pig Farm, and is badly wounded by the blades.
But John does not believe Logan has to die due to his careless-but-innocent X-ray mislabeling.
John rescues Logan from the trap and trains him in his philosophy,
which Logan finds to be helpful. It is not clear how long Logan works with John,
but he helps him prepare some of his earliest traps, including the Reverse
Beartrap. We also don't yet know if he had any relationship with Jigsaw's other sidekicks.
Jigsaw's recruitment spree doesn't stop with Logan. Mark Hoffman is part of the
first Metropolitan Police Department team investigating the Jigsaw murders
alongside Detectives David Tapp, Steven Sing,
and Allison Kerry. He learns enough about Jigsaw to imitate his methods. Pretending to be Jigsaw,
Hoffman gets vengeance against Seth Baxter, his sister's murderer, via the Pendulum trap.
"Some would call this karma. I call it justice."
Hoffman is already known for his violent and immoral ways: He previously created friction
with Officer Matt Gibson after Hoffman shot a man who attacked Gibson several times,
even though the man had disarmed himself. Hoffman was promoted after the incident,
while Gibson was transferred to Internal Affairs.
Jigsaw does not punish Hoffman, though he does admonish him for not giving Seth a chance to
survive his trap. John offers to take him under his wing. The two then test two other victims,
Paul and Mark. Hoffman also helps John frame Dr. Gordon by leaving the doctor's penlight at the
scene of Mark's game, after he warns John that Detective Tapp is getting close to identifying
him. Tapp narrowly survives a trap laid for the police, but Sing is killed. John also recruits
Amanda after she survives her trap, and the three work together to create several traps.
After Amanda agrees to become Jigsaw's third protégé, she helps John orchestrate
the infamous Bathroom trap. She helps kidnap Dr. Gordon, who is having an affair with a student,
and Adam Stanheight, a photographer taking pictures of Gordon for Tapp.
Amanda sets up the room so that Jigsaw can play his sinister game. Gordon wins by sawing
off his own foot, and his wife and daughter also escape Zep with Tapp's help. Gordon drags himself
through the halls of Jigsaw's lair and finds a hot steam pipe to cauterize his leg wound.
Jigsaw then takes Gordon in to help him recover, even devising a prosthetic for his leg. Amanda
sneaks back into the bathroom to asphyxiate Adam, who is already bleeding out, as an act of mercy.
Gordon goes on to become Jigsaw's secret helping hand. As revealed in "Saw:
The Final Chapter," he assists with some of the more medically-sensitive tests,
including the Venus Flytrap from "Saw II" and the Mausoleum trap
from "Saw IV." He also suggests Lynn Denlon as a test subject in "Saw III."
After being told that his advanced brain tumor will only leave him a few months to live,
John seeks solace in a cancer support group. While at a café, he runs into support group
member Henry Kessler. Henry, who testified to having terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer,
now claims to have been cured. It's all thanks to an experimental Norwegian cancer treatment
conducted by Dr. Finn Pederson. This is the experimental treatment that Umbrella Health
Insurance executive William Easton turned John down for in "Saw VI."
Eager to get started, John accepts an offer of the experimental treatment. Once in Mexico,
John is picked up by a taxi driver named Diego. As Diego gives him the fifty-cent
tour of Mexico City, they are ambushed by masked men who take John away in their unmarked van.
When the men take John to the treatment facility, he is met by Cecilia Pederson,
the daughter of Dr. Finn Pederson, who is now conducting the treatment. She explains that she
needs to take precautions to stop Big Pharma finding her location. Cecilia and John walk
the facility grounds as she explains the procedure to him. Along the way,
he meets Gabriela, who credits Cecilia for saving her life; Valentina, the head nurse;
Mateo, the anesthesiologist; and Parker Sears, a now cancer-free patient.
John awakens from his operation in a different building with the
good news that he has his whole life ahead of him. Unfortunately,
when he returns to the treatment facility, he makes an Earth-shattering discovery.
The facility is now empty, and the operating room has been cleared
out in a hurry. Not wanting to accept the unthinkable, he removes his head bandages
only to discover that he has no scars or signs of having had brain surgery.
"How much time do I have?" "Months at best."
Understandably, John is incensed. He flies into action, capturing Diego,
who was not only his cabbie but also posed as John's surgeon. Passing John's test,
Diego escapes his trap and happily names everyone involved in the cruel hustle. John calls Detective
Hoffman for backup, instructing him to help find the charlatans responsible for selling him and so
many others false hope. Amanda arrives to assist John in kidnapping and executing his new game.
Once everyone is in place, John explains the rules to his "players" and leaves them to it.
Surprisingly, Cecilia manages to make for a worthy opponent,
briefly turning the tables on John and his crew before she ends up in one final trap.
In a mid-credits scene, John and Detective Hoffman welcome Henry Kessler to the same
disgusting bathroom that appeared in "Saw." Henry hangs by his wrists from the ceiling
with a strange mechanical device attached to his torso. John points out that the scar he
showed him as proof of his life-saving operation is no longer there, so it's time to play a game.
In "Saw II," John is finally identified as the Jigsaw killer. Eric Matthews is among
the officers who finds his hideout. Little does he know, John has kidnapped Matthews'
teenaged son Daniel and put him into a group trap at the Nerve Gas House, alongside Amanda,
Addison, and several other people who'd been arrested by Matthews on bogus charges. After
most of the subjects die, Xavier Chavez attempts to kill Amanda and Daniel,
but Daniel defends them and kills Xavier in the bathroom from the first film. Daniel is
then put into a safe with an oxygen mask and hidden in Jigsaw's lair.
Detectives Matthews, Kerry, and Daniel Rigg arrive with others at the scene of Jigsaw's lair,
and are unaware that the footage of the group trap they are presented with was pre-taped.
Instead of waiting like he is instructed to, Matthews brutalizes John and forces him to
take him to the location of the trap. While Rigg discovers that the source of the video
feed is another empty house, Matthews ends up alone at the actual location, and is captured
and trapped by Amanda in the bathroom. In "Saw III," it is revealed that Matthews
breaks his own foot to escape the shackle, but he is still captured for another game.
"Saw III" takes place six months after Matthews is captured. John Kramer is near death. He gives
his lawyer a box containing instructions for Jill. Meanwhile, Amanda is secretly resorting to
self-mutilation and creating unsurvivable traps, including one used on Kerry. John has a true bond
with Amanda, but doesn't want to be replaced by a murderer. He devises one last test for her.
John has Amanda abduct Dr. Lynn Denlon and put her into a neck trap. Denlon is
forced to keep John alive for the duration of another test, which turns out to involve her
husband Jeff. Lynn and Jeff lost a son and have emotionally neglected their daughter,
who was kidnapped before Jeff's test. Little does Amanda know,
her survival depends on being able to let Denlon go. Hoffman slyly tells Amanda to kill Denlon,
threatening to expose her part in Cecil's attack on Jill's clinic if she refuses.
"Amanda, Lynn is more important than you know."
Amanda refuses to let Denlon go and shoots her instead. Jeff enters the room shortly
thereafter and kills Amanda in retaliation. For Jeff's final test, John asks him to show
mercy, but Jeff cuts his throat with an electric saw, triggering Denlon's collar.
In "Saw IV," it is revealed that Hoffman was pretending to be trapped alongside
Matthews and Art as the events in John's hospital room unfolded. Rigg is supposed
to let his timer run out but instead rushes into the final room with Hoffman, Matthews,
and Art. Not knowing who's rushing in, Matthews shoots Rigg and triggers
a device that crushes his own head. Rigg also shoots Art, thinking the tape recorder in his
hand is a gun. Before Rigg bleeds out, he sees Hoffman reveal himself as Jigsaw's apprentice.
Meanwhile, FBI Agent Peter Strahm and his partner Lindsay Perez have been following
Rigg's trail. Strahm arrives at John's room just after Jeff kills John. Strahm
shoots Jeff in apparent self-defense. Hoffman locks Strahm in, but he finds an exit. However,
he is then captured and put into the Water Cube trap. Strahm barely survives by using a pen to
perform a tracheotomy on himself. Hoffman then emerges and brings out the Denlons' daughter,
thinking he'll be the lone survivor. He is stunned to discover Strahm also made it out alive.
John's autopsy reveals a tape that promises Hoffman will be tested. Hoffman later receives
a mysterious note that warns, "I know who you are." The note is from Dr. Gordon,
who'd received a tape from Jill's box, in which John asks him to watch out for Jill.
Strahm determines that Hoffman was Jigsaw's apprentice after reading up on the Seth Baxter
case. Despite being removed from the case by his superior Dan Erickson, he continues
to investigate Hoffman. Jill complains to Erickson that Strahm is stalking her. Meanwhile,
Hoffman works to set up Strahm as a suspect. He stages a group trap involving five crooked
people connected to a deadly apartment fire Strahm previously investigated. Hoffman also
uses Strahm's cell phone to lead Erickson to the location of the group trap. Upon finding
two victims still alive, Erickson puts out an APB on Strahm. It's all for naught, however,
as Hoffman leads Strahm to the Nerve Gas House and traps him in a room that crushes him to death.
Hoffman stages a two-person test for a pair of loan sharks so he can continue framing Strahm.
Erickson grants Hoffman unfettered access to the FBI's investigation,
and reveals that Perez faked her death and is still active on the case.
Later, Hoffman carries out Jigsaw's wish for a test on William Easton,
in which Easton is forced to make life-or-death decisions for a series of his employees. Easton
is not the only one being tested, however: The wife and son of the late Harold Abbott
must decide Easton's fate once he reaches the finale of his test. They choose to kill him.
Though Jigsaw's work is finally done, Hoffman is not in the clear: Erickson and Perez soon discover
Hoffman's identity. As soon as the FBI agents realize who Hoffman is, however, he kills them.
The last surprise to come from John's box for Jill is the Reverse Beartrap. John's box instructs Jill
to use it on Hoffman. However, Hoffman manages to survive the device. Meanwhile, Jill meets
with Officer Gibson and offers to implicate Hoffman in exchange for immunity and protection.
However, Hoffman manages to divert police attention by staging the grisly Horsepower trap,
as well as the test of Bobby Dagen, who's made a fortune pretending to be a Jigsaw
survivor. After setting a deadly trap for Gibson and other officers,
Hoffman manages to sneak himself into the body bag of one of the Horsepower victims to get
access to the police station. He kills anyone and everyone in his way to get to Jill's holding cell.
Hoffman places Jill in the Reverse Beartrap, which kills her, and prepares to get away. However,
he's met outside by three men in pig masks. One of them is Dr. Gordon,
who's seeking retaliation for Jill. Gordon shackles Hoffman to Adam's old
spot in the bathroom and takes away the saw that would allow him to save himself.
"Game over."
10 years after John Kramer's death, a series of Jigsaw-like deaths occur. The bodies are
analyzed by Logan and his strangely Jigsaw-obsessed assistant Eleanor.
Detective Halloran is drawn into the case by a former criminal named Edgar Munsen,
who shows up with a remote device, alerts the police, and later turns up dead.
Little does Halloran know, he's being set up by Logan. Halloran is a crooked
detective who took a bribe from Munsen, the man who murdered Logan's wife. The
game is a copycat version of the test Logan survived. Logan plants puzzle pieces of the
new victims in Halloran's freezer, so that his partner, Keith Hunt, will suspect Halloran.
Eleanor is also poised to be a witness to Halloran's culpability:
After she and Logan arrive at the site of the game, she escapes an ambush by Halloran and
runs for help. Logan forces Halloran to admit his misdeeds by pretending to be trapped in
a two-person test with him. But after Halloran confesses, Logan reveals that he has taped him.
He watches as Halloran's head is sliced to pieces in the laser collar trap. Game over — for now.
In "Spiral," which takes place a few years later, a policeman is attacked by an assailant wearing a
pig mask and suspended by his tongue in a subway tunnel. A recorded message informs the off-duty
officer that he will have to either sever his tongue or be hit by the next train. He's unable
to escape in time and is killed. Detective Zeke Banks recognizes the murder as something
straight out of the Jigsaw Killer's playbook and begins investigating this apparent copycat.
"Hello detective Banks. Salvation was offered,
but it was declined." "This f---ker thinks he's Jigsaw. Even got a doll this time."
Zeke comes under suspicion himself when the next officer to be targeted is someone he had
a grievance with. It only gets worse when a piece of tattooed skin belonging to his latest partner,
the young rookie William Schenk, arrives at the station in a box alongside a pig puppet.
It becomes apparent that the killer is interested in Zeke when Schenk's skinned body is discovered
in a butcher's shop that used to be a hobby store, a place Zeke frequently visited as a boy.
After learning about the case, Zeke's father, Marcus, decides to get involved, but by doing so,
he's playing right into the killer's hands. He follows the bread trail to a warehouse,
where he's swiftly abducted. He's soon joined in the warehouse by Zeke,
who gets kidnapped shortly after.
When Zeke wakes up in the warehouse, he's chained to a pipe with a hacksaw nearby. Of course,
he knows exactly what this means. He actually entertains the idea of sawing his hand off,
but thankfully he's able to use a bobby pin to free himself without any maiming. He then
discovers Peter Dunleavy, his former partner, chained up. Dunleavy was a dirty cop who went
down after he murdered a man. He's about to be killed by a glass shard-launching device
unless Zeke saves him. Zeke tries to free him, but he can't beat the trap in time.
There's an even bigger surprise waiting for Zeke in the next room: His most recent partner Schenk,
alive and well. He faked his death and has actually been the copycat killer all along,
much to Zeke's astonishment. It turns out that Schenk's name is
really Emmerson and he's the son of the man Dunleavy killed. Emmerson reveals
that Zeke's father protected crooked cops like Dunleavy during his time in charge
because he was so hellbent on cleaning up the streets, regardless of collateral damage.
It's at this point that Emmerson reveals Zeke's final test — he hands the cop a gun
with one bullet and tells him that he can either kill him or shoot a target
that will free his father, who is slowly being drained of his blood. Zeke shoots the target,
but when a SWAT team previously called by Emmerson arrives, they trigger a tripwire
and Marcus' trap reacts by making it appear as though he's pointing a weapon. The SWAT team
shoots Marcus dead right in front of a devastated Zeke. In the confusion, Emmerson slips away.