How Old Is Young Sheldon In Season 7 Episode 1 & What Year Does The Story End?

Iain Armitage's character is 13 years old when "Young Sheldon" Season 7, Episode 1 begins. The final season kicks off with a bang, picking up straight after the events of the Season 6 finale, which sees large parts of Medford, including Meemaw Connie's (Annie Potts) house, destroyed by the tornado. Meanwhile, Sheldon and Mary (Zoe Perry) are none the wiser since they're headed to Heidelberg, Germany, for the summer of 1993.

The first three episodes of Season 7 chronicle Sheldon and Mary's time in Germany while the remaining members of the Cooper family adjust to their absence and move forward after the tornado. The mother and son return in Episode 4 in the fall of 1993, just in time for Sheldon to begin his third and final year at East Texas Tech, before he heads off to Caltech the following year.

"Young Sheldon" changes Sheldon's age for his Germany trip, deviating from what is established in "The Big Bang Theory" as Sheldon (Jim Parsons) tells Penny (Kaley Cuoco) that he was 15 when he left to study in Heidelberg. Changing up the timeline in the prequel series means Sheldon returns ahead of his 14th birthday on February 26, 1994. As fans know, "Young Sheldon" is ending after Season 7, and this is the age he is when the sitcom ends.

"The Big Bang Theory" spans 12 seasons and chronicles some of the biggest events in Sheldon's adult life, like his relationship with and subsequent marriage to Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) and the couple winning a Nobel Prize. The prequel series covers a very different time in Sheldon's life, but one no less important or interesting.

"Young Sheldon" fans are introduced to the titular character in 1989 when he is 9 years old and follow along on his journey as he attends high school as a preteen before starting college at age 11. Sheldon will be 14 when the series ends. This is an important age for him in the "Big Bang Theory" universe. Not only does he graduate from college and head to California, but it's how old Sheldon is when his dad dies.

Based on the canon timeline, George is expected to die sometime between the end of February and the beginning of September if it happens before Sheldon starts at Caltech. The creators of "Young Sheldon" have promised the show will follow through with this storyline. "I don't want to say what you will or won't see, but things will get addressed. We are not beholden to every joke that was ever made on The Big Bang Theory, but we do feel beholden to the larger canon and the larger events that shape Sheldon's life. We want to honor those," executive producer Steve Holland confirmed to TVLine. With only a few episodes left before the series finale, this tragic storyline is coming up quickly.