Random Terminator Fan Theories (12 items)

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  (#1) Skynet Is Creating An Infinite Loop In Order To Improve Its Technology

  A really interesting theory about the time travel in the Terminator franchise declares that Skynet isn't too concerned with the whole John Connor conundrum. No way, you guys: these robots/AI just want to increase their tech. Basically it works like this - the machines develop something new, like a T-1000, and send it back in time, so new technology can be built from it in the past. This speeds the development of technology such that when time finally gets back to the future, Skynet has access to radically advanced weapons and other technology built from its formerly most cutting-edge developments. Or something like that. 
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  (#2) Kyle Reese Killed John Connor By Schtupping His Mom

  One fan theory suggests that when the original John Connor sent Kyle Reese back in time, he may have unwittingly killed himself and created another John Connor. Before Sarah Connor knew about judgment day, she had a baby by some random guy, and that baby turned into a badass resistance fighter. When Kyle hooked up with Sarah, he managed to erase original John Connor from history, and create an entirely new one. That's why, by the time you get to T3, John is a wimp who's afraid he'll never be able to lead a resistance. 
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  (#3) The Predator And Terminator Franchises Exist In The Same Universe

  Everyone knows Predator is one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time, but there's a small contingent of fans who believe the film, while perfect and beautiful on its own, is also prequel to the Terminator franchise. What could be better than cold-blooded metal daddies and hot-blooded muscle daddies converging? Probably nothing. But how do we get from point T to P?

  There's a cyborg in the Aliens Vs. Predator arcade game called Major Dutch Schaefer  who was "created to fight extraterrestrials,” much as Dutch the mercenary does in Predator. Cyborg Dutch's serial number is CDS-170A3. Does CDS stand for Cyberdyne Systems? It's possible, and if that means Dutch is an early T-800 (D-800?), well, it makes the greatest action movie of all time even better. 
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  (#4) The Terminator Movies Are Happening In Reverse Order

  According to the original Terminator film, the T-800 was sent back in time as a last ditch effort to kill John Connor after humans beat robots in the future. Redditor ChairmanGoodchild believes this means the first robo-assassin that went back in time was the T-X from Rise of the Machines. When the T-X failed to report back to Skynet in the future, the robots sent the T-1000 back. When it was tossed into a vat of liquid metal, they sent the T-800 back to kill Sarah Connor. Then the machines finally disappeared from the future. 

  If you're wondering how Sarah Connor has memories of the T-800 in Terminator 2 when Terminator hasn't happened yet, it's because it already happened for her; the timeline of her life is moving forward, despite the timeline of Terminators moving backwards. If you're wondering why each new Terminator sent back in time is an older model than the last one in this theory, well, that's a tougher nut to crack. 
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  (#5) Skynet Created John Connor By Necessitating Kyle Reese's Time Travel

  Don't you get it, you guys? If Skynet had never sent a T-800 back to the past, John Connor never would have sent Kyle Reese back, and Reese never would have put a baby in Sarah Connor! Why didn't Skynet know this? It should probably send a T-1000 back to stop itself from sending back a T-800. Then again, it sent the T-800 to kill John Connor, meaning John Connor exists, so...where'd he come from the in the first place? The world must be caught in some kind of time loop. 
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  (#6) Skynet Sent Terminators Back In Time To Make Sure Skynet Was Built, Not To Kill John

  Did you ever think maybe Skynet didn't give a hoot about John Connor? The robots just need to exist, baby!

  Reddtor filets thinks the whole Terminator thing couldn't have existed if Cyberdine hadn't found the chip left over from a dead robot. Skynet likely knew this and pretended it was trying to kill Sarah Connor so John would send Kyle Reese back in time to help kill the T-800, specifically so it would drop an arm and chip. It turns out the best move would have been not to send Reese back and let Connor die so the Terminator would have just had to rot in the '80s. 

  Did that make your head hurt a little bit? The only slight problem with this theory is Skynet sending a Terminator back in time so Terminators can exist. Where did the Terminator that went back in time come from? Probably ties into Cameron's whole Biblical allegory thing and the inevitability of certain events. 
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  (#7) Terminator Time Travel Only Works In Alternate Timelines

  A truly interesting fan theory about the Terminator franchise posits that all the time travel in the series only effects alternate timelines. As per this theory, each time someone (or something) jumps back into the past, he/she/it creates a new timeline. What's the proof?

  Obviously, the moment Skynet sent a T-800 back to the '80s; there wouldn't have been time for Kyle Reese to be sent back as well, it would have been over baby! Unless John Connor had knowledge of a Terminator going back far in advance of it happening, there's no way he could've sent Reese back in time to save his mother. And since Skynet is a machine network, there's no way for intelligence to slip out through loose lips. So, when Reese goes back, he's entering a different timeline than the one the T-800 entered. But there's also a T-800 in his timeline. So. There's that. 

  This theory asserts that the Terminator franchise's version of time travel only works if each character traveling to the past travels to an alternate timeline. If this is true, by the time viewers get to Terminator Genisys, there's been at least eight timelines. 
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  (#8) Skynet Doesn’t Want To Kill John Connor, It Wants To Discredit Him

  This is the one Terminator fan theory that kind of make sense of the wonky timeline in the series. As per this theory, the Terminator movies make more sense when you realize Skynet isn't actually trying to kill John Connor. The reason it keep sending robots back is to make him a worse leader, and mess with his timeline so he's no longer the badass he is in his original timeline. Basically they're trying to sabotage him and ruin his revolution, rather than martyr him. 
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  (#9) 'T3' Is A Parody Of The Franchise

  Redditor ogwalt is very certain Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a parody of the franchise, rather than an actual Terminator movie. For instance, Arnold gets his clothes from a strip club routine, and his sunglasses aren't the normal cool guy sunglasses, but silly star-shaped novelty sunglasses. The scene is clearly a parody of the scene in T-2, in which he tears up the biker bar. 

  The violence in Rise of the Machines is so over the top it's likely a wink at T-2's full bore (amazing) insanity. Rise of the Machines also has constant references to the original films that happen ironically. It's like the Mel Brooks Terminator movie. Maybe this theory is right. 

  The theory also suggests Terminator Salvation is the middle film in a trilogy that starts with Terminator and ends with Terminator 2. Which is a little harder to swallow. 
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  (#10) John Connor Betters Himself Through Time Travel

  Redditor iAintReddit suggests John Connor, leader of the resistance, bettered himself by sending Kyle Reese back to the past to beef up his brain and military powers. By fathering John, Reese passed on his DNA as a consummate soldier and survivor.

  Which makes you wonder. If Kyle Reese was always John's father, he wouldn't need to do this, right? So, then, who was John's dad before John sent Kyle Reese back? And how would John be the same person if all of a sudden half his DNA was different? And would you really send one of your military bros back in time to raw dog your mom? 
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  (#11) Jack And Rose From 'Titanic' Are Sarah Connor's Grandparents

  Cue the head explosion gifs. One truly insane fan theory about Terminator suggests Jack and Rose from Titanic are Sarah Connor's grandparents, and Jack is a time traveler. The fan who created the theory thinks Jack went back in time to keep Rose from killing herself, and therefore causes the boat to sink.

  See, if Rose had jumped off the back of the ship during her suicide attempt, the captain would have stopped the boat to look for Rose. If the ship had stopped, warm weather and ocean currents would've shifted the iceberg out of its way. And, if Jack never went back in time, the child he fathered with her never would have gone on to give birth to the resistance fighter who would try to stop Skynet. 
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  (#12) Sarah Connor Had A Miscarriage

  So this is depressing, but Redditor jimmy_talent thinks Sarah Connor miscarried her pregnancy with Kyle Reese between Terminator and Terminator 2, got pregnant by some other dude, then told John that Reese was his father. The audience never sees Sarah begin to show on film, and there's nothing quite as stressful as being chased by an evil robot, so it's not out of the question, though it does lack substantiating clues from the films. What a bummer of a theory. 

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