Time travel is one of the pillars of theTerminatorseries, but the rules of going back in time are not quite easy to understand, given the number of retcons that have happened throughout the franchise. While James Cameron’sThe Terminatorwas not defined by its time travel element, we cannot deny that time machines and alternate timelines are part of the franchise’s DNA. A large portion ofTerminator’s lore is built on time travel, including a couple of intentional paradoxes that would forever affect the franchise and its most important heroes.
Likeevery time travel movie,The Terminatorand its sequels have a lot of plot holes and paradoxes.While some of these paradoxes are meant to be part of the story – such as the fact that Kyle Reese was always John Connor’s father – others happened simply because the rules of that universe were inconsistent.Rewatching theTerminatormoviescan reveal some harsh realities about the franchise, especially regarding the confusing mechanics of its time travels. That said,theTerminatorfilmshave stuck to a somewhat consistent set of rules for the most part.
Time Travel In Terminator Is Done Through The Time Displacement Equipment
The Time Machine In Terminator Is Often Portrayed As Three Giant Rings
Although there are some exceptions to this,time travel inTerminatorcan only be done through the Time Displacement Equipment. Described as a time weapon, the TDE was presumably created by Skynet and is usually depicted as a major device formed by three rings that accelerate an incredible speed before opening a portal to another time.The Time Displacement Equipment is always hidden in a large facility, usually controlled by Skynet. Interestingly, there is no confirmation in any of theTerminatormovies about who created the first TDE, humans or Skynet.
The time travel process is not always accurate, meaning the subject can accidentally be sent to the wrong time or location.
We can assume that Skynet was the one who started this “time war,” but the fact is that only the original script forThe Terminatorand the novelization forTerminator 2: Judgment Dayactually state that the machines were the ones who discovered time travel. It is also worth noting that, according toTerminator 2, Skynet’s very existence is a time loop since its creation was based on the technology of the T-800’s hand that was left in the 1980s. Considering that Skynet created the first time machine,the creation of time travel inTerminatoris a paradox.
2003~2004
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2017
2020s
Terminator: Dark Fate
Terminator: Rise of the Machinesestablishes that, in this timeline (the one created after the events ofTerminator 2postponed Judgment Day), there are two-time machines.Both Skynet and the Resistance have access to a time device, which is known as the Continuum Transporter in this versionof the story. Other time travel devices inTerminatorinclude the Time Door, which, inTerminator Salvation, is used to send data to the past instead of machines or living beings. The time travel process is not always accurate, meaning the subject can accidentally be sent to the wrong time or location.
Only Things Surrounded By Living Tissue Can Be Transported By The TDE (Supposedly)
Terminator’s Most Famous Rule Is Not As Simple As It Seems
Perhaps the most famous yet misunderstood time travel rule inTerminatorrefers to what can actually be transportedby the Time Displacement Equipment. For something to be sent back in time through the TDE, it must be surrounded by living tissue. While there might be an exception to this rule regarding the T-1000, the fact is that involving a machine in living tissue is supposedly the only way to send aTerminatorback in time. What causes so much confusion about this rule is that, inThe Terminator, Kyle Reese says only living things can be sent back in time.
While a Terminator head (without the living tissue) was shown to have been sent back in time inTerminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, its living tissue was presumably destroyed right before the process was completed.
Although theTerminatorfranchise is full of retcons, we can assume that Kyle Reese either did not express himself correctly or did not fully understand how the Time Displacement Equipment worked. The idea thatTerminators must be covered in living tissuerose as the best explanation for why the T-800 could be sent back despite what Kyle Reese said about the time machine.The living tissue rule also explains why humans and Terminators must be nakedwhile using the time machine. Whether other objects such as weapons can also be covered in living tissue and sent back is unclear.
Going Back In Time Does Not Change Your Future In Terminator
Terminator (Mostly) Adheres To The Existence Of Multiple Timelines
A recent addition to theTerminatorlore,Terminator Zeroestablished what is likely the most important rule regarding the franchise’s time travel – going back in time does not change your future. Instead, it creates a new timeline. While previousTerminatormovies andThe Sarah Connor Chronicleshad tackled alternate timelines before,Terminator Zeromade it clear that every change to the past creates a new reality.In other words, every time Skynet and the Resistance use time travel, they are creating infinite new branches. The existence of infinite timelines solves a lot of plot holes inTerminator.
Terminator Zerodoes not feature Sarah or John Connor.
TerminatorZero confirmed that going back in time creates a new timeline, particularly to highlight how pointless the “time war” fought between humans and Skynet had been. While the series did not mention John Connor, it talked about how leaders would rise, achieve a major victory, and prompt the machines to use time travel, which would restart the cycle.The “multiple timelines” explanation is usually the best way to explain any time travel story, and it can hardly be contradicted by any of theTerminatormovies since it establishes the existence of infinite realities.
This also adds to the idea thatthe war is never over inTerminator.Assuming the existence of infinite timelines, there is an infinite number of realities in which Skynet and humanity are still at war, which is why bothTerminators and human agents keep showing up in the present day. Not everyTerminatorproperty has stuck to this explanation, but it is the one that best explains how time travel affects the timeline in the franchise.
Every Time Terminator Changed Its Time Travel Rules
Terminator Has Bent Its Own Rules A Few Times
The Terminator’s biggest plot twist was intentionally paradoxical, but it ended up raising some questions about that universe’s time travel rules. The fact that Kyle Reese was John Connor’s father suggested that the future was already written and that everything was happening within a closed loop. However, inTerminator 2: Judgment Day, we are asked to believe that the future has not been written yet, and that humanity can save itself.Terminator 2’s message is that it is never too late to change the future, butTerminator 3established that Judgment Day cannot be prevented, only postponed.
Another instance in whichTerminatorbroke its rules, or at least made them more complicated, is when the T-1000 was sent back. Unlike the T-800, the T-1000 was not covered in living tissue as far as we know it. Its “human skin” was actually a mimetic polyalloy, which is what made it a shapeshifter. This suggests that, in addition to living tissue, time machines inTerminatorcan also transport mimetic polyalloy, adding an important exception to the famous rule.
Terminator’s Time Travel Rules Compared To Other Similar Movies
From Back To The Future To The MCU To Looper
Terminatorwas not the first movie franchise to tackle time travel and there have certainly been plenty of others that have followed since. However, as one of the most iconic takes on the concept in pop culture, it is interesting to see how other films have been similar and different fromTerminator’s time travel ideas.
Another ’80s franchise that givesTerminatora run for its money in terms of time travel fun istheBack to the Futurefranchise. It deals with the idea in a much more humorous way, as evidenced by the fact that the time-travel machine is made out of a DeLorean. However, when that DeLorean reaches its necessary 88 miles per hour, the lightning and vortex effects do resemble theTerminatortime travel a bit. However, while theTerminatormovies insist the past can’t be changed, theBack to the Futuremovies have hijinks based on the problems of accidentally changing the past.
Time travel was brought into the MCU in a big way inAvengers: Endgameas the remaining heroes sought to undo Thanos' snap by going back in time, reassembling the Infinity Gauntlet, and using it to bring back everyone who was lost. Its superhero logic uses the quantum realm as an avenue to reach the past with the idea being that, while they might change the past initially, they can then return to bring the stones back to where they found them in history and set things back on the right track.
It deals with the idea of the future being inevitable, such as in theTerminatormovies.
However,perhaps the movie that most resemblesTerminatorin terms of time travel is Rian Johnson’sLooper. The filmmaker was clearly inspired by James Cameron’s work, creating a story in which time-travel is used by criminal outfits to dispose of people by sending them to the past. It deals with the idea of the future being inevitable, such as in theTerminatormovies, as Bruce Willis plays a man who travels back in time to kill a young boy who will eventually become a vicious mobster, only to realize his actions are what create the villain in the first place.
Terminator
The Terminator franchise, launched by James Cameron in 1984, explores a dystopian future where intelligent machines wage war against humanity. The relentless pursuit of key human figures by time-traveling cyborg assassins known as Terminators is central to the narrative. John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance, is the core target of the malicious machines.
