The huge franchise timeline recon explains from Terminator Zero

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Terminator Zero.

Terminator Zero Changes Terminators lore in many ways, including by trying to explain how time travel really works in this universe. Netflix Terminator Anime is only the second TV show in the franchise and the first to be animated Terminator project. The medium of animation and the television format allowed the show to do things that movies never could, which included dedicating more time to explaining the franchise's time travel rules. While The premise of Terminator Zero resembled that of the movies - A resistance soldier and a terminator were both sent to the past with specific missions - the anime series was very innovative.

for example, Terminator ZeroS Misaki was a robot who didn't know they were one. The series repeated the question of whether the Day of Judgment can be stoppedOr if humanity is doomed to destroy itself. Terminator Zero Takes place in three timelines, all of which are intertwined through time travel. We follow the story mostly from the perspective of a version of Eiko sent from 2022 to 1997, as well as Malcolm, who was Eiko's son in a different timeline and went back in time to create Kokoro.

Terminator Zero properly explains how time travel works in the franchise

Terminator Zero confirms that time travel creates alternate timelines

each Terminator Movies and TV shows have at least one exposition-heavy scene in which a character, usually the one who was sent from the future, would explain how time travel works. While TerminatorThe time travel made just enough sense to justify the actual appeal of the movies, the franchise began to accumulate plot holes and inconsistencies over time. Kyle Reese being the father of John Connor was an intentional paradox Around that The Terminator is written, but not every headscratcher in the franchise worked just as well. Terminator Zero Makes an effort to establish consistent time travel rules.

The best way to see these Terminator Universe is that most movies and shows if not all of them take place in separate timelines. This alone doesn't solve all the issues, especially since there are usually two or three different timelines in each entry. Terminator Zero incorporates as confusing the Terminator Chronology is By having the prophet say that every time someone goes back in time, a new timeline is created. According to the Prophet, time is not a line with a beginning, middle and end, but rather a network made up of different timelines.

in other words, When a soldier is sent to the past to stop Skynet or protect someone, they are not necessarily saving their future, but rather creating a new one. Assuming that changes in the past create new timelines is usually the easiest way to make time travel work in fiction, and Terminator Zero Lay down hard on it. In the show's original timeline, there was no Kokoro, and Skynet was the only threat. In the second timeline, Malcolm Lee successfully launches Kokoro around the same time as Judgment Day. In the third timeline, Eiko and the Terminator interfered with Kokoro's launch.

How the timeline of every Terminator movie looks like after Terminator Zero

The original timeline of Terminator Zero is already a ramification

The original Terminator Zero Timeline resembled that of the first two movies, especially the future that Kyle Reese came from. Humanity was living in a post-apocalyptic future after a nuclear holocaust caused after Skynet gained consciousness and fired multiple nuclear weapons. The Resistance, which is usually led by John Connor in the films, tries to fight against the machines. The war continues to escalate until Skynet gains access to time travel and tries to prevent John Connor from ever being born or growing into the Resistance leader. This is essentially the future where Terminator ZeroS. Malcolm was born.

However, Malcolm's original timeline in Terminator Zero It does not mean exactly what is shown in Terminator 2: Judgment Day Or any of the other movies. This is because Malcolm is somehow aware that Skynet has used time travel before and found that humans and machines are caught on a loop. Malcolm explains the cycle - a human leader would rise, Skynet would send a Terminator To the past, and everything would start over. Terminator Zero Star with an alternate timeline of the films and continues to deviate From them each time a character goes back in time.

Terminator Zero's Recon has solved most of the franchise's timeline plot holes

Terminator works better if you assume the existence of multiple timelines

The Prophet's conversation with Eiko may have been short and relatively simple, but from a universe perspective, it explains most of the Terminator Franchise's plot holes. Of course, this is not the first time Terminator Recognizes the existence of multiple timelines. in Terminator GenesisThe franchise tried to reboot itself by jumping to a different universe that deviated from the main ones after a Terminator Went back in time far enough to catch Sarah Connor. Still, between the inconsistent rules and the retons, It is good that Terminator Zero Stick with the alternative timelines explanation.

in Terminator ZeroMalcolm goes back in time to launch a new AI that can stop Skynet creating a new timeline in which humanity has to fight not just one but two armies led by machines. In the new version of the future, Eiko, who was supposed to be Malcolm's mother in 2024, was sent to the past even before she had a romantic partner. This is neither a plot hole nor a proper paradox, as such Malcolm's mother isn't exactly the same Eiko we've been following for most of the show.

This approach to time travel can explain, for example, why John Connor looks different in each movie. This also makes the time travel missions of the Resistance and Skynet in the movies rather pointless as they will always create new timelines, which Malcolm Lee himself acknowledged during the show.

How Terminator Zero sets up future Terminator movies

Terminator 7 can learn important lessons from Terminator Zero

Terminator Zero References the movies but works just like its own thing. There are no mentions of John or Sarah Connor, and we don't get Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800. Terminator ZeroThe end of a second season, with Judgment Day happening around the world while Kokoro protects Japan. Malcolm Lee's AI is still deciding whether humanity should be savedA small victory considering that, in the previous timeline, Kokoro became as big a threat to humanity as Skynet.

James Cameron is working on a Terminator Project, presumably Terminator 7. However, according to Cameron, be new Terminator Project is not connected to Terminator Zero. That said, Terminator Zero is a reminder that the franchise can try new things and doesn't need to rely on established characters like the T-800 and John Connor. Terminator Zero Also managed to bring the franchise back to its horror roots, which could serve as a lesson for the next movie. finally, Terminator ZeroThe alternate timelines explanation can continue to be used as the in-universe justification for the franchise's multiple reboots.