*Spoiler Warning This article discusses leaks*
*In this video we discuss all the information mentioned in the article and more (scroll down for the full article).
We previously theorised about the potential plot of Terminator: Dark Fate and the genesis of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 character – we theorised (with a tweet in 2017 – then a video in February 2019) that T:DF’s T-800 could be the second of two Terminators sent back to terminate Sarah Connor – the first having failed in its mission, causing the second to spring into action as part of a contingency plan designed by Skynet in a delayed course of action.
We also theorised (in a video January 25th 2019) that Arnold Shwarzenegger’s T-800 (which we now know as ‘Carl’) could possibly be Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s affectionately nicknamed ‘Uncle Bob‘; we surmised that this could be possible via the use of time-travel in order to avert the ‘good’ T-800’s sacrifice.
We were contacted back on June 8th this year, following the positive response to our theory videos, by someone who wished only to be known as “Z”. Z claimed to be very closely connected to the production of Terminator: Dark Fate and wished to share information regarding ‘Carl’ and John Connor.
We were unsure of the legitimacy of the information shared by Z, due, in part, to the fact that it appeared to mirror some of our theory videos, comments we had made in response to feedback on our videos and also because of the sheer quantity of emails we had received from people claiming to have information following the initial Reddit leaks.
Z’s first email to us stated:
“The moment John switched the CPU of the t800 to read/write mode, the future changed. This is because the other terminators sent received all the information the t800 received from John and Sarah. This deleted scene from t2 is not only shown but elaborated on.”
Z
As with our two Terminator theory, Z is suggesting that multiple Terminators were sent back to terminate Sarah and John Connor, the difference being – the shared information between the Terminators due to John switching the CPU to “read/write mode” thus allowing a free exchange of details / behaviours / responses.
In a recent character featurette Tim Miller stated that ‘Carl’ had “overcome his default programming” suggesting that the T-800 makes a “choice” to become more human, or at least, cease to be a pawn of Legion / Skynet.
The question is… does the potential John Connor death scene trigger this choice?
“John fakes his own death to disappear off the grid forever, knowing it was the only true way to change the future. The shooting scene happens and is real.”
Z
We find it difficult to believe that a teenage John Connor (circa 1998, ala the leaks) would find it so easy to fake his own death…
“yes the leaks so far are all intentionally done by Cameron/Tim themselves for fan reaction feedback, as the next two are planned to be shot back to back. The people have the right to know.
Tim does not want to become known as “the Rian Johnson of this beloved franchise.” “
Z
We asked Z for some evidence to corroborate the information he was providing, and there was talk of visual proof – though this never materialised.
Z’s second email:
“The t800 from the cabin is not the t800 from t2, but it has all of the memories and files from the previous t800 due to all terminators being “linked” and are able to share information on the battlefield when in “Write mode”. the deleted scene from t2 where john resets the chip from the t800 to write mode is the scene that is referenced and further extrapolated upon. the reason he told sarah that if he was going to become a great military leader in the future, and why she should listen to him in that sequence is being used as a plot device. He already anticipated sending back a secondary t800 in stationary mode that would activate in the event the uncle bob t800 succeeded or failed in its mission. it is a convoluted scene that sounds complex, but due to the flashbacks and explanation (double used here with cgi facial mapping on both arnold and young john, similar to the part where they all sit down in t2 and the t800 lays it all out for the dyson family, same here) it is rather simple after the flashback sequence.
Z
the secondary t800 that aged and blended into a family life in stationary mode activates the moment john “dies” and begins to send gps coordinates to sarah, which was originally given to all t800 units sent back so they could coordinate and share information. since john reprogrammed this t800, just like uncle bob from the future, the t800 is compromised by the tech com and is the ultimate sleeper agent preventing “a judgement day event”. john connor simply existing is the actual time paradox that creates a judgement day scenario to always happen, eventually, and in learning this, he removes himself from the equation and fakes his death from everyone. even sarah.”
Obviously we know that Terminators can be “linked” via the neural net, or telepathy (if we take into consideration the endoskull blueprints from Terminator legend Van Ling which appeared on the Making of Terminator 2 Featurette from 1991), and the aforementioned chip reset scene from T2 is still memorable – despite not making the theatrical cut.
Even Arnold Schwarzenegger never forgot that scene…
Back in 2015 whilst promoting Terminator Genisys, Arnold Schwarzenegger referenced the deleted chip reset scene as one of his favorite scenes, and one he fought to keep in the movie.
“There was a disagreement I remember on the second ‘Terminator’ because we screened the movie and it was two hours and twenty minutes,” said Schwarzenegger. “And so I said to James Cameron, ‘The movie’s too long.’ And he says to me, ‘Why do you say that?’ It just felt like to me at a certain point, okay, let’s get it done.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
It appears that after some deliberation James Cameron decided to shorten the movie by cutting the scene in which Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and John Connor (Edward Furlong) remove the T-800’s CPU – a scene that Schwarzenegger loved…
“It was shot in a very remarkable way with the mirror effect and all this stuff. And it was a three minute and thirty second scene.
He says ‘I’m gonna take that scene out to shorten the movie… ‘ just to pay me back and, I said to him, ‘No, no! That’s one of my favorite scenes! You can’t take that out!’ He says ‘No, I have to, because that’s the way we shorten the movie. Then I have to work on some other scenes’.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
And so he took that scene out and we had a little fight about that.”
If Carl is Uncle Bob it would be a character evolution instead of starting from the ground up with the T-800 character again, and it would also go to explain the secrecy of Arnold’s role in the movie and why we saw so little of Arnold in promotional material in the lead up to the final phase of marketing.
TheTerminatorFans.com were never really concerned by a lack of Arnold, as this is Skydance and we always felt that secretly this film was going to be more about Arnold than Sarah Connor anyway.
Yes, Sarah Connor may be back (which has been much wanted and celebrated) but to think that producers David Ellison (Genisys) and James Cameron would allow Arnold not to be front and centre in this movie would be somewhat naive.
We had a longer discussion about this information (video above), as well as some other information (which started as comments on our theory videos) regarding the chip removal scene being utilised as a plot device for the Aged T-800 in Dark Fate and the fact that (we believe) it really doesn’t match.
Were our theories too close to the mark? Are they a mile away?
Has “Z” elaborated upon our theories to come up with what sounds like factual leaks?
When we see Terminator: Dark Fate in theaters we will finally find out the truth about John’s death and Carl’s genesis story.
Will the above information be contained in the movie exactly as stated, or as some variant thereof? Who knows but one thing is for sure; the movie might have leaked all over the fanbase but it achieved what the studios wanted… it got us all talking.
Leave a comment…