The big shocking reveal of the first Terminator movie back in 1984 was that (SPOILERS) John Connor had actually sent his own father, Kyle Reese, back in time to protect his mother, Sarah Connor. As a result of their brief time together, they conceived the savior of humanity against the machines. It’s a causal loop, one of the most complicated ideas in science fiction. So what happens when you turn that Terminator timeline into a franchise? Well, kid, it gets to be a bit of a mess.
Our own Adam Murray lost years of his own life examining the entire 40-year franchise, including all the sequels, the TV spinoff, and the theme park rides, to put together a definitive timeline for the events. It’s…strange. It’s even stranger than the Alien timeline he worked on. From Judgment Day continuing to move to multiple John Connors sending back a half-dozen T-800s, the timeline is messy. But fun to talk about!
And if you’d like to hear the entire breakdown from the horse’s mouth, you can watch Adam’s full video below. It includes all the making-of minutiae and film discrepancies you could ask for, plus an ungodly amount of Los Angeles references. Celebrate the first Judgment Day, August 27, by giving it a watch.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.