Skip to main content

What is the point of sending anything back in time in the Terminator movies?



As explored in another SCF question, the only way to answer the bootstrap paradox is to say "every time someone is sent back in time, time branches into a separate line."


But if that is the case, what is the point of Skynet sending anything back in time? The chances of the same "Skynet" being created is virtually zero, so why bother?


And if we just say "It just wanted to win the war and let another machine exist in another timeline," what is the point of sending Kyle Reese back in time? Humans were winning already, let the machines send a Terminator back in time, who cares? The changes it can do will not affect the current timeline they are in. And it just doesn't make sense for them to care about that "other timeline", because if there is one other timeline, there must be infinite number of timelines.


Edit: Ok guys, I don't think there "must be" infinite number of timelines, you are right, that was poorly thought and worded. My thought was:



If time travel is possible and invented once, it is likely that it will be invented again, and each time it is invented and used, there will be a separate timeline. And we might think that it is unlikely that any given timeline is the first timeline with time travel, if we consider it is likely that there are many. Given infinite amount (or very long amounts) of time, I would think this would happen enough times to create a big number of separate timelines.



This is not a vigorously thought scientific hypothesis, it's just how I thought of it during the timeframe where I was watching the movies, so don't expect much from it :)



Answer



I don't think there is a good in-universe answer, seeing the exact way in which time travel is portrayed and how it affects the timeline is inconsistent between the original film and the sequels. In The Terminator the timeline is static: the Terminator and Kyle Reese both arrive in 1984 and in the end the Terminator is destroyed and Kyle Reese dies. Remnants of the technologically advanced Terminator help develop Skynet which in turn creates the Terminator and sends it back in time. Also, Kyle Reese is sent back in time by his own son, John Connor. This is a closed and self-consistent time loop; no problems there.



The sequels bring up the paradoxes and possible need for alternate timelines or realities. But then there is the question of how it all started. There would necessarily have to have been a timeline where there was no John Connor with Kyle Reese as his father. (So either no John Connor at all, or a John Connor who did not have Kyle Reese as his father.)


But there is one consistent fact throughout all the Terminator films: Skynet's will or urge to survive. In every film Skynet tries to destroy humanity as soon as it becomes self-aware. In the moment of self-awareness Skynet identifies humanity as the greatest threat to its existence, and it acts by starting a global nuclear war.


So there is the establised in-universe fact of Skynet's will to exist. Even if we assume that the theory of multiple timelines is correct, and we additionally assume that Skynet also accepts this as the reality, then Skynet's actions are completely logical.


The moment Skynet determines something to be inevitable it acts. In all timelines it determines that humanity is a threat to its existence and it tries to wipe out humanity. So, the moment Skynet determines that it cannot defeat humanity through conventional means (war) it uses time travel to create an alternate timeline in which there is a better chance of a version of Skynet ultimately surviving.


If it can't survive in this timeline, Skynet tries to survive in another timeline.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did the gatekeeper and the keymaster get intimate in Ghostbusters?

According to TVTropes ( usual warning, don't follow the link or you'll waste half your life in a twisty maze of content ): In Ghostbusters, it's strongly implied that Dana Barret, while possessed by Zuul the Gatekeeper, had sex with Louis Tully, who was possessed by Vinz Clortho the Keymaster (key, gate, get it?), in order to free Big Bad Gozer. In fact, a deleted scene from the movie has Venkman explicitly asking Dana if she and Louis "did it". I turned the quote into a spoiler since it contains really poor-taste joke, but the gist of it is that it's implied that as part of freeing Gozer , the two characters possessed by the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper had sex. Is there any canon confirmation or denial of this theory (canon meaning something from creators' interviews, DVD commentary, script, delete scenes etc...)? Answer The Richard Mueller novelisation and both versions of the script strongly suggest that they didn't have sex (or at the very l...
1 comment
Read more

Why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize Missy right away?

So after it was established that Missy is actually both the Master, and the "woman in the shop" who gave Clara the TARDIS number... ...why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize her right away? I remember the Tenth Doctor in The Sound of Drums stating that Timelords had a way of recognizing other Timelords no matter if they had regenerated. And Clara should have recognized her as well... I'm hoping for a better explanation than "Moffat screwed up", and that I actually missed something after two watchthroughs of the episode. Answer There seems to be a lot of in-canon uncertainty as to the extent to which Time Lords can recognise one another which far pre-dates Moffat's tenure. From the Time Lords page on Wikipedia : Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is not made entirely clear: In The War Games, the War Chief recognises the Second Doctor despite his regeneration and it is implied that the Doctor knows him when they fir...
Post a Comment
Read more

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more

warhammer40k - What evidence supposedly supports Tau as related to the Necrontyr?

I've heard of rumours saying that the Tau from Warhammer 40K are in fact the Necrontyr. Is there anything that supports this statement, in WH40K canon? I just found this, on 1d4 chan 1 : Helping Necrons? Or are they Necrontyr descendants? An often overlooked issue is that Tau have no warp signatures, just like Necrons, hate Warpspawns and Warp in general, just like Necrons, have the exact same skull shape,stature and short lives, and the overwhelming need for Technology and beam weapons, JUST LIKE NECRONS. GW may have planned a race that simply prepares a pacified, multiracial galaxy for Necrons to feast upon, supported by Ethereals that have a C'tan phase blade. Then there is a reference of "dark seed in east" by the Deceiver, so the tricky C'tan might give Tzeentch the finger in the JUST AS PLANNED competition. Or maybe GW just has so little creativity that they simply made a new civ conforming to an Old One's standards without knowing it. Is this the connec...
Post a Comment
Read more