Summary
TheTerminatorfranchise has captivated audiences for decades with its gripping tale of man versus machine, set against a backdrop of time travel and alternate realities. From James Cameron’s groundbreaking 1984 film to the latest installment,Terminator ZERO, the series has woven an intricate web of timelines that can be just a tad bit confusing at times.
For those who walked into this anime without any knowledge of the films, here’s the gist of it: At its core,theTerminatorsaga revolves around the rise of Skynet, an artificial intelligence that becomes self-aware and initiates a nuclear war against humanity. The franchise’s narrative is powered by time travel, as both machines and humans attempt to alter the course of history. Typically, this involves Skynet sending cyborg assassins back in time to eliminate key figures in the human resistance, most notably John Connor. Each new entry in the franchise introduces its own twist on this formula, withTerminator ZEROfocusing on a new target: Malcolm Lee.
The Mechanics of Time Travel in Terminator ZERO
Terminator ZERObrings a fresh perspectiveto the franchise’s time travel mechanics, offering a better understanding of what it means in the series. The anime clarifies a crucial aspect of time travel that applies to the entireTerminatoruniverse:each instance of time travel creates a new timelineor alternate reality, distinct from the traveler’s original past.
Every instance of time travel, every time someone has stepped foot into one of those machines, all they’ve really done is manage to swap out one reality for another.
— The Prophet to Eiko
Malcolm Lee also explains that despite its advanced intelligence, Skynet has failed to grasp this fundamental truth about time travel and continues to send Terminators back in time to assassinate key figures in the human resistance movement. But this does nothing to change its own timeline, and in reality, each time-travel results in the creation of a new branching timeline, leaving the AI’s original future unchanged.
In the anime, the characters come from two different timelines into a single new reality, and each timeline is very similar to the other, which can make everything a bit confusing.
Timeline One: Eiko and the Terminator’s Origin
This timeline serves as the starting point for the Terminator ZERO series, encompassing the original futures of both Eiko and the Terminator, as well as a future version of Kenta.
The 2022 Future
In this timeline’s 2022, we find a world where Malcolm’s son, Kenta, has brokered an alliance between humans and machines. This future Kenta initiates a plan to alter the past, believing that his younger self will share his perspective on the threat posed by Kokoro and will deactivate the AI when asked.
Two key figures from this future travel back in time:
The 1997 Divergence
When the Terminator arrives in 1997, events unfold differently than expected:
It’s worth noting that since Eiko leaves her timeline in 2022, three years before Malcolm’s birth, her actions create a new branch where her version of Malcolm will never be born. Without Malcolm, maybe Kokoro would not exist in yet another timeline, though her timeline itself would remain unaffected.
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Timeline Two: Malcolm and Misaki’s Origins
Malcolm’s Dystopian Future (2025-2045)
Malcolm Lee’s story originates from a timeline different from, yet similar to, Eiko’s. Born in 2025, Malcolm grows up in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by the war against Skynet. As a child soldier, he fights against the machines, developing a fascination with cyborg technology. His experiments with robotics eventually leads to his ostracization from the human resistance movement. In 2045, Malcolm creates Misaki, his cyborg companion. When other humans attempt to destroy Misaki, Malcolm resolves to protect her at all costs, even if it means turning against his own kind.
Aware that Skynet will become operational on July 26, 2025, Malcolm constructs a time machine. He and Misaki travel back to 1983, arriving in the same timeline that Eiko (from the first timeline) will eventually travel to in 1997. This gives them a 14-year head start to develop Kokoro’s AI with the goal of creating an AI that recognizes the moral worth of humanity, hoping to prevent the apocalyptic future they come from.
The Convergence of Both Timelines
July 14, 2025
On July 06, 2025, multiple timelines converge in a single reality. Malcolm races to complete Kokoro before Skynet’s scheduled nuclear attack. Simultaneously, the Terminator and Eiko arrive from their own timeline, each with conflicting objectives. The Terminator seeks to eliminate Malcolm, while Eiko aims to protect Malcolm and his children while opposing Kokoro’s activation. Misaki, now believing herself to be human, assists in protecting the children, unaware of her true origins or her past relationship with Malcolm.
This convergence of characters from different timelines sets the stage for the central conflict ofTerminator ZERO, where the fate of humanity hangs in the balance between various AIs and time travelers with conflicting agendas.
So, in total,Terminator ZEROfeatures three different timelines. The first timeline introduces us to Eiko and the Terminator, both from 2022. Their journey back to 1997 creates a new branch of reality, setting the stage for the central conflict. The second timeline belongs to Malcolm Lee, originating from a parallel dystopian future in 2045. Malcolm and his cyborg companion Misaki travel back to 1983, arriving in what will become the same timeline Eiko enters in 1997.
This shared timeline becomes the third and focal point of the series, where all these characters converge on July 09, 2025 - the day Skynet is set to become operational.
