The latest entry intheTerminatoruniverse,Terminator Zerotakes place mostly in 1997.
According to the Terminator, Kenta would grow up to be a very important figure in the future.
This is why the Terminator saved Kenta whenever the boy was in danger.
However, when the time came, Kenta decided not to shut down Kokoro.
Was Judgment Day Prevented In Terminator Zero?
In other words, Judgment Day was set to happen on August 29th, 1997.
Skynet went online, became conscious, and attacked humanity.
Kokoro believes humanity is dangerous and there is no logical reason why it should necessarily be saved.
Therefore, it is safe to sayTerminator Zeros timelinediverges from that ofT2andTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
That said, it was not quite the same Judgment Day from what we knew from the movies.
This is becauseKokoro, the A.I.
However, it arrived at some of the same conclusions as Skynet did.
Custom image by Debanjana Chowdhury
Kokoro believes humanity is dangerous and there is no logical reason why it should necessarily be saved.
This is why Skynet sent the Terminator to 1997, just before Malcolm activated Kokoro.
Eiko had a similar mission, namely because Kokoro was also against humans in the future.
Image via Netflix
However, in 1997, Kenta didnt want to believe what the Terminator was saying.
He eventually accepted his fate but ultimately chose not to turn off Kokoro.
If Kenta deactivated his fathers A.I., Earth would be Skynets to destroy and conquer.
Despite his hatred for robots, Kenta ultimately trusted in his fathers creation.
In 2022, when Eiko went back in time, she hadnt had a son yet.
However, in a previous timeline, Eiko gave birth to a child in 2024.
Image via Netflix
Malcolm grew up in the dystopian future we know from theTerminatormovies and became one of the resistances smartest scientists.
Misaki was created in the future but was brought to the 1980s alongside Malcolm Lee.
Her memory was later used as part of Kokoro’s A.I.
Image via Netflix
The only way to stop Skynet would be to launch a new A.I.
that would have no original programming.
Unlike Skynet, which was created to oversee defensive mechanisms, Malcolms A.I.
Image via Netflix
was going to be free to decide what it wanted to be.
While Skynet went online and started to attack the world, not all hope was lost.
Kokoro controls an army of robots and is still learning about humanitys place in the world.
The future Eiko knows may no longer exist because theyve changed the circumstances of Kokoros launch.
Eikos mission has changed she now wants to protect her grandkids.
Malcolms family, including Misaki, are now living in a world at war.
Skynet controls some territories, with Kokoro watching over others.
AlthoughTerminator Zeros finale is satisfying enough, a potential season 2 would have plenty of stories to tackle.
This includes whether Kokoro will fully turn against humanity or not.
