Terminator Zero does not feature Sarah Connor, John Connor, Kyle Reese, or the T-800. Instead, it tells an original story featuring all-new characters. While Skynet still is the larger threat, the show introduces a new player, Kokoro. This A.I. was created as the answer to Skynet, yet it is not sure about whether it should save the human race. Terminator Zero establishes some interesting time travel rules, namely the fact that every significant change to the timeline creates a new universe. Aware of that, Malcolm Lee realized how absurd Skynet’s usual time travel plan was.

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When Terminator Zero Takes Place In The Terminator Timeline

Netflix's new Terminator show is set at a crucial point in the franchise's complicated timeline, revisiting an important period from its past.

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Terminator Zero Calls Out How Skynet’s Plan Never Made Sense

Every Time Skynet Sends A Terminator, A New Timeline Is Created

Malcolm Lee, one of Terminator Zero’s main characters, was revealed to be from the future. While he built a family in the 1980s, Malcolm was born in 2024 at the height of the war between humans and machines. With an interest in science and engineering, Malcolm grew up to become an important asset for the resistance. However, he often disagreed with his leadership. Malcolm believed that everything humanity was doing was pointless, including sending agents to the past. He pointed out how Skynet and the resistance kept doing the same thing over and over.

In his research, Malcolm concluded that Skynet would always send a Terminator model to the past to kill an important figure from the resistance or prevent them from being born – which is essentially the plot of virtually every Terminator movie. However, considering that time travel in the Terminator universe always creates a new timeline, what Skynet was doing was pointless. In hindsight, Skynet and the resistance have been in an endless loop. At the same time, no matter how much humanity sends to the past, Skynet will always be created. This is why Malcolm decided to act on his own.

Malcolm Lee Wanted To Break The Skynet Cycle In Terminator Zero

Malcolm Wanted To Give Skynet An Equal Rival

Concluding that Skynet and humanity were on a vicious cycle, Malcom argued that they needed a different strategy to stop Skynet. Rather than trying to protect a potential savior of humanity – be it John Connor or anyone else – Malcolm wanted to create a new artificial intelligence powerful enough to counter Skynet. The difference, however, is that this A.I. was not going to have any sort of original programming. Malcolm created Misaki, from whom he would later create Kokoro, but did not give them any instructions. He believed that Skynet had learned the worst possible things from humans.

Malcolm would allow Misaki and then Kokoro to make their own decisions and decide what they would do with their power. The leaders of the resistance did not agree with Malcolm’s idea, which is why he had to kill them before using the time machine. He went back to Japan in the 1980s, the perfect time and place to work on his artificial intelligence before Judgment Day. In an alternate future, Kokoro waged war against both Skynet and humanity. This is why not only the Terminator but also Eiko was sent back in time to prevent Kokoro’s launch.

Terminator Zero Calling Out Skynet’s Plan Makes The Movies Better

Skynet And The Resistance Were Trapped In An Endless Loop

The fact that Terminator Zero acknowledged how repetitive the Terminator movies have been strangely makes them better. While Skynet always doing the same thing is nothing but a recurring trope in the franchise, Terminator Zero found a way of referencing it from an in-universe perspective. It seems like humans and machines were indeed in some kind of endless cycle – a new leader rises, Skynet sends a Terminator, the timeline is changed but not enough to stop the war, and the cycle starts over. Kokoro was Malcolm’s answer to humanity’s failures against Skynet.

Ironically, Malcolm Lee’s creation ended up being as dangerous as Skynet, if not more. Terminator Zero has an open ending in which Kokoro is still deciding what it is going to do. This new A.I. believes humans can be a threat, but it also seems to have learned something from Malcolm’s sacrifice. Terminator Zero ends with Judgment Day happening, except that Kokoro has saved some regions, including Japan, from the attacks. It’s interesting how the show kept Skynet as a threat while slightly changing its main goal – here, Skynet wanted to kill Kokoro, not Sarah or John Connor.

Terminator Zero (2024)

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