Terminator: Dark Fate finally admitted the biggest secret of the entire Terminator franchise: that John Connor isn’t the real hero; Sarah is. 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate was more or less a hard reset for the franchise. It writes off a good portion of the films in the series while making a few much needed retcons in the name of continuity. None appear more controversial to die-hard fans than the changes made to John Connor and his relevancy to the story, which for this film were tossed by the wayside.
Throughout prior Terminator films, audiences were along for the ride as John Connor went from unborn child to resistance leader. His life both before and after Judgement Day was well documented, thanks to portrayals by a plethora of actors, from Edward Furlong to Christian Bale. The character went through many changes on his journey to becoming the “savior of humanity”, all things that were thrown out the window by the time Terminator: Dark Fate rolled around.
Reverting the Terminator timeline back to 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Dark Fate came right out of the gate with the death of John Connor. He was killed by another T-800, only 3 years after he and his mother, Sarah Connor, prevented a nuclear apocalypse at the hands of Skynet. How could this be the start of the film? After all, John Connor was supposedly the leader of the human resistance, so how could he be disposed of so quickly? The answer is simple, John Connor’s contributions to the human/robot conflict were hugely overstated, while his mother’s went largely unnoticed.
The Terminator Continuity Has Been Drastically Changed
It is no secret that Dark Fate changed the course of the Terminator franchise in-universe. However, the film was also a redo of sorts, casting aside a good majority of the films in the name of breathing new life into the series. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys were all casualties of this hard reset, being declared not canon. Therefore, the events of those films no longer impact the story going forward.
Some may argue that the majority of these films were less than stellar additions to the series anyway, so their exclusion is not a big deal. Be that as it may, those films did a lot for the tenured characters of the series, such as Kyle Reese and of course, John Connor. The old canon fleshed out the world and the individuals within it, be it in the war-torn future or the blissfully ignorant past. Without these adventures as part of the larger story, there was a chance to make some serious changes to John Connor’s character.
Dark Fate’s New Timeline Makes John Connor Irrelevant
John Connor was a staple of the Terminator series almost as much as Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was one of the few constants in the franchise, regardless as to who was taking up the name. Fans watched him grow from a troubled youth to a tough and rugged warrior across five films. He was constantly evolving and changing, even becoming the T-1000 in Terminator Genisys, which, however the film sits with fans, was a welcome and surprising twist on the character. The point is, there was history there for better or worse.
With Dark Fate retconning the vast majority of his character evolution, his story becomes far more expendable. In the new Terminator timeline, he never grows beyond 14 years old and therefore doesn’t experience everything he did in the now non-canon films. Fans never see him become the hero of legend. Because of this change, he is no longer important to the narrative. Sure, the first two Terminator films underline his vitality to the survival of the human race, however the follow up to those films makes his existence unnecessary.
John Connor’s Story Was Over By Dark Fate, But Sarah’s Wasn’t
In the new canon, John Connor’s abrupt death proved he served his purpose as a character. He managed to stop Judgement Day, or rather prolonged it. Skynet was defeated, putting the previous generation of Terminator films to rest. Now with next to no development, James Cameron could move on from the character with little to no consequence. However, his mother Sarah Connor’s story was far from over. Following John’s death in 1998, a grieving Sarah began a life of hunting Terminators as a way of avenging the death of her son. The new continuity took the spotlight off of John, and onto his mother.
The Terminator series made a habit out of presenting Sarah Connor as a very strong presence that was well written and developed, yet short-changed her in regards to the plot. In the films she appeared in, she acted as no more than a mentor to John. Her advice and protective nature over him is what allowed him to become who he was in the old canon. She was the tough as nails, never say die action hero, but was constantly overshadowed by her son’s future. Despite being a more interesting character, she was always relegated to less than that.
John’s foretold reputation pushed Sarah’s importance aside. In Terminator: Dark Fate the situation was no different, as she took franchise newcomer Dani Ramos under her wing by the end of the film. Dani was in a hybrid of Sarah and John’s position, as a future human resistance leader who didn’t know it yet, but was just a scared kid who was thrown into a world of cyborgs and robots that she wasn’t prepared for. Thankfully, Sarah was of course there to help her, further continuing her own journey and character development.
Sarah Connor Was The Real Savior Of Humanity
Sarah Connor is what John Connor was always prophesied to be, and what Dani Ramos is, in a sense. In the new timeline it is understood that in the future, Dani will go on to lead the charge against the villainous AI, Legion, and previously John was important in the fall of Skynet, however there is one common thread that has led to both of their individual successes. Without Sarah at their side, guiding their respective journeys, humanity would be truly lost.
Sarah always fought the good fight against the machines, and acted as a teacher to those who were said to be the “chosen ones”, for lack of a better term. She kept the hope for humanity alive, while her son and eventual pupil did their best to learn from her. The world would have been lost had Sarah not taken up arms against her time-travelling foes. She doesn’t receive the credit for it, but she was arguably the most important character in the fight against both Skynet and Legion. This goes as far back as the original Terminator, where John wasn’t the hero nor the character focus, but simply a savior to come.
If Dark Fate proved anything, it is that the Terminator series has been shaken to its core. There have been many changes made, both good and bad, to the timeline. As it stands, John Connor’s importance to the future war is not what it was once considered to be. Dani now holds the fate of the future in her hands, and if her future exploits in the Terminator franchise are to be seen on the big screen remains up in the air. Wherever her story may go, it is crucial that Sarah Connor, the woman who has made this all possible, does not go unrecognized.
More: Terminator: Dark Fate Avoids Falling Into Genisys’ Sequel Trap
