Judgement Day

Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor

John’s Father Never Appears in the Movies

Who is that, in the image above? If you said Oscar Winning actor Michael Biehn, congratulations. You’re both correct and from the future, when he wins for Aliens: Regicide. Who that is not is the father of John Connor. You see, when Kyle Reese came back from the future in order to save Sarah Connor, he changed a few critical things. Namely, he pushed off the date for Judgement Day, and he pushed the real Mr. Connor out of the picture. 

We know from Back to the Future that Time is fragile. Small changes can have a huge impact down the line, creating ripples that could one day produce the horrific nightmare known as Terminator: Genesys. Well, what HUGE change does Kyle Reese do in the original movie?

Imagine, for a minute, the timeline from the original history. Sarah Connor is a waitress. She knows nothing of war or machines or time travel. She’s alone for now, but she hangs out with a pretty outgoing crowd. In fact, it’s pretty obvious that a fun, attractive girl like that will eventual attract a suitable mate. Maybe someone with a military background. Maybe a cop.

That man falls for Sarah, marries her, and they have a child: John. In fact, they may not have him for several years. But when they do, they raise him to be a man of good moral standing, of worth. A man who doesn’t whine and complain and think everything should just be handed to him on a plate. A man whose mother isn’t locked away in an insane asylum most of his formative years. 

The fact is, when Kyle decided that his mission involved boning the commander’s mother, he undid the original timeline. Sarah was now in love with another man (and another set of genes). Even if Sarah did go all Imperator Furiosa by the second movie, she was only improving her own skills. Not her genes. Kyle was a fine soldier, but he was no leader. He was a follower. He was following orders when he stepped naked into a time bubble and lightning jumped back in time to sex up Linda Hamilton. So who was the mystery dad he pushed out of the picture?

In any case, Kyle Reese boning Sarah and getting her all kinds of knocked up reset the timeline. Instead of bad ass, warrior leader John Connor, who knew his father and mother and studied to become a military commander, we have foster child John Reese, who rips off ATMs and hangs out with this loser. 

But Adam, we know that this John still becomes the commander of the rebellion in the future. Otherwise, why would Skynet send the T-1000 to go kill him? 

Because, you moron, they didn’t. Skynet sent the T-800 back to protect John. It was the rebellion that sent the T-1000 to kill him.