Houdini's Magic Movie Ticket

I read a theory a long time ago on Wikipedia that described how things really went down the first time a Terminator was sent back through time to kill Sarah Connor. Things were a little different from the movie.

In the original timeline, SkyNet went active, and decimated humanity. Kyle Reese led the resistance, and was able to smash SkyNet's defense grid using a virus. Part of the virus included some decoy intelligence used to help keep SkyNet busy thinking about things that never were. The lies that SkyNet learned included info on a legendary figure named John Connor, who was the true leader of the resistance. SkyNet then sent back the first Terminator to 1984, to kill Sarah Connor, the "mother" of the fictional John Connor. Kyle Reese didn't go back through time to save her. In that future, SkyNet won.

Meanwhile, back in 1984B, a Terminator chases Sarah Connor, who manages to barely survive. She finds the cyborg's CPU, and with the help of a scientist, she decodes the data and learns about John Connor, her supposed son. She and the scientist fall in love, and have a child, which they name John. John grows up, SkyNet comes online, and John teams up with Kyle Reese and others to save humanity. SkyNet can see that John Connor is a real threat, and sends a Terminator back in time to 1984 to kill his mother. John Connor then sends Kyle Reese back to save Sarah Connor.

Meanwhile, back in 1984C, a Terminator chases down Sarah Connor, who is protected and ultimately saved by Kyle Reese. During the ordeal, Reese fathers Sarah's son, who she goes on to name John Connor. John grows up, SkyNet comes online, and John and the Resistance save Humanity.

So learning this, it becomes apparent that SkyNet effectively defeated itself when it sent the first Terminator back to kill an unborn child that would never exist. In doing that, it alerted the past to the threats of the future, and prepared its enemy against itself.

Maybe somewhere out there, there's a guy named John Connor who at this moment is preparing for Judgment Day...

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