![]() I have to stay functional until my mission is complete. JOHN: You don’t feel any emotion about it one way or the other? Terminator slings the M-79 and starts looking for the grenades. The thought never occurred to him. He searches him mind for the answer… ![]() ![]() I searched the rest of the script, and this is indeed a callback to something the Terminator tells John earlier: He turns and steps off the edge. They watch him sink into the lava. He disappears… the metal hand sinking last… at the last second it forms into a fist with the thumb extended… a final thumbs up. Then it is gone. Reaches out her hand to shake it. They lock eyes. And there’s also one crucial piece of dialogue that didn’t make the final cut. It seems likely this was changed because being slowly lowered into the steel is a way more dramatic sequence. The Terminator doesn’t say anything about not being able to self-Terminate, and he jumps into the steel himself. Take me to dairy queen.”īelinkie: I just Googled for a T2 script, and I found something that claims to be the “final shooting script.” It’s very similar to the actual movie, but there’s one big difference in this scene. It would have been different if John Connor had told him “I forbid you to go! In fact, just to play it safe, we’re all getting right the hell away from this robot slaughterhouse. And if someone else just happens to lower him into the metal while he’s out there, well… that’s hardly his fault. If he’s allowed to say “Kill me” without violating his programming, it makes sense to think that he can say “Make me leave” and even suspend himself over the pit (which isn’t exactly going anywhere), without disobeying John Connor. Stokes: Arnold doesn’t go, if you think about it, any more than he self terminates. Now he sees the forest, the big picture of saving mankind, not just the trees, his robotic interpretation of his orders and his predilection for termination. He realizes that the best way to carry out his mission is to stop Skynet from happening, which includes melting himself.īut would he have gone through with this without John Connor’s consent? Has his thinking evolved to the point that, unlike previously in the scenes, he’s willing to disregard John Connor’s orders that don’t contribute to his interpretation of the mission? I think that, yes, such a change could be considered the final twist, the final step in that character evolution. His “neural net CPU, a learning computer,” has taught him the value of human life and allowed him to broadly interpret his “protect John Connor” mandate. Lee: I think it’s a little of both: John’s hug can be interpreted as giving permission, but more importantly, the T-800’s character development is a critical component of the movie, and his decision to sacrifice himself is clearly the culmination of that development. This hug can probably be interpreted as rescinding the order and saying good-bye, although “a meaningful hug” is a really thin basis for android command and control functions. Honestly, the scene seems to call for a moment where John gives the Terminator permission to go, right?įenzel: I just rewatched the scene on YouTube, and there’s a wordless exchange between John and the T-800 after John orders him not to go, where the T-800 touches him on the cheek, and then John relents and hugs him. ![]() Isn’t he supposed to obey any and all commands from John Connor, even if they go against his mission? Is this a minor plot inconsistency? Or is there a suggestion that the Terminator has transcended his machinelike nature and gained free will? I don’t really buy that, since he clearly can’t self-Terminate and therefore is still constrained by his programming. When the Terminator says he has to be destroyed for Judgement Day to be prevented, John says the following: “I order you not to go! I order you not to go! I order you not to go!” And then the Terminator does it anyway. But it reminded me of something about the movie that never quite made sense to me. Really clever show, and the messiest I’ve gotten at a theatrical event since Gwar. Get it now!]īelinkie: I saw Terminator Too this evening. Remember, there is no overthought analysis but what we make!Īnd if you love you some Terminator, don’t miss the T2 Overview, our downloadable commentary on the movie. Read this before Terminator Genisys inflicts even further damage to the Terminator franchise. This prompted a long email exchange on the ending of Terminator 2 which was lost in the Overthinking It vaults…until now. [ Editor’s note: three years ago, a farcical theatrical treatment of Terminator 2 - Terminator Too: Judgment Play -passed through New York City. Lee snagged the director for an interview, and both Belinkie and Lee went to see the show.
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