(Note: This contains a lot of text that requires in-depth knowledge of the Terminator universe to understand, and appropriate nerd credentials. Proceed at your own risk.)
Because of the recent Cameron-Terminator news, I've been looking stuff up, and while this probably isn't news to a lot of people, it turns out that Alex (the T-5000 that appears in Genisys) is actually from an alternate timeline. Or, in other words, there's two Skynets within the first 20 minutes of Genisys. The one that gets shut down, and the one that converts John into the T-3000. What's also confirmed is the idea of "nexus events," that there's certain points in the timeline that, if changed, shake everything up. I'd wager that T2 is such a nexus event, because the ending of T2 is where a lot of spin-off media takes its cues from.
So, going by this, I can hypothesize that (only keeping this to the movies for now):
(Hypothetical original timeline, a.k.a. Timeline 0): One where Kyle Reese isn't John's father. This may or may not exist, because T1 otherwise implies a stable loop. If that's the case, then Judgement Day has to occur much, much later than either 1995, 2004, or heck, arguably even 2017. But, if this timeline does exist, then that means either way, the war is still won, the T-800 is sent back, with Kyle Reese in pursuit.
Timeline 1: The casual loop. In 1984, Reese and the T-800 arrive, T1 plays out, etc. JD occurs in 1997, war ends in 2029. The first twenty minutes of Genisys cover the events, and in this series of events, T2 hasn't happened, and never will happen within this timeline. So, war ends, John sends back Reese, knowing that he is indeed his father ahead of time.
Timeline 2: Something changes the sequence of events. A new timeline is created that allows the war in the future to extend to at least 2030 so that the T-1000 is sent back in time as a secondary attempt. This has to be the case (at least in movie canon, while the Salvation comics depict the two Terminators going back within minutes of each other), because Genisys shows that the Skynet of that timeline could only send one Terminator back before being shut down. So, in this timeline, not one, but two Terminators are sent back. T1 still occurs in this timeline. T2 happens for the first time, which causes a nexus event, per the actions of the trio potentially stopping Judgement Day from ever occurring.
Per the nexus event, this causes branches into numerous timelines - the cut ending of T2, Sarah Connor Chronicles, novels, comics, etc.
Timeline 3: Rise of the Machines timeline, with JD pushed back to 2004. This means the war starts later, and ends later, if it ends at all, as the T-X is sent back in time from 2032 after killing John, as the Skynet of this timeline is apparently aware of "Uncle Bob." We can also infer that in "Timeline 3," time travel is used more liberally, in that Skynet still has to send back the T-800 to 1984, the T-1000 to 1995, and then the T-X to 2004. What's iffy is whether Reese still tells Sarah that JD occurs in 1995 or 2004 - maybe, akin to Genisys, his memories are altered as soon as he time travels, in order to fulfill the casual loop. In timeline 3, the time travellers go back, a loop constantly occurs that pushes JD to 2004 from 1995, so we get to 2029, that involves time travel, going back in time to a JD 1995 timeline and repeatedly altering it to 2004, and so on. In essence, both T1 and T2 are now both casual loops.
...is it worth saying now that it's at this point that I'm again reminded why I prefer the original T2 ending?
Anyway...
Timeline 4: Rise of the Machines timeline...again. This has to be a different timeline, but only because of Salvation (which I'll get to). So, timeline 3's been going on for awhile. The T-850 and T-X are both sent back to 2004, and JD occurs. This has to be separate, because not only has the date of Judgement Day changed, but so has the means of John encountering Reese. Maybe the blip, somehow, is John knowing in timeline 4 that he died in timeline 3 - there's no hard proof of this, but I can only assume that given how he dies in timeline 3, it would be very easy to stop it in timeline 4. So, JD occurs in 2004, Salvation occurs in 2018, by which point, similarly to timeline 3, Skynet is well aware that Kyle Reese is John's future father. So, we'll never get movies that follow directly on from Salvation, but if we go by this timeline as being the same as timeline 3, then events unfold as normal, up to at least 2032. Potentially John is always fated to die, but for the sake of as much logic as I can afford, I'm calling this timeline 4, in which case John survives, because he isn't an idiot.
At this point, we're into a combination of hypothetical territory, and me taking cues from a YouTube video.* In timeline 4 or otherwise, but, well, to quote the writers, concerning Alex:
"He's not from this timeline. He?s from an alternate universe, in the multiverse, another of the many universes that exist. That Skynet is not from that timeline."
And:
"This Skynet has been to this universe, and this universe, and this universe. That?s why he says, ?I came a very long way to stop you.? He?s not from here. So he's watched it. He?s watched it happen a bunch of different times, and each time he?s seen it there is a different result but the same result."
It kind of fits in with what's going on, at least in a post-T2 world. By this point in the timeline, bar the odd exception (yes, T2 deleted ending, I still love you), Judgement Day will always occur, and Skynet will always lose. What sucks is that John is the thing that keeps the Resistance going (or at least going long enough to win), but Skynet can't kill John too early, or it'll never be built. But if Skynet crosses into a different timeline, it can alter it without endangering its own existence. This is a key difference from every other time travel attempt, because it's an attempt to change one's own past. This attempt is one to alter the history of a different dimension entirely separate from your own. So, let's say...
Timeline 4 (still): Skynet loses the war (again), but by the time it does so, the T-5000 has been developed, and it's able to cross into Timeline 1. It has to be timeline 1, because Skynet definitively loses in 2029. Now, I'm not sure why it lets Reese be sent back, but either way, afterwards, it attacks and infects John. I can buy why Timeline 4 Skynet doesn't help Timeline 1 Skynet, because Timeline 1 Skynet still has to play things out, because it's bound to the effects of its own timeline. Skynet 1 can't kill John 1 early, or it'll never exist. So, Skynet lets things play out, ensuring that timeline 1 exists, so that timeline 2 can exist, so that timeline 3 can exist, and so on. But, effectively, Timeline 1 has become Timeline 5.
Which brings us to the question of how the heck the T-1000 sent to kill Sarah in 1977 factors in. I can only guess that Alex-Skynet shakes things up by trying to kill Sarah, because if it prevents John from ever being born, its own existence won't be affected. JD will happen much later, but when it does, there'll be no John to stop it. 1984 failed, 1995 failed, so maybe 1977 is the charm? But, someone, presumably from timeline 5 sends the T-800 to intercept. What I can't explain is that under the 'rules' of the setting, this should either start a new timeline or be part of a casual loop, but the T-800 sent in timeline 1 still ends up in timeline 5
Now, at some point, Timeline 5 occurs, where the T-1000 is sent to kill Sarah in 1977, and a T-800 foils it. Presumably this has to be the same timeline as what used to be timeline 1, because the T-800 sent in Timeline 1 and every subsequent timeline still arrives in 1984, under the belief that Sarah is living in Los Angeles at this point. But, anyway, both Reese and the original T-800 end up in timeline 5's new past, which is actually timeline 5's past. The T-800 is destroyed early, so JD is pushed all the way back to 2017, with John sent to 2015 to ensure Skynet's own creation. Maybe this is separate from the T-800? As in, without the T-800, Skynet can never exist in this timeline, so this Skynet, free of causality, can still exist to ensure its own creation...or something.
An interesting possibility is that, if Timeline 0 does indeed exist, then Judgement Day always happened in 2017 or later, and in a weird turn of events, Skynet has reset the entire timeline. Because that appears to be the case. John is destroyed, and post-credits teaser aside, Genisys is destroyed. Which is pretty much the only way to look at it in the knowledge that there'll never be a sequel to Genisys. So, by 2017, the timeline is in a place where John Connor will never exist, but neither will Skynet. Thus, barring what James Cameron does with the franchise, Sarah and Reese get to live happily ever after and...I dunno, have John Connor 2.0 who'll never know the future the Johns of every other timeline knew. Course there's the question of Alex-Skynet and what happens to him, but maybe...I dunno, if this is the new Timeline 0, and in Timeline 0 Judgement Day never occurs, then no other timeline can occur to allow Alex-Skynet to exist and gah! Or, because of the nexus point that Reese passes through from Timeline 1 to Timeline 5, the other timelines still exist, but still all make their way to Timeline 0. Or Timeline 6. Or whatever.
Any of this make sense? If so, you're better at the mechanics of time travel than I am. 0_0
*See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX60d8W4ZcM&t=557s
Because of the recent Cameron-Terminator news, I've been looking stuff up, and while this probably isn't news to a lot of people, it turns out that Alex (the T-5000 that appears in Genisys) is actually from an alternate timeline. Or, in other words, there's two Skynets within the first 20 minutes of Genisys. The one that gets shut down, and the one that converts John into the T-3000. What's also confirmed is the idea of "nexus events," that there's certain points in the timeline that, if changed, shake everything up. I'd wager that T2 is such a nexus event, because the ending of T2 is where a lot of spin-off media takes its cues from.
So, going by this, I can hypothesize that (only keeping this to the movies for now):
(Hypothetical original timeline, a.k.a. Timeline 0): One where Kyle Reese isn't John's father. This may or may not exist, because T1 otherwise implies a stable loop. If that's the case, then Judgement Day has to occur much, much later than either 1995, 2004, or heck, arguably even 2017. But, if this timeline does exist, then that means either way, the war is still won, the T-800 is sent back, with Kyle Reese in pursuit.
Timeline 1: The casual loop. In 1984, Reese and the T-800 arrive, T1 plays out, etc. JD occurs in 1997, war ends in 2029. The first twenty minutes of Genisys cover the events, and in this series of events, T2 hasn't happened, and never will happen within this timeline. So, war ends, John sends back Reese, knowing that he is indeed his father ahead of time.
Timeline 2: Something changes the sequence of events. A new timeline is created that allows the war in the future to extend to at least 2030 so that the T-1000 is sent back in time as a secondary attempt. This has to be the case (at least in movie canon, while the Salvation comics depict the two Terminators going back within minutes of each other), because Genisys shows that the Skynet of that timeline could only send one Terminator back before being shut down. So, in this timeline, not one, but two Terminators are sent back. T1 still occurs in this timeline. T2 happens for the first time, which causes a nexus event, per the actions of the trio potentially stopping Judgement Day from ever occurring.
Per the nexus event, this causes branches into numerous timelines - the cut ending of T2, Sarah Connor Chronicles, novels, comics, etc.
Timeline 3: Rise of the Machines timeline, with JD pushed back to 2004. This means the war starts later, and ends later, if it ends at all, as the T-X is sent back in time from 2032 after killing John, as the Skynet of this timeline is apparently aware of "Uncle Bob." We can also infer that in "Timeline 3," time travel is used more liberally, in that Skynet still has to send back the T-800 to 1984, the T-1000 to 1995, and then the T-X to 2004. What's iffy is whether Reese still tells Sarah that JD occurs in 1995 or 2004 - maybe, akin to Genisys, his memories are altered as soon as he time travels, in order to fulfill the casual loop. In timeline 3, the time travellers go back, a loop constantly occurs that pushes JD to 2004 from 1995, so we get to 2029, that involves time travel, going back in time to a JD 1995 timeline and repeatedly altering it to 2004, and so on. In essence, both T1 and T2 are now both casual loops.
...is it worth saying now that it's at this point that I'm again reminded why I prefer the original T2 ending?
Anyway...
Timeline 4: Rise of the Machines timeline...again. This has to be a different timeline, but only because of Salvation (which I'll get to). So, timeline 3's been going on for awhile. The T-850 and T-X are both sent back to 2004, and JD occurs. This has to be separate, because not only has the date of Judgement Day changed, but so has the means of John encountering Reese. Maybe the blip, somehow, is John knowing in timeline 4 that he died in timeline 3 - there's no hard proof of this, but I can only assume that given how he dies in timeline 3, it would be very easy to stop it in timeline 4. So, JD occurs in 2004, Salvation occurs in 2018, by which point, similarly to timeline 3, Skynet is well aware that Kyle Reese is John's future father. So, we'll never get movies that follow directly on from Salvation, but if we go by this timeline as being the same as timeline 3, then events unfold as normal, up to at least 2032. Potentially John is always fated to die, but for the sake of as much logic as I can afford, I'm calling this timeline 4, in which case John survives, because he isn't an idiot.
At this point, we're into a combination of hypothetical territory, and me taking cues from a YouTube video.* In timeline 4 or otherwise, but, well, to quote the writers, concerning Alex:
"He's not from this timeline. He?s from an alternate universe, in the multiverse, another of the many universes that exist. That Skynet is not from that timeline."
And:
"This Skynet has been to this universe, and this universe, and this universe. That?s why he says, ?I came a very long way to stop you.? He?s not from here. So he's watched it. He?s watched it happen a bunch of different times, and each time he?s seen it there is a different result but the same result."
It kind of fits in with what's going on, at least in a post-T2 world. By this point in the timeline, bar the odd exception (yes, T2 deleted ending, I still love you), Judgement Day will always occur, and Skynet will always lose. What sucks is that John is the thing that keeps the Resistance going (or at least going long enough to win), but Skynet can't kill John too early, or it'll never be built. But if Skynet crosses into a different timeline, it can alter it without endangering its own existence. This is a key difference from every other time travel attempt, because it's an attempt to change one's own past. This attempt is one to alter the history of a different dimension entirely separate from your own. So, let's say...
Timeline 4 (still): Skynet loses the war (again), but by the time it does so, the T-5000 has been developed, and it's able to cross into Timeline 1. It has to be timeline 1, because Skynet definitively loses in 2029. Now, I'm not sure why it lets Reese be sent back, but either way, afterwards, it attacks and infects John. I can buy why Timeline 4 Skynet doesn't help Timeline 1 Skynet, because Timeline 1 Skynet still has to play things out, because it's bound to the effects of its own timeline. Skynet 1 can't kill John 1 early, or it'll never exist. So, Skynet lets things play out, ensuring that timeline 1 exists, so that timeline 2 can exist, so that timeline 3 can exist, and so on. But, effectively, Timeline 1 has become Timeline 5.
Which brings us to the question of how the heck the T-1000 sent to kill Sarah in 1977 factors in. I can only guess that Alex-Skynet shakes things up by trying to kill Sarah, because if it prevents John from ever being born, its own existence won't be affected. JD will happen much later, but when it does, there'll be no John to stop it. 1984 failed, 1995 failed, so maybe 1977 is the charm? But, someone, presumably from timeline 5 sends the T-800 to intercept. What I can't explain is that under the 'rules' of the setting, this should either start a new timeline or be part of a casual loop, but the T-800 sent in timeline 1 still ends up in timeline 5
Now, at some point, Timeline 5 occurs, where the T-1000 is sent to kill Sarah in 1977, and a T-800 foils it. Presumably this has to be the same timeline as what used to be timeline 1, because the T-800 sent in Timeline 1 and every subsequent timeline still arrives in 1984, under the belief that Sarah is living in Los Angeles at this point. But, anyway, both Reese and the original T-800 end up in timeline 5's new past, which is actually timeline 5's past. The T-800 is destroyed early, so JD is pushed all the way back to 2017, with John sent to 2015 to ensure Skynet's own creation. Maybe this is separate from the T-800? As in, without the T-800, Skynet can never exist in this timeline, so this Skynet, free of causality, can still exist to ensure its own creation...or something.
An interesting possibility is that, if Timeline 0 does indeed exist, then Judgement Day always happened in 2017 or later, and in a weird turn of events, Skynet has reset the entire timeline. Because that appears to be the case. John is destroyed, and post-credits teaser aside, Genisys is destroyed. Which is pretty much the only way to look at it in the knowledge that there'll never be a sequel to Genisys. So, by 2017, the timeline is in a place where John Connor will never exist, but neither will Skynet. Thus, barring what James Cameron does with the franchise, Sarah and Reese get to live happily ever after and...I dunno, have John Connor 2.0 who'll never know the future the Johns of every other timeline knew. Course there's the question of Alex-Skynet and what happens to him, but maybe...I dunno, if this is the new Timeline 0, and in Timeline 0 Judgement Day never occurs, then no other timeline can occur to allow Alex-Skynet to exist and gah! Or, because of the nexus point that Reese passes through from Timeline 1 to Timeline 5, the other timelines still exist, but still all make their way to Timeline 0. Or Timeline 6. Or whatever.
Any of this make sense? If so, you're better at the mechanics of time travel than I am. 0_0
*See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX60d8W4ZcM&t=557s
