10 Sci-Fi Fan Theories That Make The Films Better

4. Skynet Needs Humans - The Terminator

The One The Matrix
Orion Pictures

The Terminator series is rife with potential for fan theories since each film in the inconsistent franchise attempts to deepen the lore of the universe shared by the series. But whilst the flicks themselves may vary in quality, one fan theory explains the underlying conflict of the series with a surprisingly believable and consistent internal logic which beats the actual explanations offered in the films.

It’s an age-old question—if Skynet killed off half of humanity the moment it became self-aware via nuclear Armageddon, why didn’t they just wipe out the entire human world at once? Why send Arnie back in time to off John Connor?

Well, because it needs humans in order to have a purpose—that purpose being, destroy them. Therefore the not-that-bright computer brain behind the antagonists of the series is essentially treating John Connor and by extension humanity the way a cat does a mouse—letting them escape long enough to chase them again, and repeating this loop ad nauseaum.

Boy, when you put it like that it makes the end of Terminator 3 sound positively uplifting.

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Cathal Gunning hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.