9 Movie Prequels That Created Massive Plot Holes

4. Skynet's Plan Knows About Kyle Reese With No Explanation - Terminator Salvation

Substantiating plot holes in The Terminator series is hard. The mechanics of its time travel changes from movie to movie (the first three films say it's a Grandfather paradox, that the future can be changed and that the future can only be postponed, respectively) and so any issues across the franchise can be brushed aside with ease. It's somewhat ironic, then, that the film that presents an irrevocable plot hole is the one that doesn't engage with the whole time travel conceit that makes the series so cool.

Salvation, simultaneously a prequel and sequel to the earlier movies, spent much of its time trying to convince the world that Sam Worthington was interesting, but the film's actual plot dealt with Skynet kidnapping Kyle Reese. It at first seems to be an attempt to kill him and erase future son John Connor from existence, but a third-act twist reveals he's actually serving as bait in a complex scheme to kill the resistance fighter.

Now the idea of tricking John's all well and good, but that's an impossible sequence of events in the Terminator timeline - Skynet don't know Kyle Reese is John's father. If they did, why would they keep insisting on sending robots back before Sarah Connor is impregnated, essentially creating their nemesis. That's been an accepted fact throughout the series that's suddenly replaced without an attempt at an in-film reason.

It gets even worse when you look at the broader strokes. If Skynet know about their time travel future, then why are they even bothering trying to kill John in the future (something they did at the start of Rise Of The Machines, with minimal impact).

Getting rid of Kyle, or even moving towards their typical killing method, would have a much bigger impact on the war.