Terminator Genisys Ending: What Does It Really Mean?

Why Did Kyle Tell His Past Self "Genisys Is Skynet"?

The final scene of the film sees Kyle visit his younger, non-Judgement Day self to deliver an important message - "Genisys is Skynet" (and some more, unheard dialogue that could play a part in a sequel). It may seem like an odd thing to do - Genisys is already destroyed, after all - but in fact serves to highlight the varied forms of time travel in the film. While the future has changed, Kyle has to do a bit of pruning to get the timeline to actually fit. When he first travelled back in time, Reese received visions from the new timeline, including Sarah telling him to run and his younger self repeating Genisys is Skynet. This is a grandfather paradox not dissimilar to the one about John's parentage - the only way he gets to see them is if he makes them happen. It doesn't stand up to much scrutiny, but mainly because it's such an abstract concept, even within the world of the film; Kyle had to tell his younger, alternate self about Skynet because otherwise the past version of himself won't know how to defeat it. It's mind-melting and brings us to the bigger, more overarching question the series has been grappling with for decades.