MovieChat Forums > The Terminator (1984) Discussion > Why was Kyle Reese sent back in time?

Why was Kyle Reese sent back in time?

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (20284)
4 replies | jump to latest

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/ereqdn/in_the_terminator_1984_why_was_kyle_reese_sent/

If you're John Connor in 2029 and you see that a Terminator has just been sent back to 1984 to kill your mother, the fact that you still exist inherently means that Skynet's plan didn't work. Even just a split second after the Terminator went through the time machine, from the perspective of people in 2029, it's already had 45 years to complete its mission.

Had Skynet's theories related to time travel been correct and the mission been successful, John Connor would have ceased to exist at the exact moment that the Terminator went through the time machine, leaving no time for him to do anything about it, or anything at all, for that matter.

[–] wearsalan (5554) 5 years ago

Why?
Because that's what he believed he had to do. Or, as Doc would say 'he wasn't thinking 4th dimensionally'!

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You'll never find any time travel movie that doesent have a logic hole like that in it somewhere.
But that is a very succint and articulate illustration of the Terminator one.

[–] Redsfan001 (6180) 5 years ago

Exact moment....

Perhaps a different theory of time travel and its displacement in future events would fit better, so the story works.

Since the Terminator is new to the time, his effect on the future will take the exact amount of time it takes for him to effect it.

It is confusing but to simplify say it takes the Terminator 4 hours to find/kill Sara Conner in 1984...The future has 4 hours before it effects occurs...thus time to send someone back and to kill the Terminator.

The Terminator is an anomaly in time. It's effects on future events are not instantaneous...rather like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond...time is like the constant ringed ripples in the water.

[–] Sandman81 (1510) 5 years ago

Time travel is not instantaneous. It takes some time after you leave the future before you arrive in the past. The Terminator was already in the process of going thru and couldn't be stopped. So the only way John could prevent him from killing his mother would be to send someone back to protect her.