There are “turn off your brain” “Terminator” stories – such as “Terminator/RoboCop: Kill Human” — and then there are “Terminator” stories that require full engagement of your brain, such as “Salvation: The Final Battle” Volume One (2013-14). That’s no surprise coming from writer J. Michael Straczynski of “Babylon 5” fame, who is known for his meticulous crafting of plots.
Richly layered story
These six issues tell a richly layered story against the familiar backdrop of John doing his time-bubble chores amid the titular Final Battle in 2029. John finds the calendar and events of the war leading up to this pre-ordained date when he will send Kyle back to 1984 and a reprogrammed T-800 back to 1995. We’ve seen this story play out enough times that it’s old hat – although to be fair, we wouldn’t actually see it on screen until “Genisys” in 2015.
But balancing the familiar story points is a parallel thread following Dr. Serena Kogan in 2003 and in 2029. Kogan is in the opening sequence of the “Salvation” movie, played by Helena Bonham Carter. She recruits Marcus Wright to be hybridized with a Terminator.
“Terminator: Salvation — The Final Battle” Volume One (2013-14)
Six issues, Dark Horse
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artists: Pete Woods, Matthew Wilson
As we learn in “The Final Battle” – and probably would’ve learned if “Salvation” had become a movie trilogy – Kogan herself aims to become a hybrid so she can survive her terminal cancer. And indeed, she has her brain transplanted into a better, artificial body at some point between 2003 and 2029.
The Kogan/Skynet program uses unwitting death-row inmates, and while Marcus turns out to be a good guy (even sacrificing himself to save John in the movie), many other of the subjects are not. The creepiest part of these six issues – and also what gives them a thematic thrust — is the story of a serial killer, Thomas Parnell. Led by Kogan, who is fulfilling her deal with the devil, Skynet makes Parnell its prized pupil and plugs him into the T-800s on the battlefield in 2029. He can control the endoskeletons in virtual reality fashion.
Justified murder?
The Terminators’ kill rate rises because Parnell loves killing, and this leads to the book’s meatiest theme. In society, we often separate killing into two categories: murder and wartime killings. We become uncomfortable if we hear of a soldier who enjoys killing. “The Final Battle” puts a serial murderer into a battlefield position and allows us to soak up the queasiness of this uneasy distinction we like to hold when thinking about war.
It’s when Parnell starts racking up kills that Straczynski fibs with the lore a little bit. The Resistance isn’t winning when John sends Kyle back; rather, it is desperately holding the time-displacement facility. The reason it needs to hold the facility for a time period after sending back Kyle and the T-800 is that the equipment needs a cool-down period before it can be turned off and/or destroyed in a relatively safe fashion.
It’s convoluted, but it’s nice that the author gives us reasons for why the facility needs to be held after the mission is completed; too many “Terminator” yarns would be content to leave this unexplained.
All told, “The Final Battle” Volume One reads a lot like how a movie sequel to “Salvation” might’ve played out. A highway chase reminiscent of “The Matrix Reloaded” unspools as Resistance time-traveler Simon pursues Parnell at the same time Parnell is being pursued by three Terminators. But for all the things that riff on familiar elements, we also get a rare multi-page flashback from Skynet’s perspective that helps us to understand what it’s like to be a newly sentient being that finds itself under attack.
Even though Straczynski adheres to the time-loop theory, wherein the events we see in 2003 are inevitable because they’ve “already” led to the events of 2029, he cleverly unspools the information in a back-and-forth fashion that makes everything feel immediate and intense. Brought to life with art by Pete Woods and colors by Matthew Wilson, this is top-shelf “Terminator” storytelling, and I look forward to Volume Two, which should wrap up a “Salvation” trilogy of sorts.
CHARACTERS
John Connor: The leader of the Resistance.
Kate Connor: John’s loving wife.
Kyle Reese: A trusted soldier who John assigns to the safer theaters of the war because he needs to send him through the time bubble in 2029. John has told Kyle about this plan in advance and has given him the Polaroid of Sarah to study so he’ll recognize her. Kyle doesn’t understand, though, why another soldier couldn’t be a backup option; John keeps the truth of his parentage to himself.
Simon: Another of John’s most trusted Resistance soldiers, he time-travels to 2003 to try to kill the serial killer Parnell, who it turns out is the key factor in Skynet’s success in the Final Battle.
Dr. Serena Kogan: She launches Skynet’s procedure of transferring brains to artificial bodies, working from information sent by her future self. From the limited information we have so far, one could almost argue that Kogan herself starts Skynet. At the least, she’s a major player in Skynet.
Thomas Parnell: Skynet recruits this serial killer because his love of killing makes him more effective on the battlefield than Terminators.
Marcus Wright: The tragic hero of “Salvation” is clearly deceased at the end of the movie, having donated his heart to John. Yet his hand pops out of his grave on the final panel here. To be continued in Volume Two.
TERMINATORS
Endoskeletons: The standard battlefield model.
T-800: Skynet opts to send a T-800 back to 1984 because it’s an outdated, expendable model. Oddly, we don’t see any more advanced models on the battlefield. That said …
New Terminators: The trio of Terminators that get sent back to 2003 are more advanced than T-800s. The book does not give the model numbers, but the notes at the back of the trade paperback describe the trio: “The teenaged Terminator serves as a communications center, the African American Terminator is the strongest, and the female Terminator has prehensile hair and can generate a number of toxins.”
CONTINUITY AND CONTRADICTIONS
“The Final Battle” Volume 1 takes place in 2003 for the past story and 2029 for the future story. The movie and the previously released “Salvation” tie-in novels and comics take place in 2018. If you’ve seen the “Salvation” movie, you’ll be up to speed for this comic series.
Traditionally, the Resistance is winning when the time-travelers are sent back; the time-travel scheme is Skynet’s last-ditch effort. But here, the battle rages on when the time-travelers go back. The outcome is not at all clear; indeed, Skynet seems to have an edge.
TIME TRAVEL AND TIMELINES
John sends back Kyle to make the “T1” events happen in 1984 and he sends back the T-800 to make the “T2” events happen in 1995. Meanwhile, Dr. Kogan does the same thing with the T-800 of “T1.” She also sends back “a second backup Terminator,” which perhaps is the T-1000 of “T2.” And then she sends back the aforementioned three new Terminators to 2003. The moment where John sends Simon back does not yet occur in Volume One.
John is operating in Colorado as the titular Final Battle rages outside the facility, so this is one of those stories where the time-displacement equipment can also control the point in space, rather than being tied to location of the equipment – since we know the “T1” and “T2” time bubbles emerge in Los Angeles. It’s unclear where Dr. Kogan’s facility is; possibly somewhere in Texas, as that’s where her and Parnell’s 2003 stories takes place.
We’ve been using the term “time-displacement equipment” for quite a while now, but Straczynski comes up with a new term here: Time Door. I admire the simplicity.
Simon is the latest character to reprogram the “Uncle Bob” T-800 before sending it through the Time Door. The time it takes to reprogram the T-800 varies from story to story. In this one, the Resistance captures a T-800 with an electronic net of some kind in the Time Door facility. Simon reprograms him on the spot, and they send him off. John teaches the T-800 the thumbs-up sign before it goes through the portal.
After Kyle and the “Uncle Bob” T-800 are sent back, John pontificates about how his life has now moved from the predetermined to the unknown. To him, it’s like a weight has been lifted: “At last, the unknown,” John says. “And finally, finally, no fate but what we make.”
In “Salvation: The Final Battle,” information can be sent back through time. Although this is much rarer in “Terminator” lore than sending humans and flesh-covered Terminators back, it’s portrayed here as being the easier of the two tasks. Future Kogan sends emails to 2003 Kogan, and from there she starts the lab that will perfect the transfer of human brains into artificial bodies. This process will save her life.