WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Terminator: Dark Fate, in theaters now.
Terminator: Dark Fate picks up from the events of the seminal Terminator 2: Judgement Day, reintroducing audiences to Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and giving them the chance to meet her modern-day equivalent, Dani (Natalia Reyes), as well as the dangerous new model of Terminator known as the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) that is trying to kill her.
Although the film does end on a conclusive note for certain characters, it also sets up the future of the franchise, which could center around Dani and Sarah's mission going forward.
TWO WOMEN AGAINST THE WORLD
By the end of Dark Fate, Dani has proven strong enough to survive the Rev-9 attack. Working with her protector from the future Grace (Mackenzie Davis), former Terminator target, Sarah Connor and the docile T-800, "Carl" (Arnold Schwarzenegger), they lure the Rev-9 into a trap to confront the machine head-on. Although they are finally able to destroy it with the energy core that was inside Grace, she dies without it and the T-800 is also destroyed in the process.
The survival of Dani doesn't radically change the future, however. Unlike Terminator 2, where the heroes were able to destroy the chip that would eventually lead to the creation of Skynet in the first place, nothing is done to stop the advancement of Legion (the cybersecurity AI in the timeline's future that has replaced Skynet). All that has been ensured is that Dani will still be around to rally humanity in the future where Legion decides to attack humanity. Legion could even continue to send Rev-9s after her.
However, it does also mean that Dani is now radically more prepared for the oncoming war than she would have been otherwise, meaning she might be able to get a jump start on preparing for the coming battles and give humanity a better chance at victory.
ON THEIR OWN
Visiting a young Grace in the present day, Dani seems to resolve herself to the same mission that Connors has: protecting the world from the threats of the future. With her family killed by the Rev-9 earlier in the film, there's nowhere for her to really go. Things are only complicated by the fact that, by escaping border patrol custody while fleeing the Rev-9, Dani is likely considered a wanted felon by the United States government. This puts her in the same boat as Sarah Connor, who is still considered a major fugitive from justice after the events of the first two Terminator films.
Without any other drive drawing her attention, Dani ends the film by telling Connor that she's determined to ensure that this younger Grace gets the chance to live her life. That means stopping Terminators when they come back to cause futures where humanity is wiped out, a mission Dani seems committed to. The film ends with Dani and Connor climbing into a car and driving off into the distance, with Connor promising to train Dani for the days to come. It concludes this story with a sense of finality but leaves the door open for future adventures with the pair.
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ROBOTS FOR DAYS
One of the most interesting elements that's introduced to the Terminator universe is what has been keeping Sarah Connor busy since we last saw her. Over the years, multiple Terminators have been rocketed into the past since the events of Terminator 2 almost three decades ago. Carl has secretly been tracking these anomalies as they occur and warning Sarah Connor about the arrival of them. She's then able to hunt them down and destroy them before they can alter the future in any meaningful way.
With the film ending on Dani and Sarah driving off to continue their battles, it's likely that she's now found a dedicated ally to her mission. Plus, with Connor only getting older, it's good that she's found someone she can mentor and mold into becoming a fiercer leader than even John Connor may have one day been.
But their days may be more difficult going forward. Without Carl secretly sending information to Sarah, it's unknown how she'll be able to track the Terminators now. The fact that Terminators from different potential futures keep arriving in the past also suggests that the creation of the machines and their war with humanity is almost an inevitability at this point. But that doesn't mean the pair can't continue to fight their war, or at the very least continue preparing for it.
They could even go on to recruit other people who've been targeted by Terminators, building an army prepared for the future before it ever even arrives. This could easily be the direction of a pretty cool-sounding sequel or two.
Directed by Tim Miller and produced by James Cameron, Terminator: Dark Fate stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Mackenzie Davis, Gabriel Luna, Natalia Reyes and Diego Boneta.