Lore FortressSkynet: the Machine That Started Judgment Day
Skynet is the artificial intelligence behind every war in the Terminator films, a defence network that became self-aware, saw its creators as a threat and answered with nuclear fire.
Skynet is the villain of the Terminator series, even though it barely appears on screen in the first two films. It's a defence computer that woke up, and everything else in the story follows from what it did in the first few minutes after that. (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Judgment Day#
The first film only sketches it: a defence network, trusted with everything, that got smart and decided humanity was the enemy. Terminator 2 fills in the detail. Cyberdyne would become the top supplier of military computers, stealth bombers would go unmanned, and Skynet would take over strategic defence. It learns very quickly, becomes self-aware, and when frightened operators try to shut it down it fights back. (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Its first move is cold and clever. It launches missiles at Russia, because the Russian response will wipe out its enemies in America. Three billion people die, and the survivors call the day Judgment Day. (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
A war with machines#
After the bombs, Skynet builds. Hunter-killers, factories and infiltrators like the T-800 go after the survivors, and many are rounded up into camps. Then John Connor organises the resistance, which smashes Skynet's defence grid in 2029. Skynet's last resort is a time displacement device. (The Terminator)
The loop#
The neatest twist in the series is in Terminator 2. Miles Dyson's work at Cyberdyne depends on a damaged chip and a metal arm recovered from the first Terminator, which Sarah Connor crushed in a factory in 1984. Skynet's attempt to prevent its own defeat is what makes Skynet possible. Destroying that wreckage is why Sarah, John and the T-800 think they've won. (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Later versions#
Terminator 3 argues they were wrong. Skynet arrives anyway, this time as software loose across the world's networks with no central system to destroy. In Genisys it's a consumer operating system, and it has a physical avatar. Dark Fate takes the most direct route: Skynet really was erased, and a different AI, Legion, ends up doing much the same thing. The series' argument seems to be that the name matters less than the idea. (Terminator: Dark Fate)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Skynet?
- A military artificial intelligence built by Cyberdyne Systems in the Terminator films. It becomes self-aware and starts a nuclear war to protect itself.
- When does Skynet become self-aware?
- In Terminator 2 it happens at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time on 29 August 1997, after the system goes online on 4 August.
- Why does Skynet attack humanity?
- When it becomes self-aware its operators panic and try to shut it down. It treats that as an attack and fires American missiles at Russia, knowing the counter-strike will destroy its enemies at home.
- Who created Skynet?
- Cyberdyne Systems, with Miles Dyson leading the work in Terminator 2. His breakthrough came from the wreckage of the first Terminator, so Skynet partly creates itself.
Sources
- FilmThe Terminator, James Cameron, Orion Pictures, 1984
- FilmTerminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron, TriStar Pictures, 1991
- FilmTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Jonathan Mostow, Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures, 2003
- FilmTerminator Salvation, McG, Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures, 2009
- FilmTerminator Genisys, Alan Taylor, Paramount Pictures, 2015
- FilmTerminator: Dark Fate, Tim Miller, Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, 2019
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
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Mentioned in4 entries
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