Although The Sarah Connor Chronicles featured a cliffhanger ending, this did allow viewers to see a version of the Terminator franchise where John Connor never existed. The Terminator franchise timeline is almost impossible to follow. The first two movies in the series follow one storyline, but 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is where things get complicated. The sequel ends with the apocalypse, which explains why 2009’s franchise reboot Terminator: Salvation is a post-apocalyptic action movie. However, everything beyond this point makes less sense.

Since 2015’s Terminator Genisys recast Sarah Connor but kept Arnold Schwarzenegger’s original T-800, the reboot needed to come up with a whole new version of the franchise timeline to justify this twist. Terminator Genisys was not well-liked by critics or franchise fans, resulting in Terminator: Dark Fate retconning its story and coming up with another new take on the franchise timeline. However, Terminator: Dark Fate’s opening killed off John Connor, thereby establishing another new timeline that didn’t align with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines or Terminator Genisys.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles Ended With John Arriving In A Future Where No One Knew Him

John Connor’s Existence Was Seemingly Retconned in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

As if this weren’t complicated enough already, Terminator’s TV spinoff The Sarah Connor Chronicles told another independent story of its own. While this may sound needlessly complicated, it is worth noting that The Sarah Connor Chronicles is arguably the most underrated outing in the Terminator franchise. The series didn’t have anywhere near as big a budget as the movies and inevitably needed to recast Linda Hamilton’s original Sarah Connor, but future Game of Thrones star Lena Headey made the role her own over the show’s two seasons.

Meanwhile, The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ new version of Sarah and John was able to go on adventures that would have been too complicated for the shorter runtime of the movies. This was epitomized in season 2, episode 22, “Born to Run,” the series finale. As The Sarah Connor Chronicles ends, John is sent into a future where no one knows him (not even Kyle Reese). This cliffhanger offered viewers a chance to see a version of the future where John Connor wasn’t the leader of the Resistance and, judging by everyone’s reactions to him, may never have even been born.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Cancelation Meant That The John Connor Cliffhanger Was Never Resolved

The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 3 Would Likely Have Focused On John’s Predicament

Although Terminator Zero’s story brought the franchise back to the small screen almost two decades later in 2204, The Sarah Connor Chronicles never properly wrapped up its story due to its cancelation. The reasons for the cancelation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles were multifaceted, but one major cause was its low ratings. While the debut season boasted an impressive average viewership of over 10 million, this dropped to just over 5 million in season 2.

Fox, wary of a similarly large drop-off between seasons 2 and 3, pulled the plug on the series before The Sarah Connor Chronicles could continue its descent. Sadly, this meant that viewers never got to see a proper conclusion to John’s predicament. Arriving in a version of the future where no one recognized him, John couldn’t immediately tell what this meant for his existence. This would likely have been the focus of season 3’s story.

How Did A Future Without John Connor End Up Happening In The Terminator Timeline?

There Are Numerous Possible Explanations For The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Timeline

It wasn’t clear whether John had been sent to an entirely different timeline where he was never born or died sooner, or if the future never knew the Resistance leader version of John since he vanished from his original point in the timeline. Since season 3 never happened, The Sarah Connor Chronicles never had a chance to explain what happened. The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ cliffhanger ending is the first time the Terminator series retconned John Connor’s entire existence, although other franchise outings also toyed with this idea. In Terminator: Dark Fate, John Connor is ᴀssᴀssinated as a teen.

Terminator: Dark Fate’s retcon was less compelling than the ending of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which kept John around but offered a version of reality where he didn’t know his role in the world. While the Terminator movies should move on from John Connor’s story, The Sarah Connor Chronicles could have set up an intriguing new take on his plot in its third outing.

John may have discovered that he was happier as a member of the Resistance, not its leader, or he could have ended up fulfilling the same role despite changing his past. This would have brought questions of fate, agency, and predestination that could have been interesting for The Sarah Connor Chronicles to explore, but the Terminator franchise’s TV spinoff was sadly canceled before this plot had a chance to begin in earnest.