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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
at popapostle-dot-com
Terminator: The Final Battle (Part 2) Terminator
"The Final Battle" Part 2
Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #2 (Dark Horse)
Script: J. Michael Strazynski
Art: Pete Woods
Cover: Pete Woods with Matthew Wilson
January 2014

 

In 2003, Dr. Kogan's work on the future continues; in 2029, John Connor leads his forces into the final battle against Skynet.

 

Read the complete story summary at the Terminator Files forum

 

Notes from the Terminator chronology

 

This story takes place during the future war in 2029 in the Salvation timeline.

 

Didja Notice?

 

2003: The stolen truck Simon drives appears to be a 1970s-era Ford pick-up. On page 20, the front grill has 12 partitions, suggesting a 1974-76 model.

 

2003: The map Simon looks at on page 1 is an actual map of the region around Stafford, Texas.

 

2003: When the Terminator tells the hospital check-out attendant that she doesn't need to go through the usual check-out routines and paperwork to release Dr. Kogan, the attendant cracks, "Sorry, but bureaucracy trumps Jedi mind tricks every time." This is a reference to the Jedi ability to influence the minds of others in the Star Wars movies.

 

2003: On page 8, as Dr. Kogan and the Terminator walk through the lab that is researching how to grow new skin from stem cells and grafting it to metal plates, she remarks that after all these years of research, all she'd have to do now is take a sample of his skin, which is based on that research. She goes on to say, "Kind of funny, in a 'which came first, the chicken or the egg?' kind of way." This same "which came first" question also applies to the paradox established in The Terminator of how can John Connor send Kyle Reese back in time to become John's own father.

 

2003: On page 9, Dr. Kogan shows off a cyborg rat prototype, a rat brain transplanted into a cybernetic body. Possibly this could be construed as the origin of the cyborg rats, used in the year 2030 in Timeline TT-4's "The Dark Years" Part 1, in which Skynet used them to infiltrate and provide information on the whereabouts of human resistance outposts.

 

2003: On page 10, we see that one of the cryonic suspension units in Kogan's lab in 2003 is that of Marcus Wright. Marcus, of course, is the convicted killer whose brain and heart were placed in the body of a Terminator in Salvation.

 

2029: On page 12, John and Kate reflect on Marcus' sacrifice of his human heart to save John. This happened in 2018 at the end of Salvation.

 

2029: A number of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft are seen in the staging area as John delivers his speech to the assembled Resistance force on pages 15-16.

 

2029: Page 15 reveals that John has been keeping Kyle Reese stationed at Charlie Base, instead of where he himself is, because it is too risky to the timeline to have them both in the same place at the same time and risk having them both killed.

 

2003: The car Parnell drives on page 20 (and in "The Final Battle" Part 3) appears to be BMW coupe model.

 

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