Terminator 3 tears that hope away. The film posits a chilling truth about time travel: you can postpone the inevitable, but you cannot stop it. The film’s central thesis is that "Judgment Day" was merely delayed, not prevented.
The film picks up 10 years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day . John Connor (Claire Danes), now 22, has been on the run from Skynet, the artificial intelligence system that will eventually become self-aware and decide to destroy humanity. A new and more advanced Terminator, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), is sent back in time to eliminate John and his future lieutenants. Terminator 3 Rise of The Machines
Jonathan Mostow
John Connor realizes the bunker is not the Resistance headquarters—it’s their prison. The T-850 reveals its final programmed order: to keep John alive long enough to lead humanity after the bombs fall. The Terminator then sacrifices itself (using the last of its fuel cells to destroy the T-X) in a scene of quiet tragedy. As the nuclear wind howls outside, John and Kate share a terrified look. The film ends with the actual Rise of the Machines. Skynet goes online. The radio crackles: "It has been 24 hours since the nuclear exchange." Terminator 3 tears that hope away