“I’ll be back” was the iconic line delivered by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984’s The Terminator. And back he was, numerous times. So far The Terminator franchise has had six movies and two TV shows, and the chronological order of the series is, to be honest, seriously screwed up and messy. Use our guide below to find out where you can watch every entry in The Terminator franchise online, in chronological order.
For starters, the chronology of the series is a mess and there’s really only four movies that complete a full chronological timeline. Here’s how it looks:
The Terminator Timeline
- The Terminator (1984)
- T2: Judgement Day (1991)
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
- Terminator Salvation (2009)
There’s also a bunch of Terminator entries that have completely retconned the timeline.
Retconned Entries in The Terminator Timeline
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009)
- Terminator Genisys (2015)
- Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
- Terminator Zero (2024)
Here’s a closer look at the original timeline and all the retcons that came after.
The Terminator
In The Terminator, robots take over the world in the future, but humans have a fighting chance at winning the war thanks to their fearless leader, John Conner. To prevent that from happening, the machines send an android, the T-800 (Schwarzenegger), back to 1984 to kill John’s mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton) before she can give birth to the resistance leader. Luckily, the Terminator is destroyed and Sarah survives.
T2: Judgement Day
In Judgement Day, John is now a teenager living in LA while Sarah is trapped in a mental institution for insisting that Judgement Day is coming. The robots once again send an android from the future to kill John, this time the T-1000, but Schwarzenegger’s Terminator also returns to the past, this time to protect John and Sarah.
Terminator 3: Judgment Day
In Terminator 3, John is now grown up…but he’s once again pursued by an android from the future who wants to kill him. Thankfully, Schwarzenegger appears again to save him. But this time around, we learn something devastating. The robot uprising is inevitable, and the goal was never to help John prevent Judgement Day…only to ensure he survives it.
Terminator Salvation
Set in the future, Salvation finally took audiences to the dystopian wasteland that remains during the war against the machines. John is now played by Christian Bale and he fights for the remnants of humanity against the machine overlords.
Retconned Terminator Entries
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The first retcon to the franchise was The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The show ignored all the events after T2 and picked up shortly after where the film left off. Throughout the series, Sarah and John fight to stop Skynet, hoping to prevent the robot uprising. Naturally, they’re pursued by androids along the way.
Terminator Genisys
Terminator Genisys is kind of a standalone story that creates its own timeline. In the movie, a human soldier from the future is sent back to protect Sarah Conner (just like in the first film), but he accidentally time-travels to an alternate past where Sarah has already met The Terminator and the two are working together to fight Skynet.
Terminator: Dark Fate
The big selling point of Dark Fate was the return of Linda Hamilton reprising her role of Sarah Connor. The movie ignores everything after T2 and follows Sarah as she continues to fight for humanity. The movie involves lots of time jumps and there are a few kinda-sorta inconsistencies that imply there might be alternate universes in play as well.
Terminator Zero
Terminator Zero is a standalone story that retcons most of the Terminator series. The show shifts between 1990 and the approaching Judgement Day in 1997. The series is set in Japan, so it’s possible that the events simply coincide with what happens in America during the film series – but considering that Judgement Day happens in 1997, T2, Terminator 3, and Salvation are for sure not part of this new timeline.
Where Can I Watch The Terminator Franchise Online?
Check out our guide below to find out where you can watch every entry in The Terminator series online!
