The resistance captures a T-800 in order to reprogram it for a special mission.

 

Read the story summary of "Before the Rise" parts 1 and 2 at the Terminator Wiki 

 

Notes from the Terminator chronology

 

This story takes place during the future war and seems to be shortly before the resistance sends a Terminator back in time to 2004 to protect John Connor and make sure he makes it to the underground fallout shelter before the nuclear bombs fall.

 

Didja Know?

 

Terminator 3 was a 6-part mini-series published by Beckett Comics in 2003, coinciding with the release of the theatrical film, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Due to the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Judgment Day itself has been delayed from its "original" date in 1997. The first two issues of this mini-series are titled "Before the Rise" and cover the events in 2032 leading up to Skynet sending the T-X series Terminator back in time to 2004 to kill John Connor's future officers before Judgment Day. Issues 3 and 4 are titled "Eyes of the Rise" and tell the Rise of the Machines story from the perspective of the T-X. Issues 5 and 6 are titled "Fragmented" and tell John's story after an alternate version of the events of Rise of the Machines.

 

Didja Notice?

 

At the beginning of the issue, there is a priority command message from John Connor to all resistance forces in which he states what he knows of past time travel, including the Terminator sent to kill his mother in 1984 (The Terminator) and another sent to kill John himself years later, plus a Terminator sent to protect him (Judgment Day). He goes on to say they must capture an enemy unit and make it their own. It would seem that John is trying to find a Terminator to reprogram and send back to 2004 to protect him (as seen in Rise of the Machines) before he gets killed by another Terminator that kills him in the future according the protector Terminator in the film.

 

On page 16, panel, 4, Jonah's quarters have shelves holding several dismembered Terminator heads. The head on the top shelf actually appears to be the helmet of Darth Vader from the Star Wars films! In fact, the object sitting in front of the helmet may be a lightsaber (though it may also just be a metal joint from a Terminator body).

 

The resistance unit to which Jonah and Alexa belong have a robot servant referred to as Tin Can.

 

On page 22, a Terminator intercepts a VOG-25 hand grenade thrown at it by a resistance member. The VOG-25 is a real world type of fragmentation grenade in use since the 1970s.

 

The Terminator that intercepts the grenade appears to be a bald version of the Model 101 (Schwarzenegger). 

 

On page 24, a resistance member hides behind what the Terminator identifies as a GT550 model ice maker. The GT550 is an actual model of commercial ice maker made by Kold-Draft, but it does not look like the model seen here.
Ice maker seen (identified as GT550 model)	Actual GT550 ice maker

 

Seen on Jonah's shelves on page 27 is a spare Tin Can head and another head that looks like a side-view of an Iron Man helmet on a portion of a robotic torso.

 

The car that Jonah drops on the Terminator on page 37 appears to be a Pontiac Firebird.

 

The scene of the captured Terminator awakening, on pages 40-41, to find itself being modified by the human resistance, is reminiscent of Murphy's first awakening as Robocop in the 1987 film by that name.

 

Back to Terminator Episode Studies