Why is Arnie good then bad? (plot summary)

[wee_man]

T2 queries

HI. i have some questions i am dying too ask. why is arnie bad in the first film and good in the second, also why did he kill himself in tha lava at the end of the first film. plus, if you know much about skynet, please tell me. please e-mail or reply me the answer too these questions if you know them they are really bugging me. thanks.
wee_man25@hotmail.com

 

[Dave]

In Terminator, Arnie is sent back in time by the machines who rule the future in order to kill (Sarah Connor) the mother of the man (John Connor) who will lead the humans in their resistence against the machines before he is ever born. A human (Kyle Reese) is also sent back in time by the humans to help her, and by a time paradox, he becomes John Connor's father.

In Terminator 2, Arnie is a completely different Terminator, although the same type as the first. This time he is sent back by the humans, reprogammed to help John Connor, now a boy. The machines send back a more advanced Terminator to kill John, able to shape-shift.

Because of yet another time paradox, parts of the original Terminator that survived have become the foundation of a new cybernetic industry. SkyNet is a military computer that uses this revolutionary technology to control weapons systems. It will become sentient in the future and instead of using the weapons it controls in defence, it will turn them against the humans. Fortunately, in Terminator 2 this is prevented from ever happening, then the Terminator destroys himself, so that it cannot ever happen again.

I haven't seen T3 yet, so someone else will have to help, but there will have to be several more new time paradoxes, because only if parts of T2 did not happen can this story continue.

edit:

Spoiler

John Connor is a phantom - he has managed to erase his entire existence: no credit cards, no mobile phone and no job. In fact, no record of his whereabouts that could be used by Skynet to target him for assassination. Despite all his careful planning, Connor is located by the machines and they send a shape-shifting T-X cyborg back in time to kill the young rebel. The human resistance, wise to the dastardly plot, send back his former nemesis, the T-800, to guard their future leader.

edit: I have seen it now. Apparently, the development of SkyNet was not prevented, John Connor only succeeded in delaying it for 10 years. The future is inevitable. And Skynet is no longer a military computer, now it was shown to be a 'Odyssey 5' style Sentient virus.