The Sarah Connor Chronicles Ending: Unraveling the Mystery

The Altered Future and John Connor's Fate

Set shortly after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was canceled after just two seasons, leaving the series unfinished and with a cliffhanger ending. While it's not entirely clear what was going to happen next in Terminator: TSCC, the science-fiction drama show teased a few possibilities in what became its series finale.

John Connor (Thomas Dekker) in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Penned by Josh Friedman, who'd go on to co-write 2019's Terminator: Dark Fate, the 31-episode spinoff show aired from 2008 to 2009, and starred Game of Thrones' Lena Headey as Sarah Connor — the Terminator protagonist first portrayed by Linda Hamilton in 1984.

Lena Headey as Sarah Connor holds a gun in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

As the series' title implies, the spinoff revolves around Sarah and her son, John Connor (Thomas Dekker), as they try to prevent the creation of Skynet — the artificial intelligence system that, in the future, launches a devastating nuclear war on humans.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles featuring Summer Glau as Cameron, Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, and Thomas Dekker as John Connor

In that post-apocalyptic future, John leads the human resistance against Skynet and its homicidal Terminators. At the end of Terminator 2, the so-called 'Judgment Day' is seemingly averted thanks to Sarah, John, and the time-hopping, protective T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In Sarah Connor Chronicles, which unfolds after T2's timeline, the mother-son duo learn that they only delayed Skynet's creation.

Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as John Connor, and Summer Glau as Cameron in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

John Travels To The Future & A New Timeline

At the end of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season 2, teenager John Connor discovers that his looming future has, in fact, changed. However, his dark fate hasn't shifted in the way he and his mother, Sarah, hoped. In the alternate timeline that is Terminator: TSCC's future, John is no longer the resistance leader. Unfortunately, Judgment Day happens, and humanity is still at war with Skynet's Terminators. Hoping to reactivate Cameron, John Connor travels to the future to track down John Henry (Garret Dillahunt) — an A.I. that inhabits the T-888 Cromartie's body. In the future, John encounters alternate versions of his comrades, who don't know him.

John Connor (Thomas Dekker) and Cameron (Summer Glau) in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Evidently, John Connor's absence in the past has impacted his future to a remarkable degree. Not only is he no longer the future's resistance leader, but he isn't even a footnote in the new timeline. According to Dekker, the canceled third season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles would have depicted John Connor's rise in the season 2 finale's alternate future. Since Sarah chooses to stay in the past (or present, really), season 3 would've been split between the Connors' stories.

Based on what Dekker teased, John Connor would likely become the future's post-Judgment Day resistance leader, albeit in a completely new way.

Sarah Connor's Struggle in the Present

When John Connor decides to follow John Henry into the future in order to reclaim Cameron's CPU and reactivate his Terminator bodyguard, Sarah stays behind. John tells his mother that he loves her — a meaningful moment considering the mother-son duo's many ups and downs. Before Sarah makes her decision to remain in the present-day timeline and thwart Skynet's impending creation, she's questioned by FBI Agent Auldridge (Joshua Malina) about her son.

Although Sarah lies, saying John died around the events of Terminator 2, Auldridge continues to pry for John's whereabouts. Against all odds, he seemingly believes Sarah's remarkable story.

Summer Glau as Cameron looks upset in The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Since Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season 3 would've split up its key protagonists, John and Sarah, the Auldridge turn makes sense. It's not clear if Auldridge really believes Sarah or if he's leaning into a disarming interrogation tactic — and viewers will probably never know. No matter the outcome, Auldridge could make a compelling ally or adversary. With Sarah needing more plots to run with in the present timeline as she attempts to stop Skynet's formation, and the looming Judgment Day, the introduction of a recurring FBI agent could've added an interesting dimension to the narrative.