Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by nx1701g, Dec 15, 2008.

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Grade "Earthlings Welcome Here"

  1. "I'll be back." (Excellent)

    21.7%
  2. "Come with me if you want to live." (Above Average)

    58.7%
  3. "Thank you for explaining." (Average)

    13.0%
  4. "Hasta la vista, Baby." (Below Average)

    6.5%
  5. "You are terminated." (Failure)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    They seem disoriented after they arrive, but this is mainly Riley. It could be because she's never seen the things of our Earth. But they don't seem very affected when I first watched it. I'll rewatch this evening.
     
  2. Gatekeeper

    Gatekeeper Commodore Commodore

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    Events are Unfolding in a Parallel Timeline!

    Everyone:

    During the voiceover in the opening scene of "Earthlings Welcome Here," I think the viewers received confirmation that the events are *not* unfolding in *our* timeline. It's a parallel timeline to our own where everything is taking place.

    How so? Well, Sarah talks about a Spanish explorer who landed in the New World in 1490. He came in search of power and glory, but ended up captured and enslaved by the natives. Most of his traveling companions were killed.

    This *doesn't* jive with our history. Columbus, after all, didn't discover the New World until 1492 — two years later than what Sarah says happened in the reality she knows.

    So, this is either a glaring error on the writers' part, or Sarah, et al., are living in a reality that diverged from our own *centuries* in the past.

    If it's the latter, then it's the most provocative point raised by the episode, which itself, overall, was pretty good.

    What do you think?

    Gatekeeper
     
  3. John Picard

    John Picard Vice Admiral Admiral

    Re: Events are Unfolding in a Parallel Timeline!

    I was wondering about that myself and wondered if there's someone in history I didn't know about who made it to the New World. After all, there are theories that ancient Egyptians made it across the Atlantic, hence the reason the Mayans built pyramids.
     
  4. Chess Piece Face

    Chess Piece Face Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Events are Unfolding in a Parallel Timeline!

    I don't know anything about history but the supposition you are making is a leap. The explorer she mentioned wasn't Columbus. Who's to say an explorer that wasn't Columbus didn't arrive 2 years early and become captured and all the rest that she said. Somebody needs to look it up, is all.

    None of this is proof that this is an alternate timeline that divulged in the 1400s.
     
  5. Arthur Frelling Dent

    Arthur Frelling Dent Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Events are Unfolding in a Parallel Timeline!

    I caught that too. The Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca ("cow's head") was born in 1490 (per Wikipedia). It's most likely a screw-up by the writers though I'm surprised nobody caught such an obvious mistake. Or perhaps Sarah is just lousy at history. ;)
     
  6. Gatekeeper

    Gatekeeper Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Jolly, Chess, Arthur:

    Hmm. I'd like to think that the writers couldn't be so unfamiliar with history that they'd mistakenly think Europeans discovered the New World in 1490, rather than in 1492 as is taught in school**. I like to think that they knew what they were doing, and it really is a parallel timeline that Sarah, et al., are inhabiting (of course, to them it *isn't* a parallel reality).

    Heh. Perhaps the writers would be kind enough to oblige us with an answer?

    Gatekeeper

    **FWIW, Europeans actually discovered the New World around 1000 AD, when the Vikings are said to have made landfall in Vinland — modern day Newfoundland in Canada, I believe.

    Also, there are schools of thought that Egypt may have had contact with the New World, that Phoenicians might have also had had similar contacts and, lastly, that the Chinese might have landed on the west coast of North America sometime around 1420. Something's out there about Polynesians and South America as well ...
     
  7. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Honestly, I think the 1490 thing was just a screw-up that nobody caught in time. I wouldn't attach any profound significance to it.
     
  8. John Picard

    John Picard Vice Admiral Admiral

    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Television and movie script writers are not exactly the brightest peanuts in the turd. They routinely take liberty with historical facts and figures.
     
  9. Nociod

    Nociod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    A thought just occurred to me.

    It seems to be the consensus by the fans on this board that in the Terminator universe, things always stay the same no matter how you change the past, only you amplify the effect you wished to remove. For instance, Skynet tried to eliminate John Connor, but instead created a more prepared opponent, and the postponing of Judgment day actually made Skynet more advanced due to technological achievements, and thus even harder to destroy. Also Ellison now seemingly replaces the creator of the Turk into teaching John Henry him (it) ethics.

    Now in Sarah Chronicles, Riley and Jesse comes from the future in order to prevent John from getting too close to Cameron. What if their attempts to meddle into John’s life actually gets him closer to Cameron?, I mean, why should he trust humans who only lie and try to manipulate him?



    Mind you, this was just a thought, and I don't necessarily believe the writers would do this, but I just thought it fitted into the idea that the future is pre-written, and that you can't change it. Any thoughts on this matter?
     
  10. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    ^ Technically Terminator 3 established that prevention simply amplifies the end result. As the T-850 said in T3 "Judgment Day is inevitable."

    I read on TerminatorFiles today that there is a new theory Riley was sent back to isolate John from Sarah.
     
  11. Rowan Sjet

    Rowan Sjet Commodore Commodore

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Maybe the pain is due to the fact that Kyle was dropped 1 or 2 stories out of his Time Bubble. Everyone else had theirs appear on solid ground.

    Agreed. Nice alternate timeline theory though.
     
  12. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    ^ Good point.
     
  13. Nociod

    Nociod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Re your spoiler:

    Riley is actually playing Jesse? I doubt it. Jesse is the one who found Riley, not vice versa, she is also way too unstable. But could be a part of the act.. hmm, interesting, when I rewatch the episodes I will make sure to watch her character more closely
     
  14. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    I haven't noticed this myself (I may go back and watch the episodes) but they refer to their target as her. So far when describing Terminators they say 'Metal', 'Tin Can', or 'It' not her.
     
  15. Nociod

    Nociod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Sarah Connor: What's it like when you go through time?
    Kyle Reese: White light. Pain. It's like being born, maybe.

    Good point about him falling down, but still, I have always thought pain was part of the process.

    [edit, took the quote from imdb, so when I pasted it in it linked to the characters , but fixed now]
     
  16. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    Quick Trivia:
    Sumner in season one was named for the dropped character from T1 by the same name. Sumner went back in time with Reese to protect Sarah from the T-800; however, he was killed in the process. He materialized inside of a railing and was killed in the process. Part of this is still present in the film, however, when Kyle looks up at the railing he is supposed to be looking for Sumner according to the script.
     
  17. Nociod

    Nociod Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    I thought the Time travelling buble protected them from things like this?, I mean, it cuts through everything it touches..

    But maybe that's why it wasn't included in the film?
     
  18. Arthur Frelling Dent

    Arthur Frelling Dent Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    I'd just like to speak up in defense of writers, the majority of whom are extremely intelligent, educated and well-read. Of course, there are some who "take liberty", but I have trouble accepting that a writer who puts in a detailed Cabeza de Vaca reference would mention an incorrect date for any reason other than a brain fart or an editing error. Heck, for all we know, Lena Headey messed up her line. It was a voice-over, after all, and likely recorded (with no writers around) after the episode was done filming.
     
  19. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

    ^ If I remember correctly it was cut from the film because it was going to be very expensive to film. The original film was made on a shoestring budget (case in point the Terminator seen in many of the scenes at the end of the film was only a foot tall).

    Here is the part of the script referencing Sumner:

    As for the bubble it does normally protect in the films and the series. In the novels though there have been some problematic transports. As for how Sumner died his reference was in the scripts up until the shooting script.
     
  20. nx1701g

    nx1701g Admiral Admiral

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    Re: Terminator-213 "Earthlings Welcome Here" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS

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