“Secondary Objectives” (1991) features the same plot as the first movie – a Terminator (well, two of them in this case) – intends to track down and kill Sarah. But while that was a tense action-movie experience, this four-issue series lives and breathes more.
Building on John Arcudi’s solid foundation in “Tempest,” James Robinson — who also penned “One Shot” – proves to be an adept character writer as he further explores three heroes. The fact that the good guys and the Terminators both seek Sarah Connor adds an extra bit of intrigue as we wonder if she might pop up.
Dark Horse continues its dynamic art on this title, with Paul Gulacy (pencils), Karl Kesel (inks) and Gregory Wright (colors) doing the honors this time around.
CHARACTERS
John Connor: In his mom’s womb at this time.
Sarah Connor: While she doesn’t appear in “Secondary Objectives,” her presence is palpable as two Terminators aim to track her down in Mexico and kill her before she gives birth to John. (I’m not sure if the cover subject of Issue 3 is supposed to be Sarah or Mary. If it’s the former, cue the cries of false advertising.)
Kyle Reese: Dead at this time, as per the events of the first movie.
Mary Randall: The lone survivor among the five resistance fighters in “Tempest,” this child of the Future War often marvels at the beauty of the Earth in 1984. It’s similar to Kyle Reese’s reflections in a deleted scene in “The Terminator” (and additional passages in the novelizations). Reese felt like he didn’t belong, but Mary is soaking up every minute of her new lease on life. Still, she’s focused on the mission: acting as a lure for the Terminators so they can’t get to Sarah.
Astin: The former Cyberdyne scientist seems fatefully drawn to Mary. Or it could just be that he has a crush on her.
Dr. Hollister: The money-grubbing Cyberdyne lead scientist from “Tempest” gets a second chance at his research when C890.L sends him the head of one of the killed endoskeletons from “Tempest.”
TERMINATORS
Dudley (I825.M): Like Marcus Wright from “Terminator Salvation,” he’s a human/Terminator hybrid. He’s on the side of good, but always fighting his inner demons in the form of radioed commands from the two evil Terminators.
C890.L: The lone T-800 survivor from “Tempest,” he sends Hollister the endoskeleton head and then embarks on his secondary objective: killing the pregnant Sarah Connor. We learn that this particular T-800 weighs 500 pounds.
Z000.M: This T-800 enters the “Tempest” time-displacement equipment a bit later, and although she emerges in 1984 at the same time as the others, she plunges into the Pacific Ocean due to “time-spatial slippage.” She walks the ocean’s bottom until she reaches shore. We learn that this particular T-800 weighs 400 pounds (although she carries it well).
CONTINUITY
“Secondary Objectives” picks up directly after “Tempest” – in 1984, during the time when Sarah is pregnant. Cyberdyne’s Dr. Hollister continues his research because “Tempest’s” surviving Terminator, C890.L, sends the head of an endoskeleton to him. The road toward Skynet proceeds.
But C890.L and his new ally, Z000.M, turn from the mission of protecting Hollister to their secondary objective: killing Sarah Connor. That, of course, was the first movie’s plot, too.
Sarah is keeping a low profile, with a hideout in the mountains of Mexico. Interestingly, in Now Comics’ chronicle of the Future War, John Connor’s headquarters and training center are in the Mexican mountains.
Consistent with “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Terminators can’t swim. Still, dropping to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean is merely an inconvenience for Z000.M, as she walks along the bottom until she reaches the California shoreline. And C890.L is able to climb out of the river, where he crashed at the end of “Tempest.”
Dudley puts together a bulky weapon that kills C890.L with a blast of electricity that drains the entire power grid of Mexico City. It’s perhaps a less-refined version of Ruggles’ “fazer” from “One Shot.”
Dudley then reprograms C890.L so it will fight Z000.M. Along with the T-800 in “T2,” this is the second example of a reprogrammed Terminator. But Dudley is only able to temporarily reprogram this one, and at the story’s end, C890.L – having killed Z000.M – aims to repair himself with parts from Z000.M and then resume his hunt for our heroes. As with “T2,” the technical specifics of the reprogramming process are not explored.
TIME TRAVEL
Z000.M uses the TDE from “Tempest” a bit later than the two groups from that series, and although she emerges in the same time in 1984, due to “time-spatial slippage,” she ends up dropping into the Pacific Ocean. Similar geographical displacement happened in “Tempest” when the time bubbles of the two groups bounced off each other so they didn’t emerge in the same place.