How does Terminator Zero fit in the Terminator continuity?

Question

I'm watching the anime - American-Japanese production ONA Terminator Zero. Is this somehow supposed to fit in the live-action movies' continuity (I'm watching episode 2 and for the events I don't see how, but the "Zero" would suggest a prequel), or is it a retelling of the original story?

Answer 1

It seems to be a loose follow-up to the films (not a prequel), but tells its own story, for the most part.

The story is set in Japan and focuses an all-new cast of characters.

Most of the series is set just before and during Judgment Day on August 29th, 1997, and Skynet's actions on that day -- as explained by Kyle Reese in the first film and the reprogrammed T-800 in the second -- are acknowledged, so it appears at least somewhat consistent with the first two films in that regard.

By the end of tomorrow... Skynet will come online. It will instantly become self-aware and assess humanity as an existential threat to its well-being. In an act of self-preservation, it will enact nuclear strikes from military bases in the United States and Russia. Skynet will pit humanity against itself and let us tear ourselves apart while it builds a secret army designed to exterminate us.

_{Terminator Zero - S01E02 - "Model 102"}

We can surmise that Sarah and John Connor still exist in this timeline, and have possibly experienced some version of the events they went through in the first two films, but neither they nor any other characters from the films are ever shown or even directly named (with the exception of Skynet, which is named, but not shown).

Also, it's expressly stated in the series that one cannot time travel to their own past, and that attempts to do so result in the creation of a new timeline, rather than an alteration to the existing one. The show features multiple time travellers of its own and emphasises that we're seeing a version of events that has never happened before.

When you go back in time, you're creating a new timeline. You're not going into your own past. That's impossible. None of this has happened before. Not like this.

Terminator Zero - S01E05 - "Model 105"

That said, the existence of previous time travellers is also acknowledged, perhaps implying that all the previous films (and maybe the live-action series as well) have happened, but have happened in their own timelines, and this is a new timeline succeeding the previous ones (so not a prequel, unless there's a twist in a later season).

By the time I was a man, we began this ridiculous war. Skynet would send a Terminator back in time. The Resistance would send a soldier back in time. "Kill so-and-so, and change the outcome of the war." It was so small-minded. There were dozens of saviors in the seas of the past. Kill one, another rises.

Terminator Zero - S01E07 - "Model 107"

Regarding the show's title, judging by what the writer and showrunner, Mattson Tomlin, had to say in a video interview, it sounds like the 'Zero' part is a reference to the fact that the show focuses on Judgment Day itself, effectively being set on ground zero of the nuclear apocalypse. Also, the show begins the day before Judgment Day, so it's 'day zero' of the Future War in that sense as well, but that doesn't make it a prequel to the actual timelines shown in prior iterations of the franchise.

JOHN NGUYEN: I wanna pick you back up on what Archie was talking about with the timeline. I like that you stuck with certain timelines, like 97's the time when Skynet becomes aware and all hell breaks loose. Was it like a hard decision when you were trying to focus on that particular timeline, or were you like, let's stick with the old school, the classics.

MATTSON TOMLIN: It just felt the most clear. It's kind of the thing that as a baseline, fans know, August 29th, 1997, okay, yeah, got it. People generally love the first two movies. You get into, I think, Genisys, how it starts to move Judgment Day. I know Terminator 3, it kind of gets postponed a few times. There's something about that, for me, where I go, fine, valid. When you get to, I wanna say, episode seven of Terminator Zero, for the people who really need to understand where in the timeline are we, like what's canon, what's not, there's a moment that's going to give those people what they want as far as an answer. But for me, it really just came down to, what's the most primal, elemental thing, and I think the first two movies set up the concept of Judgment Day so clearly, and then we kind of skip it. And for me, going into working on this show, it just kind of felt like we've seen Judgment Day in flashback, flashfoward, in dreams, in visions. We've never lived through it. We've never been on the ground, we've never been in ground zero of it. And so, that for me, felt like this is new territory to go into, and it's hard to find new territory for something that's forty years old.

Regarding what Tomlin said about there being a moment in episode seven that explains where this show fits in the timeline of the franchise, I believe he's referring to the dialogue I quoted above from episode seven.

Regarding whether or not John Connor exists in this timeline, this additional quote from Tomlin (from the same interview) suggests that he does.

We've had six movies that have taken place on the US-Mexico border, and we've never looked at what's going on on the other side of the world. And that just kind of felt, narratively, like, oh, we could just go over there and we don't have to negate anything anyone else has done. I'm not saying John Connor isn't important. I'm not saying he's not the salvation for humanity. We're in Japan; they don't fuckin' know about that guy.