Terminator Zero

2022: the Resistance fights Skynet in a ruined world. Soldier Eiko is sent to Tokyo in 1997, shortly before Judgment Day. There, scientist Malcolm Lee is readying Kokoro, an AI built to stand up to Skynet, and barely sees his three kids, Kenta, Reika and Hiro. A Terminator arrives to kill Malcolm and the children, and Eiko fights to protect them, with help from their housekeeper Misaki, who turns out to be an android. Skynet strikes, and Malcolm activates Kokoro, who also decides humanity doesn't deserve to live. Malcolm reveals he came from the future and that, in his timeline, Eiko was his mother. He dies. Kenta spares Kokoro, who chooses to defend humans, and the kids go into hiding with Eiko and Misaki.

1. ReferenceReleased on Judgment Day

   The show premiered on August 29, 2024. In the story, August 29, 1997, is the date of Judgment Day.

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2. CameoTimothy Olyphant is the Terminator

   In the English dub, Timothy Olyphant voices the Terminator and Rosario Dawson voices the AI Kokoro.

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3. Behind the scenesWhy Tokyo

   Production I.G asked for Japanese cultural elements. Tokyo also had another upside: civilians barely have access to guns, unlike in the films.

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4. Behind the scenesLeaked before release

   All eight episodes leaked online on August 6, 2024, more than three weeks before the Netflix premiere.

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5. Behind the scenesIt was planned for five seasons

   Mattson Tomlin had five seasons in mind. In February 2026 he confirmed the cancellation: critics liked it, but not enough people watched.

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