John Connor: Temporal War Criminal

Future John Connor from Terminator 2

The basic conceit of the Terminator franchise is that John Connor, leader of the human resistance is this great hero who is protecting humanity from Skynet. Even going as far as sending agents back in time to try and alter events to keep the Terminators from existing.


But is John Connor truly this great leader?  At least that's what the loyal resistance fighters of the future say about him. They have lived in a world of total war for years and John Connor seems to be the only glimmer of hope they have. As a result they are fanatically loyal and more than willing to lay down their lives for him. Kyle Reese's devotion to him is quite evident in his numerous monologues in the first Terminator movie.

All we have really ever seen of John Connor is younger man who finds himself propelled steadily closer to his eventual future. By a large degree, it is John Connor's future self that is manipulating events though his proxies in the first two movies. Even worse, in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chrocnicles it's clear the manipulations of both Skynet and the Resistance extend much farther than just John's existence. Both sides are engaging in a time active war against each other and it seems the more both sides change the past the more inevitable Judgement Day becomes.


By sending Reese and the second Terminator back in time, he pretty much ensures the very future of blood soaked death and destruction through predestined paradox. Without Kyle to impregnate Sarah, there is no John Connor, who never becomes the resistance leader Skynet must seek out before he is born, and thus their Terminator never falls into the hands of Cyberndyne Systems and the technology that creates Skynet never exists. The John Connor of the future must be aware of these facts when he arrives at the point where he must send Reese off to become his father.

Yet he chooses this path, and the world suffers for his decision. The war can be prevented by John Connor, if he chose to sacrifice his existence which was never meant to be.  More than a few writers have made Christ comparisons to John Connor,  but his future actions make it clear he is no savior of mankind. He is it's damnation by fire, and it is clearly a conscious action on the his part since he did it repeatedly.

Movie Review: History of Future Folk

The History of Future Folk is a low budget indie sci-fi comedy that's been screened at various film festivals and recently came out on DVD and VOD. It's a charming little movie  based around a fun and quirky idea.


The story revolves around General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) the most decorated warrior of the planet Hondo. He has been sent to Earth to unleash a deadly plague that will wipe out the human race and allow the Hondorians to colonize. 

When Trius lands on Earth, he discovers music, a concept completely alien to Hondo. Falling in love with music and the planet that created it, he chooses not to go through with the planned destruction. He marries a human, gets a job and starts playing bluegrass at a local club. 

Later, when the Hondorians send an assassin to try and deal with their renegade, Trius uses the power of music to sway his would be killer named Kevin (Jay Klaitz) to his cause. Soon they join up to become the Alien Bluegrass Folk Duo Future Folk.

While the movie is clearly low budget in an almost classic Whovian manner, the charm of the story and the characters make it a fun ride in spite of the limitations. Did I mention the music? Yes, the original songs by the duo are quite fun. Here are the guys in character singing "Space Worms", it does very well to sum up the nature of the movie.

From a gaming perspective, I could easily see having the Hondorians and a younger General Trius as a recurring villain in your campaign. He's a competent soldier and his advanced technology could be a threat. In general he might be played less outright villainous like the Sontarans and much more of the dedicated soldier doing his duty. When he suddenly turns up on Earth as a musician, it ought to make the players really wonder what the heck is going on.

Oblivion

Oblivion is the new Tom Cruise sci-fi action film that came out a few weeks ago. I finally got around to seeing it, and thought about what I took away from the movie for use in the game.
To say the least...Spoliers ahead.