Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #12 is the conclusion to the series and has John deciding his and Skynet’s fates. Even before he was born, John’s life was intertwined with Skynet and the terminators but he finally has the opportunity for a future free of that. This issue opens up with John on the verge of deleting Skynet permanently but instead of doing so he offers Skynet a deal. He tells Skynet that it’s always been clear why humans fought it but he never gave any thought to why Skynet fought humans. And he learned that it was a matter of survival for both sides. And after contemplating on this he sees how Skynet tried to become more like humans whether it was the varying terminators or creating Parnell, and how humans became more brutal as if they were terminators in order to fight better. So the deal John offers would bring an end to the war and would require Skynet to use its resources to help rebuild human civilization. And in return Skynet can achieve what it mentioned before about creating beauty and having purpose in its existence. In other words, there will be peace. Skynet would accept this deal and John would bring the news to the remaining human forces but at a cost. Parnell’s terminator shot John Connor’s body so he’s unable to return to it so he’s stuck in the terminator body. John states that what matters is the war is over, and ultimately celebration breaks out as some utilities are restored across the globe. But can this peace last or has there been too much bloodshed and conflict over the years? And now that John is stuck in the body of a terminator, what will become of his life now?

SUMMARY

Terminator Salvation: The Final Battle #12 is a relatively solid conclusion to an up and down series that was plagued by character and logic inconsistencies from one issue to the next. John Connor’s life coming full circle this issue as well as the deal between the human resistance and Skynet made for a satisfactory ending as loose ends were tied up in a convincing way. It was good to see this issue deal with the aftermath of the war and some aspects of human nature too. However I did feel that showing even just a little of Skynet after the deal was struck would’ve made everything feel more complete. But with all things considered it ultimately did feel like the final battle.

Release Date: 12/24/14

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

Artist: Pete Woods