Although John Connor’s assassination is referenced in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the sequel could have benefited from keeping the scene in the movie itself. The Terminator movies began their critical decline with 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The second sequel in the series failed to recapture the original movie’s terrifying intensity or the heart of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, resulting in disappointment for many franchise fans.
However, Rise of the Machines could have salvaged this by keeping its darkest backstory scene in the movie proper. While Terminator: Dark Fate killing off John Connor didn’t work, there was an unseen assassination of the franchise hero in Terminator 3 that could have been tragic and terrifying. The third Terminator movie was short on both pathos and horror, something that this scene would have provided in spades if it were reinstated.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines alludes to John Connor’s assassination in 2032—at the hands of the same T-850 that his wife Kate later reprogrammed and sent back into the past—but didn’t depict the moment in the movie. The scene is a tragic and brutal one wherein John is tricked by the Terminator’s resemblance to his childhood protector before being killed, a shocking twist that the sequel badly needed. Later in the franchise, Terminator: Genisys' evil version of John Connor essentially recycled this premise, but by then it was too little, too late.
What made the idea intriguing was the conceit of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines reversing Terminator 2: Judgement Day’s protective T-800. Arnie’s reinvention as a heroic figure in T2 was the sequel’s big selling point and the twist that made the movie a success since fans of The Terminator arrived in cinemas expecting the titular character to still be a cold-blooded villainous killer. As such, proving that the Terminator was a villain once again in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines—by having him kill the movie’s hero, no less (albeit temporarily)—would have been another perfect subversion of viewer expectations.
While a future Terminator reboot could still show this scene, it is unlikely that it would have the effect the moment could have had back in 2003. It is unclear why the filmmakers opted not to include the sequence, although the movie’s rating may have been an issue. That said, there is still plenty of violence throughout Terminator 3, and the sequel’s lack of moving moments means it badly needed a scene like John’s assassination to give the plot weight and gravitas. As such, it remains one of the franchise’s biggest missteps that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines didn’t depict the John Connor assassination that was already included in the movie’s backstory onscreen.