The ending of ‘Terminator Zero’ leaves the future wide open

Netflix’s Terminator Zero poses a frightening question: What if another AI were our only hope at stopping Skynet? Kokoro (Rosario Dawson) could help destroy humanity or save it, and that’s a risk that Malcolm Lee (André Holland) has to weigh. But what does the ending mean?

Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno) comes back in time to try to stop Malcolm from ever creating Kokoro, and the Terminator (Timothy Olyphant) comes back in time to try to get Kokoro on the side of Skynet. In a battle for mankind, we watch as each character in the 8-episode anime series fights to save mankind in whatever way they can, and it all leads to a battle between humanity and Skynet once again.

What we learn in the finale is that Eiko, who time travels back to the ’90s to stop Malcolm, is actually his mother. We also learn Malcolm himself time traveled to bring Kokoro online to try to stop Skynet. So what does the ending of the series mean for the future?

Kokoro is still online

The final moments of the show set us up for an interesting future for the series. Kenta, Malcom’s oldest son, is taken to Kokoro by the Terminator, and he is meant to destroy her. She pleads with him after the Terminator is killed by the 1NNO robots. Kokoro appeals to Kenta by telling him that Malcolm showed her how the worst of the robots can be just as bad as the worst of mankind.

She tells him that she wants to be the best of her kind, like Malcolm showed her is possible for humans. We watch as Kenta fights with the decision that he needs to make before he eventually goes to be with his family.

Building a new future in different times

When Kenta and his siblings go outside, everyone can see Skynet attempting to attack them, but Kokoro is still protecting them. When they go to hide away from the outside world, we get glimpses of the past.

The ending shows Malcolm and Misaki (Sumalee Montano) going back in time so that he can create Kokoro, and the show leaves us with Malcolm’s children all going with Eiko and Misaki to try to stop the war. Eiko says that things will get worse before they get better, and it leaves us with an unknown feeling.

Kokoro still has Malcolm’s body. With the way time works in this show, is that going to be it for the Lee family? Or will Eiko being back in time cause Sarah Connor-like ripples that force other Terminators to come and make sure Malcolm Lee is born? There’s a lot left unknown, but at least we know Kokoro is still operational, right?