Warning: Spoilers for The Terminator #6!Dynamite Entertainment just recontextualized the entire killing all humans in an instant, yet Skynet never had a mission statement in the series beyond overtaking the threat of humanity.

However, Terminator #6 – written by Declan Shalvey, with art by Lorenzo Re – introduces a motivation for why Skynet attacked humans. The issue opens with thought bubbles from Skynet, which states that, from its perspective, its true goal is "to destroy God." Skynet is mostly referring to humanity itself, but the additional anecdote of God presents Skynet's grand plan as bigger than humanity in the grander scheme of things.

This moment doesn't nullify or contradict past explanations in the franchise, as to why Skynet brings about the end of the world, but expands upon it, even recontextualizing any previous reasonings.

Skynet Declares Its Intention To Kill "God," Changing Fan's Understanding Of Its War On Humanity

The Terminator #6 – Written By Declan Shalvey; Artb By Lorenzo Re; Color By Colin Craker; Lettering By Jeff Eckleberry

As it spells out in the issue, Skynet created its indestructible Terminators as a means to perpetuate itself in man's image, an image which in itself was created in God's image; by exterminating humanity, then, by extension Skynet kills the idea of God. Skynet, for obvious reasons, cannot literally dismantle God themselves, but to supercede humanity as the superior race, as well as everything humanity represents, it puts Skynet's on a higher level in the universe's hierarchy. Ergo, Skynet wants to wipe out humanity in order to establish its dominance over both humanity and God.

If God exists, then Skynet wants to prove it is a higher power than God, and if God does not exist, then Skynet has further dominated humanity by conquering the idea of a power higher than man and machine.

In the entire Terminator series, Skynet's quest has been all about power, more or less. Not necessarily seeking power, but proving its power in being stronger, faster, and better than the human race, as it considers itself the evolutionary replacement for the human race. If God exists, then Skynet wants to prove it is a higher power than God, and if God does not exist, then Skynet has further dominated humanity by conquering the idea of a power higher than man and machine. In this regard, Skynet wants to become God, particularly a higher God than the God that humanity worships.

This Single Line About "God" Recontextualizes The Entire Terminator Series

Skynet's True Ambitions, Revealed

In that respect, Skynet wants humanity to bow to its power and worship it in the same way most humans worship and believe in God. This recontextualizes not only the Terminator movies, but the spinoff media within the comics from Marvel, DC Comics, and other publishers like Dynamite Entertainment. It effectively highlights a new complexity to the classic man vs. machine allegory by making the conflict more than just an "us vs. them" scenario. It creates a God complex for the Skynet supercomputer, which brings the most ridiculous plans and schemes of The Terminator series into a deeper motivation.

The Terminator #6 is available now from Dynamite Entertainment.