Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Terminator #6! The continuity of Terminator: Dark Fate, John's killed off like he’s nothing. And now, The Terminator is going through yet another major lore change by revealing the true history behind its first ‘failed’ robot.

In Dynamite Entertainment’s solicitation for The Terminator #6 by Declan Shalvey and Lorenzo Re, fans get a first-look at the main cover art (by Shalvey) as well as two variant covers (by Cat Staggs and David Cousens, respectively). The solicitation also includes the official synopsis, which reveals exactly how this issue will change established Terminator lore.

As the first generation of human-mimicking Infiltrators deployed by Skynet against the Resistance, the T-600s displayed all of the problems that come from rushing a prototype into production. Covered in unconvincing rubber skin and lacking any organic components, they were easily detected and destroyed.

But if there's one thing that Skynet is good at, it's learning from its mistakes. And as the historic tales in this pivotal issue demonstrate, every T-600's mission - no matter the outcome - brought the lethal T-800s one step closer to activation!

The Terminator #6 will delve into the history of the T-600 model Terminator, which hardcore fans will being referenced by Kyle Reese in the original 1984 film. As Reese revealed, the T-600 was wrapped in rubber skin as opposed to the more realistic skin of the T-800 Terminator. Since they were so easy to spot, the T-600 was greatly considered a failure in Terminator lore. But, as this comic points out, that is not the case.

Terminator’s T-600 Only Made the T-800 Deadlier

Skynet Learned from Every T-600 Failure, & Fixed Each Issue with the T-800

The Terminator #6 promises to explain that, while the T-600 might seem like a failure on the surface given its less-than-convincing human disguise, it was actually a huge success. Skynet rolled out the T-600 to try out human infiltration tactics, and it did so seemingly knowing that the T-600 would fail only to use the information gathered with every failure to make the T-800 as deadly as it is shown to be in the original Terminator films.

Plus, it’s possible that Skynet wanted to show humans how ‘pathetic’ its attempts at creating ‘fake humans’ were, so that when the T-800 rolled around, humanity wouldn’t expect them to look so realistic. If humans were only on the lookout for Terminators with rubber skin, they wouldn’t suspect a near-perfect human replica infiltrating the resistance, giving Skynet that much more of an edge.

Terminator’s T-600 is Actually Better than the T-800 (for 1 Reason)

The T-600 is Far More Terrifying than the T-800

The T-600 seems like it was developed as a way to both gather intelligence on how to make Skynet’s Terminators deadlier, and give humanity the wrong idea about how well Skynet can develop human-disguised androids. But, even if that’s the case, the T-600 is still only second best compared to the T-800 - at least, in every way but one: horror. The visual of a rubber-skinned ‘human’ trying to kill people is utter nightmare fuel, as it lands firmly in the uncanny valley, and adds a new level of horror to The Terminator series.

The T-600 is more terrifying than the T-800 from a visual standpoint, meaning the Terminator #6 has the potential to be the best horror-comic in The Terminator franchise yet. But, more than that, this new comic is upheaving The Terminator lore by revealing the true history behind its first ‘failed’ robot.

The Terminator #6 by Dynamite Entertainment is available March 19, 2025.