Does Terminator: Dark Fate Have A Post-Credits Scene? We Explain The Ending

The sixth entry in the Terminator movie franchise has arrived in theaters and, based on reviews, is potentially the best installment in the series since 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. With James Cameron back as a producer and Linda Hamilton reprising her role as Sarah Connor for the first time since T2, Terminator: Dark Fate could be the beginning of a brand new trilogy.

How does Dark Fate end, though? Does it set the stage for future movies? We have those answers for you. Warning: The following contains spoilers for the ending of Terminator: Dark Fate. If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading now.

First and foremost, Terminator: Dark Fate does not have a post-credits scene. So once the credits start rolling, the story has officially come to an end.

In the final battle of the movie, Sarah, a T-800 named Carl (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Dani (Natalia Reyes), and Grace (Mackenzie Davis) are almost defeated by the Rev-9 Terminator (Gabriel Luna). It's at that point that Grace, who's been implanted with cybernetic parts, sacrifices herself, instructing Dani to pull out her power core and use it to defeat the Rev-9. She does so, stabbing it into the Rev-9's eye, before Carl drags it with him over a ledge. There, at the bottom of a pit, both the Rev-9 and the T-800 are destroyed by the power core's energy, which completely melts both of their endoskeletons.

While Grace, the Rev-9, and Carl all dead, Dani and Sarah emerge victorious--barely. From there, the movie jumps forward. While we don't know precisely how long it's been since the final battle with the Rev-9, Dani and Sarah seem recovered from their injuries and they're looking in on a young Grace. Making sure she's safe and sound is essential, given how important a role she plays to Dani's resistance in the future.

After that, Sarah and Dani drive off together. Dani may still be relatively new to fighting killing machines from the future, but with Sarah there to prepare her, she can become the warrior she's destined to be.

Knowing there are more movies planned in the franchise, you're no doubt wondering what this sets up for the future. While further films could continue to cement the relationship between Sarah and Dani as they prepare for a potential Judgment Day, Cameron also knows what he hopes is included in future films.

Speaking to GameSpot previously, he said, "I feel like one of my major motivations on coming back to the, hopefully, franchise was to explore the human relationship with artificial intelligence. I don't feel we did that in Dark Fate. I feel that we set the stage or we set the table for that exploration, and that exploration would take place in a second film and a third film. And we know exactly where we're going to take that idea."

While it's reassuring that he knows where the franchise is headed from here--and that it will deal extensively with artificial intelligence-- there are still some things that would be nice to see in future films. For instance, it wouldn't necessarily feel like a proper Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing in some capacity. Unfortunately, the T-800's timeline has been erased. of course, that's not to say there can't be more of him wandering the planet somewhere.

More importantly, though, this is hopefully not the last we've seen of Grace. Given that she's not a machine like the T-800 or Rev-9, but instead, an augmented human, her death in the climax of the film is a massive one. The relationship Grace so quickly built with Dani is one that would be interesting to see explored further in future films, should Cameron and the rest of the franchise's creative team find a way to bring her back.

Terminator: Dark Fate is in theaters now.