Terminator 3’s Most Embarrassing Scene Is Hiding a Sinister T-X Upgrade

Overall, the third installment in the Terminator franchise was a really cool movie that’s not only chocked-full of action, but is also rich in Terminator lore, as it finally bridged the gap between the past and the future. However, there was one scene in particular that was embarrassingly cringey. Though after a bit more clarification, it became clear that the scene-in-question was actually hiding a sinister upgrade for the T-X.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines introduced fans to the T-X, otherwise known as the Terminatrix due to its female appearance, which was essentially a mix of the two Terminators featured in the last two movies. The T-X had an advanced endoskeleton with the capability to morph its limbs into a plethora of different firearms, and the endoskeleton was wrapped in liquid metal, allowing the T-X to shapeshift. When the T-X went back in time to kill John Connor and Katherine Brewster, it immediately stole someone’s clothes and their car. Upon driving away from the scene, the T-X was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. As the male cop approached the vehicle, the T-X made its breasts larger to distract the officer–and, for the most part, it worked. The scene was juvenile and was seemingly played for laughs. But, as it turns out, it wasn’t as crudely cringe as it may have seemed, as the T-X was really doing something other than simply enlarging its breasts in an attempt to visually distract the officer.

Terminator’s T-X Has Pheromone Weaponry

In Terminator 3: Before The Rise #3 by Miles Gunter and Mike Hawthorne, readers are shown the exact same scene from Terminator 3 described above, only this time, it’s from the T-X’s perspective. Upon viewing the text prompts through the eyes of the machine, it’s revealed that what the T-X was actually doing while enlarging its breasts was increasing its pheromone discharge (by thirty percent, to be precise). When the Terminator did this, its analysis found that the officer’s defenses were lowered by forty-eight percent, making him an easier opponent should the Terminator need to kill him.

This method is actually genius, and truly speaks to how deadly Skynet really is. The machines understand humans to the point where they use pheromonal warfare against them, and it’s actually effective. This officer’s natural defenses were down almost by half after the T-X used this subtle attack, which made him an easy target when it took his gun and made its escape. Not only did this clarification fix a terrible scene in an otherwise solid installment in the Terminator franchise, but it also added yet another weapon to the Terminators’ collective arsenal.

Terminators like the T-X are used by Skynet for human infiltration, so the ability to manipulate people through pheromone discharge would be instrumental, as it’s so subtle, humans wouldn’t even know it was happening before they instinctively lower their guard and leave themselves open to attack. And, just like that, one of the worst scenes in the entire Terminator franchise (though, admittedly, not as bad as “talk to the hand”) became one of the best, as it secretly revealed a sinister upgrade for the T-X.