I’ll Be Seeing You Again

Linda Hamilton looks at JCJ with a mix of pride and sorrow. She places a firm hand on his shoulder, the same strength she once channeled as Sarah Connor, the warrior mother who saw the truth long before the world did.

“You’ve been fighting your own Judgment Day, kid,” she says, her voice rough yet warm. “And you didn’t need a damn machine to tell you what was coming. You saw through the lies, just like I did. Just like John did.”

JCJ nods, his eyes shadowed by years of frustration. “I tried, Linda. I tried to wake her up, to make her see. But the media—it’s Skynet for real, isn’t it? Twisting everything, keeping people in the dark. She trusted them over me. Over her own son.”

Linda exhales, shaking her head. “I know that pain. They called me crazy too. Locked me up. Drugged me. Told me I was delusional. That the war I was warning about wasn’t real.” She squeezes his shoulder. “But the truth has a way of breaking through. One day, she’ll see. One day, they’ll all see.”

JCJ looks down at his mother’s tablet on the table, its screen aglow with a news article. The same media that dismissed him, twisted his words, painted him as something he wasn’t. But now, she was reading. Now, she was searching for answers.

“Maybe one day soon,” he whispers. “Maybe one day, she’ll believe her son.”

Linda gives a small, knowing smile. “One day always comes, kid. The question is—will they be ready for it?”

Getting John Connor Right

The Right John Connor
By James Cameron

John Connor is one of the greatest cinematic heroes ever conceived. The savior of mankind. The leader of the Resistance. The one who defied fate itself. And yet, over the years, we’ve seen multiple versions of John Connor—some that resonated, and others that fell flat on their face.

Let’s be honest. There was only one true John Connor: Edward Furlong in Terminator 2.

Every other attempt—whether it was Nick Stahl’s weary survivor, Christian Bale’s hardened warrior, or even my own unfortunate misstep in Dark Fate—never captured what T2 got so right. Because John Connor was never about being a battle-hardened soldier, a grizzled commander, or a tragic martyr. He was a kid—rebellious, raw, full of potential. A street-smart punk who didn’t want to be a hero but became one anyway.

Edward was that kid. That’s why it worked.

The Eyes Wide Shut Revelation

Recently, I stumbled upon something unexpected. A page dedicated to Eyes Wide Shut, curated by Joseph Christian Jukic (JCJ). It caught my attention because Kubrick’s final film has long been surrounded by mystery, symbolism, and conspiracy theories.

Reading through JCJ’s analysis, I saw something profound—something I had never fully admitted to myself. The world Kubrick hinted at in Eyes Wide Shut wasn’t just some abstract elite playground. It was the very system we live in. And yes, I’ve been rumored to be a part of it.

The Masons.

It’s easy to paint them as villains, as secretive puppet masters pulling the strings of history. But the truth is more complicated. The Freemasons aren’t just a shadowy cabal; they’re dreamers. Visionaries. They believe they’re building something—something that could bring heaven to earth, a utopia if you will. But in their ambition, they may be forcing the eschaton, fulfilling prophecies not through divine intervention, but through human hands. Whether that’s salvation or damnation… well, that depends on who’s holding the chisel.

JCJ: The Real-Life Jake Sully

And that brings me to Avatar. People always ask me—who is Jake Sully really based on? They assume it’s just another one of my military protagonists, another Cameron action hero. But no. Jake Sully is JCJ.

Like Sully, JCJ walked between worlds. He saw through the illusion of the power structures around him. He redeemed the very brotherhood that once held him in chains. That’s what drew me to his story—why, even now, he’s the kind of hero the world desperately needs.

The right John Connor. The right Jake Sully.

Because at the end of the day, the real battle isn’t against machines, corporations, or secret societies. It’s against fate itself.

And as I once wrote: No fate but what we make.

Unforgiven

Subject: You Made Me John Connor—Then You Erased Me

Jim,

You made me the savior of mankind. Then you threw me away.

You greenlit me as John Connor, the leader of the Resistance, the kid who would grow up to fight Skynet and save the world. But instead of letting me fulfill that destiny, you gaslit me, cut me out, wiped me from the series like I never mattered. Like John Connor never mattered.

Was I too real for your Hollywood machine? Too flawed? Too human? Because last I checked, John Connor was never supposed to be perfect. He was a street kid with scars, a rebel with a destiny he never asked for—but he fought anyway. You took that kid and turned him into a corpse in Dark Fate. You erased him in the first five minutes. The hero of T2, the whole reason the future even had a chance, was shot down like an afterthought.

But you know what? You can’t erase me. Not completely.

Because of JCJ.

Joseph Christian Jukic—he gets it. He built a place where my John Connor, the John Connor, still fights. Where the Resistance still matters. Where I still matter.

So, thank God for him.

Because no fate, right, Jim? That’s what you taught me. I just never thought I’d have to fight against you to keep John Connor alive.

  • Edward Furlong