Question: The 3 of them escape the T-1000 after the mental hospital and end up in the desert. Arnold explains the history of Skynet to Sarah and one line of dialogue that has confused me for so many years is me is that he says Skynet became self aware at 2:14am Eastern time. That would be 11:14pm in Los Angeles. Why does the film imply the bombs were dropped during the late morning or early afternoon?
Richie
4th Oct 2018
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Answer: As the T-800 explains, Skynet attacked Russia first, and the Russian counterattack is what hit LA.
Answer: Skynet became self-aware at that time, but didn't launch the attack until the humans got scared and tried to pull the plug on Skynet.
Answer: The only indication of the time of the bombing was Sarah's nightmare, which was based on the story told to her by Kyle Reese. Despite this, even with Skynet becoming self-aware in the late evening / night, it doesn't mean it launched the missiles instantly. It may have chosen to wait before attacking.