Merrick here...

...with the results of our Titan Books TERMINATOR contest (announced HERE).

First off, I need to apologize for not getting the results out to you sooner. Been snowed under by some rather dramatic happenings in my personal life, as well as grappling with significant backlog on the AICN front.

Also, this was a very tricky contest to process because:

1) 99% of the entries were quite intelligent and compelling, and...

2) there were startling similarities in roughly 80% of those entires. As such, passing summary judgement was nearly impossible in most causes...and the worthiness of entires was sometimes determined by evaluating almost ludicrous minutiae.

Interestingly, Brett Ratner didn't figure in any of the submissions (woulda bet money that he would). Many people suggested saving The Library in Alexandria, although each suggested different ramifications of saving it. One entry advanced a reasonably convincing argument for hemping up the world, multiple people suggested aiding Tesla, and...again...theorized wildly differing outcomes of doing so. Many conceits were intriguing (preventing the invention of "X" - potentially impacting our modern world in "____" ways), but follow throughs were not always as well reasoned as their initial premise.

BELOW: the winning entires, as well as a few "honorable mentions" who'll receive nothing other than "honorable mention" (I gebuinely don't intend this to sound as snarky as it does).

HERE'S THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER

...who will receive receive THE ART OF TERMINATOR SALVATION, TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE MOVIE COMPANION, and Alan Dean Foster's TERMINATOR SALVATION novelization..

I like the poignance of this entry; it lends a DAY THE EARTH STOOOD STILL sense of pathos to the TERMINATOR mythology.


Nick Moore, Altamonte Springs FL

I would program my Terminator to show the past what we've become as people.

The way we treat each other - and how only a disaster can bring us together.

The way we pollute this Earth with no mean of sensitivity on how we are killing this planet.

How greedy big corporations have become while the poor get poorer and they keep getting richer.

Show us how our excessive spending will eventually result in turmoil.

Lastly, hopefully show everyone that instead of big fancy expensive things, all we ever needed to be happy was each other.

5 RUNNERS-UP

...will receive a copy of TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE MOVIE COMPANION .


TROY HESSE, Pulaski NY

One target for termination.......
1. Gavrilo Princip, 25 July 1894 ..... If he was killed he wouldnt have assissinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and caused WW1,,, which in turn, caused Adolf Hitler to serve in the German Army, thus becomeing dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles when the war ended. In 1923 he attempted a coup in the form of the Beer Hall Putsch, which in turn he went to jail for and wrote Mein Kampf.
And the rest is history. Now im not saying that the termimation of this person would have changed much, it is a possiblity, and would have saved MILLIONS of lives between servicemen and the persecution of the Jews in Europe.

Gus Gonzales, III Austin, TX.

I would send a Terminator back in time to guard then-U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy from assassination on June 5, 1968.  It would be programmed to assume the identity of an FBI or Secret Service agent assigned to Kennedy's detail, and I would program it to guard Kennedy from his victory in the 1968 California primary through a General Election Victory and on through to the extent of whatever presidential terms he might have served.

The vision and scope of Kennedy's candidacy would have transformed American society, politics and power in the midst of a crucial turning point that irrevocably impacted succeeding decades, across the spectrum.  "Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it" he stated in his last speech, given hours before he was killed.  Imagine how very different our nation and our individual lives would have been had he lived to fulfill that promise.

Aaron B Mayeski, Yulee FL

I would send a re-programmed T-888 back in time to Assassinate Ramses the I, Pharaoh of Egypt. Ramses the 1st felt threatened by the Jewish race and how they populated so quickly, that is why he tried to destroy them.

Killing him would mean that Baby Moses would be just another slave boy and he would never grow up to be a Jewish Messianic figure who let the people of out Egypt, and into the desert for 40 years to become the Jewish people they are today.

This would result in an alternate universe where the Bible was never written, the story and time line of Christ would be different or non-existent, and the Roman Empire would have not become Catholic, Christendom no being spread this entire world would be completely different.

This would have stopped the crusades, the inquisitions, the Empires of Great Britton, and America, and possibly the holocaust.

Sidney Friedfertig, Brooklyn NY

I would send the Terminator back to Jerusalem to save and protect the life of Jesus.
There would be no resurrection and as Jesus grew old he would show his followers that he was not a god but a man.
Throughout history if given enough time great men have shown themselves to be less than great and fallible and subject to human needs and desires.
There would be no Christianity and hundreds of millions of lives would have been saved over nonsensical religious wars.

Nick Coulthurs, Liverpool England

 
I would send a terminator to kill Thomas Edison on or around 1888, freeing the way for Nikola Tesla.

This might have led to free energy, a short life span for the internal combustion engine and subsequently no need for the many wars, pollution, greedy oil barons and much of the general crap we are facing now.
 
Fanciful perhaps
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla>

HONORABLE MENTION

The following four entries that made my final selection, but I couldn't select them as recipients because they lacked addresses - a requirement clearly specified on the contest rules. Thought they were worthy of sharing & discussing all the same...

Brian Catton, location unknown.

I would send my Terminator to around 5 century BC, roughly around the time Jesus was supposedly born. 

Assuming the concept of Jesus is true, I would have my Terminator kill Jesus and all those who knew of his existence. 

The Terminator would go on to kill all of the apostles, all of the people with passage s in the new/old testament and erase any notion, idea or memory of Jesus or Catholisicm. 

Without Jesus, Christianity would not be born and would drastically alter the status of our current time of 2009. 

Undoubtedly other reltions would flurish, specifically buddhism which started around 486 BC. 

This one change would absolutely and undeniable alter every single thing we know and would make our world as it is in 2009 completely unrecognizable.

Greg Hettinger, location unknown.

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

In a flash of light, flash of steel,
a Terminator would lead them
into the valley of Death
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
The Terminator did not give a shit.

Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the liquid metal sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd
by the T modeled number'd
man with the glowing red eyes.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
they fought with all they had to give
when at last the metal man spoke
come with me if you want to live.

O the wild charge they made
as all the world wondered.
how they prevented an alliance cascade
that would lead the world into war
if not for the bravery of the man with red eyes
and the Noble six hundred;
during the victorious charge of
The Light Brigade.

Erik Rentmeester , location unknown

In the Library at Alexandria.

First steam engine, early antibiotics, philosophy of respect for science, location of Atlantis and untold treasures of archeology.

Many historians believe that the fire set back our culture 2,000 years.

There was also a great respect for the belief that humans disrespect nature (the gods), at their own peril.
 
Perhaps this would have continued our enlightenment...and tied our science closer to fundamental morality, thus keeping us from trying to make machines to replace ourselves and what the ancients considered a soul.

A terminator could have eliminated fanatical religion from the equation of that time...as many believe that religion was the reason for the destruction of the Library, or its contents, in the first place.
 
Thus, if it came, Judgement Day would have been a thousand years ago, and we would be living in the eternal Utopia created after the toasting of the planet.

And, finally, I respectfully tip my hat to the following...

Chris Smith, Lincoln, CA

Helga Schrecklicher Filme made a decision that impacted the fate of millions.
 
A terminator must be sent back in time to terminate her, for a decision she made must be undone for the betterment of mankind.
 
On a warm summer Sunday, she met a man named Albert in Wermelskirchen, Germany.
 
The two fell in love and were married in a month’s time.
 
On September 22, 1964 they made a choice to conceive a child.
 
That child’s name was Uwe Boll.

An odd side note to one of the publications above: the novelization of the film actually contains a different ending than the conclusion used in the film. As I understand the matter, the novelization's ending was made different to maintain the secrecy of the film's ending...but, by buying the novelization...readers can log onto a website to download the actual ending of the book. At least, I think that's right.

HUGE thanks to Titan Books for not only making this contest possible, but for handling prize fulfillment. You can find more information about the titles by clicking HERE.