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What methods are there for killing the T-800?
A T-800 is composed of solid armor, so it is resistant to small arms fire. It may be possible to damage or even destroy a T-800 with armor piercing bullets, but the movies never address this. Unlike the T-1000, the T-800 is unable to reform its chassis if it is damaged.
Because of this, a T-800 can be destroyed with any type of explosive weapon, such as a grenade, a grenade launcher, a pipe bomb, a rocket launcher, etc.
A directed energy weapon like a plasma rifle is probably the most common way to kill a T-800 in 2029. The characters in the movies did not have access to weapons like these for obvious reasons. Any significant damage to the structural integrity of the chassis will either disable or destroy the T-800, as is shown in the first movie with the hydraulic press.
Why the T-800 is sometimes referred to as the T-101 or T-850?
In the first two films, it is referred to as the model 101, as in "Cyberdyne Systems T-800 model-101." This is referring to the physical appearance (i.e. Arnold), whereas the model 100 or 102 would look different from Arnold.
The T-800/850 likely refers to the endoskeleton structure. It is unknown what the difference between the 800/850 is; perhaps it's the same model with certain updates in its programming, such as having "update 1.41 from 1.34" for a video game or program.
If you wanted to try and distinguish the two, it could be said that the Terminators we see in Terminator: Salvation and the original Terminator are T-800s, and in Terminator 2 and Terminator 3 they are T-850s.
One difference between the T-800 chassis and the T-850 is the type of fuel cells used. The T-800 uses an iridium power cell and the T-850 uses dual hydrogen cells. (The only visible differences are their hairstyles.)
What about the T-800's lost arm in the steel mill?
From the official novel: "As the chromed skeleton was dissolved into the same primal stew as the T-1000, Sarah and John watched [the] Terminator sink into the lava, the metal hand going last... At the last second it formed into a fist with the thumb extended... a final thumbs-up.
Then it was really gone. Mother and son watched the molten metal for a while. Then John remembered [the] Terminator's other arm back down the row of smelters, and ran to get it. It was a pile of useless, twisted metal, but the metal was from the future and this time they weren't leaving anything to chance.
When John tossed the pieces in, one by one, he and Sarah felt a shudder deep within the bowels of the earth. As if a massive pivot was turning. Of course, later, John would think back and assume it was merely the huge machines pounding away in the mill. He would be wrong. History had been reborn."
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If the T-800 Model 101 is a known serial killer from the first movie, why would the human resistence send back an identical model?
According to the James Cameron/Bill Wisher original script draft and the official novelization by Randall Frakes, as well as creative consultant Van Ling, there were hundreds of different-looking T-800's in Skynet's terminator storage facility.
However, the adult Connor went looking specifically for the T-800 that he remembered protecting him when he was ten years old. By sending back his father Kyle Reese and the protector terminator, John was fulfilling his role in the predestination paradox (causal loop). When John entered the Terminator Cold Storage Facility to locate the deactivated "Arnold" model, Frakes writes:
John panned his light around. There were hundreds of men and women, in rows of ten. Within each row, the bodies were absolutely identical. John quickly walked along the synthetic bodies to the end of a row and hesitated. He scanned the faces. No, not there. Then he gazed down the other row. All the same. Strange to him. Then...he turned to another row and stopped. It was filled with identical, familiar faces. The broad, brutally handsome features sent a shock of recognition through John. It was him.
Both from the official Terminator 2 companion book and on the special edition T2 DVD, James Cameron and Stan Winston state that an unfilmed part of the script involved the rebels in 2029 destroying Skynet but finding a chamber where the T-800 model terminators were built. This chamber housed a sophisticated assembly line where the terminator parts were transported to a central point. Here they were welded together, programmed and placed inside a press that coated the outside of the endo-skeleton with a organic tissue.
The Schwarzenegger model is commonly referred to as the T-800 model 101, T-800 referring to its series number or endoskeleton type and 101 referring to its model number or physical appearance. A T-800 Model 102 would look like somebody else, and so forth.
If Skynet believes it can alter the future, why is the T-800 hesitant about doing the same?
The T-800's mission is to ensure the survival of John Connor. The fact that the future John Connor didn't reprogram the T-800 to consider such a side mission derives from an obvious inability to predict what Skynet might already have planned. It was better to simply escort the young John Connor into indefinite seclusion.
Another possibility is that the future John had simply accepted the fact that, despite what he made Kyle memorise on the subject, while the future can be altered, the big picture remains pretty much the same. Also, there is the fact that if the Terminator did somehow purge Skynet's existence, John never would have been born.
Why did the T-800 ask to be terminated? His mission was to ensure the survival of John Connor. Isn't that failing his mission?
He does so to destroy all technology from the future that could lead to the development of Skynet, since the threat from the T-1000 was at an end. This would, in effect, be the greatest protection John could ever be afforded.
Should Skynet pursue further assassination attempts to alter the time-line, the human resistance would most likely send a protector back in time to make sure the survival of the human resistance is not jeopardized; hence the release of Terminator 3, where the human resistance finds out a "Terminatrix" has been sent to destroy John's fellow lieutenants. Another protector, a model 101 terminator (this time reprogrammed by future Kate Brewster) is sent through time to defuse the threat against her life.
Why can't the T-800 self-terminate?
The movie and the novel are in conflict concerning this question. In the novel, the T-800 immediately commits suicide by stepping into the molten steel once the T-1000 has died. In the movie, this moment is drawn out to generate emotional issues about the T-800's mortality. However, as a soldier doing a duty, the T-800 probably would not have required others to end his life when the future was at stake.
The T-800's death sequence from the official novel: "[The] Terminator put his hand on John's shoulder. 'I must complete my mission.' And as he said that, the human side of his face came back into the light. He reached toward John and his metal finger touched the tear trickling down his cheek. It was the revelation. 'I know now why you cry, although it is something I can never do.' He turned to Sarah and said, 'Goodbye.' 'Are you afraid?' There was the briefest instant before he responded. 'Yes,' he said.
Not because he was going to cease functioning as a terminator, but because he had sensed a vision beyond his programming of a cosmic order vast beyond Skynet's comprehension. And it gave him a sense of his first feeling. Fear. Of where he was going next, if anywhere. Of course, he hadn't been asked for further details on his answer, so he didn't say any of this. He simply turned and stepped off the edge."
If The Terminator is an infiltration unit who can mimic voices, why does it speak with a thick Austrian accent?
The obvious answer is that's how Arnold Schwarzenegger talks. A movie answer is that Skynet captures humans, replicates their flesh/likenesses and voices in order for the Terminators to be better at infiltrating. So however the captive they replicated spoke would be their default voice pattern.
No T2 sequel has officially addressed this matter yet. In Terminator: Salvation the prototype T-800 is seen, but no explanation about the origin of its appearance is given. However, there was a scene deleted from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines which explained that the T-800s were modeled after sgt. William Candy, who was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, but had a very heavy southern American accent.
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