The film takes place 10 years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. John Connor (Nick Stahl) is now 22 years old and living in New York City. He is being stalked by a new, more advanced Terminator, the T-X (Kristy Swanson), a cyborg endoskeleton with a living tissue over a metal skeleton. The T-X is designed to terminate not only John but also his future officers, thereby ensuring that the human resistance will not have a leader.