All three Terminator 2D: NO FATE endings come from two decision scenes after Pescadero Hospital. Choose Reset Chip → Reconsider to spare Dyson, Leave Chip to let the T-800 kill him, or Reset Chip → Pull the Trigger for Sarah to kill him. Leave Chip removes Sarah’s second choice, so Leave Chip and Pull the Trigger can never belong to the same run.
| Ending | Chip scene | Dyson’s house | Earliest route check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spare Dyson | Reset Chip | Reconsider | Cyberdyne HQ: Infiltration |
| T-800 kills Dyson | Leave Chip | No second prompt | Police Station, then Cyberdyne HQ: Annihilation |
| Sarah kills Dyson | Reset Chip | Pull the Trigger | Police Station, then no Annihilation |
This choice map applies to the released game and was rechecked on August 8, 2026. The latest official gameplay update in the Steam news feed remains Patch 1, dated June 22, 2026. That patch changes Save Progress and Level Training, but it does not replace the two ending decisions.
Your first Story Mode clear fixes both choices
A new save cannot select either alternate action. At the chip scene, the available path is Reset Chip; when Sarah reaches Dyson’s house, the available outcome is Reconsider. Finish that Story Mode run to see the Spare Dyson ending.
Completing Story Mode once, on any difficulty, unlocks Leave Chip and Pull the Trigger. If one of those labels is unavailable, replaying Pescadero Hospital will not fix it. The missing condition is the completed Story Mode run, not a hidden action in Level 8.
At the chip scene, Leave Chip removes the second prompt
The chip decision does more than choose a line of dialogue:
- Leave Chip keeps the T-800 on its order to kill Dyson. At Dyson’s home, the T-800 shoots him before Sarah can make another decision. The game therefore skips the Reconsider/Pull the Trigger prompt.
- Reset Chip stops that automatic kill. The visit continues until Sarah must decide whether Dyson lives.
This is the most important planning rule in the article. If the target is the T-800-kills-Dyson ending, select Leave Chip and expect no second prompt. If the target is either of Sarah’s outcomes, select Reset Chip first.
At Dyson’s house, Sarah separates the other two endings
Sarah’s prompt exists only after Reset Chip. Reconsider spares Dyson and sends the group toward Cyberdyne HQ: Infiltration. Pull the Trigger makes Sarah kill Dyson; Sarah then goes through Police Station and Cyberdyne HQ: Assault.
Police Station alone is not enough to identify who killed Dyson, because both death routes use it. The decisive check comes after Assault. The T-800 route inserts Cyberdyne HQ: Annihilation and makes the T-800 playable. Sarah’s route skips Annihilation and moves straight to Freeway Chase.
The mission order confirms the route before the finale
| Route | Post-Pescadero mission order | Final route signal |
|---|---|---|
| Spare Dyson | Cyberdyne HQ: Infiltration → Freeway Chase → Steel Mill → Future War: Retaliation | John is playable in Retaliation |
| T-800 kills Dyson | Police Station → Cyberdyne HQ: Assault → Cyberdyne HQ: Annihilation (playable T-800) → Freeway Chase → Steel Mill → Future War: Redemption → Future War: Retaliation | Annihilation uses the T-800; Sarah reaches Retaliation |
| Sarah kills Dyson | Police Station → Cyberdyne HQ: Assault (Sarah) → Freeway Chase → Steel Mill → Future War: Redemption | No Annihilation and no later Retaliation |
Use mission names rather than a memorized level number. The two Dyson-death routes contain more missions than the Spare Dyson line, and Annihilation lengthens the T-800 route again. A shared mission can therefore occupy a different number even though its place in the story is unchanged.
The quickest audit is progressive. Infiltration confirms that Dyson survived. Police Station confirms only that he died. After Police Station and Assault, Annihilation confirms Leave Chip; moving directly to Freeway Chase confirms Reset Chip → Pull the Trigger. The last playable character is a final cross-check, not the first time to discover a wrong choice.
Use the forced route, the longest alternate, then the short cleanup
The least confusing order follows the unlock rule and makes every later run easy to identify:
- First run — Reset Chip → Reconsider: take the only available ending and complete Story Mode. Infiltration should appear after Pescadero, and John should play Future War: Retaliation.
- Second run — Leave Chip: use the newly unlocked chip action. This is the longest alternate route because it contains Annihilation, Redemption, and a Sarah version of Retaliation. Seeing Annihilation proves the run is still correct.
- Third run — Reset Chip → Pull the Trigger: reset the chip again, then change Sarah’s decision. This route shares Police Station and Assault with run two but skips Annihilation and ends after Redemption.
Do not spend a fourth run testing an impossible combination. Leave Chip has already resolved Dyson’s fate before Sarah can choose, while Pull the Trigger requires Reset Chip. Each alternate ending also requires a fresh Story Mode route; the two decisions cannot be exchanged inside the run that has already passed them.
Patch 1 changes where a branch run can safely stop
Patch 1 makes Save Progress resume from the latest reached checkpoint where the mission supports that behavior. The branch missions have specific exceptions, so the safest exit depends on the name on the current mission:
- Cyberdyne HQ: Infiltration and Assault: Save Progress uses the newest elevator floor, not a medkit. Ride the next elevator before leaving if it is close.
- Cyberdyne HQ: Annihilation: reaching the boss creates the useful resume point for this T-800-only mission.
- Freeway Chase and Steel Mill: Save Progress restarts the mission from the beginning. Finish the mission before stopping when practical.
Patch 1 also unlocks a mission in Level Training as soon as that mission has been reached. Training is useful for rehearsing Annihilation, Redemption, or Retaliation after first seeing it, but the ending still belongs to the Story Mode route.
Before committing to the finale, reduce the run to one unmistakable signature: Infiltration followed by John’s Retaliation; Annihilation followed later by Sarah’s Retaliation; or Assault with no Annihilation and a finish at Redemption. If one of those sequences matches, the two decisions produced the intended ending.
Seeing all three endings does not by itself make the completion display read 100%. Patch 1 also feeds opened story paths, chosen difficulties, unlocked achievements, found secrets, and per-stage ranks into that number. Treat the three endings as the route goal, not as proof that every completion category is finished.
For combat through the eight shared missions, bosses, hidden Continues, and first-clear preparation, use the Terminator 2D: NO FATE first-clear walkthrough. The official Steam page identifies the current PC release and its multiple-ending premise.