Time-travel literature is perplexing enough - and in the "Terminator" franchise of movies, novels, comic books and now a TV series, it turns out that only the first two of the three films is canonical.

The new TV series begins in 1999, just more than four years after the events of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). How does it fit into the bigger picture of a convoluted multiverse that spans from 1984 to 2041? Come with me if you want to learn.

"The Terminator" (1984) - On May 12, 1984, a cyborg assassin called a Series 800 Model 101 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) arrives in Los Angeles from a possible future 2029. Sent by a sentient computer network called Skynet - which achieved self-awareness on Aug. 29, 1997, and nuked most of humankind - he hunts Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whom history says will give birth to John Connor, future leader of the human resistance.

Sarah survives with the help of Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), whom John sent back in time to protect her. Kyle dies, but not before helping to conceive John and destroy the Terminator - except for the central processing unit (CPU) and one arm.

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) - By 1995, Sarah has learned guerrilla warfare from a variety of soldiers-of-fortune and survivalists. John (Edward Furlong), born Feb. 28, 1985, has been living with foster parents ever since Sarah, with her claims of cyborg killers from the future, was institutionalized at Pescadero State Hospital.

On May 12, 1995, Sarah escapes with the help of John and a reprogrammed T-800 Terminator, which the future resistance has sent. They prevail against a T-1000 Terminator (Robert Patrick), a chameleon-like, liquid-metal shape-shifter. Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), a scientist at the military contractor Cyberdyne, has begun creating Skynet based on the future-tech CPU and arm of the first film's Terminator. He sacrifices his life to blow up Cyberdyne's headquarters and presumably prevent Skynet's existence.

"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" (2003) - This film, set in 2004, has Sarah Connor dying of leukemia in 1997.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (Fox, 2008) - Producer and series adapter Josh Friedman said in an interview with IGN.com that the new series occurs in "an alternate timeline" that "takes the place of 'T3.'" The TV series begins on Aug. 24, 1999, with Sarah (Lena Headey) and a 15-year-old John (Thomas Dekker) living nondescript lives off the grid. They believe they stopped Skynet, which had originally gained sentience in 1997, but now discover they'd simply delayed it.

An apparent T-800 Terminator (Owain Yeoman in the premiere, Garret Dillahunt subsequently) stalks John, who is protected by an advanced model calling itself Cameron Phillips (Summer Glau). The name alludes to franchise co-creator James Cameron. Another character, FBI agent James Ellison (Richard T. Jones), is named after author-screenwriter Harlan Ellison, whose "Outer Limits" episodes "Soldier" and "Demon With a Glass Hand" provided belatedly acknowledged inspiration for "The Terminator."

The Universal theme-park ride "T2 3-D" (1996), featuring the "T2" cast in the future, occurs in an alternate timeline. In fact, fan-analysts have compiled at least seven creditable alt-history timelines that try to reconcile the screen versions, the three original novels published from 2002 to 2004, and original comic-book series and one-shots from Now, Dark Horse and Beckett Comics from 1988 to 2003.

James Cameron and company weren't kidding when they said the future isn't written.

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