My websites were always targeted primarily for the hardcore fans who almost know it all. The purpose of my sites was too shine light on some very obscure interviews and facts that aren't accessible in well known books or extras that are still available for purchase. However, times change, and new generations and fans come along - and I realized that a lot of my audience consist of fans who aren't diehards who know every book and interview by memory for decades (like all the fans at the Terminator Files Forum years ago), or just never went outside the films. So this is the first part of a different type of FAQ section, for those less initiated in Cameronverse. James Cameron is one of those very few storytellers who leave the fans with more answers than any scifi fan would hope for, certainly much more than any other scifi storyteller. While movies are about the kinetic energy, emotions visual art and story, and they are certainly not obligated to explain or elaborate on every fictional aspect of it, Cameron, often praising the audiences as 'smart' and ones who 'get it', spread just enough clues and sprinkled bits of information that are enough for the viewers to draw they answers from, without a need to do it through dialogue, ruining the flow, pace and running time of the film. And he always goes extra miles unlike anyone else to give reason and logic behind everything, even fictional made up tech.
Novelizations used to be for fans who wanted that extra insight into the story, unburdened by the limited running time of a movie and it's pacing - they dwelled on character's thoughts and explained things that couldn't be visually or weren't absolutely necessary or crucial to explain in the film, and so they're often almost like the Bible of the film, along the script. Let me underline that none of the answers are my own opinions, they are an intent of the filmmakers and official sources will be quoted when necessary. And have in mind, this entire site is just about Cameronverse only.
Let's continue with ""How did the T-800 Power Up Again ?"
A common misconception is that the T-800 has two batteries, two fuel cells. He doesn't and it has been stated even back in 1985 novelization for the first film and restated in Terminator 2: "A Hundred and Twenty years with my existing power CELL"
The misconception most likely comes from Jonathan Mostow's sequel, in which there are two fuel cells, but even in the 2003's film mythology, the two fuel cells are the upgrade for this specific model from the film. In Cameronverse, the T-800 has one power cell and it has been described in the novelization for the first film.
So what did the T-1000 do to the T-800 in the steel mill that caused him to power down? His only power cell was "Ruptured and discharged - out of commission permanently", says the annotation of the scene in 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day The Book of Film", as well as the text commentary on the Extreme DVD edition. So how did he powered back up? Where did he drew the power from? The text commentary by Van Ling, James Cameron's Creative Consultant and Assistant on The Abyss and Terminator 2, author of the 1991 Book Of Film and Cameron's personal friend, explained on 2003's Extreme DVD Text Commentary (available on some BluRay releases as well) that the T-800 drew power from his heat sinks, just enough for him to reboot and then perform his one last task.
What is a heat sink? See below
This feature was actually mentioned back in the novelization of the first film
And the Terminator also drew power from heat while lying in the fire in the first movie
However, the little power that the heat sinks can give the Terminator wouldn't last long and the T-800 was doomed to "die" anyway unless attempted repairs. As novelization describes, he had "total trauma to the outer and inner chassis, malfunctioning legs, crushed spine". The script also describes "crushed armor, smashed spine and pelvis". Here’s an excerpt from the official Terminator RPG World Book:
So, why did the T-1000 thought he was dead and left him? He didn't. He knew he may or may not jump start, but had no time to stand there and see if he can possibly reboot. And if he could, it wouldn't matter, he had his target out there loose in the open with multiple open ways to escape and never be found again. He had no time. And that is very consistent behavior that has been established for him throughout the film - he disables/disposes of the T-800 enough so he can let him go and can quickly continue pursuit of the nearby escaping target - whether in the Galleria where he smashed him around and threw him out of the store, or in the steel mill earlier when he pinned him under the gear and left to continue pursuit. In here, he took a second to make sure he's not getting up instantly and quickly resumed pursuit. Here's the moment described in the novelization:
As for MOVIE-ONLY explanation, the viewer just assumes/sees the Terminator reroutes his powers to a different source thanks to its POV. It's only because of Jonathan Mostow's sequel that people today get confused and think the Terminator is rerouting to a second fuel cell which he doesn't have
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