Why does Grace crash after the fight scenes?

Question

In Terminator: Dark Fate, we see a couple episodes of Grace "crashing", i.e. her metabolism consuming so much to supply muscles with energy and strength that there's no glucose storage left, runs low and in some cases blacks out.

The fight sequences are certainly expending a good bit of energy, but not so much that even a normal person would crash out like that.

Why does she crash out? Is there an explanation from writers about this?

Answer 1

At some point in the movie, Grace says something along the lines of:

We are designed for short bursts of energy against the Terminators, not continuous effort.

Presumably the fights they get involved in exceed her time threshold. Note that multiple factors will not make it easier for her:

• Grace just went through time travel. This process hurts, a lot.
• Say what you want about the fights requiring energy but "not so much that even a normal person would crash out like that", actual fights are exhausting, and don't always involve you being thrown on walls and vehicles, repeatedly get shot, all while handling weapons yourself and trying to protect a target. Most people wouldn't crash out because most people would be dead by the end of it; Grace already shows amazing endurance, if you ask me.
• Add to that that Grace does not seem to really have the time to recover between fights; the meds' efficiency will be decreased. There's only one time where she gets what looks like the full treatment (meds + ice bath). The rest of the time is a syringe and it's back to tango.
• It's possible previous crashes hinder her overall endurance, vicious circle and all.
• We saw she needed to reduce her body temperature to get back in shape (ice bath). The movie takes place in Mexico and Texas, which are pretty hot places. It's possible the outside temperature isn't helping her recover.