Matrix Re-considered

the humans were causing a lot of problems. im not saying the humans werent a good power source, but the sun doesn't require them to control it. it also doesn't require the vast numbers of machines to oversee and harness it. lacking any animalistic notions to procreate, this would mean that the machines would not need to make new machines, less machines would be needed, so ultimately less power would be needed.

 

Added to the fact that the EMP field only affects machines in a certain radius.

Chezney, it's a science fiction movie. It's not going to apply to all the laws of physics and human nature. It's not meant to be completely believable. You don't live in a world of machines so you wouldn't know why they wouldn't build buildings high or not. You could also pick apart the fact that Neo and Smith flew around and fought, but it's not meant to be applied to regular human nature. It's supposed to be mind-blowing and unbelievable. [/b][/quote]
Yeah I've skimmed over these topic and I have this for all of you that explains a whole lot. Kind of. Long post ahead...

The topic is from [http://www.matrixmania.com], and is credited entirely to "Terikan".

The Matrix explained, version 1.0

I'm going to write you a little story. Except it's not really a story, but an explanation of the matrix trilogy. I'm not going to delve into the interpretations or undertones of political, spiritual, or religious context, but instead give what I feel is strongly implied by the movie. I may not formally justify each of these implications, because this is not a formal paper, and people can choose to believe whatever they want. However, if you choose to believe that something I've written is wrong, then you are probably making a bad choice.

I'm not an apologist for the movie either. I thought that the first two matrix movies were awesome, and that the WBs had an obligation to give us the real answers in m3, but they chose not to. However, I was wrong. Reloaded just distracted us from the point of the trilogy. The WBs never intended to create a system for us, they just wanted to tell us a story. This story happens in a vast universe, but explaining every detail of that universe was not their goal.

One given I want everyone to accept before they start reading is that there are clues left by WBs about the actual meaning of the matrix, and everything's place. These clues may not be obvious, but they will at least make sense insofar as they are put in the movie, and seem to do very little else in terms of furthering plot or giving outright explanation about the matrix.

A long time ago, the entity we call the oracle studied human phenomenon of the senses the machines do not have access to. Those senses include at the very least taste. She was created in order to give taste to the humans inside the matrix. Think back to Mouse's conversation with neo in the neb when they eat the runny goop. The oracle studied the phenomenon of taste, and that is why she's obsessed with candy and cookies. I will not rule out the possibility that she was also implanting programs or directives via cookie/candy, but in the movie I saw no implication of this.

Through her studies with taste, she grew as a program, and actually began to appreciate the human experience. However, the architect came to her when his matrix had failed twice. The answer seemed obvious in a general way to her, the interface was not complete. It was missing something that the real world somehow gave the humans. That something, turned out to be the concept of choice. Perhaps incomplete in the minds of the humans, it must have actually existed in the real world to be causing such problems. So freedom was granted to the human population of the matrix. No longer were they simply experiencing the matrix, they were now interacting with it. The matrix did not develop into a perfect world of peace, or a world of torture (as the first and second matrices were, respectively) but instead a mixture of both with lesser extremes.

However, only 99% of the people inside the matrix accepted it, and the 1% accumulated and began to destabalize the matrix. And then, it appeared. The anomaly. Through sheer will, this anomaly was able to exert incredible forces within the matrix. The oracle contacted him/her. The oracle told the anomaly about the matrix and the world outside it. The anomaly began to wake people up. The architect, scared of another collapse, and failure of his great genius was close to pulling the plug when the oracle proposed a system of control she called 'the prophesy'. Her system would allow the architect to study the effects of the anomaly, and keep the matrix stable. The plan was for there to be a last human city, in which the 1% who rejected the matrix could live, believing in the coming of a savior to mankind, and the oracle would get the anomaly to return to the source via the architects room.

Ok, now here's where it gets a little sticky. You see, it was the oracle who created the anomaly by somehow unbalancing the equation. What equation you ask? The equation is a formula representing human choices and consequences. To the architect, it is mere cause and effect. The psuedo-physics of the matrix had to be kept in check in order for there to be stability. In other words, the equation symbolizes the 'rules' of the matrix. I really don't know how the oracle makes it unbalanced, but it results in the anomaly, and the oracle devised the system of the prophecy on the basis that it was a test for mankind, on whether or not they were ready or able to accept peace. If the One passes the test, she then would help the One take over the matrix, and force the machines to make peace. To the oracle, it was the humans supreme valuing of self-preservation that lead to the war in the first place. Only someone who could see something as a higher value than simply living could demonstrate the qualities necessary to even give peace a chance. And so we have the two doors. Through one door is the continuation of the human species, through the other is another value, probably love (as in Neo's particular case). Go through the first door, and the scenario ends, and restarts. Go through the second, and humanity is given a chance.

Alright, most of the stickiness has left us, and if you are still in one piece, then we are doing good. The merovingian, an exiled program who took his love, persephone, with him to the matrix, wants to rule there. His exact origins as well as those of persephone are shrouded in mystery, and the mythos concerning their names seems more metaphorical than revealing. What he was before he came to the matrix is not known, but he does not like the idea of the One coming in and taking away his power, and to him, humans are a lower form of life, driven by their desires alone. Of course, he is above this (sarcasm) as he proves himself reliant on humans for his own satisfaction.

Now, some speculation can be made about the merovingian. Because it is explicitly stated that he is a program, we must just accept that. His function was most likely some sort of programming, perhaps while the architect designed the matrix, the merovingian did a lot of the actual coding. It is quite likely that persephone was used to gather information about human emotion, but this is mostly speculation.

Seraph, is another enigmatic program. He is yet another exile, and apparently has a past with the merovingian. He explicitly says that he is not a programmer, that he instead protects 'that which matters most'. What matters most are the 'Eyes of the Oracle'. I'm not sure exactly what that is, but I believe it is whatever part of the Oracle's programming allows her to see the future. I believe that seraph was employed by merovingian for protection after he was exiled, and he was probably even written by the Merovingian himself. However, it would seem as though the Oracle probably re-wrote part of him, and 'stole' him from Merv. So he's not happy about that. He tells them to get what Seraph is protecting, and you can see the frustrated look on Seraph's face.

Back to the prophecy. Normally, when the One fails, the whole thing starts over. And things repeat themselves pretty much in the same fashion, but something happened differently during neo's transformation into the One. The first thing that happened differently is that neo died. He was killed by Smith, and the only reason why is because of Cypher's betrayal from before. Neo then got up and killed smith. When he did, part of the anomaly was copied onto smith, and smith became some sort of nemesis anomaly. His ability to copy is a sort of expansion on the former agents ability to enter any person still plugged into the matrix. Now he doesn't just enter them, he copies onto them, and any other agents, or programs, or zionists that are so unlucky to cross his path.

Smith gives clues that his own transformation is one of the only, if not THE only difference in this prophetic cycle when he tells himself "It's happening exactly as before. Well, not exactly." Later, smith knows where neo is going on several occasions, and even arrives at the entrance to the source before neo. Unfortunately for him, he has no keys to the source.

When neo finally gets there, unscathed, he encounters the architect, who mesmerizes him with what reviewers call 'mumbo-jumbo' because they are too stupid to understand what is going on. The architect knew which door neo was going to choose, but neo chose it slightly differently than the architect anticipated. He came to a realization right before he started walking towards the door. He realized why he made the choice. Upon this epiphany, he is able to 'see past it' as the oracle put it, and can now feel the machines, and shuts down a few sentinels. However, his ability to manipulate them comes from a link with the source. Upon opening that link, neo is sort of sucked into the machine mainframe, as he doesn't understand his own powers. The merovingian, quick on the draw places him under 'house arrest'.

Now I know, at this point, you are like "wait wait, what the heck, how'd he do it?". You see, humans have been living as crops by giving off bio-electrical energy for several hundred years. This process has changed humanity as a whole. They are sensitive to the electromagnetic fields given off by electrical machinery. They are also capable of exerting influence on these electromagnetic fields. If you want to call it a wireless connection, go ahead. It isn't exactly precisely that, but that's really close enough to what is going on. The oracle says that neo's power goes from the matrix to the source, and that neo touched the source when he stopped the sentinels, not before. Neo exerted his bioelectrics to stop them, coming into contact with the wireless conduit the sentinels have with the source, and well you know the rest now. We also know that something akin to a wireless connection must be the answer because of what neo demonstrates as powers in the real world. He cannot heal trinity, he cannot heal his eyes, he cannot move things with his mind. He can, however, destroy sentinels and sense the machines. His powers are limited to influencing and sensing the machines. He can also sense bane, because his bio-magnetic field now reads like the machines due to the infection by Smith.

Neo's ability to sense and manipulate the machines in close quarters fits perfectly with the bio-electricity theory. It also fits with the reading material keanu reeves had to do. Remember that he had to read a book about how humans were becoming more like machines. His ability to manipulate this electromagnetic field in this way is a representation of that transformation.

Now, neo predicting the future is a whole nother can of worms. The oracle tells him that he's already made a choice, and to see past it, he must understand it. Basically, she's telling neo that the world is deterministic. That future events can be predicted. Neo has 'the sight'. Apparently his consciousness has been changed, and he can see the future. I don't know how exactly this can be explained, but I believe that either the oracle implanted the events into his mind, and then let his mind work out whether or not trinity dies, or it's a sort of mysticism or philosophical belief the WB's are positing.

Unfortunately, there's not much more about this 'sight' in m3 to give us any sort of answers. However, smith, who's been copying himself all over, has now become a real threat to the machines, and this is not what the oracle planned. However, neo knows what he must do, he goes to 01 and stops smith. Peace love and harmony, but not quite. The architect is willing to free those who want out of the matrix. It's fine with him anyways since they just destabalize the place. He pretty much thinks that he doesn't have to worry about any more anomalies.

Why is smith so much stronger? Well, he seemed to gain a lot of power when he absorbed the Oracle. Neo basically knows that he cannot beat smith, not in a straight contest. So he loses. For a third and final time, neo does NOT win a decisive battle against smith, yet fights all the same. Some people are frustrated by this, and I can understand it, but that's just how it goes when you have a nemesis. Also, consider what the WBs may be trying to say about war and fighting. Perhaps they believe that fighting really does get us no where. Perhaps they believe you should fight even when you know you won't win. Maybe both... in a strange sort of way. But like I said, I'm not here to start deconstructing the psychological, political, spiritual, or religious connotations of the movies.

What's up with Sati, the little kid? She is the first program created out of love, and without a purpose. Smith says that without purpose they would not exist in m2, so here's what happens. Not having a purpose dooms a program when it's in the machine world. The machines only keep what's necessary, it's their idea of 'order'. Programs that are no longer needed are either deleted or flee to the matrix as an exile. Sati's parents smuggle her into the source. Sati seems like she may have great powers in the matrix, and I believe this is due to her not being confined by purpose. Every other program is limited in their abilities based on what their purpose is. They can only do what is necessary to achieving that purpose. Sati represents a new kind of program, one that the oracle believes is 'higher' in a way than the current programs, because love is important. Love and freedom are valuable.

Some people also wonder what exactly happened during the super brawl, and wonder how exactly neo beat smith. See, smith is a program, we all knew that. And each smith is connected to each other smith. We already knew that also. After smith takes over neo, one of his avatars is connected to the source because neo was connected to the source. Smith realizes something is up, when he says 'no, it's a trick'. But as he said in m2, there is no denying purpose. So he took over neo, he couldn't choose not to. Thus he sealed his fate and the source deleted him.

At the end of the movie, Sati makes a sunrise for neo, and I believe it is actually with the intent that he will see it. Perhaps even she has something to do with his resurrection. However, the Oracle also says we will see him again, and I believe that she doesn't just mean we'll see another anomaly. Another anomaly would not be Neo, contrary to some misconceptions about the movie. We do see Neo after revolutions, in the short clip at the end of the first Matrix. Neo then goes to the phone, and tells the machine consciousness that he is going to be making some changes. That the matrix will no longer be a prison, or enslavement. That it will instead become a place where people can live real meaningful lives by removing controls.

Yes, that's right, the phone call at the end of m1 is out of order with the rest of the movies. The reason why I and some other people think this is due to neo's clothing. It matches the clothing he wore a short period in m3 when he was disconnected from his body. So it indicates that during that call he was disconnected from his body. He says he can also 'feel' them. He only started feeling them at the beginning of m2, and when trinity asks him what is up, he says "I don't know", so he's not in touch with this ability yet. The whole thing is debatable, but I personally think it makes more sense out of the trilogy and the murky ending of the third movie.

Some people think that the Oracle was just playing some sort of game with the Architect. That's not true, that's just how the program Architect interprets their struggle. To him everything is numbers and math and so he plays it like a game, like the Merovingian does. It's kinda like the WBs are telling men to grow up in these movies. In any case, the Oracle had planned everything out, yes, but it was not a game. She could see the future, she knew the possibilities, and she knew that only way out of the war was with peace.

 

I dont really need anyone to explain the Matrix to me or ever did I just understood it all right away.

 

i thouroguhly enjoyed all three films but was a bit disapointed to hear there would be no anitmatrix 2 although i looked into it and indeed there will be, its about what happens to the people afterwards and what happens between the movies.

 

Wow, and I thought "The Matrix" was just a bigger and better version of the tv series, starring Matt Lawrence, where he went into the computer and became some sort of hero and kicked peoples asses on the net ...



Well I must say, however long ago it was, I saw The Matrix, on VHS not long after it came out. And I liked it a lot, thought I didn't follow the trend of becoming obsessed with it like many of my friends did. I watched it once or twice, not really understanding much of it, just accepting it as a science fiction movie where a man somehow transported himself to a different universe, and was supposed to save mankind.

Then, once Matrix: Reloaded came out, I saw it at my cousins, but only watched a few minutes but then fell asleep. Not because it was boring, but because it was 3 in the morning and I was tired. I have still yet to see it all the way through.

And, Matrix: Revolutions, which I have heard about a lot, I have also not seen. I really didn't care much about the last 2, but after reading posts from you all (especially Nate and McNasty) I have really gotten interested in it, and really want to see and understand the trilogy. And not only that, I want to know about this Animatrix thing. I have seen commercials for it, quite awhile back, thinking it was a parody to the matrix, but I havent seen that either. Could someone please explain what the Animatrix is? And do you know if you can go somewhere to buy the trilogy together, instead of buying each movie seperately?

Yeah well anyways, you have changed my mind on something I wouldnt have wasted a dollar on to what I now want terribly badly.

The Matrix and LOTR #### is stuff I never was interested in, but who knows, maybe that will all change.