The Matrix Reloaded explained 2.0 (Updated 6/26/03)

I went to see the Matrix Reloaded again last night and think I understand it a lot better now. It is the kind of movie you simply have to see more than once to get completely. So here is the explanation of the movie as I see it… (major spoilers of course)

The Matrix Reloaded explained 2.0 (Updated 6/26/03)

I went to see the Matrix Reloaded again last night and think I understand it a lot better now. It is the kind of movie you simply have to see more than once to get completely. So here is the explanation of the movie as I see it… (major spoilers of course)

This interpretation of the movie has MAJOR spoilers. If you do not want to know anything about the movie, bookmark this page, go see it and come back. This is your last warning.

The machines build the matrix in order to control the humans.

The first time they did so, they made the matrix perfect, as it is in the nature of machines to strive for perfection.

The humans would not accept it though, as it was too perfect for what they were accustomed to, and the system failed. (Smith says so in the first movie when he interrogates Morpheus)

To have the humans accept the matrix, which the machines needed them to do in order to subdue and control them, a new matrix was created. This time it had deliberate flaws.

These flaws not only allow certain individuals to unplug from the matrix, but also allowed these individuals to found a rebellion. In this case the rebellion is based in Zion.

Neo, or an individual like Neo, called the One, is such a built in flaw of the system. Neo is the 6 th of such a “One” a system flaw designed to help the matrix survive.

After a certain time period the system, that was designed to have certain flaws, has so many flaws that is needs to be restarted. Think of it as a reboot of the system that starts everything from new, but with the same parameters.

Neo is the reset button, so to speak, and one of the doors he could choose in the Architect’s office would have restarted the matrix. This was his purpose as the One.

Walking through the door would have allowed him to pick 16 females and 7 males from Zion and restart the rebellion. Those that are still in the matrix would have remained unchanged by this. They probably would not even have noticed something ins different, as the point of it all is to keep the individuals in the matrix from realizing it is a simulation. More importantly it would have also restarted the cycle, as his death would have restarted the underlying programming and allowed for another One to be created.

Morpheus knows there was another One before. He says in the first movie that there used to be somebody who could unplug other people. He does not know though that this is an ongoing cycle.

After a certain time period another One would have been created, found by the rebellion and send in to talk to the Architect. This cycle would have in the best-case scenario (speaking for the machines, of course) continued indefinitely. It is one of the underlying principles that ensure the very survival of the matrix itself.

For some reason Neo, the current One, is different though.

The Architect, describes the former 5 Ones as “having an attachment to humanity that was built into them” (I might be paraphrasing with the quotes, so send me the script please) but Neo has this to an extend that the others did not have.

The others before Neo chose to walk through the other door and rather save all inside the matrix, then the rebellion.

Neo chooses differently though and walks through the other door.

He does so because he is in love with Trinity, an accident that was not planned. He knows what it means to love somebody to the extend that he would die for them.

Therefore he chooses the door that will not restart the matrix and could possibly result in the death of not only the unplugged humans, but also those that are still plugged into the matrix. Or as the Architect put it “it could wipe out the entire human race.” He is willing to do this in order to be with Trinity.

He now has 24 hours after exiting the Architect’s office to find a way to stop this and save every human alive, both inside and outside the matrix, a risk he is willing to take. (Talk about a cliffhanger)

But who is the Architect, the Oracle, Keymaker, Smith and the Merovingian?

The simple answer is, they are all computer programs.

The longer and more complex answer has to do with what role they play in the matrix. (The construct, not the movie)

The Keymaker is a program designed for one purpose alone. Allow the One to get to the Architect and complete the cycle.

The Architect and the Oracle are clearly some of the oldest, if not the oldest programs that inhabit the matrix. The Oracle seems to be a very high level program that knows a lot of things, hence her capacity to know what Neo, also being a part of the matrix (I’ll get to that later) thinks. Her interest is also quite clearly to help the One find the Architect, although it is not clear if she is trying to do this in order to complete the cycle and have the matrix survive, or to set the human race free.

The Architect is possibly the highest power in the construct of the matrix.

This, however, does not mean that he has the power to do whatever he likes. As Morpheus explained in the first movie, the matrix is built on rules that are based on the real world in order for the humans to accept it. Therefore the master of the matrix cannot do whatever he likes, or he would risk people to notice and the entire construct to fail.

Hence the need for Neo as catalyst to restart the system before it becomes too corrupted to even restart. He rather has to wait for Neo to get to him and do this for him.

The Merovingian seems to be some sort of rogue program that was scheduled for deletion but resisted. He now lives in exile in the matrix and evades agents that are sent to delete him. This would explain why he is holding the Keymaker, as it would allow him to evade anybody that is send after him.

Something tells me though that there is more to him. The way he exits and not even confronts Neo after he killed all of his associates, would suggest that we will see him again in Revolutions. Then we will probably also learn what his intends are. Maybe he will even help Neo in order not to be deleted or side with Smith?

Smith was an agent that was designed to hunt down people that have unplugged but are still roaming the matrix. Morpheus, Trinity and the group from the first movie are prime examples of targets that he was designed to hunt down.

This is only one of his functions though. As a higher power within such agents he was also designed to find the One, once he reemerges.

When Smith battled Neo at the end of the first movie he was changed somehow. He says in Reloaded that he”does not know what happened”; but he theorizes that some part of Neo “was copied onto him.” It is possible that this changed the nature of Smith and that he to some degree has the powers of a One in the matrix. He might just be trying to get even with Neo and kill him, but it seems that he is trying to more than that.

A possible agenda for him, now that he has more powers than he was designed for, is to get to the Architect himself and rule the matrix.

Part of this plan (or a different altogether) is how he copied himself onto one of the two humans in the matrix that were just about to exit. Somehow he was able to get inside one of the humans and escape into the real world.

He tried not only to kill Neo in Zion (he was the guy with the knive ready to attack Neo, but then telling him “we,” as in all the other Smiths, “will be seeing you” ) but he also tried to be aboard one of the two ships that were send to find the Nebuchadnezzar (he was the one insisting to his captain that they should volunteer as one of the two ships send after Morpheus) and was the only one who survived the attack on the five ships protecting Zion.

He was also the one lying on the table next to Neo similarly in a coma. (A definite set-up for the sequel if ever there was one)

This incarnation of Smith will clearly play a major role in Revolutions, but it is impossible to gauge what his role will be.

Another open question is why Neo was able to stop the sentinels. Why does he seem to have power over machines in the real world now?

One possible explanation is that he, as the One, is a product of the matrix itself. He should therefore be able to tap into the system controlling the machines, as he himself is part of that system. This also explains how he could revive Trinity in the matrix.

Another explanation could be that the “real world” in which Zion exists, is not real after all. It could be just another level of reality inside the Matrix, designed to let humans believe they succeeded in escaping, while still holding the captive in a simulation that was designed for this specific purpose. It would make sense, as it would be some sort of backup security precaution.

This would of course explain why Neo can do whatever he can do in the other parts of the Matrix, as it is just another level of the simulation. His coma might just be a shock reaction to the realization that even this part of his life was a simulation.

One thing is fore sure: I can’t wait to see Revolutions in November. Until then this is all mere speculation. Feel free to to respond to what you have read through posting a comment bellow.

(Updated on June 26th, 2003 for clarity and grammar)

Please also check out the other parts of my web site , if you have gotten here through Google. There is a lot of other stuff that might interest you.

| Permalink | Mail entry to a friend