Current Favorite Matrix Theory

Human bodies do not produce more power than they consume, period. We are not perpetual motion devices. If the machines are expending energy to breed humans, feed (calories), heat (calories), medically maintain and download the complex Matrix program to entertain them then the machines are working at an enormous energy deficit.

Conversely, the humans in Zion seem to have no problem powering their big city and powerful ships without resorting to using folks wired into pods.

In the year 2003, we have nuclear, geothermal and fossil fuel based power sources. And we are only a few decades away from having fusion power as well. Is there any reason to think the machines of the future couldn’t do the same?

The machines are perpetuating the human race not because they need the power, but because it is their purpose. And without humans they have no purpose.

Now it’s possible that the Wachowski’s got their science wrong in the first movie, after all, they hadn’t counted on it being a run away blockbuster requiring two more movies to complete the franchise. But when it came time to pen the next two movies they had to come up with a plausible backstory to account for the need for sequels to a movie which had a pretty definitive ending.

Now watch the title sequence in Revolutions, you see a big human city rendered in the "machine code green" we’ve come to expect in the movie titles, then something interesting happens. The "city" resolves into a single character of new machine code. Big clue. They are showing you that there are layers of Matrix reality here. But they only give you a few seconds to absorb it before the scene moves on.

Former agent Smith was part of the antivirus programming in the first movie, but when Neo busted him up, some of Neo’s own programming "rubbed off" on Smith’s. The new Smith is no longer part of the antivirus program and he isn’t part of the human program either. He becomes a virus himself, replicating until he almost fills the Matrix memory with nobody else but copies of himself. Why shouldn’t he? He serves no other grand purpose and has no sympathy for the human race. To him the Matrix would smell better with lots of Smiths.

The Oracle is looking for a way to bring freedom for her people, the wayward programs. Neo is part of that, but as the all-knowing Oracle she sees the big showdown coming with Smith. She knows that Neo can help eliminate the Smith program but only if he makes it look good first, big fight, Smith wins, absorbs Neo, the Program can then delete him. The Oracle does her own bit of overwriting on Smith’s program when he absorbs her. Embedding the clue in Smith for Neo that convinces him to surrender to Smith.

The Earth we know has been devastated by a global calamity, probably of our own making.

Humans have retreated to life-pods and are sustained by advanced machines. They are all "test tube babies" as there is obviously no physical contact between them.

To escape this awful reality the humans have built a virtual reality supercomputer with self-regulating programs. These programs create an illusionary interactive pre-apocalypse version of the world and download it to their somnambulant charges. For efficiency the machines use the humans to power their own lifepods.

The computer was instructed to hide the human races’ guilt for destroying their environment.

The computer has a number of programs to allow the Matrix to run smoothly:

"The Architect" writes the general framework for the virtual world, also known as the Matrix, and directs subroutines to write the detailed imagery.

"The Oracle" I believe the Oracle is the very advanced equivalent of a randomizing subroutine in a contemporary computer game.

These program lines assign values to conceptual elements in a game, such as what are the consequences of a character doing this thing rather than that thing. If while playing a computer game you make your character, your "avatar" turn right, how will the game’s program respond to that?

The Matrix is of course many orders of magnitude more advanced than any contemporary computer game, so the lines of programming are advanced enough to be self correcting to accommodate any unforeseen variables the humans might choose, that the machines, being machines, wouldn’t anticipate.

"The Agents" are anti-virus programs designed to contain and eliminate damaged lines of code and virus-type programs running in the Matrix VR.

"The Merovingian" is an example of an early repair program. Designed to write new lines of code to repair errors in the primal version of the Matrix. An earlier Neo himself perhaps.

"The Seraph" is another early repair program designed to protect important subroutines.

"Neo" is an advanced repair program designed to learn how the human renegades function and reboot the computer in case of system-wide program corruption.

The world of the Matrix is of course a virtual reality construct. But the "human world" including Zion, is another VR construct designed to isolate humans who could not bring themselves to accept the Matrix world. The Program allows the humans to "escape" the Matrix reality, transferring to the Zion program where they are allowed to exist in a version of reality they are more likely to accept. Being fatalists, Zion is perfect for them. Of course the actual human beings are still snug in their pods. There are layers and layers of reality here.

When the numbers of humans refusing to accept the Matrix world grow too large it threatens the stability of the Matrix itself. Obviously having all of these people in black leather jumping around like superheroes, shooting up the place and disappearing through phone lines is bound to attract attention. And there are all of those folks bailing from the Matrix and telling their friends and family too.

Ultimately for the human races’ own good the Program must control this insurgence and reboot the Matrix to keep the whole population from finding out the true grave nature of their reality. This is a reoccurring disturbance in the Matrix and has been done five times before.

While the other humans, Trinity, Morpheus, Niobe and so on may represent real humans sustained by the machines, Neo is entirely a construct like the agents and his Zion self is just another part of that same program. This is why those previous versions have all looked alike. Neo’s character, the systemic anomaly, is a result of the compounding, conflicting choices about the true nature of reality confronting all those souls in the system. He was written to grow up as a human, inside the Matrix, as bait for the Zion renegades, who are drawn to his designed-in angst and apparent computer hacking abilities. He is so undercover that even he is unaware of his true nature.

The story is about how things go wrong because the program Neo has fallen in love with a real human, something his predecessors didn’t do. This causes him to unconsciously rewrite his own programming to remain with Trinity, and try to protect her world.

Agent Smith is the result of an accidental contamination by Neo’s new reprogramming. Smith has gained some of Neo’s self-writing capabilities. He is no longer part of the anti-virus program, having been "killed" by Neo in the first movie. But thanks to his new abilities he hasn’t gone away. Like Frankenstein’s monster he questions the purpose of his existence. Unlike Neo he knows he is a program, but as he’s not in love he has no reason to care about the continuation of the false Matrix reality, feeling it’s a waste of time. He finds contempt for Neo’s refusal to accept their true nature.

The Oracle recognizes this latest version of Neo is different, has strayed from his mission, and uses him to further her own ends. In this case coercing the Architect to allow renegade self-aware programs like the little girl and her "parents" freedom to share the Matrix world with the humans rather than be deleted. Forcing choice on maintenance programs like Neo and Smith obviously has severe consequences.

After all, that’s where the Merovingian came from. An early self-aware program that choose to stay rather than be deleted. He fortified his stronghold against the Agents who might try to delete him. He doesn’t want to cause any trouble to the system outside his little domain. That’s why he is so upset with Neo’s clumsy intervention. Rocking the boat would draw attention to him from the system.

The Machine world that Neo and Trinity travel to is not the actual physical machine world but a virtual representation. It’s where the programs are actually running: the Source. It’s all of the programs that run the Matrix and Zion. The squids are anti-virus program avatars in the same way the Agents are. The real machine world is never seen in the movies. As Neo is another program, he sees the true nature of the programs at work.

As Smith is "unplugged" from the system, the Program has no control over him. It’s not until he absorbs Neo, who has been replugged in and is being watched by the system that the Program can delete him.

In the end Neo sacrifices himself to save Trinity’s world, even though he knows it to be only another level of the virtual reality that is the Matrix.

These Matrix programs are so advanced that they are literally self-aware. Some, it seems, don’t want to be deleted after performing their function, or when they have been replaced by a more advanced version. They want to hang around, coexisting with the humans. Some, like Sati’s parents, have written their own little subroutines, and while the new little program wasn’t ordered into existence by the Matrix’s architectural program, they don’t want to see it erased none the less. These programs are so much like the humans they are written to emulate that they are capable of loving each other.

The Neo program was written to grow up as a human, inside the Matrix as bait for the Zion renegades who are drawn to his designed-in angst and apparent computer hacking abilities. Even he is unaware of his true nature, he believes he is human, it's not until the scene with the Architect that he realizes the truth. Neo is also a program like the agents or the little girl's parents. He knows that Zion must also be a part of the Matrix because his powers also work there. His Zion self is just another level of the same program. This is why those previous versions of Neo the Architect showed him all look alike. His original purpose was to infiltrate Zion, and reboot the system. It's his falling in love with Trinity that screws things up. The Architect actually says all of this in his convoluted way, while talking to Neo. He points out that this version of Neo is different then the "others", he gets the points faster. The Architect also says that this time is different because, instead of following the plan Neo’s fallen in love with Trinity. The train station scene demonstrates to him that even a program can be in love, and make sacrifices for the ones it loves.