Matrix 3 some explanations of things <spoilers inside>

[DIHartman]

<spoilers dont read if you dont want to know things>



















I will try my best to give you my take on these movies. I am a big fan and really got into all of them, so lets look at some of the questions: Starting with the ending...

Neo realizes that in order to defeat Smith he must allow himself to be cloned much like what the Oracle did, in order for the architect to destroy Smith and reboot. In return, the machines and human will be at peace with each other, unplugging those that are still plugged into the matrix. As far as energy source is concerned maybe they start working together again much like before instead of just using each other. The ending is fitting becuase it really shows that the machines and humans need each other equally much like what the Councilman said to Neo in the 2nd film. It's pointless for the machines to win becuase basically viewers won't like that. It's also pointless for only the humans too win becuase then they'll be back in the stoneage...and eventually will need the services of machines again in order for them to progress.In the end the solution to the war is simple...with PEACE.

I know it may not be the ending that most people wanted, but it sure was the proper one. To me the 2nd and 3rd movies are all just one flick, so I really did like it.

 

[DIHartman]

Here is a look from Agent Smith <multiple parts>, I found this somewhere but dont remember where. I read this BEFORE seeing the movie and it helped me enjoy the picture so much more. I have so much of this so if you people like it tell me and I will keep posting.

The truth about Smith is simple, but the way to get there is a little complicated. Said another way, there are a lot of facets to Smith which are all true but don't sound like each other at all, even though they all "add up" to the same thing. Basically, Smith is to the machines what Neo is to humanity.

Facet #1: Quieting the Mind. Let me start with the standard mountain analogy. A quality mountaineer will tell you that any rock has multiple ascents. Some climbers do better on one ascent, other climbers on another. It's impossible from a logical standpoint to differentiate between ascents. You might state facts like "More people prefer this ascent." But that doesn't make it "better." So it is with Enlightenment. It's quite difficult in, say, Confucianism to say that a path is evil as long it leads you higher up the mountain. That lesson has to be applied to Smith to see him properly. He is the nemesis of Neo, his arch-enemy, and our traditional modes of thought make us label Neo "good" and Smith "evil."

I had this feeling about Darth Maul, too. On the surface he seemed thoroughly evil. But there is no denying that he was powerful, and I always believed The Force to be similar to kung-fu-style enlightenment -- Jedi and Sith have astounding powers because they have quieted their minds and are attuned to the world around them, which is a very enlightened thing. (Lately we have to stretch this, because Lucas has spoiled our Force by describing it as a blood condition.) Just because Darth Maul got up the mountain through hatred and anger, well, he got up the mountain just the same. Smith is like that, too. He really hates humans, and most of all he hates Neo. What that gains him is clarity. Peace, actually. Smith says to Neo that he has found a purpose, which is a sign that he has reached some level of quietude. When we are searching for a purpose we are pretty ineffectual, but when we can submit ourselves to a higher purpose we respond with increased energy.

 

[DIHartman]

Smith Cont..

Facet #2: Hero's Journey. Here is some additional evidence that what Smith has been through is equivalent to Neo's journey. We don't get to see it, but Smith's longish speech to Neo before their fight scene gives us enough to go on. The chronology is:

Neo explodes Smith, which is clearly Smith's death.
Somehow, Smith is resurrected from death.
Smith spends a lot of time being very disoriented and confused.
Smith finds a purpose (i.e., destroying Neo).
Step 2 is amazing in its own right. You see, resurrection is a human trait. The machines don't have it. If we take it apart, it's a death-and-rebirth cycle -- the fundamental characteristic of biological life. I think the best way to state this is that Smith has awakened to spirituality. He is able now to GROW, to start his path up the mountain.

There is a subtext in Steps 2 through 4, however. This is a hero's journey in the plainest sense (c.f. Iron John, etc.). So not only is Smith awakened by his resurrection, he immediately starts on a cycle of spiritual growth. This is especially interesting because he starts another hero's journey before our eyes. Smith takes over the avatar of Bane and then downloads himself into that guy's head. If that's not crossing the threshold of adventure, I don't know what is. (I don't want to lose anyone: Luke Skywalker crosses the threshold when he agrees to go with Ben Kenobi to Alderaan. Neo crosses it when he follows the white rabbit to the club.) For a while Smith-in-the-real-world is disoriented and awkward. He soon gets his bearings and sets off on his "quest" -- which is to stab Neo in the back with a knife.

Sidenote time: I had some email exchanges with a guy (who really schooled me about The Animatrix), in which I started to get into the psychology of Smith wanting to kill Neo. This is a little dark, so skip to the next paragraph if you're squeamish. Murderers in general are doing an act of possession. They kill what they want to become. This is mythologically born out by way of hunting, killing, and consuming. Sioux and other plainsfolk would typically consume parts of their kills on the spot in order to absorb their powers, e.g., eating the still-beating heart of a freshly slain buffalo. Cannibalism is an expression of the same thing -- the cannibal eats another human being to gain his power. (See Ravenous for a yucky-but-good treatment.) There are many hunter-gatherer rituals which embody this act, and although they seem creepy to our sanitized Western palates, they speak to the core of what it is to live. It's Oroboros, the world-serpent eating its own tail.

Facet #3: Growing Programmatically. This is how we get to what is probably the most central facet of Smith's character. The capability for growth that Neo instilled in Smith -- or wait, this is mysterious; Neo obviously did not resurrect Smith, so who did? It's positively religious to contemplate it -- is probably the factor that throws Smith into a bout of confusion. How to grow? Machines don't know how. Finally, Smith figured out that replication is growth. And, you know, Smith would be the one to figure this out. He spent perhaps hundreds of years studying human beings and their viral nature. You can't logically define growth without replication, even if it's only at the cellular level. That is interesting, because it means Smith's behavior is like rudimentarily life forms. He's just learning how to be a growing being. He will learn fast (you'll see).

Rewind a little to my conversations with senteniment. By the time that discussion took place, I had already made this note, but it's the first time I said it publicly: recall what Smith said to Morpheus in the first movie, and you will understand what is remarkable about Smith's viral replication. When he was torturing Morpheus for the codes to Zion, Smith talked about humans as a virus on the Earth. But his tone during that rant was one of disgust, revulsion...you got the impression that humans ought to be wiped out based on their revolting nature. That's Smith. He is utterly sickened by human beings and their -- what? -- rampant replication!

Smith has become what he hates most, which is to say he is like humans now. And he blames Neo for that, all the while using it like it's going out of style (how can he help it?).

 

[DIHartman]

Smith Concluded...

Facet #4: Smith the Hacker. How is it that nobody noticed what a hacker Smith has become? The virus infection routines are magic. (It's not "cracker" this time. Let it go.) An audience of geeks would, presumably, see Smith as a fantastic Gibsonesque consensual-reality cowboy, just like...hmm...Neo! I don't know why this wasn't more widely understood. Smith is hacking like crazy, which makes him Loki just like Neo is. Not only is Smith hacking the Matrix, he is hacking reality by downloading avatars of himself into real human beings, and seemingly hacking their brains. The reference to Snow Crash is unavoidable, which only bolsters the hacker concept.

HOLY...wait a minute. Hacking their brains?! Here is where people really fall off the wagon, but I think it gets extremely interesting. There was a comment on Slashdot about how "unlikely" it was that Smith would be able to hack somebody's brain and download a copy of himself, because the formats would be incompatible (or something like that). Well, let's just assume it's possible. Why haven't other agents done this? Because they are incompatible. Smith, on the other hand, has become compatible with human beings. We could start an entire book with that line. Instead, let's sum up in two points:

The machines and humans have a LOT more in common than meets the eye. Smith marks the emergence of a type of program/machine that lives by the same rules as humans do, which means there is a common point of understanding. In other words, they can live together.

This is really serious evidence about where the entire story arc is going, and plays quite well into what the Oracle had to say about going into the future together. This makes me wonder if the Oracle can predict Smith and his behavior. I am genuinely uncertain, but I lean toward "yes." The only reason I say so is that it would lend a truly metaphysical bent to the story, and you would have to sit back and wonder, "Now how could she know that?" and get this basic sense of awe that an unseen hand was guiding everything all along. It makes the trilogy have a really epic quality.

Facet #5: Neo's Mirror. All of these facets so far get to the principle issue that Smith is a mirror image of Neo. In a simplistic story-sense, all that means is that Smith's "negative reflection" of Neo serves merely to highlight Neo's character in various ways. That is true, but not hardly the whole package. (It is a mark of good storytelling for there to be multiple levels of functionality like this.) Let's line up some of their features side-by-side.

Neo

Killed by Smith, then resurrected
On a quest (to the Source)
Motivated by love
Has growing supernatural powers
Has transcended "the system"
Hacks the Matrix, then hacks reality

Smith

Killed by Neo, then resurrected
On a quest (to destroy Neo)
Motivated by hate
Has growing supernatural powers
Has transcended "the system"
Hacks the Matrix, then hacks reality


I could go on for a while with the duality. It goes way back into the first movie (albeit with different symbols), and I expect it to be amplified greatly in Revolution. I think much of this mirror quality points directly at the story arc. I'll deal with it in that section.

There is a really "easy" way to see the Neo-Smith mirror from a criticism viewpoint, and that is to call them the same character. That is, the fact that they are nemeses means that Neo (because he is the protagonist) is actually in conflict with himself. This is a good approach. Recall the guardian of the Oracle, who fought Neo -- apparently to a draw! -- and said "You never truly know someone until you fight him." Uh, what did Neo and Smith do upon their first meeting? Yeah. Add to that Smith's murderous intent toward Neo (i.e., possession, which means knowing). If Smith can been seen as a splinter of Neo's psyche, the part of Neo trying to know himself, that boosts the theme of Neo's journey to Enlightenment substantially.

Don't get too sidelined by that last bit, though. It is right from a symbolic perspective, but in order to see the plot implications you have to do this thought experiment: I said we should see Smith as an indicator of Neo's character because Neo is the protagonist. But why is he the protagonist? We don't know the whole story yet. So let's assume that Smith is the protagonist, or maybe that Neo and Smith are both protagonists against...the Architect? It could be. Look at how Neo illuminates Smith's character. Smith is really "out there" from a certain standpoint. Zionites idolize Neo, but who among machines is in favor of Smith? If Smith is the savior of machines the way Neo is the savior of humanity, then the machines are in for an awfully big shake-up.

What amazing evidence that not all of the machines are working in concert. The agents are there to protect the static continuance of the Matrix. They do not serve the Architect directly. In fact, the Architect is practically Deist in his non-involvement. He made the place, but doesn't have anything much to do with running it day-to-day. This also brings up the very interesting fact that servants of the Merovingian (i.e., "the twins") attacked agents when they showed up, so the Merovingian has nothing to do with the maintenance of the Matrix in general.

Neo is crossing this boundary as well. His statement that he can "feel" the approaching sentinels likely means he is bridging the gap to the machines as much as Smith is bridging the gap to humanity.

 

[Stangfriik]

Very cool explanation. Thank you!

 

[DIHartman]

Your welcome, I really like these movies and really I don't watch TV that much. I own these and watch them because I like what they are all about. Here is another interesting take on Revolutions:

First off, Neo is able to kill the Machines because he is able to control anything associated with the matrix, and since the machines are, in one way or another, associated with the Matrix he can kill them.

Neo is going to the machine city to make peace with the machine boss. He makes a truce with the boss when he says that he will kill Agent Smith, since he is going out of control and is trying to kill everything and everyone. Neo also promises to give them his body which contains the coding to restart the matrix. He does this in hopes the machines will halt their attack on Zion.

In his battle with Smith. First of all, NEO and SMITH are the same person, when Neo killed smith in the first matrix, part of Neo's code went into Smith and he became Neo's alter ego, in a way. This battle between the two was to prove to everyone that the both of them are unbeatable and that they would fight forever, that is why Neo gives up.

Neo and Smith are the same person as I said before, Neo is supposed to be the Good, or positive side, while Smith is the Bad, or negative side. Since Neo gave up, Smith, who is also the cloned Oracle, freaks out and acts all weird because he can see the future and Neo was not supposed to give up but continue fighting. Smith assumed he was supposed to now clone Neo, he was wrong. The Smith's eventually blow up, this happens because since Neo and Smith are the same person, they cancel each other out. Neo is Positive and Smith is Negative, think of it as 1 plus -1 equals 0, Neo knew this and this is why he gave up, it was the only way to beat Smith.

Now since they are both dead, the machines take Neo's body so they can use his code to restart the Matrix, like he was supposed to do in RELOADED. This time however, since Neo made a truce with the machines Zion would not be destroyed.

When the matrix is rebuilt, the Oracle and the Architect discuss things. She and him agree that the 1% of people that reject the matrix will be allowed to get out and live freely in Zion, and the other 99% who make the CHOICE to stay and live in the matrix, can do so. This is supposed to be the Theory of CHOICE discussed in RELOADED.

This is supposedly a happy ending in that the people who want to be free can be free and the war between the machines and humans is over. This is confusing and makes you wonder why the machines just stopped the battle in Zion, but that's the way it is.

 

[Dooley]

Karma for u... very interesting.

 

[psychedout]

I liked matrix 3 despite the mixed reviews. Then again, im a fan of the trilogy.

 

[EnderJE]

Hmm...I like your take on it...but here's mine.

In 1999, two brothers "stumble" on a sleeper hit and blow 300 million (or whatever it was) to recapture the magic. The second fails and the third attempt manages to squeak by to close the series...

 

[AAP]

How about that guest cameo by Ronnie?