I think this post needs another spoiler warning, as I get into some pretty specific details.


At 10:31 PM 5/30/2003 -0700, you wrote:
      "Link not Kain. Got it. I got the name from some movie site with photos."

Actually, I went to IMDB and checked the list of characters in the movie, and there actually is a "Cain".  But I don't recall him having a significant role in the movie, and the new operator is definitely named Link.


      "I'm making my way through the video game. I'm in the airport right now (for the first time?). It's certainly no Alternate Reality. It's not even a Metal Gear Solid. It's basically a Max Payne with kung fu. The hack your old saved games thing is clever, but kinda gimmicky."

Yeah, the video game is a mixed bag.  I rented it for a week for the PS2, and I think I got pretty much all there is out of it.  On first impressions, the game is pretty cool, you get to do all kinds of nifty kung-fu moves, blast enemies with lots of different guns, and on top of it all do it in "bullet-time", or Focus (as they have to call it since the Max Payne guys copyrighted the term "bullet-time").  But pretty soon you realize that that's all there is to it, and it has this slightly rushed, unpolished feel to it.  Then you reach certain levels like Ghost's driving level, and you get really pissed off at how badly designed they are.  But ultimately you realize that while it's by no means a perfect game, it's still fun for the most part, and you get all that extra footage which meshes with the movie in really interesting ways.  At least, that's the way I feel about it.  I suppose I might feel differently if I had spent $50 to own it rather than $7 to rent it.


      "The "Zion is part of the Matrix" theory makes a lot of sense to me, and I wouldn't be surprised if that were the truth, but there are things - not having to do with what's actually in the movie - that sorta make me think otherwise. That the Whachowski Bros made the "real world" have a different color scheme than the matrix world (sickly green v. warm yellow). That the actors kept referring to zion as the real world in an interview I saw."

Yes, the different color schemes for the Matrix versus the real world is a valid point.  But it's also possible that the Matrix does that on purpose, to further reinforce the beliefs of those that have "escaped".  If the world looks subtly yet completely different, there would be all the more reason to believe a huge change in your environment has taken place.  But ultimately I think the Wachowskis decided on the differing color schemes before they actually decided that Zion is still part of the Matrix (if that is indeed what they have decided) and it just became one of those things that is what it is, and cannot be changed at this point.  As for the actors making reference to the "real world" as the REAL world, if such a plot twist as having Zion being part of the Matrix was truly planned, the actors would certainly have been instructed to not let on, and only make reference to things as we, the audience, know them from what we have been presented so far.


      "So far, the One / Neo hasn't rebooted the system, he just eliminated Zion."

That's not the impression I got from The Architect's speech.  My feel was that yes, Zion is eliminated but also the Matrix as a whole is restarted (or reloaded), possibly to allay the suspicions of those who have started to doubt the reality of the Matrix but have not yet found a way or a desire to finally escape.


      "I don't think the Oracle outright lies, so when Morpheus quotes her as saying that when the Matrix was created, there was a man born inside who could shape it to his will, I think it might be true. However, which matrix are we talking about?"

And what exactly does "born inside the Matrix" mean?  Humans are not truly born inside the Matrix, at least their physical bodies are not.  They are biologically grown then attached to the Matrix.  I suppose there must be some kind of birth-simulation inside the illusion to explain the arrival of new minds, but can that truly be called being born inside it?  What if an artificial personality was created within the Matrix?  That would more logically fit the term "born inside the Matrix".  She might have been talking about the creation of the first One.  Of course, this all depends on my theory of Neo as an AI being true.


      "Could the purpose of the Agents actually be to provide enough resistance to the rebels that they feel like they're really rebelling against something? To occupy them enough so that they don't question their own existance - again. Where does Agent Smith want to go in the first movie when he says that he wants the codes to Zion so he can get out of the Matrix?"

My thoughts exactly.  Just last night I was thinking about my previous post and started questioning why the machines would oppose the One and the rebels so vigorously if their ultimate goal was to allow the One to actually reach The Architect and reset the system.  How hard would the rebels actually try to do this if they suspected that that was exactly what the machines wanted?  A bit of reverse-psychology at work.


      "Are there mp3's online of the architect's speech yet? I'd love to be able to hear it again. Or maybe a transcript somewhere?  Ahhh found a transcript:
      http://www.theantitrust.net/articles/viewarticle.php?articleid=108
      I'm gonna have to read this again tonight."

I read the transcript, and while it doesn't completely support my theories, it doesn't totally disprove them either.  Here's a bit of analysis.

I am the Architect. I created the matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human.

Ok, so in The Architect's own words, Neo is human.  But do you have to be an actual, biological entity to be considered human?  If a true AI is created with the belief that it is actually human, and programmed to act human, and all its experiences up to that point reinforce that belief, how far could that AI be from being considered truly human?  And what is this process that The Architect is referring to?

Neo - Why am I here?

The Architect - Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision.

This seems to imply that Neo's existence is directly tied to the imbalance in the Matrix which requires a periodic reset.  He is not just a guy who was born at some random time who has the ability to later become The One.  Again, this leads me to believe that Neo was thus created at a specific moment, not just born.

The Architect - The matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.

By "integral anomaly" he is almost certainly referring to The One.  And while "emergence" can have many implications, by calling The One integral I am lead to believe that The One arises from the Matrix itself, not an outside source.

The Architect - I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

This statement confirms that the machines have done research into the structure of the human psyche.  Possibly in an effort to be able to recreate it artificially?  It also refers to The Oracle, which as we learn from Reloaded is not an actual person, but an AI.  The rebels however do not know this.  She acts human enough to be accepted by other humans as one of them.  If she had been created without the knowledge of her true nature and was programmed to believe she was human, who's to say she's not?  While this does not specifically support my theory of The One as an AI, or at least an emergent personality, it does allow for such a possibility.

The Architect - The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program.

His usage of the term "prime program" is what makes me think that the entire system is restarted along with the destruction/recreation of Zion.  And would a non-machine-based human mind be able to carry the entire prime program of the Matrix?

The Architect - It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one.

"Your five predecessors were BY DESIGN based on a similar predication..."  I'll let that statement speak for itself.

Finally, I think it's worth noting that on at least two separate occasions, Neo is referred to as being "only human", first by the Agents who try to attack the meeting of all the ship's captains at the beginning of the movie, and then by the Merovingian.  While on the surface this would seem to back up the assumption that Neo is indeed just another human, I think it's more likely meant as a red herring, that Neo is actually part of the Matrix itself.  If Neo truly was human, would they need to actually come out and state it, not just once, but twice?  Shouldn't it be self-evident?

Good lord, but I can be a wordy bastard when I want to.  I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears yet.  Assuming anyone actually bothers reading my entire post.  As I think about it now, though, most of my ideas are quite unlikely to be true.  I think your average moviegoer has trouble completely understanding the concept of the Matrix as an artificial reality, and would be totally unable to cope with the ideas of artificial environments inside artificial environments, humans who are not actually human, etc., etc.  And unfortunately, average moviegoers are the lowest common denominator which movie studios and therefore movie makers must appeal to.  I think in the end we will have a much simpler explanation for the entire thing, with mere tantalizing hints of what might have truly been.  Ah well, such is life.