"The Matrix Revolutions" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Morpheus]

An explaination of the Ending:

In response to bad reviews of Matrix Revolutions film, I try and shed some light on its significance. Despite practically every critic slamming it, I want to give you my perspective. It does not give you all the truths to the film, but hopefully you will have a much higher appreciation for it. I warn readers, DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED.







****Spoilers****














From day one, the Matrix saga has kept up a theme that lived within the character's actions and names. I am not talking about simple representations of names, but on a much deeper level how they react because of those names. The first Matrix film opened up our eyes to another world and reality, and did it simply, and therefore it was good. Yet, I ask you, does the finest poetry or best piece of art have to completely explain itself. Of course not. But, unfortunately critics are not ready for a film of this poetic magnitude.

Reloaded and Revolutions gradually unveil the machine's true intentions and motivations through very, and I mean very, subtle cues. Whether or not you'll be astonished by this truth, I am not sure, but the Matrix IS completely fueled by religious beliefs, which in turn give the human race hope and PURPOSE. I am not talking about praying at mass here, I'm talking about everything we know about Greek mythology or Christianity lives and breaths in the Matrix, and was created by machines. Why you may ask? How else could they control an entire species of intellectuals who do not have a purpose or hope in enslavement. How about the ones that specifically reject the matrix? Will more and more keep rejecting it? No, religion is made by the machines to keep humans in their slumber. Yet, this is not necessarily a malicious intent. If you watched the animatrix prequel you would understand the unusual sympathy that the machines give human despite their cruelties. It is a war going on, BUT the machines keep the humans in their tubes until it is proven that peace is possible. Machines are the logical creatures in the world, they do what they need to survive based on equations, and they are waiting for the time that they can once again co-exist with humanity without having it as a mathematical threat. That's where NEO comes in. Neo is obviously a Christ/ Jesus/ messiah character. Yet it is ironic that he is most likely less human than everyone else. Neo, meaning one, has no family whatsoever, he constantly questions as illustrated though Neo asking `why' every 5 seconds in all 3 films. Neo is most likely 'grown' or constructed by the machines. Whoa. Too much to handle? Let me give you some more background material before I go on.

First of all, let's clear some names. Merovingian is closely linked to Hades. In fact he is Hades, and his wife as the tale suggests is Persephone, Monica Belluci. He controls the passage between worlds. The train man controls purgatory. Seraph, the Oracle's protector, is defined as the highest level of angel. What does he do in the movie? He's essential a guardian angel that protects. Now, the biggest truth. what is the Oracle? The oracle is the human god, in fact the New Testament God. It is a program made by the machines with a lot of power to give us hope. GOD must therefore have a human sentiment; unlike the Architect who represents the Old Testament God (the two are obviously very different in the movie and Bible). Yet, the Oracle like the Christian New Testament God knows everything and is all-powerful, but can not control free will. That is why she can not decide what CHOICES people will make, especially Neo. Neo is the most interesting of them all. Like Jesus who was made in our image but given God's power. Neo is made in our image with god-like (the supreme god of everything is the machine god - face at end of film) machine powers. When Neo chooses to not make the LOGICAL, mathematical choice of choosing to save the human race, but rather picks the other door to save trinity, he does it for emotion; something a machine is not supposed to understand. Granted I can not argue that neo is a machine, but it's possible. It's possible that he is super-genetically created by the machines. Nevertheless, the machines somehow give Neo his powers. Likewise, Agent Smith is created like Jesus (through Death) but is his negative, or the anti-Christ, the being that will bring judgment day with it to destroy everyone (takes over everyone's body)

As Neo starts to understand what he has to do in Purgatory, the train station, he can finally make the jump from hell (Zion) to heaven (machine city). This stuff is highly Dante symbolized. As Neo goes to the machine city, or Paradiso, he can not bring Trinity and he has to be blind. Dante was blinded by the lights (think about all the lights that Neo saw) and could not face God, sorry it had to be a machine people. but it is. Also for your information, Morpheus most likely symbolizes Virgil in Dante, because he can bring people back and forth through the worlds but not to heaven and he is the guide. Neo then sacrifices himself, just like Jesus did, so that peace can be restored, and the gates (of heaven) could be opened. The machines accept the peace because Neo gave away everything for the love of the human race, including himself. If he is somehow machine, it is more powerful that he has learned to love his enemy (TRINITY) and proves that humans are now ready for peace. Therefore the architect says at the end of the film that whoever wants to go will be able to, meaning that the Neo has finally opened the gates even if it is more of a figurative sense. The other 5-6 neo's did not accomplish this task. They could not sacrifice themselves for emotion. They did not understand love and they would not give up everything to make change, just as Jesus did.

If you do not trust my convictions, research for yourself the Judgment day in the bible. Research Dante's inferno, purgatorio and paradise. Then look up and research each of the character's names and how that relates to the movie. You will find yourself very surprised that everything seems to line up. Obviously there are many more questions to answer, and I do not have them. I find it completely fascinating that Wachowski brothers have created a modern Dante tale without anyone knowing it. I think most people were not ready to accept that religion is both artificial and real in this film world, and that even though religion might be fake in the matrix world it still does its purpose even in the real world. I find it absolutely fascinating that the Wachowski brothers have taken everything we visualize about the afterlife, and made it into a sci-fi universe, where heaven is actually a machine world and hell is a multi-leveled human city under ground. These ideas are all just as profound as the first matrix, but they did not shove it into our face and give us definite answers. The Wachowki brothers, on the other hand, had the ability because of their freedom (made so much money) that they could make art and not worry what the critics would say. I apologize that this is a winded and more of some kind of Emersonian train of thought explanation, but hopefully this will help people change their minds about it. Time will tell if the Matrix Revolutions is as profound as I believe it to be.

 

[LazyReaper]

Morpheus, that just cleared up a WHOLE LOT of things in Revolutions for me. Thank you. I saw this movie a few days ago and I had mixed feelings. The actions and the fx were great. But the story was something that I couldn't figure out because I know next to nothing about the origins of Christianity and the story of Dante. After reading all that. I'm surprised. I really am. I hope they come out with a set for the 3 movies all together so I can see it at once. Hopefully with this explanation, I can view the Matrix trilogy to its fullest potential.

Thanks again Morpheus .


-Aximlli-

 

[Morpheus]

I wrote that for extra credit in psychology. I sent a copy to a friend on the Internet, and he put it on a website.

I got an "A", thank god.

 

[Tanooki]

yeah. that was a really thorough explanation. i liked it. do you think the wachowski (sp?) brothers were going for a christianity angle all along?

Falcon

 

[Morpheus]

Yes and no.

Also the website he put it on is down from so many hits...

 

[Beat]

I dunno. Midway through the film, I likened Neo's quest to the Machine City to Frodo's journey to Mordor and Mt. Doom to end the war. The ending seemed contradictory to what they were saying during the first film, that the only way for peace to be achieved was for the Matrix to be destroyed.

The action was top-notch, and Monica Belluci was hot as ever.

 

[Morpheus]

Can someone get a pic of that maybe? (shrugs)

Done...

And done again...

 

[Morpheus]

Spoiler

Did anyone else think Morpheus was going to die and Trinity live?

Just trying to answer all of the questions that were left unanswered...

No, because the amount of forshadowing was impowering.

Just out of curiosity, but did anyone catch the Jesus/Bible refrence at the end?

YES. It was incredible, but most of the references turn to dante more than christ.

and did anyone feel drowned in symbolism and metaphors?

Actually, there weren't enough.

I should point out that the only way to see The Matrix Revolutions is immediately after having seen The Matrix Reloaded. They are basically one movie.

They are... They were filmed in Austraila and California at the same time, simular to lord of the rings...

Oh, and did anybody catch the hefty Animatrix reference with the Kid?

It can't really be called a reference because the purpose of the animatrix was to explain things that would be needed in the sequels. Hence, 01.

1)I believe Sati was the person the prophecy was talking about, not that she was the one, but the human that could reshape the Matrix in anyway she saw fit. And yes I belive she was human (inside) since she was born out of love. I belive she can reshape the Matrix because of what she said at the end to the Oracle O:"Did you do that?"(looks at sunrise) S:"Yes, for Neo."
She was able to create a sunrise and now has control over the Matrix...somewhat.

2)I also believe that the Machines never wanted humans as a power source but more as a way to study them and how they think feel love and react. Afterall, I thnk the whole point of the part where Neo and Trinity rise up to the sun was to show that it was still there, and not hard to reach. The machines could have devised a way to still get power from the sun.

3)I love how the Wachowski Bros made some people think that Neo is alive and will one day come back. Sound familiar? Its the whole story of the resurection of Jesus.

4)The Oracle set the whole thing up from the word go. She created Smith, and she knew what he was capable of (S:"Hello Mom") She also created the One in the hope that these two would fight and bring about peace and the end of the war. If Smith hadnt of taken everyone over the Machines wouldnt of needed Neo, and Neo wouldnt have been able to negotiate the end of the war.

5) If peace between humans and machines is entirely in the hands of the humans. Just as the architect says, "What do you think I am....human?" Because he knows humans have an affinity for breaking there word.

6)Neo had to die. Just as the Keymaker said in Reloaded, "We do, only what we are meant to do.." Neo's purpose was to end the war, which he did. After that he was "deleted" or died just as a program that has fulfilled its purpose does. (I personally think he is still alive since the last shots of him looked like he was still breathing and he was just out of it. Everyone else Smith took over turned back to normal, why not Neo? Bah)

I agree with you on your standpoints execpt for #1. I think that she was a program that was in charge of weather and the middlepoint of creation, meaning she controls all, but cannot shape it, or else the one would have no purpose.

I still don't get the reason why did the Oracle changed form(in the movie plot, I know that the actress died)

Her old form was destroyed by the Merovingian. She forgot things, but never lost her purpose, which is why she is still there. Example:

Oracle: You must be Ghost?
Ghost: Who are you?
Oracle: I am the Oracle.
Ghost: If that's true, then what's my response to that postulate?
Oracle: Truth is an event, and only through experience can the veracity of a truth be verified.
Ghost: William James.
Ghost: Thank you.
Oracle: Ghost, you still love her, don't you?
Ghost: As much as she loves another.
Oracle: That is a hard path to walk.
Ghost: Nietzsche said it best "One must want nothing to be different-not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not only bear what is necessary, but to love it."
Oracle: Armor fati. You're a good man, Ghost. If somehow we do survive, if the path does continue, I hope it is made by others like you.

Or as Edian explained,

In Ghost's scenario, the Oracle explains to him that two programs had sold the code to her shell to the Merovingian in exchange for the safety of their child. When asked why she allowed this, the Oracle explained that the child was very important. This child was Sati.

If the truth is revealed to the humans jacked into the Matrix...how many would want to be "free?" How many SHOULD want to be free?

It has, by smith. Man and Machine have put their differences aside, meaning a better tommarow.

I'm sure we'll be seeing a MATRIX animated series before too long.

Wow. Have you heard of the animatrix?

What? How does Humanity as a whole know the Matrix isnt real? How did Smith let them know? Smith infected the people inside, but when Smith was killed, the people returned to who they were. Only Oracle and Sati knew what happened.

Don't forget the archetecht, and also, they will have memories of the fight and the truth, hence the ending.

I noticed Persphone was only in that one scene in the club. And she was with her husband again, even though they had an argument in "Reloaded."

What's up with that?

Well, she's a program, and since she can't be in the real world, and most of the movie was in the real world...

I remember reading in a magazine article (Esquire, I think)that during the Super Fight the raindrops were gonna have matrix code in them , I was thouroughly disappointed to see that they were not there. it would have looked mihty fine having the marix code falling and bouncing of Smith and Neo's faces throughout the fight. the Matrix would have really felt "falling apart" with that little touch (that probably wouldhave snet the film over budget and over deadline)

You read that in Premiere, and the rain looked like matrix code. Look at a still picture of the fight scene.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TWINS?!?!

Naturally, they were killed in the highway chase, and lost their purpose, which was to protect the Merovingian.

Oh, and I must say that I think Don Davis' score for this was the best out of the three. The way all of those relatively simple, post-modern themes come into their final incarnations is just... wow. He's done some brilliant, underappreciated work on this trilogy.

Just for the heck of it I will post the translated lyrics for Neodammerung - it's a lovely summary of the Matrix myth, and Revolutions in particular.

From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to immortality.

He who knows both knowledge and action, with action overcomes death and with knowledge reaches immortality.

In him are woven the sky and the earth and all the regions of the air, and in him rest the mind and all the powers of life. Know him as the ONE and leave aside all other words. He is the bridge of immortality.

Beyond the senses is the mind, and beyond the mind is reason, its essence. Beyond reason is the Spirit in man, and beyond this is the Spirit of the Universe, the evolver of all.

When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Path supreme.

And when he is seen in his immanence and transcendence, then the ties that have bound the heart are unloosened, the doubts of the mind vanish, and the law of Karma works no more.

It is a beautiful song, have you heard Juno Reactor's remix, Navras?(16th track)

 

[Conekiller]

Naturally, they were killed in the highway chase, and lost their purpose, which was to protect the Merovingian.

But if you look at their final scene it looks like they "ghosted" to either avoid being killed or heal themselves fomrthe damage they received upon the explosion.

 

[Morpheus]

It did, but it also looked like they were turned to ash..

 

[Drachentöter]

I recognize that the Matrix sequels are influenced by religious symbolism and the characters have always had ties with mythology/literature. And I like the idea that religion was introduced by the Matrix. However, I'm pretty sure the original Matrix was made to be standard sci-if/action fare. Hence why it is so different from Reloaded/Revolutions. I don't mind when creators add meaning after making the product, but apparently some people do.

 

[Beat]

It runs contradictory to what the first film says. That's not added symoblism, that's a plot hole.

It always seemed like it was leading up to an ending where all the machines were destroyed and the sky was openend again.

 

[Clayface]

However, I'm pretty sure the original Matrix was made to be standard sci-if/action fare.

I'm not sure that's really the case. The brothers said way back when they were making the first movie that they wanted to make the utimate super-hero movie, and that the first movie was really just all the introduction/set-up to the movie they really wanted to make. They had to make it stand on its own, since there was no garuntee of a sequel at the time, but they definitely had the idea for Reloaded/Revolution in their heads even when making the first flick.

 

[Eidan]

It runs contradictory to what the first film says. That's not added symoblism, that's a plot hole.

It always seemed like it was leading up to an ending where all the machines were destroyed and the sky was openend again.

Morpheus says the only way to free the human race was to destroy the Matrix was because he didn't see how peace could be negotiated with the machines. Neo found the way.

Hmm...seemed to me you simply assumed what the ending would be, and were blatantly wrong. Good thing I never tried to guess how the movies would end.

 

[EinBebop]

Is there anything else that happened in the Enter the Matrix game that we should know about? Like perhaps what the Oracle told Niobe?

For every beginning there is an ending...

...but every ending is a new beginning. The world(s) as left at the end of the trilogy is a springboard for endless stories, which I'm hoping will be explored in either novel or animated form in the years to come.

 

[Avery]

I think you're explination makes a lot of sense, Morpheus. The only things I realy saw different were the Oracle and the Architect as the old school, pagan type God and Goddess, order and chaos. The Empress/Emporer sort of thing. And the source the Neo tapped into was God itself. I think I heard an interview somewhere where the Wachowski's talked about the religious stuff coming up in this movie, and said that just as the had made Zion culturally diverse, they wanted to blend many religions together. Which, obviously, they achieved.

 

[Discloner]

Is there anything else that happened in the Enter the Matrix game that we should know about? Like perhaps what the Oracle told Niobe?

Not playing the game is like not watching Final Flight of the Osiris.

When reloaded starts they explain it all again, but its not the same without the EXTRA explaination that the animatrix will give you. Same can be said about the game.

 

[whitmore_sean]

Is there anything else that happened in the Enter the Matrix game that we should know about? Like perhaps what the Oracle told Niobe?

Niobe actually said what the Oracle told her in the movie. The Oracle said that Neo would need Niobe's help, and Niobe would either choose to give it to him or not.



SEAN

 

[EinBebop]

Niobe actually said what the Oracle told her in the movie. The Oracle said that Neo would need Niobe's help, and Niobe would either choose to give it to him or not.

Oh yeah. Thanks!

 

[Kinel Ozoa]

I watched it last night. Between reading the explinations on this board and my own thoughts ont he matter. I liked it. Alot. Loved it even. I might even go see it again if I wern't so stripped for cash. From movies like this it always seems to be mediocre endings where everything turns out perfect in the end.

But all the sacrifices made by Neo, Trinity, Zion coupled with the way the movie ended with Smith taking over Neo it was just good. I was very plesently surprised. I saw the Neo just letting Smith do it a mile away but it was great seeing Mr. Smith freak out like that. First ocnfused, then scared, then angry, then calm, then boom.

Plus everything WASN'T ok in the end. Like the reality it should be the future is unknown and uncertain. I'm sure the machines will have no problem keeping their end of the peace given what the Animatrix showed. (Even though I think it was mean to be taken as a loose interpritation, not meant to be taken as the end all be all of what really happend.) But the obvious problem is with the human race. Will they be able to coexist with their oppressers? If most certainly their will be poeple whom are hard to adjust to such a situasion I'm sure. So it might just start all over again.

That's what I loved about it. It isn't over. A new struggle begins probably harder than the war itself. Rebuilding what they once had.

Oh and in defence of the game I rather enjoyed Enter the Matrix. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't bad either. Good rental at the very least.