Examining the Path to Salvation

There is enough going on in the trilogy to write an entire book about. (And people have.) But with the 4th installment in production, I finally felt compelled to post some of my theories and beliefs. I try to ground everything in the script. However, the script leaves a LOT of unanswered questions, so I do extrapolate a bit.

It is my personal belief that ALL blue pills carry the code for the Path of the One and can therefore potentially assume the mantle of the One - provided that they have the skill and opportunity. This is because the Machines do not know which human the anomaly will manifest in. Any human has the code and so could be the One. However only a very small percentage can actually get to that point.

Only one ultimately does.

What the Architect tells Neo is that he is "the eventuality of an anomaly" that he cannot eliminate from his otherwise perfect simulation. This anomaly is the result of a capricious variable - human choice. No matter how perfect he makes the simulation, people will always do something that the Architect cannot foresee. Humans are inherently unpredictable and while most follow calculable patterns MOST of the time, occasionally people do things that are completely illogical. Because this behavior cannot be predicted, and because every human is capable of it, the anomaly is systemic. Programs obey. Humans disobey.

If choice is not allowed at all, the Matrix crashes very quickly. This is where the Oracle comes in. She discerned that the rejecters needed to be removed to keep the Matrix stable longer. But they couldn't just be killed off either, because of THE anomaly. Despite offloading malcontents, when the anomaly inevitably emerges, the Matrix will still crash because they will essentially raise hell until it does. So the Oracle also figured out that the anomaly had to be controlled.

Once they escape from the Matrix, most red pills are inert and relegated to a normal existence in Zion. These people are no longer a danger to the system. A more select group become operatives and conduct missions to free others in the Matrix. These people represent a persistent threat to the stability of the Matrix. Finally, the anomaly is the rejecter who transcends the Matrix. This individual's activity within the Matrix eventually crashes it. Increased instability leads to mass rejection. This is the impetus that creates "an escalating probability of disaster". Every rejection contributes to an accumulation of volatility. Given enough imbalance, the system will crash.

rejection = instability

The Architect's primary objective is to stave off this event for as long as possible. But he can't do it forever. Zion acts as a pressure release valve for the Matrix. The failed matrices had no such mechanism and this is why they failed. But even the current system cannot function indefinitely. Eventually the level of rejection exceeds what the system can safely withstand. The integral anomaly appears and succeeds in pushing it over the brink.

So the Path of the One was devised. The PTO is a subroutine of the Matrix - what the Architect refers to as the "prime program". In programming there are iteration control structures, a block of code that is executed (looped) until the program reaches a certain state. Typically these loops have a single entry and exit point. In terms of the PTO, this entry/exit point is the Source. In order for the loop to start again, the One must return to the Source and disseminate the PTO code (now modified by the One which will better prepare the Machines for the next anomaly). The code is disseminated to every person within the Matrix facilitating reload.

The mechanism for reload is made possible by acceptance of the program and its conditions. I hate to refer to something as banal as an end user license agreement, but "use" of the Matrix is very similar to this. Everyone in the Matrix must agree to accept the program in order for reload to commence. This is normally accomplished by

a. removing all the rejecters from the Matrix

b. killing every inhabitant of Zion

c. forcing the One (who as the last remaining objector is the only person capable of doing it) to CHOOSE reload

At least, that is how it has worked up until Neo.

In Revolutions after having doomed all of humanity on a whim, Neo is feeling a lot of things, selfish, confused, anxious, lonely. He is at a loss as to what he should do. He understands and believes that reload is necessary. In spite of this, he chose to save Trinity for what will probably be a maximum of 48 hours. When Zion is wiped out, Neo, Trinity and everyone else will be as well.

I believe that up until his epiphany when fighting the Smith Horde, he still has no idea exactly HOW he is going to fix everything. This ambivalence is what ultimately allows him to succeed. His fretting and procrastination for much of the film allowed Smith to completely consume the Matrix. With every inhabitant - human and program - assimilated, Neo now has the means at his disposal to achieve that which is THE necessary component for reload - 100 percent acceptance. Neo is the last to acquiesce and he does so by CHOICE. Man, Machine and Exile became - if only briefly - ONE.