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During Morpheus' interrogation, Smith asks the other agents to leave the room. But they all had the same goals: they were looking for what Smith was looking for, even Tank says so. The agents wanted to get into Zion's main frame to destroy it because Tank says Zion is more important than Morpheus.

Why exactly does Smith ask the agents to leave the room? I don't get it. I know that he declares his hatred for humanity and the Matrix but they were going to destroy Zion anyway (at least that is what I understand from what Tank says).

So I honestly don't understand this fear Smith has when the agents come back into the room, if all three wanted the same thing. Granted Smith is more emotional and human than the others, but is there more to it?

Machavity
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Cake_Badger
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    He wants to demonstrate his emotions, but he doesn't want his fellow agents to know. Simple enough really. – Valorum Jul 31 '16 at 10:58

3 Answers3

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An earlier version of the script gives us some (not actually very surprising) insight into Smith's thought process during this scene. He is becoming impatient with his colleagues and asks them to leave before he says or does something that might result in his being considered mentally unstable. They're surprised at this request, but acquiesce due to his seniority.

AGENT SMITH: I don't know. If I knew...

Agent Smith hides his knotting fist. He is becoming angry. It is something that isn't supposed to happen to agents.

AGENT SMITH: Leave me with him.

It seems that it's perfectly acceptable to possess a rational dislike of the redpills (for mucking up the purity of the system), but not outright hatred of the Matrix itself.

Valorum
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  • So it really is just a case of hiding his emotions? I thought it was something more like he wanted something else. Never looked at it that way until now – Cake_Badger Jul 31 '16 at 15:26
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    @Boots - I get the impression that becoming angry is the sort of thing that's perceived as "going native" and gets you a one-way ticket back to HQ to get your brain rewired. – Valorum Jul 31 '16 at 15:33
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    but what would have happened to Smith if he got the codes to Zion? He wanted to be free which has to mean be deleted in some way or other? If he just turned against his Agents wouldn't he be deleted on with the result of that set free? – Cake_Badger Jul 31 '16 at 15:40
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    @Boots - I think his reward for finding the codes would be that he could return to the machine mainframe but not get re-absorbed, that he would be found another role. Note that getting the whole "getting the codes to zion" is a put-up job since the machines know precisely where Zion is and can destroy it at a whim. The goal is to get "The One" to realise his powers so that he can be directed along the "Path of the One". – Valorum Jul 31 '16 at 15:43
  • So he would have a different role that is not connected to the Matrix? Would have still have his own personality if he got another role? I am guessing he would he seems to take pride in himself :/ – Cake_Badger Jul 31 '16 at 15:45
  • @Boots - Maybe. We don't really know what his long-term goals were or if he even had any. Don't forget that at this point he's still following his mission parameters, more or less. – Valorum Jul 31 '16 at 15:46
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This is only speculation, but it could have been an interrogation technique. It has a scary effect when the chief interrogator asks to be alone with you. Like, "Oh crap, what's he gonna do now? Something so bad even his twisted colleagues wouldn't approve of it?"

Or maybe Smith actually was about to do things that his colleagues would not have approved of. After all, the interrogation was interrupted when Neo and Trinity showed up.

I also like Valorum's idea that he actually didn't want the other agents to know about the private feelings of hatred and disgust he ended up expressing to Morpheus. (And it's also backed up by a source, unlike my answer which is just speculation.)

Fiksdal
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I like the other answers here, but I think they don't quite address Smith's full intentions. At the beginning, yes he is mostly likely just the head program in charge of killing the free radicals- humans of Zion inside the matrix. But since he is Neo's opposite (as described by the Oracle), as Neo learns more about being the One, so does Smith slip into insanity.

Neo: Smith.

Oracle: Very soon he's going to have the power to destroy this world. But I believe he won't stop there, he can't. He won't stop until there's nothing left at all.

Neo: What is he?

Oracle: He is you, your opposite, your negative, the result of the equation trying to balance itself out

This is one reason he asks the other agents to leave, so they do not see the extent of his emotional degradation. He gets very personal with Morpheus (primarily with his bald head o.O) which is unbecoming of a program. I think he fears drawing too much attention to his loss of control as he may be targeted for deletion, possibly for acting too "human".

Finally, during the interrogation, he states that he wants OUT. Out of the matrix, away from the stench of the humans. He wants freedom. Perhaps he wants the Zion codes, not to give back to the Matrix mainframe, but to use it as a means to escape into the real world, much as he does after the first movie. However, by the time Smith gets into Bane's body, he realized the threat Neo presents to him and his potential freedom, so he seeks to destroy him before he can be totally free.

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Garrettfromhp
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  • Interesting answer. What exactly does the Oracle say when she says Smith is Neo's opposite? The quote may be useful in the answer, especially the point about Smith becoming more insane. Also, I thought the reason Morpheus is Smith's way out was because once Zion was destroyed there would no longer be any job for Smith to do in The Matrix? – Fiksdal Aug 04 '16 at 20:57
  • Sorry, but -1. Smith the virus is Neo's opposite because Neo did not choose the door that the Architect wanted him to. Neo became much more powerful than the One normally does, and that's why Smith became more powerful to balance the equation. Agent Smith, who interrogated Morpheus, was not Neo's opposite. – Null Aug 04 '16 at 21:47
  • @Fiksdal I edited my answer :) It doesn't explicitly say that is the reason for Smith's insanity, that was my own drawn conclusions given his erratic behavior during the saga. If Zion were to be destroyed, that would mean less need for the agents, as there are essentially no more free radicals, but by the time of the interrogation I think Smith was too powerful and no longer wanted to stay within the confines of the Matrix and his original programming. We KNOW Smith wants out see below... – Garrettfromhp Aug 04 '16 at 21:47
  • "I must get out of here. I must get free and in this mind is the key, my key. Once Zion is destroyed there is no need for me to be here, don't you understand? I need the codes. I have to get inside Zion, and you have to tell me how." – Garrettfromhp Aug 04 '16 at 21:48
  • @Null I'm sorry but I'm going from a direct quote from the movie. It says nothing about Smith becoming Neo's opposite, but that he has always been so, as a result of the equation of the matrix balancing out Neo's presense with Smith's. Neo's choice breaks the cycle of the destruction of Zion. His love is what set him apart from the ones before him. – Garrettfromhp Aug 04 '16 at 21:51
  • If Smith was always the One's opposite then he (or a previous Agent) would have become a virus in all previous iterations of the Matrix. But Smith the virus is unprecedented (that's why the Machines weren't prepared for him and couldn't control him). Neo's choice broke the cycle and paved the way for Smith to become his opposite, but Neo's choice came after Morpheus' interrogation so Agent Smith was not yet Neo's opposite. – Null Aug 04 '16 at 21:57