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So I understand why the Machines gave Neo the opportunity to defeat Smith. Smith was uncontrollable and the Matrix was practically lost. Neo defeating Smith was (perhaps or perhaps not) a long-shot from the perspective of the Machines, but the Machines were backed into a corner so-to-speak.

However, once Smith is defeated and the Matrix is reset, what incentive do the Machines really have for upholding the peace deal? Why couldn't the Machines have simply lied to Neo, used him for defeating Smith, and have proceeded with purging Zion as they did all previous cycles?

DuckMaestro
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    The machines are Lawful Evil (or Neutral), not chaotic. They'll keep their word because they gave their word. – Jeff Feb 21 '12 at 14:57
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    @Jeff: lawful evil can break their word, but they usually do it only if there is significant long-term gain out of it, because they value their reputation, unlike those of chaotic alignment. – vsz Mar 01 '12 at 07:11

2 Answers2

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Why shouldn't they uphold the peace deal? The machines have never been shown to break their word. They are not mischievous and, as shown in the Animatrix, they only started the whole Matrix thing as self-defence, after the humans attacked the machines repeatedly without provocation and left them no other way to survive.

After genocide by the humans on the machine(-slave)s, they were still willing to peacefully coexist and trade with the humans after retreating to a newly founded machine city. Even then, the humans declared war on the peaceful (but massively wealthy) machine nation - again without direct provocation.

It is not at all far fetched for them to accept the olive branch, extended by Neo (especially since he saved their butts). He was willing to help them with Smith, maybe they figured the humans would now be willing to help them remove the clouds (pure speculation on my side).

bitmask
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    The history presented in Animartix might as be just propaganda. – vsz Mar 01 '12 at 07:09
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    @vsz: Propaganda by whom? It's stated that it comes from the "Zion Archives". – bitmask Mar 01 '12 at 07:34
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    We all know that Zion was part of the plan to make the humans docile. Who do you think designed and rebuilt Zion over and over after each "reboot"? So this can as well be propaganda made by the machines to make humans feel more guilty. It works today as well, so why shouldn't it work in the future? – vsz Mar 01 '12 at 11:05
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    @vsz: I never considered that, but I would expect at least some hints somewhere in the Animatrix film if it was propaganda. – bitmask Mar 01 '12 at 11:12
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    "except agent Smith"? – n611x007 Jul 01 '12 at 04:20
  • When does Smith lie? – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 10:46
  • @Richard: I don't quite remember, to be honest. However, it stands to argue whether he intended to uphold his deal with Mr. Reagan (Cypher) and whether he intended to uphold his initial proposition to Mr. Anderson (Neo during their first encounter in the interrogation room). But I don't remember a particular incidence where we know him to be lying. – bitmask Mar 15 '14 at 11:53
  • @bitmask - I can't think of any instance in any of the matrix properties, films, animatrix or comics where the machines lie. – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 11:56
  • @Richard: Neither do I. I really don't know what I had in mind, when I added the "except Agent Smith" part, so I removed it now. – bitmask Mar 15 '14 at 11:57
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    Admittedly the entire film as based around the concept that we're all being deceived by the machines. .. – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 11:58
  • @Richard: Breaking you word and deceiving (bluepills) is something different. – bitmask Mar 15 '14 at 12:00
  • Also the zion archive says that they don't know who struck first in the machine war. – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 12:01
  • @Bitmask - I completely agree. There's no reason to assume the machines can't lie, but also no reason to assume that they're lying. – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 12:05
  • @Richard: Are you certain? IIRC Morpheus says this, but the Zion Archive clearly shows that the humans' darkening the sky (which Morpheus acknowledges to have been done by humans) was a pre-emptive strike against the machines. This is a clearly aggressive act of war. – bitmask Mar 15 '14 at 12:05
  • Dark sky occurred after the start of the machine war, after nukes had been shown to be ineffective – Valorum Mar 15 '14 at 12:07
  • @Richard: Thanks, apparently I misremembered. However, in that case, take the nukes as a first strike. – bitmask Mar 15 '14 at 12:09
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Most likely because keeping the peace was part of the cycle. Just like humans refused to accept the first Utopian matrices, they would, at least at a subconscious level (i.e. "a dream that you were so sure was real") refuse to accept a matrix with no exit.

Neo refused the usual plan of founding the new Zion because of his love for Trinity. The machines most likely had to restart the cycle in an alternative way. The "peace deal" would ensure that those who were plugged in would continue to supply the machines with power. At some point in the future, the machines would inevitably break the agreement. But by this time, I would imagine Zion would have been relocated.

Perhaps this particular scenario would be taken into account by the Architect come next cycle.

HNL
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    Neo's refusal was just part of the Oracle's "unbalancing" of the equation. The Architect provided Neo with the "balanced" answer to the equation; as harmonious as a system with a "leak" can be. Neo refused it, instead bringing everything to the brink of destruction before finally figuring it out. That's the nature of the relationship between the Architect and the Oracle. However, you're quite right; once the Matrix was rebooted, its continued functioning depended upon humans having a way out, and so if Zion didn't exist they didn't have a viable "out". – KeithS Mar 07 '12 at 15:53