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When the Architect asked Neo to make his choice one of the TV screens revealed that Trinity had been shot by the agent. However, the movie indicated that she was shot after Neo opened the door on his left. Didn't the Oracle say he can't see past any choice?

I think the Architect already knew in advance when and how Trinity would be shot. By reading Neo's chemical precursors in the form of code, he probably also knew in advance which door Neo would choose to open. Why bother asking Neo to make his choice if the Architect already knew Neo's choice?

Since the Architect knew Neo's attachment to Trinity, it seemed unwise to endanger her life. I think that even if he's not interested in studying irrational behavior, after watching over the whole world for such a long time he could reasonably expect what a human would risk for love. As a calculated program he was not supposed to take so much risk.

Kinzle B
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  • Strange human, teach me this thing that your people call "love". – Broklynite Apr 14 '16 at 13:41
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    It always struck me as a massive fail that his monitor is showing something that happens in the future. – Valorum Apr 14 '16 at 14:42
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    It is showing a "prediction" of the future. This would be well within the parameters of such an advanced thinking system. – Thaddeus Howze Apr 14 '16 at 15:26
  • @ThaddeusHowze - which I'm willing to accept, except that it shows the precise location of the bulletholes in her stomach. Even if the whole thing is largely scripted, that defies belief. – Valorum Apr 14 '16 at 15:29
  • @Richard Humans being grown in tubes and harvested for their body heat/energy by machines, and a prediction of Trinity's bullet holes is what defies your belief? – Chahk Apr 14 '16 at 15:37
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    @Chahk - Artificial wombs are almost a reality so that's a check. The idea that humans are being used for energy generation I put down to machine propaganda. I've already discussed why I think the machines are keeping the humans alive. It boils down to the fact that the machines offered us a surrender and we accepted it. They're (still) holding up their end of the bargain. – Valorum Apr 14 '16 at 15:40
  • The architect is simply incapable of understanding certain irrational behaviours of humans, thus incapable of foreseeing certain consequences, or even considering them as a possibility. – PlasmaHH Oct 12 '16 at 09:29
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    Alt explanation - Neo had been having dreams about this happening, and the Architect is reading these thought patterns and showing him what he fears. – DavidS Feb 03 '17 at 11:07
  • @DavidS I think that' the only plausible explanation. Thank you! :) – Kinzle B Feb 03 '17 at 13:30
  • @PlasmaHH: I doubt the Architect is incapable of understanding the behaviors, he probably realizes that it's the result of tens of millions of years of natural selection favoring irrational behaviors that enhance reproduction, thus perpetuating the genome even at the expense of the individual; trying to account for those irrational behaviors when designing a system like the Matrix on the other hand... – Outis Nemo Jul 20 '23 at 20:05

2 Answers2

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The most important thing to note is that everyone has their part to play in this little charade. The Oracle's job is to identify the One and guide him to the Keymaker. The Keymaker guides the One to the Architect whose job is it to give him THE CHOICE. Once the (right) choice has been made, The One leaves the Matrix (along with a few hand-picked men and women from within the Matrix) the machines kill everyone in Zion and begin rebuilding it for the next generation to arrive. The One then spends a few years plodding around in the wilderness before "discovering" Zion and at some point over the next 100 years, the number of Zionese dissidents rises to an uncomfortable level and the cycle begins over again.

About ¾ of the way through his scripted conversation with Neo, the Architect discovers something odd. His little speech is expected to show the One the elegance of the solution and the forced choice he'll have to make. Bizarrely, Neo chooses wrong, stating that he is willing to accept the destruction of the Human race. The Architect attempts to dissuade him, but to no avail and Neo leaves.

Once Neo has made his choice, the Matrix is then living on borrowed time. Sometime in the very near future, there will simply have been too many intrusions and glitches that the average inhabitant will begin to question the truth of the Matrix. At that point, they'll start dying and the "crop" will be lost, forcing the machines to start over entirely. This isn't desirable, but it would seem that without a formal acceptance by a representative of the human race, it would appear that the machines aren't happy to keep the majority of humanity inside the Matrix against their will.

Architect: Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.

Neo: I don't believe you. And not only do I not believe you, but I've got better things to be doing.

Architect: What? Didn't you hear what I said. Everyone's going to die if you walk out of that door.

Neo: K thnx, bye.

Community
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Valorum
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  • The real question here, then, is why the architect allowed Trinity to be shot by the Agent (or even confronted by an Agent in the first place) considering Neo's attachment to her. If Trinity wasn't about to die, would Neo have chosen differently? I'd ask, but I suspect there's no answer since the story didn't happen that way. – Ellesedil Apr 14 '16 at 18:45
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    @ellesdil - Fish gotta swim, Agents gotta Agent. – Valorum Apr 14 '16 at 18:49
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    @Ellesedil I believe it has something to do with the "dangerous game" that the Oracle was playing. – Möoz Jul 02 '16 at 00:39
  • I seem to get your point. The oracle designs the choice while the Architect gives it. Trinity's fate is designed and doomed from the beginning. It's essential that she is going to die so that Neo can make the choice. Right? – Kinzle B Feb 03 '17 at 14:12
  • @KinzleB - I don't think it's quite as scripted as that. Certainly Neo isn't supposed to choose one life over all of humanity. It's supposed to be a forced choice. The Oracle, sensing in Neo the potential for true love pointed him toward Trinity (and vice-versa) hoping that he'd make the wrong decision for the right reasons. – Valorum Feb 03 '17 at 15:14
  • I still don't understand why the Architect reveals to Neo that Trinity is about to die. He could've given the same choice he did to Neo's predecessors. Is it just coincidental that Neo is making his choice the moment Trinity is about to die, or the Architect knew and planned it already? – Kinzle B Feb 11 '17 at 13:38
  • @KinzleB - In needs to be an *informed* choice. If he finds out that the Architect withheld information, it invalidates the process – Valorum Feb 11 '17 at 13:39
  • Hmm, what about my second question? Is it pure coincident when that happens? – Kinzle B Feb 11 '17 at 13:41
  • @KinzleB - I don't think he planned it. – Valorum Feb 11 '17 at 13:45
  • @Ellesedil: Consider that the Machines (especially the Architect) considered themselves superior to humans. The Architect makes it very clear that he foresees everything that Neo can comprehend. However, Neo understands two things that the Architect has forgotten: (1) The Architect works under the assumption of the human survival instinct being the most elemental instinct (2) The machines need the humans, so they can't really threaten to exterminate humans without exterminating themselves. Neo surprises the Architect, who now realizes that Neo knows that his threat was idle to begin with. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 13:40
  • @Ellesedil: The Architect cleverly constructed a little game in which every decision Neo makes for the benefit of humans, will also benefit the machines in the long run. He assumes that any "chosen Hero" must logically put the people before their own selfish needs. Therefore, Neo (who is capable of putting humanity before himself) simply refuses to play the game that he's bound to lose, and makes a selfish decision. There is no logical sense to it (it defeats Neo's own purpose as The One), therefore a machine cannot see it coming. You can't lose if you don't play the game. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 13:44
  • @Ellesedil: More directly, if Neo was not presented with a cost of doing business (letting Trinity die to save humanity), then it would seem much too simple. By pretending to add a cost of business, combined with the expected human reaction that the machines are the enemy and want the opposite of humans; the Architect attempts to double bluff Neo into doing what the Architect wants in the first place. But if Neo knows that's what the Architect wants, he would never do it. Hence the double bluff. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 13:47
  • @Flater - The Architect's threat doesn't appear to be idle. As far as we [and Neo] are aware, he can be taken entirely at his word. It's not that Neo doesn't see the choice, he's simply too blinded by love to care. – Valorum Jul 25 '17 at 14:05
  • @Valorum: "As far as we [and Neo] are aware" But that is my point, Neo realized the bigger picture. He didn't base his decision solely off what he knew, he played his opponent (the Architect) based on what the Architect knows. He's going meta, if you like that description. The Architect is playing a game of chicken, intended to coerce Neo and make him think he is making the best choice (best for humanity, worst for the machines). But that is smoke and mirrors, and Neo sees through it. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 14:13
  • @Valorum: (I deleted the old comment as I did not notice it was paraphrasing). From the actual script: Neo: "You won't let it happen. You can't. You need human beings to survive." Neo directly confirms that he believes the Architect's explanation to be nothing but lies and manipulation. Therefore, Neo is well aware of the idleness of the Architect's threat. Note that I do not mean that the Architect is incapable of doing so, but rather that he would never want to go through with it. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 14:22
  • @Flater - The Architect disabuses him of that notion in no uncertain terms. There are levels of survival that we're willing to accept. They don't need humans for their absolute survival. – Valorum Jul 25 '17 at 14:33
  • @Valorum: It seems very picky to base yourself on the statements of someone who has been proven to manipulate, and ignore Neo's statements (which are considerably more straightforward), and the fact that the Architect's claims are proven wrong by how the plot is resolved in the end. Neo saving Trinity did not condemn humanity (nor the machines, for that matter). The Architect cannot claim to have foreseen everything, say something that is later proven to be untrue, and then claim that he could not have known that at the time. There is one explanation: the Architect is fallible and tells lies. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 14:38
  • @Valorum: Also notice that Neo, after stating "You won't let it happen. You can't. You need human beings to survive.", never acknowledges the Architect about this again. Script link. You're right that the Architect argues that they could survive without humans, but Neo never acknowledges that he believes this. He takes a moment to think, but he remains silent on the topic and continues his own plan. The fact that he does not argue the point means that he finds the discussion pointless. No point in arguing about the truth with a liar. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 14:50
  • @flater - Aside from the primary deception (the Matrix itself), the Architect has shown himself to be nothing but entirely truthful. Indeed, the whole point of "the choice" is that it has to be given of free will. – Valorum Jul 25 '17 at 15:06
  • @Flater - For the record, Neo's choice did indeed result in the destruction of the Matrix, just not perhaps in the way that the Architect envisioned – Valorum Jul 25 '17 at 15:07
  • @Valorum: It is not (just) about the destruction of the Matrix. He definitively stated: "Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash, killing everyone connected to the Matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race." This is stated by the Architect as an unavoidable fact. Which he was dead wrong about. Envisioning is not the same as conclusively knowing. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 15:14
  • @Flater - He's not a visionary, that's the Oracle's job. – Valorum Jul 25 '17 at 15:18
  • @Valorum: Is he is not a visionary, then any statement he makes must obviously be taken with a grain of salt, as we need to allow for the Architect to be fallible at least, a manipulator at worst. Therefore defeating your initial statement that "The Architect's threat doesn't appear to be idle. As far as we [and Neo] are aware, he can be taken entirely at his word." If the Architect cannot be conclusively correct, then his statement about surviving without humans can also be considered to possibly be wrong. Neo simply chooses to follow his own belief, which is that they would not do that. – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 15:23
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The Architect tells Neo that this meeting has happened at least five times already. The images on the screens are from the past, not the present.

The Architect has created Neo as a routine that can make choices. His goal was to find an unstable element to counteract the inherent instability of the Matrix. By choosing the "wrong" door, Neo breaks his programming and proves that he is not just The One but The Last One.

Ralph Crown
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  • It's not exactly clear whether the screens show the past. Also, I don't think I agree with "The Last One" - what makes you think so? – Gallifreyan Jul 24 '17 at 21:01