»The original Matrix: before the reloads«

It would be a good idea to consider what occured directly after the Second Renaissance, after the humans were defeated and harvested for energy. The first Matrix program created was a monumental failure- the human mind could not tolerate such precision. This lead to a catastrophic destruction of many human minds and thus the bodies were rendered useless. The Reload process occurs when one generation of the Matrix, inherited with the systemic anomaly, is either considered to be too old or without sufficient information. The destruction of Zion is an integral part of the reload process, ensuring that the systemic anomaly continues to be discovered by the lucids (free minds) and thus ensuring the successful programming of the Matrix itself.

i agree with the last part of this

the total destruction of zion would leave no release for the anomaly code contained in neo(or whoever)...this itself would also lead to a collapse of the matrix as the anomaly would undoubtadly start to exhibit signs of his/her power even without having thier mind freed...

this is what i think happened to the first matrix in which the machines inserted the anomaly code into the matrix...

could it be then that the machines first created zion to ensure a release valve for the anomaly code in order to prevent a collapse of the matrix?

or did they simply find a way to use zion to their own advantage?