»The Oracle's Dangerous Game«

After repeated viewings of The Matrix Movies, a lot of research here at Matrix-Explained and several other Matrix related websites, and a lot of brain-frying, I've come up with this explanation of The Oracle's dangerous game.

Let's begin with the basics. The Oracle, as described by The Architect during his speech at the end of Reloaded, was an intuitive program that was originally written for a single purpose: to explore the human psyche. But as time went by, she began to get attached with the human race. She explored so much that we can appropriately say that she "fell in love with our species" and decided to help humans end the war. She lost her purpose, thus, becoming an exile. But for this decision she had to pay a very high price. She lost her shell, or her "appearance", and has to be on the run.

Since she became an exile, or a program without purpose, she had to be deleted. And this is where Seraph comes into the picture. His purpose is now to "protect that which matters most": The Oracle. Why has she become so important? Simply because without her, humans have no chance of stopping the war. It's true that Neo is "The One", but she is just a pawn in her strategy. She's been playing him since the beginning, telling him exactly what he needs to hear in order to ensure events unfold the way they did.

Smith is another one of The Oracle's pawns. She created him to do exactly what he did. She gave him one purpose: to destroy Neo. Smith became so powerful that he became a threat not only to The Matrix, but to the real world as well.

With all that, all the pieces are set, and the time for the final move has come. In their last meeting at The Oracle's kitchen, she plays Neo for one last time. She tells him that in order for the war to be over, he must destroy Smith first.

Neo leaves to think about he must do, and then he finally understands what The Oracle meant when she told him "We're all here to do what we're all here to do. I'm interested in one thing, Neo, the future. And believe me, I know - the only way to get there is together."

While Neo leaves, she let's Smith take over her, boosting his ego, making him think that nothing could stop him now. It is this act that finally leads Smith to his doom.

Back in the real world, after understanding what he must do, Neo heads along with Trinity, his inspiration all the way until the end, to the Machine City to bargain peace and face off Smith. Just as The Oracle had hoped.

After a long, long battle with Smith, The Oracle gives Neo the last push by repeating what he told him in their previous meeting in the kitchen: "Everything that has a beginning has an end". Neo then realizes his friend and guide is there to help him, and realizes he had to sacrifice himself. He allows Smith to take over him, thus depriving Smith of his purpose. Now Smith had become an exile, and the machines delete him.

Now, the world is finally at peace. Machines and humans now coexist, and will now walk together into the future. At least for a while.

A very dangerous game wasn't it? But it sure as hell worked out.

I hope to see your insights and comments.

Hmm.. interesting view. I applause your creative imagination, but I have a some questions.

Fact: The choice solution was introduced after the original matrix failed miserably.

1.Why would the Mother of the matrix whom came up with a solution of choice, which made the new design of Matrix successful to the point that 99% of the people accept it, ever become an exile?

2. If the oracle was an exile, why would the Merv bring her back inside the matrix.?

3. Why is the oracle not working for the Merv if she was an exile?

4. When did the Oracle loose her purpose and became exile? After original matrix? 2nd, 3rd,4th maxtrix....? When?

Fact: Function of the one is to return to the source, and reinsert prime programs

At the end of Revolution, after the defeat of Smith, the Matrix got reloaded. We see the Oracle who is one of the prime program , in the new matrix sitting on the bench.

If she was an exile, then how come she was there in the beginning of a new matrix? I thought only prime programs get reloaded . Any thought?

Yes, I too am skeptical of the exile part. This is what I have always believed. She didn't evade her Purpose, she fulfilled. The Oracle in the park scene is there to tell Neo that he has to go to the Source. Does she not do that? She is fulfilling her purpose. However, she has started to sympathize with the humans and does want peace. That was part of her original programming. So she decides to change things in VERSION 6. Thats why this time around, its a different ending. I dont believe that she has become an exile exactly but that she has done some things differently to ensure that the One will take a different course.

m4jor_p41n wrote:

Hmm.. interesting view. I applause your creative imagination, but I have a some questions.

Thanks

m4jor_p41n wrote:

Fact: The choice solution was introduced after the original matrix failed miserably.

True

m4jor_p41n wrote:

1.Why would the Mother of the matrix whom came up with a solution of choice, which made the new design of Matrix successful to the point that 99% of the people accept it, ever become an exile?

Like I explained above, her purpose was to investigate the human psyche. She then liked humans so much, became so attached, that decided to help them. By doing this she lost (or refused to comly with) her original purpose, and became an exile. She is doing something she is not supposed to do and is "scheduled for deletion". That's what Seraph is protecting her from.

m4jor_p41n wrote:

2. If the oracle was an exile, why would the Merv bring her back inside the matrix.? 3. Why is the oracle not working for the Merv if she was an exile?

Who said The Merovingian brought her back inside?
Who said all the exiles work for The Merovingian?

m4jor_p41n wrote:

4. When did the Oracle loose her purpose and became exile? After original matrix? 2nd, 3rd,4th maxtrix....? When?

You've missed the key question I have at the bottom of the previous post.

Fact: Function of the one is to return to the source, and reinsert prime programs

At the end of Revolution, after the defeat of Smith, the Matrix got reloaded. We see the Oracle whom is one of the prime program , in the new matrix sitting on the bench chit chatting with the Architect whom is another prime program.

If she was an exile, then how come she was there in the beginning of a new matrix? I thought only prime programs get reloaded ? How do you explain that?

So, are exiles are loaded from the beginning of a new matrix also? If that is the case, then how come we didn't see the King of all exiles which is the Merv at the beginning of this new matrix?

Quote:

So, are exiles are loaded from the beginning of a new matrix also? If that is the case, then how come we didn't see the King of all exiles which is the Merv at the beginning of this new matrix?

I think that there are programs that the Matrix is attached to, that do not get reset when the Matrix gets reset., i.e. the Train Station, the back hallway, Club Hell (possibly). I think programs can hide in those little pockets while the main Matrix is resetting. At least, that's my theory on how the Merovingian smuggles exiles. Also, the answer to the second question is that Mero may be in the new Matrix and he just wasn't shown.

I agree, however, that one big question in this theory is "Is the Oracle an exile?" Just because she helps humans doesn't mean that she is working against the machines. She wants "everyone to get there together." However, it's true, there's no indication that she's not an exile. She always does seem to be in hiding. And it doesn't really matter how important she was in the past, if the machines are satisfied with her solution, they might have seen her as no longer necessary. Personally, I didn't see any evidence that she is or isn't an exile. Is there another reason that you think she is an exile?

Here's my big question: did the Oracle create Smith? He does call her "Mom. However in revolutions, she talks about the Architect feeling the need to balance the equations and I think she implies that to counter Neo, he made an anti-Neo who we assume is Smith. I think you are right about her manipulations, though. I think she sees the solution and plants ideas to guide Neo and Smith toward the conclusion.

I agree with the main idea of the theory, but I'm not sure about those two details: is the Oracle is an exile?, did the Oracle create Smith?

Here is the way I see it, and please feel free to ask questions or challenge it, as I encourage open views and discussion. I don’t believe the Oracle was ever an exile.

From Animatrix- (renaissance 1 and 2) We can see that machine never wanted war- They have always wanted peace with humans. They even went as far as sending ambassadors to UN, but it was human that rejected their bid for peace. Human struck first, darkening the sky, thinking that it will disable all machines. We were wrong, because machines turn to use humans as a readily available power source. So the matrix was created to provide a mental stimulus for the human bodies connected to the machines as a source of power. Machines at this stage was clearly in control. Although humans kept the resistance going, machines has always wanted peace and coexist with humans.

The machine wants peace and the oracle’s work is within the scope of the machine’s intereset . Although the Oracle wants peace and seem to be helping human, she does it in a cunning and manipulative fashion.

The Oracle and Architect are rivals. Even the mention of each other's name, would get them annoyed. He is jealous of the oracle, because her solution of "choice" is what made the matrix work better. There is nothing that pleases the Architect more than to see the Matrix get reloaded, because it would prove once again that, although the oracle choice solution works, it is still flaw, thus creating the systemic anomaly.

For the oracle's solution of choice or (illusion of choice) to work and keep the matrix stable, it would require some form of control. So the control method she uses is manipulation. Unlike the architect whom relies on mathematical equation, the oracle relies on her intuitional skills to achieve her goal. Her intuitional skill allows her to gather data on human psyche and behaviors, so she can effectively control and manipulate. Morpheus, Neo, Trinity and Niobe were all manipulated by the oracle so a certain outcome of events can be achieved, as she told each of them one thing to make the prophecy believable.

The oracle is manipulative because she feeds the prophecy of the one to humans in Zion. Zion is a place of quarrantine and another form of control. The prophecy is a lie in a sense that it keeps the 1% that rejected the program, and the rest of Zionites busy pursuing a false hope. Spreading The prophecy to Zionites also add pressure on "the one" to facilitate his function when it comes time to reload.

The Oracle has to constantly manipulate and guide humans so they can go down the desired path so certain events can happen in order to achieve a certain outcome. However, choice can divert events which are predetermined, so it could possibly foil the oracles plan. Although everything worked out at the end and peace was achieved, it was a very risky and dangerous game played by the oracle.

what i dont understand is this. the humans want peace right? so why is everybody saying that the oracle is manipulating the humans? they want peace, what is the need to fool them into wanting peace?

Havent read this thread fully... but the reason u r giving for Oracle being an exile is not sufficient. In my opnion, she is not an exile.

1. Zion is a form of control. The Oracle and her prophecies are an integral part of the solution (the solution to quarantine those who refuse the matrix). The Oracle MUST interact with the Zionites and guide the One to the source.

2. Just because she develops love for humans, does'nt mean that she can be called as an exile. The Oracle was acting to her purpose PLUS she developed love for the humans. This is not a good reason to conclude her as an exile. Take Smith for example. In M1, we see that Smith is a part of the system, acting on his destined purpose. But he also develops HATRED against the humans. He worked on his purpose PLUS develops another attribute. But Smith was'nt an exile in M1. So this is not a valid reason for considering the Oracle as an exile.

Thats exactly what I was trying to say scientheist. Besides we have evidence that Oracle does still have a purpose.

Oracle: He doesn't understand them - he can't. To him they are variables in an equation. One at a time each variable must be solved and countered. That's his purpose: to balance an equation.
Neo: What's your purpose?
Oracle: To unbalance it.

Unbalancing includes- the original solution of 99% and 1%, to act as a guide for the rebels (Morpheus etc), to lead the One to the Source.

She is still following her purpose but she has developed a liking for the humans who she has seen have suffered and she has made a choice to help them in this version of the matrix. More unbalancing, if you ask me.

i think she,like smith,got bored of her purpose and decided to change from the normal "lure them to the source and start again"

perhaps she was affected by neo's direct predecessor...perhaps she "loved" him...

and so didnt want to see the cycle happen again as it is too painful for her

perhaps she just got fed up,

i dont know...maybe her and the architect disagreed on something in the last version of the matrix

m4jor_p41n wrote:

If she was an exile, then how come she was there in the beginning of a new matrix? I thought only prime programs get reloaded ? How do you explain that? So, are exiles are loaded from the beginning of a new matrix also? If that is the case, then how come we didn't see the King of all exiles which is the Merv at the beginning of this new matrix?

the little indian girl was an exile. the little indian girl was "reloaded" at the end of the revolutions as a prime program.

you need to answer these questiosn to even ask yours.

where do you figure the matrix was reloaded after smith was defeated? how do you figure only prime programs were reloaded?

Quote:

where do you figure the matrix was reloaded after smith was defeated? how do you figure only prime programs were reloaded?

The function of the One is now to return to the Source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. -Architect

When the one returns to the source, that is when the prime programs gets reloaded. There was no mumbo jumbo in that part of architect's speech. What is so hard to understand?

The only difference is, this time the one returned to the source by a different route via the machine city, instead of walking through the right door from the architect's room.

At the end of Revolution, Smith took control of just about everything and turn the matrix into a green, barren wasteland. Then the next scene is a sunny and beautiful matrix. That was a clear visual cue and obvious hint that it got reloaded and went through another revolution or cycle.

What was the title of matrix 2 and 3? Isn't it Reloaded and Revolution? Do you need any more clues?

Btw: Glock, welcome to the forum. I already know the answer to the question that I've asked above. However, I'm interested in the original poster's answer to those question, because it could be something enlightening that we all may have missed.

Asian Smith wrote:

so why is everybody saying that the oracle is manipulating the humans? they want peace, what is the need to fool them into wanting peace?

You are correct, she is not fooling them into wanting peace.

She is fooling them into believing the prophecy to give them hope and add pressure on the one to reach the source, when it comes time to reload the matrix. Humans rely on hope to inspire them to reach their goals. Without hope, Morpheus would not be inspired and would have given up, then Neo would not be found...So it is hope that keep zionites going, but as the architect say.. "Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion "

Remember, reloading is done only when the matrix is screwed up beyond repair. If there were no control method, the one could reload a perfectly stable matrix or even worse, he could choose not to reload at all.

What if Neo choose not to go to the source? Just because he has choices and that is his choice. Then a cataclysmic system crash woud occur, killing everyone connected to the Matrix. The machine does not want this, because that would destroy a whole crop of humans, and then they would have to start a new harvest of humans.

Although the choice solution is effective, it is also risky. Neo could have said "screw you all , this is bullshit and I'm not doing anything because that is my choice". Thank goodness he did choose to do this. So there has to be some sort of control and manipulation in order to convince Neo into believing he must go to the source to end the war.

That is why it's a dangerous game the oracle has played....

.. sorry double post...

M4jor,

I disagree with your comment that only prime programs get restored with the Matrix:

Quote:

The function of the One is now to return to the Source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program.

He says prime program, not programs. He is referring to Neo's code.

Someone ealier posted the quote about the Architect balancing the equation and the Oracle unbalancing it. I think that's the game that being played. Here's my theory. The Architect creates perfect stable matrices using impeccable logic. However, I think it's the stability of these Matrices that causes humans to disbelieve and reject them. The purpose of the Oracle is to unbalance the equation, to make the matrix unstable so that it will change and grow, and not become stagnant. She uses her intuition to guide the Matrix rather than cold, hard calculations. But these guesses and hunches are risky because they are, by nature, illogical and irrational.

Quote:

Architect: You've played a very dangerous game. Oracle: Change always is.

Perhaps, this time the game was even riskier because it threatened both the machines and the humans. I'm not sure what the she did specifically that was "dangerous" but I think it was bringing specific love into the equation with Neo and Trinity rather than the general love that the other Anomalies had felt. This made Neo choose to reenter the Matrix rather than return to the Source. Which in turn (and I'm not so keen on this part), allowed Smith to become more powerful and overtake the Matrix and whatever else. Perhaps, this forced Deus ex machina to strike a deal Neo and finally allowed the peace between humans and machines.

What do you think?

A "prime program" could be a suite of applications (mini programs) .

Example: MS Office 2000 is a prime program consisting of many suite of applications like Word, excel, access and power point.

Quote:

I'm not sure what the she did specifically that was "dangerous" but I think it was bringing specific love into the equation with Neo and Trinity rather than the general love that the other Anomalies had felt.

I agree with this, except for the view on the anomaly. It's sounds like you are refering to anomaly as a person rather than a systemic one, however it is not important.

It's very possible that allowing Trinity to fall in love with Neo made it risky. We are all known to do crazy things when we are in love. I think persephone said it best when she said about Trinity "She'll do it. If she has to, she'll kill every one of us. She's in love."

I'm under the impression that the Oracles dangerous game was Smith.

She didn't create him per se, he was in the first film as a functioning Agent. However, the cookie given to Neo surely included code that was conducted to Smith when Neo destroyed him at the end of M1. This was the code that allowed Smith to return, along with the varying "powers" such as replication (unbalanced to Neo's singluar).

The Oracle was therefore responsible for Smith's ability to take over the Matrix...something that the Architect could not allow, he couldn't allow Neo to return to the source as the previous incarnations had, and allowed Neo to choose the "wrong" door...from there, he knew Neo would finally return to the Source via Smith/01.

A dangerous game indeed. Can anyone think of what might have happened if Neo hadn't succeeded in returning to the Source? Was it all that bad to have Smith inhabit the Matrix?

I was also wondering what would havae happened if Neo had returned to the Source without stopping Smith first. Perhaps, there was the factor of determinism which prevented this. Neo couldn't possibly have entered the door to return to the Source because he had "already made his choice long ago" (he's just there to understand it!).

Also, I'm not so sure about that cookie causing Smith to become a virus.

Quote:

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

From that line, I get the feeling that Smith was created as a by-product of Neo. I think the equations mandated a Smith as a reaction to Neo. This is a very "yin-yang" type idea and it also a theme in natural science: Newton's second law, the Law of Energy Conservation. If a particle is created it's anti-particle is also created. I don't think the Oracle had a hand in creating Smith or boosting his power, except that she knew it would happen and allowed it to happen.

I totally agree that Smith's behavior was a byproduct of Neo. The oracle indirectly created the rogue smith through guiding Neo and allowing the 2 codes to merge with each other at the end of M1 when Neo destroy smith.

bachsoffice wrote:

I was also wondering what would havae happened if Neo had returned to the Source without stopping Smith first.

I'm not too sure about this, in terms of motivation, I mean, with Smith inhabiting all humans in the Matrix, their real bodies are still batteries. If anything, the Smiths were doing the machines a favour by keeping all the humans "quiet" (as it were).

Surely his "assimilation" of the RSIs of the humans rules out the systemic anomaly? Can anyone elaborate?

What happens when an Agent takes over a human host? I always assumed that the human dies and is recycled. Then again, Smith was able to overwrite Bane. However, I think Smith, at this point, is insane and threatening to take over everything, including all the Machines in 01 and deus ex Machina. The machines considered him a threat to destroy everything.

Quote:

Surely his "assimilation" of the RSIs of the humans rules out the systemic anomaly?

I don't think it rules out systemic anomaly, as the architect always refer to anomaly being a systemic result rather than an individual person.

Timeline of the Architect/Neo dialogue:
1)The architect said " Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic"

2) Then Neo responded "The problem is choice".

3) The architect did not challenge Neo's answer and continues to explain why choice is flawed. "While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly"

I 've always believe that choice is the problem. "Choice" which is inherent to programming of the Matrix, could cause anomalous behaviors to appear ,which leads to a systemic anomaly.

Hey there! hows everyone im new here! hehe well i thought id just say what i thought! i thought that when neo jumped into smith that was the moment everything changed for the path of the one (meaning neo would now have to take a different route). the oracle says that smith is his negative, so maybe neo cant actually reload the matrix without smith?
(-1 + +1 = 0)
and maybe the oracle and the architecht both knew this so trinity was placed there to act as the persuasion neo needed to not enter into the source because they knew it wouldnt work! (ULTIMATE CONTROL!)
its only after smith takes over the oracle that neo can see the machines without eyes. maybe because smith took over agents and the like in the second movie the power reflected onto neo and thats how he grew in power along with smith and could destroy the sentinels (neo gains forsight accordingly everytime smith takes someone over.)
the oracle also knew that smith was coming to take her over so maybe she IS the source code and when all three combine it makes it all reset!
?
tell me what ya think!