»no One passes on the machines' big secret...«

The Ones know more than they're tellling... that is, until Neo.

The 5th One is mentioned by Morpheus to Neo. Morpheus thought he was the first man to be freed from the matrix.

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"He freed the first of us, taught us the truth."

Much of the 5th One is known. Morpheus, though having lived two hundred years after that man, knew of his powers, because he tells Neo that he, being the One, will also gain those powers, that he "won't have to" stop bullets, and that he will be able to kill agents where all others have died.

But the 5th One, like the 4 before him, didn't tell those whom he freed the full truth. He didn't share with them the truth of the system of control, of which game he became the King of Spades. He introduced to them the Oracle, but he didn't share that the Oracle was helping keep them in control, rather than being a seer of the future.

Why is this?

In choosing the left door and allowing the prime program to be reloaded from him or her into the matrix, the One is helping the machines to maintain that system of control. Naturally he will "free" 23 persons, because that is part of the system. Naturally he will rebuild Zion, he will teach them "the truth", and he will introduce them to the Oracle, who will lead the rebellion to the next anomaly where the machines have conveniently planted him, at a time when destruction of Zion seems timely to them.

Why would any One do that, after he has fought so hard against the machines? I can think of but one explanation. I don't believe they dupe him, not while outside the matrix (since I see no credibility in MwM). I think they threaten him. The machines must make him realize that if he shares the secret about the iterations before them and the reloading of the matrix, telling the rebellion about the secret system of control they are trapped in, then the inhabitants of Zion will no longer allow it. They will not look for the One, they will not go the Oracle because they don't trust her. If he is already found, then he would learn about it and would more-likely not choose the left door, thus bringing about consequences of not taking the left door as described by the Architect.

After the One has chosen the left door, the machines tell him that if he shares the plot of their control cycle, then the city will be destroyed and never rebuilt again.


Any other suggestions, thoughts, ideas, etc?

Marsoullis wrote:

After the One has chosen the left door, the machines tell him that if he shares the plot of their control cycle, then the city will be destroyed and never rebuilt again.

After choosing the left door, the One is no longer an anamoly, he is the very system he fought to bring down. He is inserted as the new primary program of the Matrix. Threats may be present, but unnecessary. Choosing the left door means that the One has already made the decision. He has already allowed the machine system to take control of him (because he has become it).

If you want to know what happened to the fifth the One, I would look no further than DEM himself.

I thought of that very thing, and considered it. I'd think you're right, Capt, but it poses the original problem I brought up. The One disseminates the code, yes, but he afterwards picks the 23 from the matrix.

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Morpheus: When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us, taught us the truth.

This One "freed" 23 people from the matrix. He must have lived outside it with them, helped them build up Zion, teach them portions of the truth.

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Morpheus: After he died the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix and the war, bring freedom to our people.

Doesn't sound like this special guy just up and died, but rather that he stuck around for quite a while. If he "freed" the first of them, only he could have introduces them to good ol' Orcky. Sounds to me like he was really in on the plot, going far beyond the reinsertion of the prime program at DEM.

What think ye...

Marsoullis wrote:

I thought of that very thing, and considered it. I'd think you're right, Capt, but it poses the original problem I brought up. The One disseminates the code, yes, but he afterwards picks the 23 from the matrix.... This One "freed" 23 people from the matrix. He must have lived outside it with them, helped them build up Zion, teach them portions of the truth.

For some reason people seem to think that the One goes with the 23, but why? The Architect only says-

Architect wrote:

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. After which, you will be required to select from the Matrix 23 individuals - 16 female, 7 male - to rebuild Zion. 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.

Nowhere in there does the Architect say that the One will return with the 23 individuals to rebuild Zion. Why do we have any real reason to believe he would? Once the One is reinserted into the Source, his code (or consciousness) becomes the prime consciousness of the Matrix. Neo doesn't return at the end of Revolutions, and so there's no real reason to believe that any of the One's every returned.

Marsoullis wrote:

Morpheus wrote: When the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside who had the ability to change whatever he wanted, to remake the Matrix as he saw fit. It was he who freed the first of us, taught us the truth. As long as the Matrix exists the human race will never be free. After he died the Oracle prophesied his return and that his coming would hail the destruction of the Matrix and the war, bring freedom to our people. Doesn't sound like this special guy just up and died, but rather that he stuck around for quite a while. If he "freed" the first of them, only he could have introduces them to good ol' Orcky. Sounds to me like he was really in on the plot, going far beyond the reinsertion of the prime program at DEM.

First off, the original systemic anamoly was not a The One, the path hadn't been invented yet. So it is very possible that he did not wind up in the same sad fate as the rest of the machine controlled systemic anamolies called "The One." I also take this speech of Morpheus' with a very large grain of salt. Morpheus here is quoting the prophecy to Neo. He is not stating historical fact, because he does not know it. Neo- "There are only two possible explanations, either no one told me, or no one knows." Morpheus is just feeding Neo the company line at this point. The messianic prophecy is a tool from the machines to control mankind.

As for being introduced to the Oracle, the Oracle requires no introductions. She is tapped into the thoughts and feelings of every person and program jacked into the Matrix, I'm sure she could find a way to make her presence known without needing a former "the One" to introduce her.

Good points, Capt.

I'm not convinced Morpheus' knowledge concerning the 5th One comes from the Oracle. It's definitely possible -- it's just never said. Not only that, but Morpheus speaks these things as if they really are fact, not as if someone said they are fact. This is a rebellion, and rebellions don't trust anyone, especially those on their enemies side. I'm more convinced those before him were with the 5th One, being led by him to some degree. The whole thing could've been made up, you're right -- I'm just not convinced of that, and the idea that he came there with them makes more sense to me. Also, if the One is to choose the 23 persons after reinserting the prime program, then he's still conscious to do so. If that's the case, then he could also return to Zion with the rest of them.

In any case I could see it going either way, yours or mine. At this point anyway.

Marsoullis wrote:

Not only that, but Morpheus speaks these things as if they really are fact, not as if someone said they are fact. This is a rebellion, and rebellions don't trust anyone, especially those on their enemies side.

But it is unclear whether or not Morpheus knows the Oracle is a program. He says "She has been with us since the beginning." And whether or not he heard the prophecy directly from the Oracle, the prophecy is still the Oracle's prophecy. He says this himself. "It was she who prophesied his return..." And he renounces the "facts" he has espoused later on when he says, "I have dreamed a dream, and now that dream has gone from me."

Marsoullis wrote:

The whole thing could've been made up, you're right -- I'm just not convinced of that...

The whole thing wasn't made up. Any good deception requires lots of truth. Besides, the Oracle always commands through truth. But no one ever says that the first One left the Matrix or necessarily built Zion, only that he freed the first people from the Matrix. And remember, the first One and the first anamoly are not the same.

Marsoullis wrote:

Also, if the One is to choose the 23 persons after reinserting the prime program, then he's still conscious to do so. If that's the case, then he could also return to Zion with the rest of them.

Yes, still conscious. In fact he is the ultimate conscioussness. He becomes the prime program, the DEM, the will of the Source. In so doing, he could free anyone, except himself.

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But no one ever says that the first One left the Matrix or necessarily built Zion, only that he freed the first people from the Matrix.

Morpheus says too though that this man taught them the truth, and of course that he died. There's a difference in Morpheus when he talks as a believer and when he talks practically. The tone of his voice at this point indicates fact to me, not belief in a myth told him. I like your hypothesis, and almost would like to agree more with it than my own, but my instinct pushes me to think that it was historical fact, not heresay from the Oracle, that each respective One helped reconstruct Zion.

Consideration should also be given to the idea that the man Morpheus was talking about was not even an anomaly (referring to the One as Agent Thompson did). I don't buy into that possibility yet either, but I see it as being one.

p.s. how in the heck do I put that "_____ wrote" before my quotes? Was told once before, but forgot.

Marsoullis wrote:

Morpheus says too though that this man taught them the truth, and of course that he died. There's a difference in Morpheus when he talks as a believer and when he talks practically. The tone of his voice at this point indicates fact to me, not belief in a myth told him. I like your hypothesis, and almost would like to agree more with it than my own, but my instinct pushes me to think that it was historical fact, not heresay from the Oracle, that each respective One helped reconstruct Zion.

I can't hear the difference in tone myself. And of course, it is not historical fact, because there have been 5 The One's, but Morpheus is talking about a man inside the Matrix who could change whatever he wanted, he's already missed the boat on a lot.

The Zionists know very little historical fact. Morpheus believes the year is 2199, it is in fact closer to 3099. As Neo says, "nobody knows."

And again, no one says at any point that the original messiah left the Matrix and built Zion. Zion is the "last human city." It is not stated that the humans in Zion were all freed from the Matrix. In fact the opposite is shown. It is possible that everyone like Link and Tank who are born naturally and free of plugs were born to people with plugs. But it is also possible that Zion existed as the "last human city" not the "first city of the human rebelion."

Zion could have originally been where the humans who survived the creation of the Matrix fled. In fact, that is more the way it is spoken of. Not as a place built by the One, but as the last human refuge in the war with the machines.

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And again, no one says at any point that the original messiah left the Matrix and built Zion. Zion is the "last human city." It is not stated that the humans in Zion were all freed from the Matrix. In fact the opposite is shown. It is possible that everyone like Link and Tank who are born naturally and free of plugs were born to people with plugs. But it is also possible that Zion existed as the "last human city" not the "first city of the human rebelion."

It's truly possible that Zion could have been build before humanity's captivity in the dream world. Either way though, its recycling as a refuge for the rebellion against the machines is where it landed its purpose eventually. I tend to think it was built for that reason in the first place, because if humans there were the record-keeping species they've always been, they would have more information than they do. It's the new iteration that would obviously erase everything again, make them think once more that the time were in the late 21st century (in M1, we see that the Nebuchadnezzar was built in 2069).

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it is not historical fact, because there have been 5 The One's, but Morpheus is talking about a man inside the Matrix who could change whatever he wanted, he's already missed the boat on a lot.

You're right, it's not historical fact, rather historical half-truths. They didn't know about the 4 before him because he couldn't tell them of the system of control. Morpheus definitely missed the boat, as did everyone else. That's where my original theory ended up, that the One living in Zion could not tell the humans everything, not the first time nor the fifth, because it would spark a new sense of revolution in them and get them all killed, as well as everyone in the matrix once the One chose the right door.

My meaning in tone was that unlike many times when Morpheus speaks or preaches, this is a moment when he sounds more like he's giving a history lesson than telling his beliefs.

Another reason I have to believe he was the "real" deal is that, after telling Neo of the One before him, Morpheus breaks in his summary of the rebellion's history. Morpheus pausing there indicates that there was a period between their freedom and his death. Reading into people's tones and their fluid thought to me is a large part of communication. Sounds silly, but that's how it sounds -- it sounds like the Ones themselves are around for the people to learn from, after reloading the matrix.

The main thing is, I can't imagine the alternative happening. I can't imagine humanity buying into the story of a program (and they were smart enough to figure out the Oracle is one, because if she weren't one of them i.e. a human rebel ready to be freed from the matrix and and fight in the rebellion, then she would be a program and thus one of the enemy ("If you are not one of us, you are one of them.")) who taught humanity their own history. She would have to convince them that they were freed by a man they never saw, taught by him without hearing his voice or meeting him. This event took place less than 200 years before -- they wouldn't need her to teach them anything, that amount of time is a pinprick in history and in record-keeping.

The Oracle's credibility is another reason the One would have to be present to set up the rebellion once more. The machines know that the rebellion has an affinity for disobedience against them and a hatred for their dreamworld. The machines would thus definitely need an intercessor between the humans and the Oracle. Why should any human inherently believe a program of any kind? "The system is our enemy." says Morpheus -- the humans would have no reason to trust her, unless somebody with great influence and power were to vouch for her. I'm totally convinced the One goes on to bring about Zion again in this manner and hype up the rebellion good and strong.

Marsoullis wrote:

I tend to think it was built for that reason in the first place, because if humans there were the record-keeping species they've always been, they would have more information than they do.

Of course, there are the Zion archives (First/Second Renaissance). History, though, is written by the victors. How much do you think we really know about our past in this real world?

Marsoullis wrote:

That's where my original theory ended up, that the One living in Zion could not tell the humans everything, not the first time nor the fifth, because it would spark a new sense of revolution in them and get them all killed, as well as everyone in the matrix once the One chose the right door.

Isn't it just as possible that there was no One in Zion to tell them? (Ah, mobius strip here we come!)

Marsoullis wrote:

My meaning in tone was that unlike many times when Morpheus speaks or preaches, this is a moment when he sounds more like he's giving a history lesson than telling his beliefs.

Boy do you sound like me talking to intell! You're reading quite a lot into simple tone. And I think Morpheus believes he is telling history. However, go ask Lock if he thinks some superhero founded Zion or that this prophetic history is real. I've got a feeling he would tell you it was hog wash. If the One is meant to "rule" Zion, then why wasn't Neo crowned as soon as he arrived. The One exists to free humanity from the Matrix, not fight the war in the real world.

Marsoullis wrote:

The main thing is, I can't imagine the alternative happening. I can't imagine humanity buying into the story of a program and they were smart enough to figure out the Oracle is one...

Again, when Neo says to the Oracle that she is a program from the machine world, he does it with the tone (here I go with tones) that suggests it is not common knowledge.

Reloaded wrote:

The Oracle: I know. So. Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way. Neo: You're not human, are you? The Oracle: Well it's tough to get any more obvious than that. Neo: If I had to guess, I'd say you're a program from the machine world. So is he. The Oracle: So far, so good. Neo: But if that's true, that can mean you are a part of this system, another kind of control. The Oracle: Keep going. Neo: I suppose the most obvious question is, how can I trust you? The Oracle: Bingo! It is a pickle, no doubt about it. The bad news is there's no way if you can really know whether I'm here to help you or not. So it's really up to you. You just have to make up your own damn mind to either accept what I'm going to tell you, or reject it. Candy?

Morpheus says that the Oracle "is old." And that she has been with them since the beginning. I think that he thinks she was too old or had some other reason that she could not be removed from her pod, but that she is a person. Either way, the resistance trusts her. Only Neo expresses distrust when he finds out she's a program.

Marsoullis wrote:

Another reason I have to believe he was the "real" deal is that, after telling Neo of the One before him, Morpheus breaks in his summary of the rebellion's history. Morpheus pausing there indicates that there was a period between their freedom and his death-- it sounds like the Ones themselves are around for the people to learn from, after reloading the matrix.

Yes, but the Oracle is around freeing minds as well, and she is not present in Zion. Similiarly there is Merv and the Agents and a whole slew of beings that exist in the Matrix and have both freeing and entrapping effects without every entering Zion. At no point does anyone ever say this former One existed in Zion. If he was so present and physical in Zion, wouldn't there be a statue of him instead of just legends about him?

Indeed, Mobius Strip, here we are!
Hehe

Your arguments are really good ones and I've always enjoyed discussion with you. Keep at it

"He was the one that freed the first of us, taught us the truth." "When he died, the Oracle prophesized his return and that it would hail the destruction of the matrix, and end the war."

To me... this implies that the One plays a role in re-establishing both Zion and the prophecy itself. Morpheous also mentions how the One could change the matrix how he saw fit, which also indicates to me that he remained quite powerfull in his matrix abilities. My guess is that the Oracle helps convince the One that this is the best plan of action, and that she is actually working on ending this war. Given the predication that all past Ones were based on (a love for humans and thus wanting to ensure future survival)... is it really a strech to think he wouldn't help rebuild zion? Why doesn't he say anything? I'm not sure that he didn't say anything, as many of those old council members seem to know things that other people in Zion do not. "Comprehension is not a requisite of cooperation". Perhaps the Oracle judges who can be trusted to keep this secret. If everyone in Zion knew it's fate, their would be chaos. If none knew the importance of the One to mankinds continued existence, would they have sent two ships to assertain the fate of the One? Or like Lock, would they say "this is madness".

Marsoullis wrote:

Your arguments are really good ones and I've always enjoyed discussion with you. Keep at it

Thanks, you've got some great posts yourself

hexeditor wrote:

Morpheous also mentions how the One could change the matrix how he saw fit, which also indicates to me that he remained quite powerfull in his matrix abilities.

Ah, but here we face chronology issues. First, I am willing to accept that the original anomaly broke free of the machine control and then was influential in Zion. Though because of the existance of the archives and the constant referal to Zion as the "last" city, I'm led to believe Zion existed as the last of the non-jacked in resistance not the first of the jacked in resistance.

And Neo does not become the One in the Architect room when faced with the re-creation of Zion. The last the One may well have had plenty of time to interact with others before being disseminated into the Source. But it seems very implausable that one could survive such a dissemination without being fundamentally altered away from the human state of existence.

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But it seems very implausable that one could survive such a dissemination without being fundamentally altered away from the human state of existence.

As Archie never reveals the details that entail this code "dissemination", one could only guess at the process. One thing is for sure: Neo is part machine. In my view, he was selected by the machines as the anomaly at a time approaching when they saw appropriate to destroy Zion again. They thus altered his consciousness, causing him to carry the code through his life. It's never revealed though how he carries it, or what it takes to get it out of him.

We couldn't assume that it would or wouldn't kill him, but rather only by connecting it to our respective theory. As I accept that he continued to live in Zion after disseminating the code, I accordingly accept that it didn't kill him to have it extracted for the reinsertion of the prime program.

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The last the One may well have had plenty of time to interact with others before being disseminated into the Source.

Any One could not interact with the people before the dissemination because they are all killed. The only ones relevant to interact with are the initial freed 23, their children, and those who are freed after them.

Marsoullis wrote:

As Archie never reveals the details that entail this code "dissemination", one could only guess at the process.

A human being who is able to harness freewill to the nth degree is sent through a series of psychological games in order to make him maliable to the machine's will. His code is altered in the process both through the natural side effects of being the anomaly and through a system designed to turn a man into a program.

Marsoullis wrote:

One thing is for sure: Neo is part machine.

Well, the implants make that obvious. Beyond that though, I think he is part program, part machine I'm a little if-y on.

Marsoullis wrote:

In my view, he was selected by the machines as the anomaly at a time approaching when they saw appropriate to destroy Zion again.

I do not believe the anomaly is selected, merely controlled through the system known as "The Path of the One."

Marsoullis wrote:

They thus altered his consciousness, causing him to carry the code through his life. It's never revealed though how he carries it, or what it takes to get it out of him.

The code is Neo himself. He is the prime program.

Marsoullis wrote:

We couldn't assume that it would or wouldn't kill him, but rather only by connecting it to our respective theory. As I accept that he continued to live in Zion after disseminating the code, I accordingly accept that it didn't kill him to have it extracted for the reinsertion of the prime program.

The One is the prime program. Certainly I don't believe any of them were killed. They are transformed. The Matrix is a chrysalis.

Marsoullis wrote:

The last the One may well have had plenty of time to interact with others before being disseminated into the Source.

Any One could not interact with the people before the dissemination because they are all killed. The only ones relevant to interact with are the initial freed 23, their children, and those who are freed after them.[/quote]

What makes you believe that the initial 23 would not have been like the Kid, still trapped in the system but having already interacted with Neo before he enters Archie's room?

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Well, the implants make that obvious. Beyond that though, I think he is part program, part machine I'm a little if-y on.

That's basically what I mean, as long as his connection with the machines is acknowledged, whether the connection be hardware or software.

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I do not believe the anomaly is selected, merely controlled through the system known as "The Path of the One."

That could be, and again we're basically on the same page. The machines take part in the control of the system, they must. Someone else was once arguing on here that the One appears totally random. I'm not convinced of that -- it could be somewhere in the middle.

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The One is the prime program. Certainly I don't believe any of them were killed. They are transformed. The Matrix is a chrysalis. What makes you believe that the initial 23 would not have been like the Kid, still trapped in the system but having already interacted with Neo before he enters Archie's room?

See, that's where we see differently. First off, the Kid interacted but once with Neo before exiting the matrix -- his case and the case of the guy in "World Record" were greatly anomalous. The Kid would've been killed at the destruction of Zion anyway. The slate is wiped white-clean, no one left. But it is after the reinserting of the prime program that the One selects 23 individuals from the matrix -- if we are to take Archie's words literally. I don't get from anywhere that a human actually is the prime program itself, even if he is the anomaly. I get the contrary in fact: "...although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human." It's all theory, but I see the prime program being a part of the One, not the One being a part of the prime program. Interesting concept.

I'll be honest, the prime program seems to be one of the two great mysteries in the story almost totally unaccounted for. I don't blame them, but I'd love another hint.

By the way HEX, I liked the idea that it was Oracle that convinces the One not to spill it about the system of control, but then, until her own rebellion, she too was a part of that system, a part of the machines' method of control, so indirectly, it would still have been the machines doing the convincing. Still, a good thought made.

Marsoullis wrote:

I don't get from anywhere that a human actually is the prime program itself, even if he is the anomaly. I get the contrary in fact: "...although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human."

I don't see the prime program as being "human" in the strictest terms. It is Neo's program half... his Smith half. The process is left very vague, it's true. But going from traditional messianic mythology, this is what has to happen. The messiah must die and then re-rise as the king of his father's kingdom. This is the basic hero template (check out Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces sometime if you haven't read it, awesome book). Since the prime program is "the code" that Neo carries, that rules out it being Sati or the Oracle as Mobil thinks (not to dis Mobil, he's one hell of a poster). I think that the prime program is Smith, actually, but that it was supposed to be Neo (not Thomas Anderson). Traditionally it has been the program half of the One. This time around though, the One was disassociated from his program half... well, that's my idea anyway (lord knows I've been wrong before).

Here's the way I'd lay it out though. Once, long ago, someone in the Matrix woke up, and he began to hack the code directly. He knew how to change the Matrix at a base level. He used his new skills to create a patch to Zion and communicated with the last humans there who braved a hovercraft trip to come get him out of his pod. He continued to return to the Matrix, pulling people out and freeing their minds. Eventually the free minds began to snowball and the machines had a rebellion on their hands.

They then stormed straight into Zion (why wait a hundred years when you can drill in anytime) and wiped out the humans they found there.

After that, it was realized that human free will needed to be controlled. Zion was rebuilt by the machines and populated by those who believed themselves rebels. The Matrix was reset, and the machines began to seed a messianic prophecy into it. The prophecy was a form of control, a way to keep the radar up for when a new anomaly arose. When that anomaly arose, he was the One. The One then was harnassed this time. He was directed and developed into being the perfect machine/human God. A liason consciousness that would bridge the gap between human freewill and machine purpose. The One was then copied into the prime program whose code was disseminated throughout the Source, becoming (as it had always been) the singular consciousness of the Matrix and machine world.

This cycle continued until Smith and Neo...

I dig that, my man, good theories of the rudiments of the rebellion, as well as where the Smith/Neo connection to the anomaly goes. I always figured the respective Smith is an inherent part of the Path of the One.

I suppose you figure the cataclysmic system crash to be Smith getting out of control during each iteration of the matrix, that if Neo doesn't reinsert the prime program then Smith will eventually destroy the matrix.

That's the theory I always more or less backed, because it's the one that holds the most answers, I always figured. It would likewise make sense that Neo is integrated as part of the system after reinserting the prime program, because that would cancel out Smith as well. Interesting. This is why I mentioned before I almost would prefer going with your theory that he doesn't continue living as a human in Zion with the rebellion. But I like that idea as well, and am still partial to it, but this is one I'd need to keep thinking on.

Speaking of Smith, and you have some good theories I find, so tell me your thoughts on it. Smith knew of the first matrix. He also tells a duplicate "It's happening exactly as before." "Well not exactly." says the duplicate. These things imply to me that he knows of the control the machines have over Zion, and, if the Smith/Neo-anomaly theory is correct, of his connection to that system of control. If it's not correct, he still knows. Why then does he persist to quell the rebellion, why try to obtain access codes to Zion's mainframe computer? Perhaps it would've helped execute an easier attack than digging into the city itself. But there seems to be almost a contradiction going there, if he knows of the whole system or not. There may be a simple answer, but I've not seen it yet.


Someone once showed me where the Animatrix is found online -- you have any links for that?

Marsoullis wrote:

Speaking of Smith, and you have some good theories I find, so tell me your thoughts on it.

I actually am not in the "Smith occurs as a virus everytime" camp. I do think that there is a primary agent sent after the One each time, and this may have even been Agent Smith himself for the last few reboots of the Matrix. But the virus Smith is a result of the displacement of the role of machine and human in the creation of this current One. Smith has freewill, Neo has purpose, it should have been the other way around.

As for the access codes to Zion chase, it is a Macguffin used to fish out the One. Without that flint to spark off Neo's fire, he never would have become the One. Some people have pointed to Smith removing his earbud while interrogating Morpheus to suggest that Smith's desire for the access codes was outside of the machine's purpose. This is obviously incorrect as the fellow agents already know "what" Smith is after. Smith removes his earbud because he wants to hide how infected by humanity he has already become (even before Neo has overwritten parts of him), how much this stench gets to him. Smith's infection with humanity is so strong that when Neo enters him Smith steals or absorbs from Neo the Promethean fire that drives the One. And Smith then gains freewill.

The crash the Architect speaks of is the same crash as always, a nearly wholescale denial of the Matrix by its human inhabitants. Had Neo chosen the door to the Source, the reboot would have been unsuccessful. The code that copied onto Smith from Neo was the prime program code that must be reinserted. Neo by himself would have been useless, and the system would have fallen.

What does the Oracle say?-

Reloaded wrote:

[The Source]. Where you must go. Where the path of The One ends. You've seen it, in your dreams, haven't you? The door made of light?

Remember that Neo does not believe during Reloaded that the Key Maker is leading him to the Architect. He believes that the Key Maker is leading him to the Source. And he walks through that first door of light in those 314 seconds believing that he is returning to the Source. Neo is consumed with purpose. But then the Architect (with a few planted suggestions from the Oracle still lingering in Neo's mind) robs Neo of that purpose. He presents Neo with what appears to be a choice, but is really a rejection. If Neo had been worthy of the Source, he would have entered it when he entered the light. But instead he is given two doors. He is given the freewill he has been denying himself. And he must exercise it because Neo is not what is required. Smith is. But neither one has figured it out yet.