»The Merovingian Explained. (Finally!)«

Think about this- who’s the only character who has a fallen angel (a wingless angel) which name belongs to one of the higher hierarchies of the angelic realm?

Who was the one who “seduced” many of the angels to rebel against their masters will?

If Seraph is a fallen angel he will be guarding who?
The chief of the rebellion maybe?...

The fact of being a Seraph doesn’t mean that Seraphs, Cherubins, Thrones or other hierarchies didn’t unite the rebels and were cast away from heaven as well…

In the other hand – who’s the one who “protects” the rebels in the Matrix environment, the one who created the choice factor, the one of the red pill/ candy, the one dressed in green…?

And remember – the fact of being “good” or “bad” depends on who’s telling the story and to which faction belongs – because this faction will be the “good” one while the enemy will be – always – the bad one, the devil…

Merovingian is the symbol of senses in ourself. That is why merovingian is shown in a places of sensory pleasures. he is guarded by two twins, who represents the likes and dislikes in chosing the sensory pleasures. Likes and dislikes guard our sensory pleasures. Persephone is the intellect in us.

The intellect seeks Truth. At first, it is a faithful partner to the mind and the senses (merovingian) , accepting what the senses offer as reality. Over time, the intellect might get sick of the mind and the senses chasing after sensual pleasure. The senses are not evil. They are meant to help us with a destined purpose. Apart from enjoying different tastes, the tongue detects palatability (whether it is too hot or too cold, or stale, spoiled, etc.). The problems arise when we abuse the taste system by overindulging in it as a means of pleasure. Their abuse is what the intellect hates. Therefore, Persephone says she is sick of this abuse, this betrayal.

see more details in

matrixjourney.com...

Good mornin! I'm new to this board, so big greetings ² all.

Ok, into it - the Merovingian.
First, I agree with most of what Oscargabrielp said in his initial post. But I do not see why Merv should not be both the satanic figure he undoubtedly is and a former One. There are a lots of hints at him being indeed a former One - the famous quote by Persephone, the dress he wears in Revolutions, the fact that he can see code exactly like Neo does, and, most importantly, the fact that he is also associated with chaos. Whereas the Architect resembles absolute harmony and order, the perfectly balanced equation, all exiles, the Oracle and the Ones resemble the unbalancing of the same equation - Chaos.

Chaos is created by choice, the essential component of free will. The Matrix needs Chaos to keep itself from becoming perfect and thus irreconcilable with the natural world which has imprinted its consisting of both chaos and order into the nature of humanity. A purely harmonious (ordered, "perfect" in machine terms) matrix is rejected, as is well known. But I want to come back to the Merovingian.

There is a quote in this thread I have to comment on to continue. The author refers to Paradise Lost, which will be very helpful in analyzing Merv's role.

Quote:

I'm going on Lucifer's characterization by John Milton in "Paradise Lost". Lucifer refuses to bow before man as God commands. He rebels against God, and for this he is cast into hell. Lucifer is actually the protaganist of "Paradise Lost" because he displays free will against God.

That is incorrect. Lucifer rebels against the superordination of Christ, and thus reason and the will of God. You are relating the story of Eblis, who refuses to bow before a creature of clay, himself being born of ethereal fire.
And here, we come back to the Merovingian: Free will was created by God in Paradise Lost to separate those who freely serve from those who disobey. The alternative would have been to leave out the instrument of choice, thus holding lordship over a multitude of mindless subjects. In the Matrix, the necessity of choice [the discussion if choice is the same as free will in the Matrix will have to be left out here] stems from the nature of humanity consisting of both Chaos and Order. Now, exiles are programs that deliberately abuse the free choice they have to escape from the plan both chaos and order have devised for the world / Matrix in scope of both space and time [cp. dialogue Neo - Oracle in Reloaded].

Neo does precisely that when he takes the wrong door after the meeting with the Architect - he puts HIMSELF, his singular love, above his intended purpose [the pattern of love is similar to the pattern of insanity]. The consequences are known [Smith]. Here, Neo becomes a satanic character. His redemption will only be found when he destroys himself by uniting with smith, thus giving up the struggle for himself and himself [his goals, motivations] only, a thing Satan in Paradise Lost (and in Christian Myth) never did.

My theory is this: If Merv is a former One, which is also indicated by his name, linking him to the Christian figure that Neo becomes in the end and that is the intended role of the One, he might have voluntarily exiled himself and refused to fulfil this purpose. This IS possible, even if he had a body in
the 'real' world like Neo does. Smith can upload his whole essence, his whole being, into an organic body without changing [using the phone in RELOADED]. Thus, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that a human being, especially a modified human being [the code you CARRY - quote from the architect] could leave his body behind and transfer his whole consciousness into the matrix. Neo can even enter the matrix without being logged in - think about this!

So, now that we have associated Merv and Neo with the side of Chaos and Satan, the name 'Seraph' makes a lot more sense too. Lucifer himself was a Seraph, a six-winged angelic being, so there is not only one satanic / chaos character in the movie, but three [ignoring the Oracle, who is more like a divine instance of Chaos, much like the Architect being the opposite]. That also explains why Seraph is called a 'prodigal child' and a 'Judas'. Seraph says to Smith he already defeated him once - when? Who defeats Smith, but the Ones that are and the Ones that came before? ) Fodder to think about...

Hope to hear from you,
Exile

First, I'd like to say hi, as i am new here. Between the following lines are just a bit of my personal views in general and below it is finally thread-specific thoughts and contributions, I apologize in advance if most of which is stated here belongs in different forum:

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I'd like to believe that most of us come for some sort of truth, most overtly the meaning of the movie. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, it seems that some of us seek it's relevance to the "real" world that we live in. A byproduct of that search is the likelyhood that one may get "flamed" for his thoughts by those unable to accept critical thinking. we sometime seem to use flaming (persecution, in general) as an unwitting mechanism to defend the status quo, ie "my world view is currently unable to accept that line of thinking, therefore you're an idiot/gay/a nazi/a sci fi geek/conspiracy theorist/liberal/conservative/ the antithesis of accepted group or social norms". so with that said, c'est la vie and game on.

Concerning the search for the answers re: the merovingian, lucifer, etc, and how it solves the riddle of the movie, we are compelled to look into what we know of the nature of the historic merovingian dynasty, the lucifier of the bible, the vampire myths, the grail legends, etc, in itself. The movie is a beautiful, albeit distracting and sometimes unrewarding, conduit through which we could seek knowledge of our own history that we hadnt previously known or even cared to search for, through the in-your-face symbolism and word-play that is presented. I believe most of us in this forum already realize this, but i write this as a calling to remind ourselves that, as we use references to lucifer, jesus, french kings, holy grails, we should look openly towards understanding what beliefs were held by the many different schools of thought concerning these topics, not just ours, in order to find answers, not just the answers *we're looking for*, whether it be in wrapping up this trilogy into a nice little package or for the sake of true gnosis.
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here are my thoughts on this thread and i'm sure i'm just restating what many others have already said. I apologize in advance if i say something that does not fit in the context of the trilogy as, again, i am a newbie not only here but to the more detailed world of deconstruction the trilogy. so:

The following ideas are not meant to be presented in a way that infer that they are superior to others, just for the record.

-the keymaster may not be so much "the grail" as much as an eastern shaman figure who knows "the way" to the truth or to see/meet "the maker". He is a guide to help the un-enlightened find god. he holds the key to that path.

*sidenote here: The Merv may be trying to imprison the keymaster in the way (my conjecture here) that tibet was invaded to destroy the propagation of the knowledge of the tibetan monks/exile them. History (to include events happening as we speak) shows that the byproducts of conquering lands and/or people include the convenient purging of the cultures with beliefs/knowledge (that were held for many thousands of years). As recent as the the last few years, we've witnessed a "Two-for-the-price-of-one" in the destruction of a museum that housed ancient aritifacts that supposedly date to the cradle of civilization itself and potential wiping from the history books of the Mandaean culture (again, my conjecture as i'm still not too well read on this). With these losses come the possible loss of knowledge and/or "paths" to potential future knowledge.

-the merv may "want the oracle's eyes" soley to ensure that others arent further enlightened by the knowledge gained by her "sight", ala the blind leading the blind.

-re: adam, merovingians, cain and abel, vampires and werewolves....I recently had a random conversation with my father and a family friend who were both craftsmen, so to speak. although they both had different views on the matter, one mentioned and entertained the idea that cain is spoken in some circles to seemingly be the the historical/mythical source of the legend of vampires. That was the first i've heard of it and although i have since seen this reference in other texts, whether it be video games or pieces of literature, i found it interesting that:

(a) not only is there an apparent allusion that relate the merv(adam)/cain/abel to werewolves and vampires in the trilogy

(b)the discussion that i was a part of which brought the cain/vampire relationship to light had nothing to do with the matrix or video games, but rather through discussions that alluded to the teachings/research of the organization that they belong to, *which have their roots in the knights templar, which have their roots in the merovingian culture, etc.*


I've seen a knights templar subthread not discussed and a blood-drinking thread get flamed, so far. Any thoughts, knowledge or contributions to these ideas this would be greatly appreciated. And thanks in advance for allowing me onboard!

In history and mythology, Roland was the newphew of Charlemagne as well as one of his greatest Paladins. Charlemagne's father became the first of the Carolingian kings after taking power from the last of the previous dynasty: the Merovingians.

Hm.

In my opinion or my theory is that the Merovingian is in relates to programs something like the internet. He is "a trafficker of information" and "he knows everything he can." That's about the only evidence I have to support my theory but the internet is full of information you can find just about anything online. The Merovingian knew everything in the movies. He already knew Neo, Morpheus and Trinity where coming to see him and he knew why before they did. I don't know if my theory is correct but that's the conclusion I've drawn up about Merv.

Akshat Gupta wrote:

Oscar, you already know I agree on the Lucifer/Hades part so I wont address that. As far as the keeper of the Holy Grail, I always thought that the Holy Grail was the Keymaker. The Merovingian kings guarded the Grail just as the Merovingian guarded the Keymaker. And the Grail was identified with ascention into heaven just as the Keymaker is the instrument which leads Neo to the Source (heaven).

I thought the Keymaker was more like Teiresias, a prophet under the control of Hades with whom Odysseyus must consult to complete his journey.

But I am still trying to figure out why Merv refers to Seraph as "the prodigal child".

marl64 wrote:

Fatpie42 wrote: If Jesus is not divine then what is? In it's simplest form Sin is defined as "Deliberate disobedience to the known will of God".

I think that many people do not understand that point. "Original Sin" is Adam's disobedience. Many people think it has to do with a penchant for sex, drugs, rock&roll or something, but it is simply not doing what you are told.

It just struck me now that disobedience is a recurring theme in the Trilogy. But I digress.

So it goes something like this: Merv was one of the most powerful programs in the machine world. He defied the the DEM and would not worship Man, or by another interpretation became jealous of the DEM's power. He was cast, or fled to the Matrix and generally runs things (not afraid of the Oracle nor the Agents).

By Greek myths it goes a bit different: Merv is one of three who have divided existence into their various realms: Merv, as Hades, in the underworld of the Matrix; the DEM (unless it is considered a Titan), and then it gets a bit confusing if you try to make it a direct allegory.

There are three worlds in the Trilogy: the matrix, the machine world and the "real" world. In Greek mythology there were also three worlds: the land (controlled by Zeus), the sea (controlled by his brother Poseiden) and the underworld (controlled by the 3rd brother, Hades).

So is the matrix the sea or the land? The chief god rules the land. Is Merv really an "exile" in the normal sense?

Lucifer means "bringer of light"
Light is a metaphor for knowledge.
It is Merv's "business to know"

Second thing is part question and part opinion:

Is there anyone else who would like to see the Merovingian kick some serious ass rather than hiding behind his underlings? Is there anyone that doubts that he could?

Quote:

But I am still trying to figure out why Merv refers to Seraph as "the prodigal child".

I found out in the meantime... my article above was written a long long time ago, too much in philosophy, not close enough to the movie. Seraph is called seraph because he was an angel, winged, hence an exile program that did something it was not supposed to do [cp. Oracle's speech in Reloaded]. Where do the exiles gather? Right, near the Merovingian. Seraph was supposedly an exile living at Merv's court before he found a new purpose and protected the Oracle.

I have a read a very good theory on this site that Merv was possibly the first program designed to analyze the human psyche, by cause and effect. Since the first matrix failed, the intuitive Oracle was installed. Hence Merv went into exile, and Seraph probably with him, until he found out that Merv does not "matter most" any more, but the Oracle. The theory also explains why Merv hates the Oracle, wants her eyes to understand her power and says "if she takes something from me you will pay the price" - this might be a reference not only to the keymaker, but also to his former status. This is just a theory of course, but I think it's quite good.

Quote:

Is there anyone else who would like to see the Merovingian kick some serious ass rather than hiding behind his underlings? Is there anyone that doubts that he could?

I think Merv could be very powerful in his own right, but to leave him an enigma makes him even more fearsome. Let the fighting do the underlings, like Neo and Smith

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Merv is an analogy for Lucifer, and I read once that Lucifer means "the one seeking the truth". It sticks very well to Merv since he always keeps his word.

The W. brothers said that matrix was definitly based on gnostic theories, and gnostics don't pretends that Lucifer is really a bad guy, he's a deity who wanted to help man by giving to him the knowledge that the demiurgic god was refusing to give.

Note the painting in Merv's Castle, representing Angels at war with heaven, with the big "M" in the center of it. Just like the revolt that Lucifer tried to lead against heaven.

My feeling is that Merv was a program in charge for scientific researchs (seeking the truth) and somehow stumbled on a powerfull secret (the power of the anomaly?) that almost gave him the victory.