brombie

OK, I think I know what happened but since it's not spelled out, I'd like to see what other intepretations are there.

Obviously, this is going to contain spoilers, so please be advised.

The reason why Neo was able to kill all the Smiths is because Neo started it all by going into Smith's body in the first matrix. He's the root of all the new Smiths and by killing himself (or asking the machine to kill him) he killed all the Smiths. Kinda like the Dracula bites. This fits the "everything has a beginning has an end" mumbo jumbo.

An alternative explanation is that there's only one "alpha" Smith. When the alpha goes, everyone else goes as well. The one that fought Neo was Oracle/Smith (which is why he got all the special abilities like flying). Later, when the alpha Smith is Neo/Smith, either the machine killed Neo's human body or Neo still maintained some consciousness and killed himself.

Neo "died" in a crucified pose and taken away by a machine that emits an angel-like aura. Instead of a thorny crown, he wore a eye band around his head. Obviously, he will be resurrected in time and this time he will be in a form that's even closer to the "Source"

I don't know what Neo's source of power is. If it was the architect's designs for Neo to have the power inside the matrix, then it's the Oracle's design for him to have the power in the real world.

The whole thing goes around about how love is what's different about Neo compared to his predecessors. Then the first time he used his real world special ability is when he resurrected Trinity by pumping her heart. Later, he got stuck in the train station, which was built by Merovingian's goon that seems to have powers that extend outside of Matrix (just like Neo) and met Sita - who seems to be an instrument of Oracle.

It makes sense to me that Oracle said at the end that she didn't know what's going to happen but she believes. She doesn't really have the power but she put Neo in situations with hopes that he would figure it out. It's her that put Neo in the train station so he learned that machine can love too.

Anyway, enough ramblings. I think I probably read too much between the lines already. I'd love to hear if you have explanations that are much more coherent than mine!

MasterCXtreme

----------SPOILERS----------

About the Jesus theory, I picked it up while watching it. I know they called him 'Savior' a few times during this one. Not sure about the others. But Revolutions definitley did have the whole 'Jesus' vibe going. Neo killing himself to save everybody else proves it. And the cross of light coming out near the end, that made me sure that they were trying to hint that he was another or like Jesus. I was thinking about him being reserected as well for another movie. Who knows if there will be another or not. They definitley left it open for a 4th.

I didn't think about Neo putting part of himself into Agent Smith. But I do remember him killing Smith the same way in the first, so I figured there must've been something goin on there.

The "Alpha Smith" is what I was thinking of when I saw the movie, but both ways are possible I suppose.

lesterlong

There's not much to talk about this time around. All that fun guessing around what was gonna happen on the old Reloaded forum was all wasted. If Neo could kill Smith when Smith copies himself Neo should of just killed him in Reloaded and saved us a movie.

AndyCapps

Ah, but he was not fully plugged into the Matrix in Reloaded. Notice all the extra connections... just like how the enslaved humans are connected.

Maybe he isn't dead. Maybe he is between worlds again.

Revoltor

I'm just wondering what they're going to do with all the humans being harvested. The machines can't just give that up willingly.

As for everything else, who cares? Just watch Star Wars and you'll find out.

condorito

Smith dies because hes the opposite. Neo knew he wasnt coming back before he went in, and when neo was deleted by smith, the opposite had to die
Neo lets smith delete him to destroy the anomalies
1 and -1 = 0
Neo = +1
Smith = -1

bothanspy

I believe that everything was hapenning as the Architect had predicted (as in Neo 6 doing what the previous iterations had done). However, his scene with the Oracle at the end where he says that she played a dangerous game this time and her response is that change is dangerous leads me to believe that The oracle did something different than previous times.

Some other points to ponder:

1. Sati--She was called the last (exile)? She caused the sun to rise. What is her purpose. Other posters have referred to her as the One, but I think she serves a different purpose.

2. When Smith possesses the Oracle, something happens there that causes all the other Agent Smiths to be startled. What was that all about?

I believe that Neo took Smith into his body (a la the 1st matrix) and then the machines destroyed Neo, thereby destroying Smith.

mikehunt

that's what I think too, had something to do with neo being jacked in. kind of like how smith was able to take over that other guy

jough

Well, it's a binary system, people.

Neo is "the one" (1) and Smith is a nihilist who wants to annihilate all (0).

Put the 1 and 0 together to keep the world(s) in balance.

It's not exactly a matrix in a matrix, but it's obvious that Zion, the "real world" is also a computer system, and all of the "people" in it are programmes.

Of course, we knew already that Neo was a programme from the Architect's explanation in Reloaded, so it's not that much of a stretch to find that everyone and everything is a simulation.

Baudrillard, the French social philosopher whose theories inspired all three films wrote about the possibility of simulacra without a basal precedent - in other words, the "real world" could be a simulation of something to which there is no actual antecedent. The simulation does NOT have to follow an actual event - the simulation can arise purely out of the need for simulation. It's self-fulfilling.

So when Trinity died she was being deleted because she had lived her function. Her only purpose was to get Neo to the Machine Source where he could make a Faustian bargain with the machines: he will restore the desired order, put the 1s and 0s back in balance in exchange for the current simulation to continue running.

After Neo sacrificed himself to Smith (more of a Satan figure in this film than last - at the end, he was everyone in the Matrix, the devil in our own hearts) he was no longer needed either, nor was there a necessary "anomaly" - the 6th Neo will be the last Neo. It was the Oracle's choice, not Neo's. It was her gamble, and it paid off.

There may be human bodies somewhere, and they may or may not be used for power. The people only "power" the machine world like your computer is "Powered by Windows XP".

Notice the Architect's words at the end: all will be freed who WANT to be. Those who are aware of their state of reality. Those who attain a satori and have achieved enlightenment.

UKingdom

One thing I was just baffled by; how the heck did Seraph and Sati reappear at the end of the film? Weren't they (or we were led to believe) assimilated or killed by Smith I guess he just let them go? Rather bizarre, don't you think?

Trigger

I figured this - it was pretty apparent to me. Maybe I'm wrong...

Smith became an uncontrollable rogue program that copied itself over other programs... essentially, a virus. Even the way he would copy himself seemed to indicate that's what he is. Always talking about infecting things too.

So anyway - Neo is basically Norton Antivirus and in order to know how to eliminate a computer virus, antivirus software must know what the virus is. That's why you constantly have to update your virus definitions. So Neo allows Smith to copy himself on him and then he knows how to rid the matrix of him. So that's it. I saw the cross of light, but didn't make the Jesus connection... but sure, I can see that. I still don't care. Neo is Norton Antivirus.

Anyway - I liked the film and that ending worked for me as does this explaination... I feel like it all makes sense and it made up for the second film (which I think sucked).

Trigger

The infected programs were cleaned by Neo Norton Antivirus, so they were fine again.

solipsta

When all the Smiths exploded in the light, they lay motionless around the city. Then, like the Oracle, they were all awaken. Like in the scene with Sati and the cat.

One thing that bugged me is when Neo was in the trainstation and they said they couldn't find him and he physically wasn't connected (plugged), yet when the rescued him and pulled him out of the Matrix later, they pulled the plug out of his head...

jough

Neo is obviously McAfee VirusScan, since he was actually EFFECTIVE.

But enough virus scan geekery.

It looks like the Matrix was being rebuilt by the architect at the end, although Sati did make that pretty sunrise for Neo. Everyone would have been "rebooted" right to where they were before the war started. That's how it seems. The street was fixed, the kitty cat was reset.

Someone must've gotten a paperclip and stuck it in a little recessed hole in the Matrix or something.

jough

I just assumed that they moved his body to the chair and plugged him in before they went into the Matrix themselves, expecting him to come back that way in a one-way (excuse the pun) trip.

Jackskeleton

Simply put. if smith and neo are a sort of ying and yang. one can not exist without the other. neo realizes this and lets smith destroy him.

another theory could be added that once neo is getting absorbed by smith then the Source has the direct feed to the virus and cleans it out. killing both neo and smith. simple as that.

jough

Neo died, but he'll be back in three days' time.

jough

Sati (Su-thi , a.k.a. suttee) is the traditional Hindu practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

"Sati" means a virtuous woman. A woman who dies burning herself on her husbands funeral fire was considered most virtuous, and was believed to directly go to heaven, redeeming all the forefathers rotting in hell, by this "meritorious" act. The woman who committed Sati was worshipped as a Goddess, and temples were built in her memory.

Sati was prevalent among certain sects of the society in ancient India, who either took the vow or deemed it a great honor to die on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Ibn Batuta (1333 A.D.) has observed that Sati was considered praiseworthy by the Hindus, without however being obligatory. The Agni Purana declares that the woman who commits sahagamana goes to heaven. However, Medhatiti pronounced that Sati was like suicide and was against the Shastras, the Hindu code of conduct. It is believed that they were not coerced, although several wives committed Sati. The majority of the widows did not undergo Sati.

gmal2003

How will the machines be able to exist if as the Architect says all the plugged in humans will be released. Will they just give up that easy. What will that mean for the Architect and the Oracle. The more I think about the movie the more it grows on me. I do remeber them saying they were prepared (the machines) to operate at low levels if Neo didnt reload in part two. I hope someone could shed this light on me.

Trigger

he didn't say all plugged in humans will be released. He said those that want to be freed will be freed.

rennervision

I took that to be an allegory to the Christian belief that if you want redemption, God's salvation is a free gift to anyone who wants it. Then there's the hint from the Oracle that we will see Neo again - which will make it the 7th time. Seven is the number of perfection in the Bible. And, of course, Neo's death scene was definitely evoking images of the crucifixion, right down to Christ's final words spoken by the Boss Machine: "It is done."

Joeboo835

My immediate thought on the end was that Neo let Smith "overwrite" him so that the machines had a direct connection to the "Smith Virus" so they could delete them.

So, with my track record, we can assume that this is the wrong answer.

AndyCapps

Another thought on this. Neo did not know that Smith was his opposite(a way to balance the equation) during Reloaded. So he chose to continue fighting.

Mazje

Never a good sign if you devote six plus hours to a movie series and at the end can't answer questions like "So did the main character live?" or "Is the war between man and machines finally over?"

Despite being a little harsh in my opening sentence, I'm generally okay with the way movie wrapped up, even though I was disappointed in the movie as a whole.

What bothers me the most is this: With the previous "Ones" when they took 24 (or whatever) people to repopulate Zion...do they always go to the same place? As in, that Zion is the exact same physical location as previous Zions? If so, why did the machines have such a hard time getting to it? If they've put them down there 5 times before, shouldn't they have laced the place with bombs or poison gas so that when it's time to restart, they just blow the joint, sweep up the human remains, and set down this year's Survivor tribe?

Or have I missed something?

0073735963

I agree with the whole Neo being the Antivirus program etc...it makes sense then when Smith is destroyed how all the other previously infected programs (Oracle, etc) came back. I do have a question about the whole Oracle coming out of Smith parts. Did she know that she would have enough power to "confuse" Smith after he infected her? Also, what exactly did she do during that time anyways? I know Smith was struggling, but what was going on? I'm trying to remember, and I need to see it again!