I believe that the Architect had no reservations about giving Neo the choice because he felt that either way, the machines win.

If Neo chooses the door on the right, he re-seeds Zion and everything goes about 'business as usual', and the cycle continues. Machines win, at least for another couple hundred years.

If Neo chooses the door on the left, all of humanity gets wiped out. The machines will suffer a huge setback, but one that the Architect claimed they could deal with if they had to. They would have to find a new source of power, which probably won't be that hard for them to do (nuclear reactors, anyone?). It's a pain in the ass for the machines, but ultimately, they're still alive and the humans are not, which means once again, they win.

The Architect, in his obvious arrogance in that entire scene, doesn't even consider it possible that there is anything Neo can do to defeat the Machines in 24 hours.

And as stated by the Architect, choice is a human trait that is incomprehensible to the machines, therefore at the end of each cycle they require a human to make the choice of whether or not they continue with the cycle, or break it. If the machines function on a basis of logic, coupled with a pre-programmed sense of self-preservation, they are probably unable to actually make a choice that would wipe out 99% of their population, even if it would benefit them in the long run.

Nice smackfu, I like the way you put it in the end.. choice is something incomprehensible to the machines and thus they leave it up to us to make the choice.

Because Satan cannot forcefully take a soul (the code Neo carries), you must willingly surrender it to him. If you choose not to give him your soul, the best he can do is try to wield his power to end your life, but he won't get your soul.

I do not believe the "matrix in a matrix" theory is true. While there is no concrete proof against it, there is no concrete proof for either. In addition, if this theory were true, the first two movies would have been pointless, everything we thought we learned in them a lie. And if there were a matrix in a matrix, why not have a matrix in a matrix in a matrix? Or a matrix in a matrix in a matrix in a matrix? If the machines were to create more than one matrix to keep humans captive, it would make sense that they would create an infinite number of matrices to ensure that nobody ever actually wakes up. That would completely alter the point of what we have seen so far. The challenge of waking up from the matrix has been addressed, it is now how to destory the matrix. For the brothers to throw in a plot twist that discounts the "humans as batteries" idea and nearly everything else we have seen is not logical. It would take another trilogy just to address that.

if you think of the matrix as a computer program running on an operating system, zion could just be a seperate computer program running, but with software links with the matrix (dlls). so it's not within the matrix, just separate. the mainframe controls both.

humans have discovered how to break out of the matrix and enter zion but don't realize they are just entering another program. neo not only has discovered how to leave the matrix, but how to manipulate the program. now he is discovering that he can also manipulate zion and this will lead him to the discovery that Zion is also another program.

at that point he realizes that the only way to make sure he is not bouncing between programs is to gain root access to the mainframe. he needs to find a backdoor that will take him back to the source so he can take control.

at that point he will re-program the machines to make earth inhabitable again, and begin releasing the humans one by one.

Okay, so we think we've all figured this out.

Neo's choices are just a loop. All that is being done has been done before. Zion will be destroyed then re-founded.

If this is all a loop, if this is all been done before, I think we're all forgetting the most obvious question of all.

Does Smith becoming 'free' have any affect on what will happen? Has his human emotions and feelings happened before? What is the significance of his ability to 'smell the humans' and HATE being inside of the Matrix. He is a machine, he can't hate, or smell. Those are human abilities.

Is he part of the past cycles, is what I'm trying to ask.

I can't shake the image of Smith laughing in pure glee over something, in the video game Revolutions trailer.

Actually, my take on it is that Neo's choice is different then the past cycle. the past five "ones" choose to repopulate zion so they picked door #1. Neo is calling the architect's bluff and going for door #2 which I would say is going out of the loop the past "ones" choose.

the actions that are going to take place are these:

either:

1.) Zion and all folks in the matrix will be destroyed
2.) humans fight back and some how manage to win?
3.) a sort of symbionic relationship will develope

the actions we see now are new because no one has ever taken them before, from what it seems, all the past one's choose to save zion because if they didn't, then there would be no zion right now to save.

I can't help but laugh everytime I see that part of the teaser. Something straight out of Austin Powers. I really hope they leave that out of the next movie. It's going to get the biggest laugh in the movie, unintentionally.

I'm not a Matrix in a Matrix believer either.

From the first movie - Cypher is influenced by the agents to turning rat and giving them Morpheus. While doing so - he kills off most of the crew of the Nebuchadnezeer - until Tank kills him. We see Switch & the male character die within the Matrix because of Cypher unplugging them. Now, for a Matrix in a Matrix to exist, these events that happened in the earth's core would have been in another layer of the Matrix. If there actually was death - it had to happen on some level, but we weren't shown any other "layers".

To think that another Matrix exists only because Neo shows powers outside of the original Matrix seems a little crazy to me.

What abou the beginning of the movie in the alley, when agent Smith states that it is exactly as before.

that line is quickly followed up by "well not EXACTLY" by the other smith..............he's up to something, he want's control of the matrix and to do it he needs neo gone

I don't agree with the matrix in a matrix idea either. First, it's cheesy. Second it is not congruent with what we know. The matrix is 99% effective, the others are in zion. If zion is a matrix than 1% should wake up from there as well. If no one wakes up from zion as a matrix than the program is not flawed. But this would mean that there is not a flaw in the matrix to begin with, so why would anyone be in a zion matrix if there is no flaw in the real matrix. It's mutually exclusive.
I like the idea that Smith has programed himself into a human, because Smith and Neo now have similar parts. Neo can sense machines and is in a sense part machine. Possibly, the end where he stops the squiddies is due to an EMP laucnhed from the ship that rescues them. (EMP launched while ship was landed than quick took off?) This knocked out both the squiddies and neo (as part machine from Smith). This would also explain why bane was similarily knocked out when he sabatoged the counterattack...as he is part machine from smith.....

Thoughts?

Ridiculous. You'd believe that an interaction in the Matrix could physically alter Bane and Neo to be physical machines, with wires and electronic componentry that would be knocked out by an EMP device?

I can accept that Agent Smith essentially brainwashed Bane. I can accept that Agent Smith might have opened a parts of Neo's mind. But physical alterations of the type that would make a human vulnerable to EMP?

again, the EMP triggered from the hammer would have disabled their ship's electronics and effectivly would have grounded it, very fast. this is why they must power down and get everyone out of the matrix before using the EMP or it would kill anyone still wired into the matrix(sudden loss of power like pulling the plug). also neo feels the machines so something is up

Of course it's ridiculous, its science fiction! Not physically alter in terms of machine parts, but human parts. I'm not an EMP expert, but the human body is based on electrochemical currents albeit small. Perhaps smith's programing has altered these currents to be more intense, more machine like. Another hypothesis could be Neo's connection to the machines being a secondary cause of his coma. When the machines get knocked out, he also senses this and is subsequenly knocked out. (He does kind of pass out slightly after the squiddies)
I still think the hammer, if close buy, could land charge down launch an EMP and then charge back up and take off again. The ships seems to be able to park and power down relatively quckly from the times they have done it in the movie....

One vote against the Matrix in the Matrix theory...they might as well make Neo wake up from a dream.

Since Neo "freed" Smith, Smith's only purpose seems to be to destroy Neo. Smith tries several times to kill/infect Neo, but is unable to do so. Is it possible that Smith turned off the sentinels, because he wants to killing Neo himself?

What if the first person to wake up from Zion to realize that its a matrix in a matrix is "the one". Zion's population is less than 1% of the matrix's presumed population so its rounded obviously hence having 1 person total wake up from zion and that person is the one would fit here.

In my opinion, matrix in a matrix is the ONLY explanation that makes sense and IS congruent with what we know. Look at all the things that happen in the real world that programs in the matrix are able to control/know about/etc. In matrix 1 cypher's comment about how if Neo is the one then the universe won't let him kill Neo. This only makes sense if he is still in a matrix. Look at Neo dreaming about the future falling scene in the matrix, how could he do that unless he is still in the matrix.

the problem is you want an explaination that makes sense...

You can't have that right now because you don't have all the facts. wait 6 months and we'll get all the info and I'm sure whatever outcome it is, it will make sense and we should have realized it some time ago. simple answer though.. to have a matrix in a matrix or neo waking up in a dream would lead to a huge let down.

You can't make that judgement right now, you don't have all the facts, wait 6 months.

At the time this comment was made - Neo was in the Matrix.

You missed my point. Cypher is in the supposed "real world" therefore if he unplugs Neo, neo will die. And *nothing* inside the matrix could control Cypher back in the real world to prevent that. In other words "the one" is just a normal human in the "real world" with all the vulnerabilities. And the phrophecy from the matrix would have no controls out there. The ONLY way that the phrophecy and the entire function of "the one" can work for the machines is if they can exert control in the "real world" as well, hence it MUST be another matrix.

Phrased another way, we were shown Tank getting up and killing Cypher thus saving Neo. What if Tank had died and been unable to get up? However if Cypher is still in a matrix then the "real world" matrix could make tank get up (from the dead) and kill Cypher thus saving Neo in everyone's eyes.

If you take a close look at the Architect’s speech he says:
To me, that unconscious choice is to believe that the Matrix is the real world or believe that Zion is the real world but in reality neither is real. Of course the flaw of this choice is the creation of The One/The Anomaly and the only way to control this flaw is the destruction of Zion and the reloading of the Matrix. I believe that the council knows this. Which was the entire point of Councilor Harmann’s discussion with Neo (what is control and the dependencies on machines). And it also explains why the Council was so adamant about sending the Nebz back into the matrix. Additionally, we know that Neo’s predecessors where the founders of the other Zions. There’s no reason to believe that the original anomalies would not have told the 23 founders the truth about the matrix. My guess is that up to this point humans cannot live with out the machines outside the matrix. Maybe the world was totally decimated by the war with machines or maybe, just maybe, the war with machines was all a lie. Maybe the sun exploded or something like that and for humans to survive they created the Matrix so they could live on in a hibernated state. I know that’s pretty far fetched but it’s pretty cool.

intresting, never thought of it that way....................neo didn't except the matrix, and when he came out of the matrix he didn't except the real world either.............course not many of us would after being plugged into the matrix for a few dozen years

okay, sorry ahead of time because I don't have the strength of character necessary to research whether this has been answered:
when the architect tells Neo that they won't meet again, is he only referring to his belief that the bombs in the building will kill Neo? We see Neo fly past the explosions---did the architect expect Neo to die the second he left the room????