Explain the Matrix?

Puteq

I have just re-watched the 3 matrix movies again recently. While the Matrix 1 is my fav movie, i had kinda forgotten about the other 2. Thing is, me and my friends came away with completely different interpretations of it. I had the impression that Zion was another program similar to the matrix, so that if anyone woke up from the matrix, they would have somewhere to go and wouldnt just die. there are a number of reasons i think this:
Neo is able to stop the sentinels after they destroy the Nebuchadnezzar. He uses the same power he has in the matrix, which he has cos he knows he is just in a program
He is able to see the Smith code after Smith overwrites Bane, glowing in Orange.
He is able to see the code of the machine world the same way cypher was able to see the code of the matrix, even though the machine world is supposedly the 'real' world, not programmed.
The best explanation for these things is if they are still in a program, even after they exit the matrix program of the mega-city.
However a friend of mine concluded that Neo just has a wireless connection to the source, which is why he can do these things. I guess this is possible, though it doesnt add up for me that he could see the code of the 'real' world thanks to this. I have done a bit of reading online and nobody else seems to have interpreted it like i did – does anyone else find my idea credible or does anyone have any other explanations?

Sad Professor

Puteq wrote: »

However a friend of mine concluded that Neo just has a wireless connection to the source, which is why he can do these things.

This is what I always thought. Although I haven't watched any of the Matrix films since they came out.

mikhail

I found those questions interesting after the second film. Then the third film completely ignored them.

Puteq

mikhail wrote: »

I found those questions interesting after the second film. Then the third film completely ignored them.

LOL I loved the original matrix movie so much that when the other 2 came out i hated them and it took me 7 years to forgive and re-watch them again. They are actually good, and I dont think the third one contradicts anything from the second, they do in fact tie together well and seem to be consistent.

Mickeroo

mikhail wrote: »

I found those questions interesting after the second film. Then the third film completely ignored them.

I remember after the second one came out there was loads of crazy theories flying around about this and that. I always thought people were giving it too much credit, that the premise was a simple as the first one made it out to be, and then the third one came out and showed that to be the case. Machines rule-matrix virtual reality-zion real world-the end.

Actually the Inception thread reminds a bit of this, although i think its a bit more open to interpretation than the matrix was

Puteq

Mickeroo wrote: »

Machines rule-matrix virtual reality-zion real world-the end.

OK thanks for the thought. Though that does leave me kind of wondering how Neo could see the code of the machine world if it was real?

mikhail

Mickeroo wrote: »

I remember after the second one came out there was loads of crazy theories flying around about this and that. I always thought people were giving it too much credit, that the premise was a simple as the first one made it out to be, and then the third one came out and showed that to be the case. Machines rule-matrix virtual reality-zion real world-the end.

It's never explained how he can stop Sentinels in the real world. There are fascinating possibilities (Is he trapped by the machines in another layer of deception? Reality itself is a simulation which he's gained some measure of control over? More banal stuff like the 'wireless connection' suggested above?), but it's completely ignored.

Rented Mule

Chuck Norris could have destroyed the Matrix before the opening credits started.

Puteq

mikhail wrote: »

It's never explained how he can stop Sentinels in the real world. There are fascinating possibilities (Is he trapped by the machines in another layer of deception? Reality itself is a simulation which he's gained some measure of control over? More banal stuff like the 'wireless connection' suggested above?), but it's completely ignored.

Well, i wouldn't say it was completely ignored. In the third movie, Neo asked the Oracle how he was able to stop sentinels in the real world. She of course didnt answer, but at least it was acknowledged. Anyway, though it was not explicitly stated, I am sure the Wachowski bros didnt just ignore it, which is why i am here seeking other peoples opinions. So many other things in the movie show there was a lot of thought put into every little detail, so i am sure the explanation to this is there too

Mickeroo

mikhail wrote: »

It's never explained how he can stop Sentinels in the real world. There are fascinating possibilities (Is he trapped by the machines in another layer of deception? Reality itself is a simulation which he's gained some measure of control over? More banal stuff like the 'wireless connection' suggested above?), but it's completely ignored.

Yea I'd actually forgot about that, I need to watch the third one again. Maybe because he's the one he becomes continuily linked to the machines or something. If the real world is in fact just another matrix then why would the machines be bothered trying to kill the people in it though?

Puteq

Mickeroo wrote: »

Maybe because he's the one he becomes continuily linked to the machines or something.

I'd think even with a wireless link or whatever, he still wouldn't be able to see code of the real world if it really was the real world?

Mickeroo wrote: »

If the real world is in fact just another matrix then why would the machines be bothered trying to kill the people in it though?

Good question. My understanding was that Zion was there to catch the spillover from the matrix (even though Zion was a second matrix). However, eventually Zion would have so many people in it that it would start becoming a nuisance, with more and more people from there waking up people from the main matrix program, at which point the matrix would get rebooted, and the Zion program started again with 23 people in it. So there were never really going to kill everyone in Zion, they were just creating the attack on Zion at that time to force Neo to choose to go through the door on the left in the meeting with the architect in the second movie, so that he would save them

Mickeroo

Puteq wrote: »

Good question. My understanding was that Zion was there to catch the spillover from the matrix (even though Zion was a second matrix). However, eventually Zion would have so many people in it that it would start becoming a nuisance, with more and more people from there waking up people from the main matrix program, at which point the matrix would get rebooted, and the Zion program started again with 23 people in it. So there were never really going to kill everyone in Zion, they were just creating the attack on Zion at that time to force Neo to choose to go through the door on the left in the meeting with the architect in the second movie, so that he would save them

at the end of the third isn't there a truce so people can choose to wake up if they want? that could potentially cause the same problem.

redt0m

It was the real world - remember, even though he could see the machine 'signals' all around him while blind, he couldn't see that Trinity had been speared by a pole in their crash-landing... also, while walking along the gangway and looking down, his legs and feet were empty space - if he was able to see 'real world' code, he'd be seeing something in these spaces...

tony1kenobi

Rented Mule wrote: »

Chuck Norris could have destroyed the Matrix before the opening credits started.

The Matrix is a sleeping organism existing in a false reality whose only purpose is to power Chuck Norris.The Matrix is unaware of this.

Puteq

redt0m wrote: »

It was the real world - remember, even though he could see the machine 'signals' all around him while blind, he couldn't see that Trinity had been speared by a pole in their crash-landing... also, while walking along the gangway and looking down, his legs and feet were empty space - if he was able to see 'real world' code, he'd be seeing something in these spaces...

Hmm, i might watch that scene again, i think that would be the evidence i need that would explain it completely one way or another. thanks!