The Matrix Loop

Have you seen the new Matrix movie yet? No? Well, go do that then come back. This entire theory will make much more sense once you do, plus I don't want to be giving away any spoilers.

Now assuming you already know the premise of The Matrix, I'm just going to dive right in.

Neo and Agent Smith are on a never ending loop.

Agent Smith is the virus, Neo is the anti-virus, and the machines keep Neo alive because they can't stop the Smith Virus themselves (which based off of the original films as well as the newest one, seems as though they never can).

Now that you know the basis of this theory, let's begin.

Now I know in the newest movie it was explained by the therapist (a program in the Matrix), that the machines kept Neo alive to power their city and yada yada yada, but it was also explained that the therapist (who was the one in charge at the time) wasn't actually the leader or creator of The Matrix, or the one that oversees all operations. He was simply a program in charge at the time and therefore simply has it within his programming to believe that the reason Neo was kept alive was for a source of energy (we'll get to why Trinity was kept alive in a bit).

See the machines kept/keep Neo alive, because they have too. They need him because he is their anti-virus software (so to speak). You see Agent Smith is a virus. An all consuming computer virus that they themselves can’t shut down. And similar to if your computer gets a virus, you need an anti-virus software to shut it down, but not all softwares work for all computer virus’. Neo is that anti-virus, and it just so happens that he is the only “anti-virus software that can stop the “Smith Virus.”

That is why in the newest movie (and can be argued was the exact same in the 1st movie and so on if their were prequels or follow up movies) the machines choose to keep Neo “dormant” and hidden.

They keep him like you would keep an anti-virus program.

You only need the anti-virus program when you have a virus, otherwise, it stays on your hard drive until you do. Same concept. You see if they killed Neo, and Agent Smith (the Smith virus) were to become active again, they would have no way to stop it. It would consume and spread throughout their entire system and eventually take over completely. In which they would have to do a complete reset and start all over or risk being consumed and destroyed from the inside out.

So they had to keep Neo alive. They preserved him, they healed him, they rebuilt him, and they hid him within the Matrix (essentially in a “asleep in the Matrix” state) so that he wasn’t a threat to their operations, but still there just incase the Smith Virus were to become active again.

Now at this point the lightbulbs are going off in your head and things are starting to make sense, but here’s where we throw the curve ball.

It is actually a continuous loop in which Neo is the anti-virus to the Smith Virus but is actually the one that activates the Smith Virus in the first place.

Think about it. How did Smith become all powerful and start spreading in the first movies.

Neo killed him.

And how did Smith “wake up” in the newest movie. Neo woke up. Smith even says that's how he woke up in the first place in the new movie.

You see without Neo, the Smith Virus spreads, but Neo himself is actually how the virus becomes active in the first place.

Now you could say, “well why not just kill Neo and the Smith Virus would never become active and therefore stopping the cycle all together."

True, but here's the issues.

Because there is no guarantee that that is what would happen.

To the machines, if they kill Neo, they essentially would be killing their best anti-virus program, and the only anti-virus program that they have found that can stop the Smith Virus. Plus what if the Smith Virus becomes active some other way, then they have just destroyed their only means of killing the Smith Virus and stopping it from taking over and either controlling absolute, or destroying them completely from the inside out.

Therefore the machines are forced to keep Neo alive to ensure their own survival, regardless of the fact that he himself, is the reason that the virus becomes active in the first place.

Because one way or another, it is likely that the virus will become active, so by keeping Neo alive, they ensure that the Smith Virus can at least be stopped, even though Neo is the one that continues to activate it.

If they wipe their systems to stop the virus, they loose all information they’ve accumulated over the years. Neo ensures that they can continue to evolve without the risk of having to factory reset their entire system due to a powerful virus such as the Smith Virus destroying and consuming.

That is why Neo is kept alive. This is why he is always kept alive. The One, is a necessity to the machines survival.

So where does Trinity fit in?

She is the reason the anti-virus can preform as it should. Think of it again as an anti-virus program. How do you start the program? It doesn't just start by itself. You need someone to flip the switch.

You need someone to click,

"yes, start scanning."

"Yes, start anti-virus program."

"Yes, eliminate the threat."

Trinity is that switch. She is the one that essentially hits the button to start the anti-virus program in the first place. Without her, Neo (the machines "anti-virus program"), does not start.

And therefore, would not stop the Smith Virus, because no one would be there to start the anti-virus program.

No Trinity + Dormant Neo = Smith Consumes

Meaning,

No Trigger + Dormant Anti-Virus Program = Computer Virus Consumes

That is how Trinity fits into this equation. It's also why it was explained that the machines had to keep Trinity alive but they had to keep her at a distance. Too close at all times, and the machines run the risk of loosing complete control. Similar to humans controlling computers, this would possibly give the power back to humanity due to Neo and Trinity having the power to stop the machines both in and out of the Matrix. So by keeping her at a distance, the machines found that they could keep Neo dormant as essentially an "anti-virus program" to the inevitable Smith Virus, until he was required to become active to destroy the Smith virus again.

Which is why at the end of the movie, both Neo and Trinity have the power that Neo was only thought to have and they stop to see the therapist (program) to tell him that they will be "reshaping things" as they see fit.

It symbolizes the re-emergance of humanity in control of machines rather than machines in control of humanity. It's why the Smith Virus is no longer a threat to Neo because it is a virus that is only a threat to the machines when a human no longer has a means of control over the computers that they originally created. Meaning, when the computers control "absolute," they face their inevitable enemy, a virus that can only be stopped with the assistance of a human. With the humans getting back into the drivers seat (or the computer chair I guess), the Smith Virus is less of a threat. It's a problem that humanity can stop, therefore it is only a serious threat when humans have no control what so ever and the machines run the show.

The machines need the anti-virus program (Neo) to stop the virus that only spreads because the machines can't stop it without a human. With the humans getting back in control of the world and computers back to working along side Humanity, the Smith Virus is no longer the biggest threat to the machines existence.

It is simply a foretelling of Humanity getting back in control, which is also why in the newest Matrix, the machines are working along side the Humans in the real world rather at constant war with all of them (although their were a few secret programs in the first Matrix movies that worked with Humans, an example of this was the Oracle but it became more "openly acceptable" in the newest Matrix).

It's also why Neo was a programmer of a game called The Matrix in the new movie. Symbolizing that he could create and recreate the Matrix as he sees fit.

Now go watch those movies again.

 Original Publish Date: 10/11/2023