>This email will explore the argument about whether Zion is also within the matrix. Although not against the viewpoint taken in the article, there are some further points to add that perhaps suggest that Zion is in fact still within the matrix. To assess these, we will firstly assume that Zion is not contained within the matrix then we encounter a few problems.
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>1 - how does neo sense and have powers outside of the matrix at the end? If we only accept rational explanations, then it seems that neo must still be in the matrix if he has extra-ordinary powers.
MM-->This and Smith's ability to replicate to a human are basically the two arguments in favor of multiple matrices. Both events remain unexplained at the conclusion of Reloaded but neither requires another level of matrix. As Smith himself states, something has changed, overwritten, copied, whatever... but the result is that now he can do things that he could not before. We find out (without so many words) that the same is true for Neo at the end... but neither instance requires a 2nd matrix.
Indeed, Smith does not seem to think so, he attributes the change and new powers -- IIRC -- to Neo's humanness. Likewise, I would attribute Neo's newfound ability to communicate (after all, that is what Neo does, even if it takes the form of halting an attack) with the sentinels as the mirror image of Smith's new skills. While a 2nd matrix would explain (or more accurately -- explain away) the uniqueness of such events, it does not follow from the entire logic of the plot... the fact that the matrix is in danger of collapse and needs to be reloaded. But you know my argument already, so I won't rehash it here.
BTW we can view Smith’s new powers as a mere extension of his old. As an agent he was capable of “overwriting” any human within the matrix. Now he can do so (as well as to other programs) without relinquishing his previous overwrites. So his ability to overwrite is not so much new as his ability to make such overwrites permanent.
>RE a comment in the article: If there was an imprint upon neo from smith, similar to the one printed on smith by neo, this still would not account for supernatural powers in the "real" world, only in the matrix world.
MM-->Is it supernatural? Remember, all the humans from the matrix are already cyborgs -- that is why they can re-enter the matrix. Just like Smith, Neo has learned to use his already existing abilities in new ways - rather than communicating through wires he is now broadcasting in some manner, just like Smith is no longer rewriting over sleeping bodies one at a time (as the agent "takes over" a matrix entity) but retaining such entities and even rewriting over extra-matrix entities (Bane).
>2 - Neo himself comments that something is different when he emerges from the matrix. We should note that in the original matrix neo did not possess any powers until he saw the matrix for what it was. Similarly, it is possible that until he met the administrator, he believed that zion was real, or outside of the matrix, when it was not. This could account for him discovering his powers at the end.
MM--> However, unlike when Neo was freed from the Matrix, Neo doesn't free his mind and understand... he "feels" it, again just like Smith who also doesn't understand it, he "feels" it.
>3 - agent smith is able to imprint or take-over the body of a person in "real world" zion?
>If the machines could control the mind whilst preserving the body in the "real" world, then of course we would have no need for the matrix at all.
MM--> Indeed, and that is why Smith is something entirely different – I expect that he will inevitably represent not only a threat to humans but also to machines (at least that is how I read it).
This suggests again that Smith can probably only operate within a matrix or computer framework, but not INSIDE a human mind in the real world. Machines can only control the senses of a person, they cannot control the mind.
MM--> Until now.... muhahahaha
This again suggests that the version of zion that we see is also within a matrix framework.
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>3 - How can Trinity bring neo back from the dead? Did she bring him back from the dead? How did Neo bring Trinity back from the dead?
MM--> Love! No, seriously, I guess they were both able to short out or override the messages that the brain was receiving... call it shock therapy. When in the Matrix the mind is receiving sensory input from the Matrix. It is obvious to me that Neo exploited aspect of the mind/matrix link in his resuscitation of Trinity. How Trinity revived Neo is a little more difficult to explain… she obviously was able –somehow, because Neo is the One?-- to get though the “blocking out” of real sensory input that the mind encounters when it cybernetically enters the Matrix.
>In the real world most of us would agree that if you die, you cannot be resurrected. But it is possible for people to be resurrected within a computer program. In the first case, trinity resurrects neo from "outside" the matrix. In the second, Neo resurrects trinity from inside the matrix. So we have people being resurrected both "inside" and "outside" the matrix. An explanation for this being that both "inside" and "outside" are still within the matrix, or a larger version of the matrix.
MM-->But this would remain a weak point whether you embrace the 2nd matrix theory or not. It's not an argument for either view, just an over-dramatized plot device.
>Why were there resurrections? Neo apparently is the only thing necessary for the machines to reload the matrix. Since the machines need neo, they may well have resurrected him, or allowed Trinity to.
MM--> Nah, they have statistics on their side. If Neo doesn't do it, someone else will... eventually.
Since Neo's love of mankind is embodied in Trinity, she could not be allowed to die because then Neo would not care about the world or reloading the matrix to keep humanity alive.
MM-->Certainly not, since it is his love for Trinity that screws it all up (from the Architect's POV).
>What choice do the machines face at the end of reloaded? They can either destroy zion and the matrix, which apparently would kill all humans in the real world. This would have significant effects upon their way of life. Or they could continue trying to make neo reload the matrix until that was no longer a possibility. In other words, Neo "correctly" called the administrators apparent bluff - and we will find out what happens in matrix revolutions.
MM--> The machines -- at least the Architect -- don't feel regret, if something happens it was a mathematical chance and would have happened eventually anyway. They're not "happy" about it but don't mistake fatalistic resignation for a bluff. The Architect truly believes this is the end... and well it may be for his sort of program and humanity -- as we have known them...
BTW check out this site to review the Architect’s speech – it demonstrates point by point why the Architect’s speech is inconsistent with the notion of Zion as a second Matrix.
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