The interesting thing about the mythos of "The Matrix" is that it has managed to combine the Eastern and Western mythological traditions by creating, in Neo, a "hero's hero" of sorts: a character who possesses the redemptive power of both Buddha and Christ, the egoless and the individuated, identification and relationship. The Wachowskis are certainly the first within the cinematic community to succeed at anything like this, and are perhaps breaking ground in wider arenas as well. They have created a proto-myth which is attempting to unify what became divided at the beginning of the Zoroastrian tradition. While within the Matrix, Neo functions in his role as the Buddha: at one with everything, able to manipulate 'reality' at will. Outside the Matrix, in the 'real' world, Neo will function as a Christ figure: apart from divinity but able, through his relationship with it, to direct its power.
What, then, does all this point to in terms of what we can expect from "Revolutions"? Nothing is certain, of course, but there seem to be some likely possibilities.
First up is the question of how Neo managed to stop the sentinels at the end of "Reloaded." The mythological structure just formulated provides some answers which manage to explain this mystery without resorting to something as banal and unimaginative as - to take a popular online theory - a Matrix within a Matrix. Since it happened in the real world, Neo was necessarily functioning in his Occidental role as the Christ. It was therefore not accomplished through any organic power inherent to Neo himself, but rather he was able to somehow communicate with the "God of the machines" (presumably the Architect) and through that communication control the behavior of machines in the real world. That is, Neo (by some physical channel that has yet to be made clear - perhaps via a device implanted in his body along with his plugs and input jacks and not activated until he chose "the door on the left") essentially "prayed" to the Architect, asking him to stop what was about to destroy him. The Architect, being a benign divinity, had mercy and complied. This will require confirmation in "Revolutions," of course, but it seems, for now, to be a reasonably satisfying explanation.
If "Revolutions" has Neo continuing in the pattern of Christ, he likely must die in the real world before assuming the proper role of savior (just as, to assume his role as Buddha, he died in the virtual world of the Matrix). The mechanism of that death has already been hinted at, with Bane being an obvious candidate to play the role of Judas: perhaps he will "betray" Neo by convincing the council (or even Morpheus himself) that The One's choice has doomed the Matrix and that it can only be saved by sacrificing Neo. Morpheus would actually be an interesting choice as it would provide a compelling parallel to the New Testament: Christ was, after all, crucified at the behest of the Pharisees, the leaders of the old religious tradition. But whatever the mechanism, that death will result in Neo being sent, like Christ, to hell: presumably to be symbolized by a Matrix completely taken over by Smith. Neo will enter this hell to confront and ultimately defeat Smith, thereby banishing the anomaly from the Matrix and saving (in both the literal and mythological sense) every person still plugged in.
Fulfilling his destiny, Neo will return (resurrect) to the real world where he will assume his true role of savior: he will be a means of communication with the machines through which humanity will be able save itself from the wrath of the sentinels. He will enable the establishment of a true relationship between humans and machines, just as Christ enabled the establishment of a relationship of expiation and forgiveness with God the Father (John 14:6, "I am the way ... No one reaches the Father except through me"). This relationship liberates believing Christians from the burden of Judaic Law just as Neo will liberate humanity from the bonds of the Matrix and spare Zion from the wrath of the sentinels.
In the garden of Eden grew two trees of particular significance: the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. When Adam tasted of the Tree of Knowledge, God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" ... So He drove man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24)
As Campbell explains in his volume on Oriental mythology, thence comes the separation between East and West:
Of the tree that grows in the garden where God walks in the cool of the day, the wise men westward of Iran have partaken of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, whereas those on the other side of that cultural divide have relished only the fruit of eternal life. And if man should taste of both fruits he would become, we have been told, as God himself - which is the boon that the meeting of East and West today is offering to us all.
This boon is exactly what the Wachowskis are aiming for: a union of Eastern and Western religious traditions. Assuming "Revolutions" is able to finish what "Reloaded" has begun, the "Matrix" trilogy is virtually assured of becoming the definitive sci-fi mythology of this generation. And, if it does things really right, perhaps even the first universal myth of the post-globalization era. What Zoroaster divided, let the Wachowskis reunite.
What, then, does all this point to in terms of what we can expect from "Revolutions"? Nothing is certain, of course, but there seem to be some likely possibilities.
First up is the question of how Neo managed to stop the sentinels at the end of "Reloaded." The mythological structure just formulated provides some answers which manage to explain this mystery without resorting to something as banal and unimaginative as - to take a popular online theory - a Matrix within a Matrix. Since it happened in the real world, Neo was necessarily functioning in his Occidental role as the Christ. It was therefore not accomplished through any organic power inherent to Neo himself, but rather he was able to somehow communicate with the "God of the machines" (presumably the Architect) and through that communication control the behavior of machines in the real world. That is, Neo (by some physical channel that has yet to be made clear - perhaps via a device implanted in his body along with his plugs and input jacks and not activated until he chose "the door on the left") essentially "prayed" to the Architect, asking him to stop what was about to destroy him. The Architect, being a benign divinity, had mercy and complied. This will require confirmation in "Revolutions," of course, but it seems, for now, to be a reasonably satisfying explanation.
If "Revolutions" has Neo continuing in the pattern of Christ, he likely must die in the real world before assuming the proper role of savior (just as, to assume his role as Buddha, he died in the virtual world of the Matrix). The mechanism of that death has already been hinted at, with Bane being an obvious candidate to play the role of Judas: perhaps he will "betray" Neo by convincing the council (or even Morpheus himself) that The One's choice has doomed the Matrix and that it can only be saved by sacrificing Neo. Morpheus would actually be an interesting choice as it would provide a compelling parallel to the New Testament: Christ was, after all, crucified at the behest of the Pharisees, the leaders of the old religious tradition. But whatever the mechanism, that death will result in Neo being sent, like Christ, to hell: presumably to be symbolized by a Matrix completely taken over by Smith. Neo will enter this hell to confront and ultimately defeat Smith, thereby banishing the anomaly from the Matrix and saving (in both the literal and mythological sense) every person still plugged in.
Fulfilling his destiny, Neo will return (resurrect) to the real world where he will assume his true role of savior: he will be a means of communication with the machines through which humanity will be able save itself from the wrath of the sentinels. He will enable the establishment of a true relationship between humans and machines, just as Christ enabled the establishment of a relationship of expiation and forgiveness with God the Father (John 14:6, "I am the way ... No one reaches the Father except through me"). This relationship liberates believing Christians from the burden of Judaic Law just as Neo will liberate humanity from the bonds of the Matrix and spare Zion from the wrath of the sentinels.
In the garden of Eden grew two trees of particular significance: the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. When Adam tasted of the Tree of Knowledge, God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" ... So He drove man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24)
As Campbell explains in his volume on Oriental mythology, thence comes the separation between East and West:
Of the tree that grows in the garden where God walks in the cool of the day, the wise men westward of Iran have partaken of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, whereas those on the other side of that cultural divide have relished only the fruit of eternal life. And if man should taste of both fruits he would become, we have been told, as God himself - which is the boon that the meeting of East and West today is offering to us all.
This boon is exactly what the Wachowskis are aiming for: a union of Eastern and Western religious traditions. Assuming "Revolutions" is able to finish what "Reloaded" has begun, the "Matrix" trilogy is virtually assured of becoming the definitive sci-fi mythology of this generation. And, if it does things really right, perhaps even the first universal myth of the post-globalization era. What Zoroaster divided, let the Wachowskis reunite.
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, and you are not left outside total expectations since you get your smith - neo battle.
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