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Whay makes Neo so special besides the fact that he is meant to reset the matrix? Why should he be given super powers? I mean sure, he rebels can all bend the laws of physics to some extent, but why should Neo be any more powerful than them?

Because he is the representation of the collective will of the people to be free. This is the source of his power.

The collective will of the people of Zion (don't see how it could be the will of every human since most don't even know about the matrix)? That seems to delve into real strange stuff with no possible scientific explanation. Then again neither does Neo's coming back to life in M1 make any scientific sense.

But supposing Neo draws his powers from the will of the people of Zio to be free, wouldn't that mean that Neo would get weaker anytime somebody from Zion dies? That would mean that an all out war against Zion would probably leave Neo very weak indeed.

Afraid Not. The only reason he can do all the stuff that he can is because he KNOWS that the "rules" of the Matrix world don't apply to him. There has never been any mention of the collective will of all the enslaved folks..... sorry you are wrong.

Ok that makes a bit more sense. But then couldn't anybody who believed hard enough do what Neo does or would they need to be the One?

yes. that is why morpheus and trinity can jump across buildings and walk on walls.... the only thing they cant get past, is that there are NO limits.... and Neo can.

Of COURSE it is the collective will. Not of the people of Zion, of the people of the MATRIX who reject their surroundnings- subconsciously. They don't have to know it.

The One is the sum of the anomaly caused by that rejection, as the Architect describes. That is where his power comes from, that is why he can do what he does.

His powers are WAY beyond what any mere hacker can do.

I think that you misunderstood the Architect......

The anomaly was not caused by the rejection of the matrix by the people within the matrix. The anomaly was caused by the introduction of "freewill" into the Matrix. The coding that was implemented caused an error of sorts that enabled a person in the matrix to conciously reject it, and also to bend the rules of the matrix. After time the "error" would snowball to point of making it possible for the One to exist.

I always thought that his powers come from himself not the will of others. like hatemachine said, Neo has reached a higher level of understanding of the matrix. he understands there is no limits. a person with that understanding only pops up every once and awhile. but then again like Ush said the architect does corilate the one to the building up of the subconcious resistence to the matrix, hence the need to reload. very good question, I never really thought of why he has the powers beyond the assumption that he is just damn good.

To quote, hate:

"99% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice...even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself."

The obvious flaw being it has there is still a 1% rejection. This subconscious will creates the anomaly.

"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. you are the eventuallity of an anomaly which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision"

And this anomaly makes Neo what he is. It is not a bug in the free will concept, it is an inevitable result of free will's introduction.

Hence his powers derive from the subconscious desire of the people. As far as I can see your answer compliments mine.

To simplify:

Free choice creates the anomaly
The One is the final product of that anomaly
Therefore the One's powers are created by the free choice of the people-but not consciously.

But, the anomaly is created by mathimatical equations. Which also created the 1% that subconsciously reject the matrix. The abilities Neo has and the fact that 1% of the people in the matrix reject it are caused by the same mathimatical equation. Not by the fact that people reject it.

He has powers because he is the One, he is not the One because he has powers.

No, the 1% rejection CREATES the anomaly. The anomaly eventually ends up as the One.

He is the One simply because he IS the One, and the One has powers.

To simplify:

The Mathimatical Equation created Free Choice
The same equation created the anomoly
Therefore freechoice and the anomoly were created at the same time.
Hence the anomoly could not have been created by the will of those still inside the matrix.

No I do not agree, they introduce free will and that free will creates the anomaly. That is how I interpret it. The anomaly is not independant of the free will, it stems directly from it.

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion

even if it is wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

at least in my opinion

"Ergo those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked would constitute an escalating probablility of disaster."

If the anomaly was independant of the free will these people would not matter, the damage would already be done. They DO matter, therefore clearly the anomaly springs from them

I agree with HateMachine in my opinion the only reason Neo has powers its because he understands all the rules not because he draws the power from the people i think that as a programmer Neo understands whats going on and how he can change and do all the stuff he does and someone might say if they havent already that Trinity and Morpheous among others are hackers, while they are i dont think they have the programing aspect of hacking like Neo does to me all he does is ben the matrix to his will

Well I think the Architect's words are clear in describing Neo's powers coming from the anomaly created by the people, as Turin says.

Neo is not simply better than everyone else. He is fudamentally different.

The reason that makes no sense whatsoever its that aside from the people outside the Matrix nobody else has any idea about the existence of The One to me for all the people to have that effect on Neo they would have to be consient about his exsistence which they are not also to me for Neo to feel the power from the people he would have to be loved or wanted by everyone and not even all ouside the Matrix are plus how can he get the power from the peeps when he really have no regards for the people lives because how many people died in both movies without Neo showing no kind of emotion for none of them so to me the idea of him drawing the power from the peeps is far fetched

No, the Architect specifically describes how the process is subconscious so it is not necessary for anyone to know. NONE of them have to consciously know the Matrix exists to subconciously decide if they want to be in or not. So it makes perfect sense.

It is nothing to do with them BEQUEATHING him power, as such. He is not dependant on their mood. He does not have to care about them in the slightest. He is just the final result of the anomaly they create, as described by the Architect. It is all said in the film.

What is ABSOLUTELY certain is that Neo cannot do what he does just because he is a better programmer. He SPECIFICALLY gets his powers from the Anomaly. I think the Architect's words clearly link the rejection of some people of the Matrix as creating that anomaly, as my quotes describe.

And it is thematically appropriate that an Anomaly caused by a rejection of control manifests itself as something that breaks that control by not having to follow the rules.

Hey Ushgarak, you seem to have a thorough understanding about what the Archetect said and the mathematic computation anomaly paradox. How many times did you see the movie?

Actually, I have still only seen it once! But what the Architect said has been analyzed rather a lot.

i think that he has super powers because of the people he had to fight to get the keymaker, and to get to the source, without super powers, they wouldnt have gotten through most the fights

I say that both theories are right but for diffrent reasons. Ush you are right in saying he is the one because of everyone elses rejection of the matrix.

But that means he has been the one all of his life. When he was younger he couldn't break rules. Or even when he was an adult. It took the belief in himself and the knowledge that the rules don't apply to him to get his powers.

Just because you are born with potential dosen't mean you get to use it. The oracle said it herself in the first movie he had the gift he might have been waiting for his next life.

yes, it is definite that the subconcious resistence to the matrix and the anomoly are linked even if it is just in the simple fact that they are part of the same equation. hence if one of the two is changed the other is affected either in solution or root.

Perhaps the spiritual approach to explaining something that has already been exemplified in Star Trek regarding the Borg isn't the best. Afterall, those who were born and outfitted to be connected to the Matrix will obviously have an intrinsic connection to the system. Neo's powers outside the realm of the Matrix could be a manifestation of that entrenched symbiotic relationship between human and machine, just bumbed up a few notches (quite a few).

The architect had to give the humans the ability to choose, or the Matrix was doomed to fail on a cataclysmic level. But the imperfections that were necessary for humans to survive also infested the Matrix itself, allowing rogue programs and anomolies to transpire.

Our reluctant hero/savior Neo seems to just know certain things without question, and yet questions his very purpose in being the one. I believe that, as he was a brilliant hacker with computers in the Matrix before his "liberation", he is also a brilliant hacker in the real world. And as a desperate people who have never seen the light of day reflect on their subterannean futures, they all too easily come to biblical conclusions regarding Neo and their potential salvation.

It is a very complicated world the Waschowksi brothers have given us. And it has spawned endless speculation on the conclusion of the Matrix trilogy.

i dont think that is true. In that case anyone who knew about the one and needed to could become the one. With type of idea we could say morph was a canidate for being the one. He knew about it, he could bend the rules more than most ( he faired decent against an Agent). He had the belief that there was a ONE. But it was not him because he was not meant to be it. He was not born the one, Neo was.

It is said in the new movie. Neo is the sum of an unequal equation. All of the flaws in the matrix add up to be him. Not he found it, it is him. Now knowing your the one and being the one are two diffrent things. He was the one all his life but he didn't know it so he couldn't express his powers.

In essence. Knowing something or not knowing does not change if it is there or not. You just have to know it to express it.

I agree he had to accept it, but it was him and only him that was the one. For instance, the cypher comment that if he was the one it would take some kind of miracle to stop him from pulling the plug. Plus how he was so quick to bend the rules when fighting morph. Plus how he could learn so fast, faster than others judgeing by tanks reaction

Not if the "real-world" Zion realm is also part of the Matrix



Well, if the "real-world" is actually still part of the Matrix, then it would explain that wouldn't it?



Storytelling trick? Maybe that's what you were meant to believe.

But...that's another thread

well that dips into the multimatrix thing which i dont beleive. your right that Neo did have to choose to be the one, but no one else could have made that discision for themselves, otherwise everyone would be choosing to be the one. It is something that has been with him his whole life, it just took someone to guide him to it. and as far as the one being some random program running around in the matrix, i strongly disagree with it just on the fact that the architect makes it sound like the One is very predictable. but i wont close my mind to the thought of the one being a program. i kind of like that idea.

now that i can agree with.

well if i were in the matrix any one that i saw do that stuff could be the one for all i know, i will agree with you on that. And with the kids with the oricle being refered to as potentials initially when i saw it i was thinkng potentials for getting released from the matrix. Plus they dont know who the One is going to be so they are checking these kids out to see if they are the one, so potentially one of them could be, but i take it you mean everyone of them has the potential and my point is potentially one could be. i hope that makes sense.

i think neo have super powers because the one have to have a very strong mind. he needs it to do what he should. so he can do his superman-thing because of the strength of his mind. i guess in the matrix, you are as strong as your mind. and the one has the very strongest mind of all.

I actually agree with Ushgarak on this.

The Omega-"If there was only ONE, a unique person born into the Matrix whose sole purpose was to collect the anomaly, then what were the other potentials doing in the Oracles appartment?"

I dont think anyone besides the Architect, knew who the one was. The Only thing the Oracle knows is the Prophecy. And besides, even IF she did know who the Anomaly was, would that mean that she had NO use in consulting Morpheus or Trinity. They ALL had a Purpose. Heck without a Morpheus, there literally would be no Neo at full power. Or any hope.

I think its because he can see the code and hack into the programs of the matrix.Like when he flies he probably hacks into the program that controls gravity in the matrix.

You guys are forgetting one thing: The Matrix is all in Neo's mind.
Remember what Morph said: "The Matrix is a computer generated dream world.." The keyword here is DREAM. Neo's mind is so strong that it regards what the Matrix tells his brain as a dream. And in dreams there are no rules. Do a Google search for "hacking your wetware" - it's more common than you think. As for the anomaly, what it really means is that as more people are born in the Matrix over the years, the strength of mind/will necessary for resisting the "programming" increases. The anomaly is most common among the 1% of people in the who initally refuse the program..."Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster." This disaster that occurs when someone will actually reach the strength of mind necessary to...well DOS (Denial of Service) the whole Matrix. As for Neo's ability outside of the Matrix, ever hear of the phrase "as above so below"? It doesn't necessarily means there's a Matrix within a Matrix, but I'll leave you guys to figure it out.

Omega you forget: "If a tree falls in the woods and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" The Matrix is in Neo's mind just as much as (if not more so) Neo's mind is in the Matrix. Neo realized this. That's why when we look through Neo's eyes at the end of M1 and parts of Reloaded, he sees code when he sees in the Matrix. (sidenote: if there are nested Matrices, then at the end of M2 he should have seen the "real" world as code, esp. when we see thru his eyes). Oh...the anagram for Neo also forms Noe the 1st 3 letters in the word Noesis, which is the highest form of thought - intuitive thought. I thought it was kinda cool.
Anyway, the connection is two-way and it exists within both "spheres"
of interaction - the mind and the Matrix - but Neo not the Matrix has control of the connection and the action is more within his mind now than in the Matrix, except that the "feedback" he gives to the Matrix would be screwy when Link on the outside and anyone inside "sees" what he's doing. The computer has to interpret the info sent back from Neo's mind...superpowers are the end result.

Not yet Omega....

Replied to this not realizing how old the thread was lol