This Quora user's explanation of what actually happened at the end of The Matrix Revolutions is pretty mindblowing.

The link to the answer: http://ift.tt/2tBrjYX

"What happens to Neo is a culmination of many choices in the final battle, and also the entire trilogy. This is not a short answer. Luckily, the Wachowskis have provided a rare explanation from the video game The Matrix: Path of Neo. (see #5 if you want to jump right to it).

Let's outline the major plot points; this builds up from the obvious to the amazing:

1. Smith has consumed the Matrix, and thanks to the Oracle, threatens the Machine City and Zion.

Smith has taken over every single human being attached to the Matrix. He consumes the Oracle last. This is key - the Oracle is not an Exile, she is still attached to the Machine Mainframe. She had a choice to escape Smith, but she didn't.

Smith has already discovered how to download himself to the physical world. He possessed the body of Bane, and could download himself to every other person connected to the Matrix. Smith can also download himself into the Oracle's "body" - the Machine Mainframe.

This is the "dangerous game" that the Oracle has played. By allowing Smith to consume her, the Oracle gambles the entire Machine race. After consuming them, Smith can use the sentinels to utterly destroy Zion. Everyone faces extinction.

2. Neo travels to the Machine City and strikes a peace deal with Deus ex Machina, "God from the Machine."

Neo has been having repeating visions of the power lines that connect the Matrix to the Machine City, and knows his path ends there. He arrives without any attachment to the physical world, having lost Trinity and his eyesight. He can never return to Zion. Neo is completely committed to his path.

He meets the Deus Ex Machina, literally "God from the Machine." Terrible to behold, with a baby face made of thousands of swirling microbots, the DEM is reminiscent of Ezekiel's visions of heaven. The DEM is also arrogant and defensive, but the Oracle's gamble has forced the DEM to agree to peace terms between Zion and the Machines if Neo defeats Smith.

3. Neo fights Smith in a battle that can never end.

Smith is not your traditional enemy - he is literally Neo's opposite, his antithesis. As one gains power, the other rises to match. Neo can never conquer Smith through force, and vice versa. This final battle repeats the same images again and again: Smith and Neo hit each other with equal force, causing equal damage. If Neo gains the upper-hand over Smith, Smith recovers and turns the tables on Neo, then the other way around, on and on, presumably forever. The only way Neo can win is to stop fighting.

An interesting aside: the "falling green code" that the Matrix is so famous, the inspiration for so many screensavers in the early 2000s, was originally designed to allude to the heavy rain in this scene, even before the first movie was finished. This suggests that the Matrix is literally weeping code under the strain of Smith.

4. With a clue planted by the Oracle, Neo realizes satori and surrenders to Smith.

Neo's epiphany in the muddy pit, literally the lowest point in his life, is the key moment of the entire trilogy, not so much the flashy stuff that follows.

"Everything that has a beginning, has an end."

Far from being some corny line of dialog, this is the culmination of everything the Oracle has done for Neo - all of her riddles, her tests, all the errands she has sent Neo on and the strange beings he met along the way. When the Oracle first said this line, Neo understood rationally, but at this final moment Neo comprehends deep within his gut - he groks it.

Neo had already experienced Smith's conversion process in The Matrix Reloaded and said it felt like dying. But Neo has already survived death, so he understands he can survive this as well.

5. Lana Wachowski explains (from the video game The Matrix: Path of Neo):

"Neo stands on the verge of satori, ready to resolve the parodox of choice and choicelessness, free will versus fate but that can only be achieved through an act of surrender, which occurs after an abandonment of the perspectile nature of truth accepting the totality of present consciousness which ultimately allows an evolutionary transition, transcending the Cartesian Dilemma through emergence of de-limited spirit which then provides the world with a third path, the Path of Neo, the path of peace"

There is a lot of Eastern philosophy going on here. Let's break this down:

Paradox of Choice, Free Will vs Fate:

Neo is the One because of his choices, yet he could not have succeeded without external forces, such as his friends and enemies, influencing his path. The debate of Free Will vs Fate is a paradox because both sides are correct.

Abandoning the Perspectile nature of Truth:

A major theme of the entire trilogy, Neo recognizes that he knows so little despite all of his powers. Yet again, Neo must abandon what he thinks to be absolute truth in order to grow.

Transcending the Cartesian Dilemma:

aka, Descartes' Mind/Body dualism. Although we are each a single individual, our minds and our bodies seem to exist in two separate worlds which operate on separate rules. The dilemma is unifying the two, made possible by transcending the duality entirely.

Accepting the Totality of present consciousness:

Whatever our minds resist grows to overwhelm us. We must accept dualities and paradoxes or risk being fixated on them. Neo must accept Smith's rage and negativity as fighting Smith only makes him stronger.

An act of surrender:

This very phrase is a paradox - an act of actionlessness. Surrender is a shunned concept in Western culture, a sign of weakness. Yet in Eastern philosophy, surrender is the answer to duality and paradox. It is not weakness because you choose to surrender. By letting these conflicts rage on in our minds, they quiet down.

On the verge of Satori:

Satori is an ecstatic self-realization, when you realize a truth with more than just your mind, but your heart and your experiences as well. A truth that pierces you to your very soul. Neo realizes that as long as he resists Smith, their fight will continue forever. If Neo wants peace, he must surrender to Smith. The act of surrender, with Smith's blackness sweeping over him, is the moment of Satori.

Evolutionary transition through emergence of de-limited spirit:

Instead of dying, Neo's consciousness grows beyond the limits of his body to inhabit the Matrix.

6. The transcendence of Neo & Smith replicates to each copy of Smith, saving every person in the Matrix.

Once Smith reintegrates with Neo, this process copies itself to all copies of Smith. This is the unique ability of Smith - Neo could not have replicated this on his own.

What I find interesting is that Smith/Oracle (the copy of Smith possessing the Oracle) is what sends the giant shock wave through the Matrix. The Oracle is much, much more powerful than Neo.

7. The Matrix is reloaded for the 7th time, and the mind experiences Sati.

The Matrix is loading for the 7th time (Genesis 2-2 "on the 7th day God rested") and we learn that Smith had been cleaned away and everyone still existed underneath. No dramatic changes occurred, except the light of the Matrix has lost its subtle green tint and is replaced with a full white light.

Forget what you've read on the Internet about women throwing themselves on fires. Sati is a buddhist concept for the ecstatic feeling one gets after achieving enlightenment. Thus as the sun rises over a new era in the Matrix, Sati has created a beautiful effect in honor of Neo.

The light of the Matrix has lost its subtle green tint and is replaced with a full white spectrum.

Neo is honored by the Machines and carried away, with faint suggestions that his body is incorruptible (will not decay after death). His mind and spirit have likely transcended into the Matrix, covering it like a guardian angel or holy ghost. We can never know for sure because of the "perspectile nature of truth."

Submitted July 01, 2017 at 08:12PM by Shartman_Begins http://ift.tt/2scLCap