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the matrix - When Did the Machines Realize How Important Neo Was?



When Agent Smith catches Neo and takes him in for "questioning," they're interested in Morpheus and plant a probe in Neo to help them find Morpheus. They don't seem at all interested in Neo for himself, but only for his ability to lead them to Morpheus. At this point the Machines are not aware of how important Neo is in the long run.


When do the machines realize just how important Neo is? Do they not realize this until Agent Smith can't kill him? Or is it at another time?



Answer



The Architect knows that eventually, someone like Neo must appear. It's kind of "built" into the system. So it's reasonable to assume that the machines keep watch (they never tire of boring tasks).


What we know is that it must happen between the time after the Oracle meets Neo and Neo meets with the Architect. My speculations:




  • The Oracle is (among other things) part of the security of the Matrix. We only know what she tells us, not what her complex relationship to the Matrix really is. She might have notified the rest of the system of her assessment of Neo. If that was the case, why didn't the machines kill Neo instantly?


    If the Oracle assumed Neo to be curious but not dangerous, the machines might label him has "potential threat" and leave him alone until the pattern becomes more clear.


    Or the Oracle might keep some thoughts to herself. Like a mother, who wants to see how far her children will go. In this case, the low level security systems (the Agents) might be aware that something is on foot but Neo might be still one file among the other people who defected to Zion.



    So I can't find any evidence either way here.




  • The Architect knows what Neo is and why. At this time, it's safe to assume that they know what he is, since the Architect seems to be an integral part of the Matrix (i.e. he works with the Matrix while the Oracle might not share all their thoughts with the other machines).




  • At the end of the first movie, Neo "kills" Agent Smith (or turns him into a potent super virus).


    I think it's safe to assume that some part of the Matrix realizes that Neo is special at this point. But that doesn't necessarily make Neo "important".


    For example, we don't know what happens to all the other people who reach a level close to Neo's. How does the Matrix deal with them generally? Neo is hunted as in "shoot to kill" but that doesn't seem to apply for the children playing in Oracle's flat.





  • Before that, Neo fights with an Agent on the roof of the building and Neo manages to evade the bullets. According to Trinity, this is a very unusual ability. It's unclear whether this triggered any monitor/sentry programs - at least there was no unusual response (like flooding the area with agents or blowing up the building in a kind of ad-hoc terror bombing) inside the Matrix. This doesn't mean that the backbone processes didn't notice what was happening.




So maybe Neo's aggressive behavior triggered the Agent response while a more meditative approach would have been ignored or fostered by the Matrix.


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