Skip to main content

the matrix - How could all versions of Neo look identical?


In Matrix: Reloaded, the wall of screens inside the Architect's room shows various versions of Neo screaming and cussing as the Architect reveals that the prophesy is a lie and that there have been in fact five versions of Neo before him.


All the faces on screen look identical. How can this be if a person's residual self image inside the Matrix is a close approximation of that person's real physical appearance? Were all the "One"s clones, or are there people whose RSI is different from their real appearance or did the screens show something other than the previous versions of Neo?



Edit:


Reopening the question after watching the scene again. As Neo says "There were five ones before me?", those on the screens are heard saying "Four?", "Two?" etc. It seems they're the predecessors.



Answer



The machines have no incentive to purposefully create new Ones. If they already knew the genetic material of Neo (resp. the 1st One) would create an anomaly (a One), again and again, they would certainly stop cloning that particular person. Also this is utterly incompatible with what the Oracle says. The anomalies are incarnations of humans rejecting the system, thus they occur naturally (or lets rather say automatically). So your cloning theory is out of the picture.


It has never ever been even hinted that the RSI of humans would be largely different from their physical appearance in the "real world". Since the Ones are not clones (and by induction their parents, grand parents and so on), their physical appearance is certainly different from Neo's. Thus their RSI must necessarily also differ from Neo's.


What we can see on the screens looks exactly like Neo (duh). However, the Architect never explicitly states: "These are recordings of your predecessors". He indicates however, that what is shown on the monitors are the reactions of Neo's predecessors.


What works Out-of-Universe, seems to be a likely explanation In-Universe; Mapping the reactions of the previous anomalies to the appearance of the current one makes it easier for the audience to understand what the Architect is trying to tell telling Neo. He is nothing special, just another iteration (we later learn that this is only partially true, but I digress). The similarity of Neo's reaction to the older Ones' becomes more apparent if you see the same face, expressing this reaction.


If we now return to the Matrix Universe, we see that the statement the Architect is making, is about the reaction of the anomalies, not the sizes of their noses. This is the same statement the director wants to make, and the reason why Neo's own face (well, Keanu's) is so much better suited than the faces of the older Ones.




You can even go further and speculate that these aren't actually recordings of the reactions of the older Ones, but a prediction of Neo's reaction, based on his predecessors. This would mean, the Machines were able to anticipate the most probable reactions Neo could have -- maybe even with help of the Oracle who got to know Neo quite well.



However, it should be noted again that the last paragraph is pure speculation and most likely impossible to either prove or debunk.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...