Deus Ex Machina (The Matrix)
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Deus Ex Machina is the 'god' of the machines in the Machine City of the Matrix series. It is never explained or defined, but it seems to be the collective sentience of the machines. It communicates to Neo by causing hovering robots to form a speaking face. Neo appears before the Deus Ex Machina in the Machine City nearing the end of Matrix Revolutions. He is able to cut a deal with him; Neo will defeat the program Smith (who has become a serious threat to both the real world and the Matrix) and the machines will accept a truce with Zion. The dialogue is as follows:
Neo: "I've only come to say what I've come to say. After that you can do what you want. I won't try and stop you."
Deus Ex Machina: "Speak!"
Neo: "The program Smith has grown beyond your control. Soon he will spread through this city as he has spread through the Matrix. You cannot stop him. But I can."
Deus Ex Machina: "We don't need you! We need nothing"
Neo: "If that's true, I've made a mistake and you should kill me right now."
Deus Ex Machina: "What do you want?"
Neo: "Peace."
[...]
Deus Ex Machina: "And if you fail?"
Neo: "I won't."
Neo is then jacked into the Matrix by the Deus Ex Machina. After a cosmic duel throughout the Matrix, Neo submits to Smith and Smith copies himself into him. Now directly connected, the Deus Ex Machina sends a surge through Neo/Smith that affects him and all of his copies and ultimately destroys every one of him.
The name alludes to the expression Deus ex machina: In some Ancient Greek drama, an apparently insoluble crisis was solved by the intervention of a god, often brought on stage by an elaborate piece of equipment. This "god from the machine" was literally a deus ex machina.
Few modern works feature deities suspended by wires from the ceiling, but the term deus ex machina is still used for cases where an author uses some improbable (and often clumsy) plot device to work his or her way out of a difficult situation. When the cavalry comes charging over the hill or when the impoverished hero is relieved by an unexpected inheritance, it's often called a deus ex machina.
It is also suspected that naming the being "Deus ex Machina" is a joke by the Wachowski Bros.[citation needed] The being itself is a plot device to ensure that Neo has some measure of saving the Matrix and the real world at the same time. Had it not been for this intervention, Neo would clearly not know what to do, thus this divine being comes in to help Neo decide what to do. The being itself is not specfically named in the dialogue of the movie, but is named in the script.
