Architect (The Matrix)
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The Architect is a fictional character appearing in the last two films of the Matrix trilogy, created by the Wachowski brothers. The character is played by Helmut Bakaitis. He also makes an appearance in the MMORPG The Matrix Online. One of the most obviously artificial sentient programs, he speaks in long logical chains of reasoning, utilizing several connectors such as "ergo"; other programs usually are more dramatic in their speech; a tendency clearly visible in Agent Smith and The Merovingian.
The Architect is first encountered by Neo appearing as a manicured, extremely articulate bureaucrat sitting in a large circular room whose walls are covered by television monitors in a pivotal scene at the climax of Matrix Reloaded, the second film of the Trilogy. He reveals himself to Neo as being the creator of the Matrix. A sapient computer program, he appears as a white-bearded old man. In an extended period of dialogue, the Architect explains that his role is to "balance the equation" of the Matrix. In the third movie, the Oracle tells Neo that her purpose is to unbalance the equation.
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[edit] Role
The Architect was involved with the creation of the very first version of the Matrix. It was a failure; though designed to be a utopia, its human denizens refused to accept a world of complete perfection. So the Architect modified the Matrix to bring it closer to what the machines understood about human nature. However, he met again with failure. Entire crops of humans died as they resisted being forced into the Matrix against their will.
The solution to this problem was discovered by the Oracle: a version of the Matrix that gave humans the subconscious choice of accepting it. This version was accepted by nearly 99.9% of all test subjects. So the Matrix was rewritten to allow subjects to subconsciously choose whether or not they wanted to be a part of it.
However, the Architect calculated that those who did not accept the program, would pose an "escalating probability of disaster." Those humans who left the Matrix would gradually increase in number over time, through recruitment and population growth, eventually becoming capable of directly threatening the machine civilization. Because he was aware of this possibility, the machines were able to plan around it to maintain a measure of control over the humans, even while allowing them the choice to leave the Matrix.
While the Oracle was able to guide the actions of the humans who left the Matrix through prophecy, it was the Architect who programmed The One that would fulfill this prophecy. The One was made carrying not only the source code of the Matrix "Prime Program," but also with a profound attachment to humanity that would later motivate him to fulfill the prophecies being spread by the Oracle. Every time the free humans had grown strong enough to start threatening machine hegemony, The One would be born into the Matrix.
As the prophecies were fulfilled by The One, the machines would begin building an army to destroy Zion. Under the guidance of the Oracle, The One would find his way to the Source (the machine mainframe), convinced that his actions there would end the war on behalf of the humans.
The Architect, however, resides in a room that lies on the path to the Source, so the One would invariably encounter him along the way. During this encounter, The Architect would reveal his influence over the preceding events and present The One with a choice:
- He may return to the Source at which point the Matrix source code would be reinserted into the program, allowing for the system to reboot. Zion is still destroyed and people are still trapped in the Matrix, but The One would be allowed to select from the Matrix twenty-three individuals (seven males and sixteen females) to be freed so they could found a new Zion.
- He may refuse to cooperate and return to the Matrix. Refusal would lead to a system crash, killing all of the inhabitants of the Matrix. With the destruction of Zion, this would spell extinction for the human species.
The machinations of The Architect & The Oracle were quite successful in maintaining the status quo, at least initially; until Neo, all incarnations of The One had chosen to cooperate with the Machines in order to preserve humanity.
[edit] Conversation with Neo
In The Matrix Reloaded, The Architect offered Neo the same choice he offered his five predecessors. He informs Neo that the machine army is going to destroy Zion. Neo can choose to return to the Matrix, or he can return to the Source, choose a few selected humans to restart Zion, and continue the cycle.
In the past, the Ones saw little choice - an extremely high probability of death for all humanity by refusing to cooperate, or the certainty of keeping humanity alive by returning to the Source. But, unlike previous Ones, Neo was experiencing his programmed attachment to humanity in a specific way: in his love for Trinity.
So presented by the Architect with a choice between the destruction of humanity or losing Trinity, Neo saw no choice. His love for her led him to choose to attempt saving her, even though the Architect had asserted that her death was certain and his attempt to save her would mean doom for all humanity.
Despite the fact that the Machines are using humanity to maintain their civilization, the Architect, who seems unmoved when Neo pointed this out, states that, "There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept."
[edit] Consequences of actions
The Oracle revealed in The Matrix Revolutions that the summary of the Architect's role in the Matrix was to balance it, like an equation. Furthermore, when Neo asked her what Smith is, she tells him,
"He is you, your opposite, your negative, the result of the equation trying to balance itself out."
When the Architect programmed The One as part of maintaining control over the Matrix, he set the stage for the emergence of Smith as a growing threat against the Matrix and the Machine City. He told Neo that he was, "the eventuality of an anomaly....... the anomaly is systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations." These fluctuations appeared to affect Smith, even as Neo destroyed him in the first movie. In Matrix Reloaded, Smith stated,
"Then you're aware of it...... our connection. I don't fully understand how it happened, perhaps some part of you imprinted onto me, something overwritten or copied....... You destroyed me, Mr. Anderson. Afterward, I knew the rules, I understood what I was supposed to do.... but I didn't. I couldn't. I was compelled to stay.... compelled to disobey."
It is unclear whether the Architect directly acted in the interest of balancing Neo within the Matrix, or part of the code inherent to the programming of The One affected Smith. Regardless, the actions of the Architect compelled Smith to go against his original programming and become driven to increase his power like a virus.
The threat that Smith represented would have been remedied if the Matrix was rebooted as before, but Neo refused to cooperate with the Architect, because of his feelings for Trinity. Consequently, Smith was allowed to grow stronger, leading to an escalating threat, not just to the Matrix but the Machine City, and ultimately, to the showdown at the end of the trilogy. It is unclear whether The Architect lacked the power to intervene directly against Smith, or if he simply chose not to.
[edit] Keeping his word
In the final scene of the film he joins the Oracle, commenting that she "played a very dangerous game," referring to the Oracle's role in guiding Neo as he defied the Architect's system of control. The Oracle asks The Architect whether the truce with Zion will be kept, he replies, "What do you think I am.... human?"
