While the ending of The Matrix leaves several questions unanswered in regards the film’s central themes and main plot points, the Wachowskis’ intelligent script never neglects to hide the real answers deep beneath the surface. Their film was among the most revolutionary and inspirational projects of its era, completely redefining the sci-fi genre and the way the world viewed the medium. The Matrix tells the story of Neo, an everyday programmer whose life is turned upside-down when he learns that his entire existence is an organized simulation – and he’s the only one that can bring it down.
Bringing together themes of fate, predestination, and intense existentialism, The Matrix raises plenty of fascinating questions that movies have long avoided. Though many have often misunderstand The Matrix’s central message, the answers are actually laid out fairly clearly in the first installment’s explosive ending. It’s a movie about how lives can be impacted by choices made, and how certain decisions may have been made long before anyone even realized it. The Wachowskis might not explain everything as clearly as expected, but the clues are all there to understand exactly what they’re saying with The Matrix.
What Happened In The Matrix’s Ending?
Despite its fairly long runtime, the real action of The Matrix doesn’t really begin until late into the story. But once Morpheus is captured by Agent Smith and trapped within the Matrix, Neo and Trinity are soon faced with their central conflict – safely extracting him from the simulation and fulfilling the promised word of the Oracle. Agent Smith was the key to Neo’s prophecy in the original film, and it’s in the movie’s conclusion that their complex dynamic finally comes into play. After rescuing Morpheus from the Matrix, Neo sacrifices himself to be killed by Agent Smith – before coming back to life and killing Smith himself.
This allowed Neo to seemingly fulfill the prophecy that he was given by the Oracle, proving himself to be The One (an anomaly in the Matrix capable of bringing down the system). Once he’d been revived, Neo displayed several new abilities that gave him complete control of his surroundings, such as the power to rewrite the Matrix’s code in real time. This ending proves that the Oracle’s prophecy was correct, suggesting that reality is layered with an element of predestination and predictability that’s beyond our control as humans. It’s also an extremely optimistic ending, displaying a world where human intelligence and emotions are able to overcome technological oppression.
How Neo Came Back To Life
The Matrix’s ending left many audiences wanting more, offering little explanation about how Neo managed to bring himself back from the dead. It had been previously established that nobody can survive in the real world after dying in the Matrix, but that’s exactly what Neo managed to do at the movie’s conclusion. By rejecting the conceived rules of the simulation, Neo breaks free of the imaginary chains that were oppressing him. He realizes that the Matrix isn’t actually real – it’s just a simulation. When Trinity kisses his unconscious body, the physical response triggers his brain into noticing that he’s still alive, proving the Matrix’s laws to be pointless.
While Trinity bringing Neo back to life with a kiss might have been included to emphasize how deep their connection ran, the moment is actually much more important. By responding to her touch and rejecting his simulated death, Neo proves the Matrix is ultimately powerless. There were billions of people in the Matrix, but the only thing keeping them under control is the illusion of entrapment. Each one of them have control over their own destiny, but the Matrix has simply brainwashed them into following its arbitrary rules. Neo is the first person to realize just how powerless the Matrix is, and that’s why he’s such an important character.
Is Neo Really The One?
Whether The One is real or not has been long-debated among fans of The Matrix, as the truth is never explicitly stated in any of the movies. It’s one of the few aspects of the Wachowskis’ fictional universe that remains subject to personal interpretation. But ultimately, the Oracle’s prophecy rang true and Neo overcame the Matrix. Regardless of how he was drawn to that position, he become the ‘One’ by displaying a level of power over the simulation that nobody had experienced before. However, the Oracle essentially told Neo he’s The One – so it’s possible that her assertion merely coerced Neo into believing her and manifesting his own destiny.
This second possibility suggests that there’s nothing special about Neo at all. He’s just an ordinary man whose faith and beliefs lead him to overcome the Matrix – and labeling himself as The One is simply his coping method.
It’s human nature to seek explanations for apparent miracles, and Neo refuses to believe that he fulfilled the prophecy by coincidence. However, this actually lines up neatly with The Matrix’s overarching themes – greatness can come from anybody, and it’s their own actions that determine how we’ll fulfill our potential. Neo might not have been The One, but by believing that he was, he made the prophecy come true.
The True Meaning Of The Matrix’s Ending
The Matrix has many advantages over its sequels, but one of the film’s strongest assets is its willingness to leave questions unresolved. There’s no single way to interpret The Matrix’s ending, and that’s all part of the film’s magic. Just as in life, Neo and his friends are left to decide for themselves whether they’ll attribute their success to coincidence or divine intervention – and they’ll never have a concrete answer. It relies entirely on faith, and that’s what the Wachowskis were advocating with their story; that someone putting faith in themselves and their universal importance is the most important thing.
By coming back to life and destroying the Matrix’s iconic villain, Agent Smith, Neo proves that it’s his own freedom and autonomy that allows him to fight against oppression. The Matrix’s deception and suppression are powerless against those who actually recognize their own importance and freedom, just like Neo in the movie’s final moments. Above all, The Matrix is a story about free will and the power of predestination – whether or not Neo was always The One is ultimately irrelevant, as it’s the fact that he believes himself to be such that allows him to become it.
