Architect (The Matrix)
The Architect is a program that features in The Matrix.
Contents |
Biography
The Architect was an artificial intelligence program developed by the Machines who placed it in charge of overseeing the simulated reality in the Matrix. Upon forming, he created the first Matrix as a utopia for the humans whose minds inhabited it. However, the human minds rejected this first attempt as a perfect world and beta 1 of the Matrix crashed. A second attempt added the varying grotesqueries of human nature and a basic cause and effect, but this beta was also a failure. The Architect turned to a more intuitive program designed to understand human nature and psychology to augment the framework of the next Matrix. This time, the power of choice was added to the programming, where humans would be allowed the power to choose, even if the person was only aware of the choice on a vague, subconscious level. This version of the Matrix worked, except for approximately 1 percent of human minds. These humans were apparently bodily ejected from the power plant. Some of these humans survived to join Zion. The Architect noted that the Matrix was not as perfect as he initially envisioned; the addition of 'choice' to the Matrix's programming added an unpredictable element to the Architect's equations and would eventually cause the Matrix to suffer a destructive system crash. This 'systemic anomaly' was personified within the Matrix by a semi-mythological figure that could 'break free' of the Matrix's control, and change it in whatever manner he desired. The 'One', as this figure came to be known, was subconsciously compelled to travel to the Matrix's mainframe with critical source code for its eventual reboot.
Together with the human intuitive program the Oracle for human minds to understand, the concept of the Prophecy was formed. The intuitive program would tell of this story to the small members of a human resistance that periodically infiltrated the Matrix, who would find the anomaly and help him to find the Architect's office, hidden deep within a fortified building. There, the Architect would use his measures of control to keep the Anomaly, and in turn both Zion and the Matrix, in check. In each of the first five cycles of the Matrix, the Anomaly, known to the humans as The One, manifested itself within the Matrix and eventually found the Architect's office. The room has two exits, one leading to the Source and the other to the Matrix proper. The Architect tells the One that Zion is about to be destroyed and that humanity's only chance of survival rests with the One. If the One fails to go to the Source, the system will eventually suffer a catastrophic failure that leads to the death of every human still connected to the Matrix; combined with the destruction of Zion, the entire human race will become extinct. In order to prevent this result, the One must travel to the Source, reloading the master program, and then select a small number of individuals to rebuild Zion. In each of these five cycles, the One enters the door to the Source, the Matrix is reloaded, and Zion is destroyed and subsequently reborn.
On the sixth iteration, Neo, the sixth Anomaly, appears on schedule before the Architect. The Architect is surprised that this One, unlike his predecessors, is quicker of thought. This sixth Anomaly possesses the same disposition for protecting humanity as the others, but unlike the other Ones has a deep attachment to one human: a Zion resistance member named Trinity. The Architect delivers the usual speech and threat, but he can already see that this One will not comply as his predecessors did. Neo leaves the Architect to save his love, and leaves the future of the Matrix in doubt. The Oracle tells Neo more about the Architect at their final meeting. She says that the Architect's purpose is to balance the equation of the Matrix, while her purpose is to unbalance that equation. She also tells Neo that, as a program designed to be mathematically precise, the Architect doesn't understand the inherently unpredictable nature of choice. She tells Neo to head to the true location of the Source, the Machine City, to save not only humanity, but the Machine world as well. After Neo sacrifices himself to stabilize the Matrix, the Machines gather Neo's body and successfully 'reboot' the Matrix. The Architect then meets the Oracle and speaks of the "dangerous game" that she played, and agrees to honor the truce that Neo brokered for his part in rebooting the Matrix.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Notes
- The Architect was created by The Wachowskis where he was portrayed by actor Helmut Bakaitis in The Matrix Reloaded.
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- The Matrix Reloaded:
External Links
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