It's pretty clear if you watch the whole series and pay attention. The Machines' real plan is to devise the perfect life form. The whole series plainly lays out that both Humans and machines have huge downfalls, humans progress, but to the point of self destruction, machines do not possess creativity to progress. The Matrix is a testing level for creating the perfect life form, IE: The Ones. The machines analyze humans in an attempt to create a perfect amalgamation of the two. The largest variable and most difficult part was analyzing love for them so they create Neo (Who is obviously a machine, think about it next time you watch them) to fall in love with a human (Trinity) in an attempt to study it. They break the rules multiple times, Neo dies and Trinity, a human professes her love for him and they realize they have a perfect opportunity and bring Neo back to life.
Now we get to the important part, Sati. Her two parents, a machine who programs other AI and a machine who manages human power plant farms create the perfect being, a combination of Human and Machine which is the young girl and most important character Sati.
Everything that happens in the story goes down and Sati escapes, the Matrix is destroyed but the machines use her to create the perfect world. So in the end it's a pretty good ending it's just confusing as hell the first couple times.
Edit: I wrote a further explanation of the meanings of what I said and the series as a whole in another comment below.
Edit 2: I want to thank every one so much for the amazing response and thought provoking discussions we've been having. I didn't realize there was this much of an interest in the Matrix and my analysis/theories so I never bothered to put it down in anywhere. I'm working on compiling it all into a better format that's better organized and to the point. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm!
Q: wait a second. can you elaborate on a couple points here, namely Neo being a machine and the whole thing being an attempt by the machines to understand love?
also, who is Sati?
I'm now thoroughly intrigued.
A: Absolutely! I go on to my friends about this for hours to my friends.
First of all you've got to make clear a couple things. The war of the machines started after some key things. The machine war didn't start from the machines simply turning on their masters. It started from one machine murdering its owner who was mistreating it. This caused the humans to fear the AI machines and isolate them to a single machine city called 01 as destroying all of them once they had become self aware would be immoral. The problem was that the machines society became so efficient that they were seen as a threat to the world economy and the humans had to destroy them but we all know how that ended up. (The Animatrix)
[1] This scene is easily one of the most important scenes for understanding the mystery behind the series. The architect outlines the biggest flaws of humans and what will ultimately lead to our doom. Like Smith said humans are the only species that will outgrow our sustainability, never finding harmony with our environment the way that animals such as ants do. one absolutely key point you need to remember is Machines are not evil, never have been and are actually the "good guys" of the series. The Matrix is essentially what the humans wanted the machine city 01 to be. A way to contain and regulate the humans. It's a cage to keep the humans in check but like the architect says a simulation like the Matrix can never be perfect, the architect made a perfect world but humans rejected it since it's not natural, so the machines created the Oracle, a machine specifically made to better understand humans and think in different ways, where the Architect sees everything as a mathematical equation that needs solving the Oracle sees it in a more human way and together they planned to create a more sustainable Matrix for the humans.
Zion is not a resistance at all. Zion is a necessity to the Matrix, it is built off people who reject the Matrix and if left inside would corrupt the Matrix and ruin their system. Now you might think why wouldn't the machines just kill those people then? Well the answer is that they are also part of the machines' study of humans. As I said both humans and machines are imperfect in their ways, machines cannot advance as a species without human ingenuity and humans will eventually destroy themselves. One hugely eye opening scene for me was the one where Neo speaks to Councilor Hamann because it becomes quite clear that Hamann is a machine placed in Zion as the machines' way of keeping tabs. The night Neo can't sleep he gets up to find Hamman in the lower levels of Zion watching the equipment that recycles the humans waste and turns it into water and energy, renewable energy. This is huge because it negates the machines very supposed cause for keeping the humans trapped as batteries, why does no one put this together? Why Hamman answers it himself. *That's how it is with people - nobody cares how it works as long as it works. * Almost as a mockery of the humans who believe they are fighting for a cause to save other humans when really all they are is a part of a larger human experiment. Both machines that Neo talks to, Hamann note that he is still human, he must remain "Human" for the experiment to work and by that they mean think 100% that he is a human and not a machine. Even though Neo finds himself not sleeping and walking around at night like the other Machine does as they have no need for it, but he still does sleep somewhat, showing that he still at least thinks he is. Another interesting note is the illusion of choice, Smith sees it and even points it out to Neo. Neo never had a choice in any of this, he is following a gracefully laid path the machines created for him to serve his purpose. Watch the movies with this in mind and you'll be amazed at the how clear it becomes. Smith understands everything by the end of the series when he absorbs Neo, the plot of the machines, everything but he can't quite handle it.
Neo is a machine part of a study.
To put it simply, the goal of the machines in the end is to create the perfect world, what they learn from their tests is that neither humans nor machines are capable of such a thing. Every Matrix has been an experiment, tests at perfection and all have failed and each "One" has been a way for the machines to study various aspects of human emotion. At the point in which the series takes place the machines understand everything except for one key, fascinating aspect of humans, Love. The Architect watches in astonishment as Neo leaves, dooming his people to save the one person he loves. Love is pretty ridiculous in that way. They mean to study love in a perfect way by creating a machine AI, and having it fall in love with a human, and that is how we get Neo. When we're introduced to him we see him sitting in his apartment with no social life, a pathetic job essentially no life except for computers. That alone makes him sound like a machine created life form to me. But as such he carrys on, meets the resistance unknowing that he was created to fall in love with Trinity, he does, and she loves him back, she does not realize this however until he is dead. The way I see it he was going along with his experiment but it fails when he dies. That is until the machines hear Trinity say she loves him. Wow, They've succeed! a human loves their machine, so what do they do? Bring him back to life to continue the study. That is why he comes back to life after being killed. Now we find ourselves in Matrix Reloaded, Trinity shot and dying in Neos dreams planted by his machine creators and essentially the situation is reversed, they are testing to see if their creation can feel love in the same way that he was loved by Trinity. After all this happens and the machines study of love is complete the whole point of of the series comes together in the discovery of the perfect lifeform, a cyborg, a combination of the the positive aspects of both Machines and Humans, they come together to create Sati.
Sati is the key to everything
We find Neo in the train station talking to Sati and her parents. One parent representing machines, the mother who programs other machines and AI, and the father who is a power plant systems manager who represents humans (Power Plants are where humans are kept). They merge their two resources in their newly discovered resource, love, to create Sati who is the perfect being, a cyborg who can think with the logic of a machine and the creativity of the humans. She is the reason for all of it, when she finally escapes and the sixth Matrix, the one from the movies is destroyed by the integral anomaly, Agent Smith. A new one must be created, the difference this time instead of being created by The Oracle and The Architect, it will be created by the perfect life form and she will create the perfect world. It really is the happiest ending possible.
And there you have a small part of my massive analysis of the meaning behind the Matrix, a fascinating sci-fi story mixed with a very flashy entertaining action movie. I'd be more than happy to address any other points if anyone is interested.
***Extra notes.
The Machines using humans as a battery is a simple motivator for the humans in Zion have a goal and continue their study, they are told "These machines are keeping our people hostage and we need to save them" even though the humans don't piece together that the Machine created Zion, including Zions renewable energy sources so it's obviously with the machines power. Like Neo said "Either no one told me, or no one knows"
I strongly believe the Wachowski brothers wanted to audience to take a step back and look at the movies beyond face value, think about all these puzzle pieces and have a sense of "Waking Up" similar to what Neo did in the movies. The humans in the movie are not putting together that the machines are guiding their path and controlling everything, and neither does the general audience unless you step back and think about it the way the characters had to to escape the Matrix in the first place. The Wachowskis really are brilliant men and it's such a shame that so many people call them lazy and dismiss them, failing to look beyond the obvious, but then again. 99% of people in The Matrix fail to realize that they are just part of a system and don't care about the real truth, they are given a simple life they are happy with and don't think beyond it, as the audience who don't think about it are given a simple meaningless action movie that is still entertaining in that right. Fucking brilliant.
Edit:
Sorry about the break in the responses. I've been on the road DJing for the past couple days and I just got back and will continue to answer as many questions as possible.
Also a huge thank you to whoever got me Reddit gold for this! You're too kind, cheers!
Q: I am not as much into Matrix Lore as your are so I have many questions about your idea.
Do you think that Zion is part of the Matrix. Here are some reasons why it is possible:
a) Neo was able to temporarially suspend the machines in the air like the bullets
b) ~~ Agent~~ Smith (he was no longer connected to the system) was able to go into Zion. Also, Neo was able to see his coding.
c) The whole Neo and Hamann thing.
Why did the Matrix want to delete Sati if she was the true goal of the matrix?
Neo was part of the whole plan as seen with the architect. Since Smith is the opposite of Neo ("The One vs the many"), was he part of the Architects plan in the Matrix.
What are the roles and relationships between the Oracle, the Architect, and The Merovingian. Why does it seem like the Oracle and the Architect are against each other?
A: Absolutely, went over this in another comment too. Zion has to be another Matrix for it to work and really there's no reason for it not to be. It's a much better insurance policy for the machines to make people believe they're out when they're not and the points you made are spot on.
The machines on the top level of the Matrix are not aware of the grand plan, meaning the sentinels and what not, they see anything human as an enemy so they must keep Sati in the Matrix to be safe so they take her in through the train-station but then of course Smith is the major danger within and acting of his own free will and not the Matrices.
Smith was by The Architects definition the true One of the Matrix, he is the integral anomaly that changed everything and broke away from his intended cause, he displayed choice where Neo was following a set path. Pretty messed up.
The Merovingian was almost definitely a One of a previous version of the Matrix. When Neo, Trinity and Morpheous come to see them Persephone and Merovingian are laughing because they have seen and experienced the whole thing before. Persephone even says to Neo "He used to be like you" about the Merovingian but after he learned how meaningless his existence is his outlook on life completely changed and he doesn't care at all, cheating on his wife. I believe he was the first One to experience love but it since he was a machine loving a machine it was false and meaningless, a failed experiment and that's why their relationship is so horrible with them cheating on each other and Persephone constantly seeking out other lovers, Ghost, Neo and even Niobe because she is programmed for that. They remain together even though they don't love each other because it is their program to. This brought up another interesting note. Fantasy beings such as Werewolves and Vampires exist in the Merovingian mansion and Persephone calls them "Old programs from a previous version of the Matrix" I believe that they were not uncommon in a previous version as a form of experimentation from the Machines and the Merovingian brought them over as sort of a collectors item.
B The Oracle and Architect have a natural rivalry between them in the sense that they are programmed to think in entirely different ways. The Architect has to see everything as a solvable equation and it's reflected in his persona, sterile and deadpan. He represents Machine mentality while on the other hand we have the Oracle who is designed to be the exact opposite, an old sweet woman in a quaint apartment who bakes cookies. She is made to be a comforting face for humans and give directions to everyone while making them feel they are making choices for themselves. The two collaborated on Matrixes after The Architects failed and I believe he is bitter about it even though they are still partners are work together as seen in the series finale.
Edit: It's still up in the air whether or not the Zion world is the actual real world. The possible explanation put forward is that it is another Matrix and is able to be manipulated as such. This is not critical to the rest of my theory and was just what I came up with, some creative Redditors have also come forward with other explanations for the events in the real world that work very well too. Thanks for the input guys!
Q: You are a brilliant analyser, love the whole story and I see no holes. Except for the fact that I don't think Zion is another Matrix. the arguments paulperson gives can be explained by the simple fact that Neo was a machine, thus he had "superpowers" in the real world, like his own EMP-system perhaps..? Could I be right in this? Also, Smith being in Zion can also be explained by the simple fact that he is very powerfull at the moment he infiltrates in Zion, and could have created a real robot-human version of himself in the real world, inside Zion. If you don't understand my analysis, ask again, because I'm in a hurry now, but I could refrase this for you later this evening!
A: Thanks for the response! Love it when people bring forward new ideas really appreciate it. I agree for sure. Zion being a Matrix is probably the least solid of my theories so I didn't include it initially I just figured I should put that out there as well. That part of the theory isn't as important as well and there are lots of possible explanations just like what you said that could work as well. Smith leaving his world further reinforces that he is in fact the One and Neo being a machine and existing in the Zion world also shows that if Zion is real machine created humans, or at least the minds can be run by other means. Interesting thoughts.
Q: What do you think about the parallels between city 01 and Zion? Zero one - is this a possible connection or just coincidence? Sadly, I haven't thoroughly read your analysis yet (at work), but does it fit with your theories?
A: Zion is machines version of 01. Humans made 01 in an attempt to quarantine and regulate the free thinking machines so to speak and the machines do it to the free thinking humans in Zion. I think the other parts of the analysis will answer your questions further. Thanks for the response!
Q: I'm not sure that Sati is quite as important as you are making her out to be
remember, as her father explains when we first meet them, "Love" is just a word - what matters is the meaning attached to the word and these two programs have experienced exactly this kind of connection, producing the kind of "offspring" which is not permitted in the world of the machines - one without any purpose... I got the impression this was a fairly commonplace occurrence - hence the need for the likes of the Merovingian to have someone create the train station in the first place (remember he was also in love, himself) - because it happens so often
these machines understand Love just fine - they don't need to study it - note Persephone's response to Merovingian's questioning of Trinity - "She'll do it! She'll kill every one of us if she has to... she's in love."
remember, the Matrix wasn't destroyed at the end of the third film - it was simply "patched" with new code provided by Neo, via Agent Smith and reloaded, so that it is now more flexible - it will allow humans to leave if they choose to and programs like Sati that were created without purpose to stay - and function as hippies or something... I dunno... hobos? monks? art students? whatever programs do in the Matrix when they don't have anything to do...
in the end, I don't think it's about Love, I think it's about Choice - I agree that in the end, Smith understands - too late - only after he has assimilated Neo that Neo chose this path and basically tricked him into killing him, like Obiwan making sure Luke sees Vader kill him - a conscious choice. Only moments earlier, he questions Neo: "Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? ... Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. ...and all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love..." - he truly believes that, given the choice, humans would multiply (aka Love) and multiply "until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area" instead of instinctively developing a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment - he may yet be proved right!
interesting that you, too, were intrigued by that scene between Neo and the Councillor - I remember thinking exactly the paradox he articulates - we fight to be free from machines but still we cannot do without them - even Zion itself is heavily reliant on technology and using an EMP defence, like that used in the first film, is unthinkable
A: I went over the Merovingians and Persephones love and how it was a failed machine attempt at it in this section here that might help explain a bit of what you were asking there.
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/pp8kn/does_it_bother_anyone_else_that_none_of_the/c3rdn3x
What he's getting at is the truth, he's completely correct about the definition of love and that's a big step for those Machines there when you look at Persephone who is fascinated with the idea because it is her function, she was programed to love but not correctly. Smiths statement also helps confirm that, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love, that's what fascinates the machines so much it is completely beyond their reach until the events of the film.
Also about the Matrix being patched that is very true but the Matrix in that sense doesn't matter any more, humans and machines are now obsolete when this amalgamation of the two exists. Humans are a dangerous thing and like smith says they wont find equilibrium and eventually kill themselves off and that is why they must be improved upon.
Q: A few things:
How did they make a fake human, a human so perfect that no one notices he's a machine despite there being heart monitors, vital monitors, etc?
And after dying and then coming back Neo can suddenly do all this awesome shit (fly, stop bullets), why would that occur if he was simply revived?
A: This brings up another point. The "Real world" has to be another level of Matrix for any of the series to make sense. They are able to manipulate that world just as they can the first Matrix. That is why Neo is able to destroy machines with his mind in the "Real world" it is merely another level up of Matrix designed to better regulate and control the whole process. A lot like Inception really.
This is further cemented when Bane who is being controlled by Smith burns out Neos eyes and when Neo looks at him he sees Smith as Golden Code, exactly like how you can see people as Green Code in the lower Matrix.
Q: While I can agree that Neo is a machine construct, the fact that he can control machines and see Smith as code does not mean that "the Real world" is another level of the Matrix. If Neo is a product of the machines, then why would his power over machines be limited to the virtual reality of the Matrix?
I argue that Neo is a physical entity created by the Source and implanted into the Matrix. The Source is the creator of the Architect and the Oracle (interestingly, and perhaps a coincidence, the A and the O) and the designer of the path toward the enlightenment of both humans and machines.
The Source employs a very typical machine method of problem solving; an iterative, almost fractal-like, approach. With each cycle, the world it is creating grows more refined and more complex. What is to say the plan is limited to the Matrix?
– As I see it, the Source sets the stage for every iteration. It then starts the process over and modifies one of the parameters (i.e. the capacities of The One) and in order to introduce random elements into the iterative process it allows the human element to have free will.
I also do not see why the Merovingian as a previous version of the One would negate the argument of the Merovingian as being a manifestation of Lucifer. While I don't agree that the Merovingian learned to love, but he did learn temptation and lust (which to the machines would be an unrefined understanding of the concept of love, which strengthens the argument of an iterative problem solving process). And this is important; Persephone is his Trinity. She was, and still is, human. Her feelings for the Merovingian are real feelings, and his incapability of loving her back is what drives her feelings of jealousy and being betrayed.
I could write on this for hours, thank you for a very stimulating discussion!
A: Thanks for the response! Various aspects of my theory/analysis are more concrete than others absolutely and we've got the key things though. I agree that it is possible that Zion is the real world, it's not critical to my theory that it's not by any means that's just a hypothesis I came up with to explain those aspects but what you're saying works too.
That's another interesting concept about Merovingian just being a manifestation of Lucifer. Him being the One is another non-critical thought but he has definitely existed in multiple instances of the Matrix and experienced the path of the One where I was saying first hand in his point of view but it could have also been from his same position. I never thought that Persephone could be human the way Trinity is. She acts in very odd ways that reflect her being a machine.
Q: This is straight from Larry Wachowski:
"Now, the real reason we are here is to discuss the big problem we faced in turning these three movies into a video game. You see, at this point in the story, Neo stands on the verge of satori, ready to resolve the paradox of choice and choicelessness, of free will vs. fate, but that can only be achieved through an act of surrender, which occurs after he has abandoned the perspectival nature of truth, accepting the totality of present consciousness which ultimately allows an evolutionary transition, transcending the Cartesian dilemma through the emergence of delimited spirit, which then provides the world with the choice of a third path, the path of neo, the path of peace."
This explains virtually all of what happens in the Matrix trilogy. Neo is not a machine. Neo is a human being that achieves delimited spirit in its fullest sense.
I appreciate your effort and thought but your theories on the Matrix simply do not fit in with what's really going on.
The Matrix is ultimately the story of a man transcending the Cartesian dilemma.
A: This brings up one of my favorite parts of it all. This is one interpretation of those events but one of the most interesting things that the Wachowskis said is that "The movies speak for themselves." They answer very little about other questions in the series because I fully believe they want people to look into it and interpret things in various ways. There is no on correct way of looking at all of it, that's what makes this story so fascinating, there are so many huge signs toward these theories that bring up so many other questions. These siblings are clearly extremely intelligent and wouldn't put in all this work and detail to tell a straight forward typical Hollywood story, they just made Hollywood think they did.
Q: First off, awesome theory. This will definitely change how I watch the movie the next time. My question for you though is how do you think your theory fits in with the final story from the Animatrix where a group of humans try to teach a machine human emotions?
A: Thanks! Ah and that is one of the most head scratching stories in the Animatrix, I haven't watched it in a while but since that scene takes place in the "Real world" which would have to be another level of the Matrix anything of that sort is really possible and there are other machine like the Oracle who at least reflect some sort of the human idea of emotions. That story helps further solidify the theory that machines can be taught new things, such as how the machines were trying to learn the logistics of human Love through their studies and eventually get it down to a science.
Q: But if Zion is fake that probably means their renewable energy source is not real which means that humans may actually be needed as batteries
A: Very good point. There are a couple options there, we don't know what, if anything is true, very Inception like in that respect. That Matrix could be a reflection of the actual real world, a mirror of it so to speak so that renewable energy does exist. Now that a cyborg exists though renewable energy isn't necessary in that respect as the new perfect species has the logic of machines to live within its limits, they will only expand within their limits unlike humans who will spend themselves into a corner and be stuck.
Q: Thank you very much for this. Just a couple of points and questions. Correct me if I am wrong.
At the end of Revolutions, I am assuming the gamble that creator refers to while speaking to Oracle is letting Zion live for having Neo eliminate Smith.
When the Oracle asks about the others in the Matrix who wish to get out, the Creator promises that they will be released. But as you mentioned they have now successfully created a Perfect world. Why would anybody want to be out?
What does Oracle mean when she says she didn't always know but she believed?
A: The machines have achieved their goal and created the perfect life form and world so the humans that were enslaved no longer matter at all, they can let them free and do whatever they like because they are obsolete, both humans and conventional AI machines. They will both eventually cease to exist and become extinct but it doesn't matter because true sustainability has been achieved, a little grim but overall a very good thing.
That's a reflection of the Oracles personality, she is programed for human emotions and it's just causality really, she didn't know how things would work out until they did.
Q: Great conclusions, but I have my own questions about Smith. It turns out he really is the antagonist of it all, but to the best of my knowledge he was created by the machines. Why would they create something that they can't control, or had no method of controlling? Is all that just up in the air?
A: That's exactly it. The Architect describes the One as an Integral Anomaly. Neo being a machine and not actually making his own decisions, following this set path that he's on doesn't really make him much of an anomaly and there we find Smith. A regular Agent of the Matrix who completely defies his programming, an anomaly if you will and becomes his own being and brings balance to the Matrix, making everyone in it clones of himself. So from my point of view Agent Smith is the real One.
Q: Because the Oracle tells Neo he's not the one. She means it.
A:It's pretty funny actually, you really do need to take what the programs are saying seriously. They don't say many pointless things. Like what Hamann is saying to Neo in Zion, almost laughing about how obvious it is but how no one sees it.
Q: You know what makes me sad.. is that you may have found more meaning in these movies than the brothers actually put into them. I'm worried they were more superficial in their story telling.
A: A lot of people have said that but when you realize the years and time that the siblings spent crafting the series it just can't be so. Very small details like Agent Smiths car license plate being the numbers of a passage in the bible that directly relates to the idea of Smith promote the viewer to look much deeper into the series and look for things like this.
They say the films speak for themselves and don't answer really any questions about it in interviews but being able to sit down and just ask them a few questions would be one of the most amazing things in my life.
Q: If the intent of the Machines is to create the perfect being, i.e. "The Ones" then why does the Architect state that the One is an aberration and the result of unstable code?
A: He refers to The Ones as "integral anomaly's" such as breaking free from the Matrix they were in or realizing the can bend the Matrix they're in to their will. The Merovingian was a "One" in a past Matrix but survived deletion and exists in the 6th one. That being said it is pretty safe to conclude Neo is not The One, he is meerely a machine made to believe he is the one and make everyone around him believe he is when all he is doing is following the machines will. The real "One" of the 6th Matrix is Agent Smith. He broke away from his purpose and ended up completely changing the Matrix he was in until it was only him and had to be destroyed and rebooted. Unlike the Merovingian he did not continue to exist.
Q: I don't think they were trying to achieve the perfect life form
I think they were simply trying to co-exist - it has always struck me as strange that any truly intelligent life would actually want to wipe out any other truly intelligent life - we have not even been able to convince ourselves to get rid of the last traces of smallpox, let alone an actual intelligent life form...
perhaps there was some Asimov-Law-Of-Robotics directive at play, or perhaps they needed biological (human) brains as control systems for their "form of fusion" reactor farms - I don't know - but clearly they were heavily invested in keeping humanity around and ideally on board with what they were doing
remember that in the end the Matrix was NOT destroyed - instead they essentially patched it (as opposed to "reloading" it, like they did with every other "One" in the past) creating a new paradigm where humans could choose to "bluepill" and live happily within the Matrix (as those like Cipher might wish for, even knowing it is completely artificial) or "redpill" and leave for the greener pastures of Zion - and everybody is ok with that...
it may have taken a few hundred years, but peaceful coexistence was finally achieved
A: Absolutely! I totally agree that they didn't want to fully destroy one another but coexistence isn't an option, that's why the Matrix was an attempt at coexistence, I just wrote up a further explanation on what i was saying that might help you understand what I'm getting at there.
Q: Yeah but how come none of the humans thought "Gee, wonder why a computer simulation that is our only means of combating the machines is left un-necesarily open to us?"
A: It's not open to them, they're essentially sneaking in through temporarily opened access entrances. The agents goals are to shut down these entrances or exits as soon as they appear. The Matrix really is just a network that the humans are connecting to wirelessly but only through certain ports. That's why they can't enter or exit anywhere they please.
Q: If Zion is a real place, how exactly did Neo stop the sentinels in the "real world"? Not debunking your idea, just curious.
A (from user /u/Scion_: The reason why Neo can use his powers outside the Matrix and in the real world (which is not, by the way, another Matrix), is succinctly described here which mirrors my views:
We have only two worlds here - The real world (Machine World & Zion) and the Program World (The Matrix, the Subway, Backdoor Program Accesses, etc). Both worlds are interconnected through a particular medium. The common medium is electricity. How machines, programs, and humans all use it is relatively the same - for thought and for energy, however for humans, there is a handicap. Thought among humans is independent - a closed circuit, meaning that one human cannot read another human's thoughts. However, with the help of programs, supported and hosted by machines, thoughts and interpretations can be shared among humans - this is represented by the Matrix. Neo's bridges the gap using this common medium to broadcast directly with programs and communicate directly with machines.
For humans born in the Matrix, the plug in the back of their heads connects the human brain with the matrix interface - as we've seen on the ships throughout the Trilogy, a signal is hacked - the onboard computer that the operator uses translates the Matrix signals into a format that the human brain can interpret. The hacking is done to avoid detection by the machines, using a remote broadcast to access the Matrix.
However, while the human brain is capable of interfacing with the Matrix, it cannot do so without help from a computer. In Neo's case however, at the end of Reloaded and throughout Revolutions, Neo is 'plugged' into the Matrix, without the plug. He has become mentally advanced enough to interface with The Program World directly, without the need for machine interpretation and intervention - in essence, he understands machine and program communication. He's become so advanced in his telekenetics and brain waves that he's able to access programs and machines without a plug and without his eyes...the trouble is, by the end of Reloaded, he's not prepared for interfacing directly with machines, as illustrated by the incident with the 3 sentinels and his signal gets rerouted and looped in Limbo (Mobil is an anogram) within the subway.
The subway is a good explanation of the link, while also pointing out the difference, between physical world and virtual world. Reloaded and Revolutions tells us the sentinels are machines that communicate remotely to the source - the machine mainframe. When Neo establishes that communication between himself and the sentinel, he establishes contact with the source - the Oracle points this out to Trinity and Morpheus. Without hacking into the Matrix, the legit way seems to be like the way that you and I access a remote program or web site today, through an Internet. As discussed above, Neo touches the source by remote access the same way a machine does in the machine world - without the need for hacking. However, any unencrypted signal can be intercepted and interpreted by software - packet sniffers, trace programs, etc are all capable of picking up and re-routing signals. The Merovingian's Trainman and his subway in a personification of that - a rogue router program that intercepts Neo's transmission and retains it. Without that carrier signal making regular contact with the human body, the human brain is hung in a state of unconsciousness, the same way a program hangs when waiting for an expected response - hence Neo's coma.
Getting back to Neo's powers within the real world - he stops the Sentinels and he sees the machine world without his eyes. Its not that Neo is in another Matrix. The machines, such as the Sentinels and other buggy looking bots are real. Neo is using his extremely advanced telekenetics - mentally, he is on the same level as certain machines and has become advanced enough to interact with them and make them do certain things through electrical throughts - transmissions, and in the case of the sentinels, Neo causes them to self destruct. Think of how a remote controlled car works. Your thoughts translate into movement of your fingers on a remote that send a radio signal to the car and makes it move based on your commands from the remote. Its seems obvious that Neo is doing just that, without the need of a console, just like accessing the Matrix or Program world in general. Another example would be what is being developed by IBM which is a sensor for handicapped people that reads the electrical pulses in the index finger - by thought, disabled people can move a mouse pointer, play a video game, etc just by thinking it. You'll notice subtle hints throughout the trilogy, such as Tank's mention to Morpheus when Neo is in training, "The guy is a machine," or Mouse's "look at his telekenetics, they're way above normal." Ultimately, Neo's path goes from thinking like a human, to thinking like a program, to thinking like a machine.
To explain how Neo sees the Machine world without his eyes, we can look back to Morpheus's explanation of "What is real." A human is bound by what the five senses that ultimately lead to electrical impulses in the brain. Those impulses become visions. Since the machine world is founded on electrical signals, Neo picks those signals up using his sixth sense (screw Shyamalan) and interprets them as visions. Like a blind person depending on his/her hearing to explain the world around him/her, Neo uses his ability to interpret machine frequencies and emissions to visualize without his eyesight.
To wrap this up, everything comes down to electricity - the shared medium between man and machine. As long as there is a common denominator, there will always be a relationship and its ability to power thought and action will always keep man and machine linked, no matter how different or advanced one is over the other. Neo is proof of the pudding, a superhuman of extraordinary brain power who can think and sense (and in Keanu's case, he acts) like a machine yet still remains physically and emotionally human.