More Matrix Q and A: Neo, The Source, and Wireless (SPOILERS)

Jesse posted a lengthy commentary at the end of my first Revolutions rant:

My question is, what the hell *was* "The Source*? It played a really critical role in the plot--the previous Ones had to "return to the Source" to reboot the Matrix, Neo's having "touched the Source" was what gave him the mysterious ability to stop sentinels and see computer-related stuff and stay connected to the Matrix wirelessly, and as you and others have speculated, Neo's connection the the source may be the explanation for why all the Smiths exploded when the main Smith took him over (although I'm not convinced the Wachowskis had this in mind--all the other humans Smith took over were jacked into the Matrix, why couldn't the machines get to his programming through them?)--but we never got a vague description of what it was, like Obi Wan's description of the force as "an energy field created by all living things" which "binds the galaxy together" in Star Wars. Based on the Architect's speech I sort of figured the Source was something like the CPU of the Matrix, this wouldn't explain what it would mean for a flesh-and-blood human to "return to the Source" (and why this would be necessary to reboot the matrix) or how Neo's wireless connection to the machines worked. After Reloaded I thought these might be clues that Neo is not fully human, but apparently not.

I think The Source is the origin point of the code, where the machines construct the programs to be sent into the matrix. Jesse presumes that Neo’s touching of the source (or whatever) is what gave him the ability to stop the sentinels, but I don’t concede this as fact. The One has the ability to see the code as it really is, without translation, and to manipulate that code by force of will. The sentinels are machines and have the same kind of programming/code as the matrix, just as Smith does. Neo has simply freed his mind again, to another unexpected level, to see the code and affect it outside of the matrix. This is why, after being blinded in the real world, he is able to turn his sight inward (to his own internal hardware and the code associated with it) to ‘see’ Agent Smith and see the code of the machines when he arrives at the Source in the end.

Although he is human, anyone who was born in a pod is actually a cyborg of sorts, and these ports tap into the human’s nervous system, interacting with them. Outside stimulation is translated by the hardware (i.e., machines) using programs and delivered to the body in a language it can understand. Conversely, instructions by the brain are read by those ports and translated into readable matrix code, producing reactions. The One was created by modifying these cybernetic programs in such a way to enable the user (Neo) to tap modification code to a unusual degree. For instance, if a normal user jacked into the system gave his body the command to fly, the system would disregard the code command (perhaps because it had an improper header?). In The One, his cybernetics were modified to include the essential code keys that produced abnormal or higher-level commands. That Neo was able to see ALL the code suggests that the machines and the matrix share the same basic Source code.

Now, as for why all the Smiths exploded, I think I have the inside track on that as well. First, note that when Smith infected the Oracle, he gained more powers, specifically her power of foresight. One would then assume that when Smith jacked into Neo, that Smith would gain Neo’s powers. The power that was demonstrated in the first movie than no one else has was Neo’s ability to destroy an agent from the inside out. Unbeknownst to Smith, Neo was jacked directly into the source, and not just his own body. Therefore, the ploy was to get Smith to assume Neo’s body, whereby the Source could then destroy the agent from the inside out. Only the Neo could have done this, and he had to die to do it. That all the other Smiths were destroyed was (I assume) to be a ‘wireless effect’ – it was demonstrated earlier in the film that Neo could be jacked in without actually having a jack inserted into him. That being the case, the Source would be able to extend the effect to those Neo was not actually a part of.

Or not. If you have a better theory or comment, let me know. I love this stuff. More tomorrow. Be afraid.