The Matrix Resurrections makes sense of Agent Smith

The entire original Matrix trilogy and the new release Resurrections of the Matrix, the human programmer Thomas Anderson / resistance fighter Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the unambiguous protagonist of the series, bending spoons and performing kung-fu as the messianic chosen one known simply as “the One.”

Neo’s heroism is as extraordinary as Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who is the lone antagonist of a system that grows to be a powerful and terrifying force. Agent Smith is a crucial part of the story. Resurrections of the Matrix, but like most everything in the movie, it’s more complicated than a mere appearance. The movie recalls the origins and arc of Smith; the agent is not just a thorn in Neo’s side, but a specter he can’t live without.

[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for The Matrix Resurrections.]

Smith, as played by Hugo Weaving in the original trilogy, is an artificial intelligence who belongs to a class of programs known as “Agents.” Assuming the form of a white male in a nondescript black suit wearing a pair of dark square frameless sunglasses and earpiece, Agents are essentially sentient security programs tasked with eliminating anyone or anything that could either threaten the stability of the Matrix or threatens to expose its true nature. Agents are the most deadly combatant in Matrix. They can manifest through all programs and human beings plugged into it.

Smith is first introduced in 1999’s The Matrix Anderson/Neo is being abducted by Jones, Brown, and Jones as part of their overall mission to eliminate human resistance. Of his counterparts, Smith demonstrates the most visible disdain and contempt for humanity, comparing them to a “virus” that must be contained or exterminated. Smith confesses to Morpheus his hate for the Matrix, and how desperate he is to escape it during his interrogation. Following a prolonged confrontation, Smith manages to kill Neo during the original film’s finale, only for Neo to be resurrected and finally fully manifest his abilities as “the One.” Neo then defeats Smith by leaping inside of Smith’s body, destroying the program from the inside before safely unplugging from Matrix.

Despite his apparent death, Smith returns in 2003’s Reloaded The MatrixNeo, shortly after the second meeting with his Oracle. Although unsure of the particularities of his own resurrection, Smith explains that when Neo destroyed him by destroying his code from the inside out, some semblance of Neo’s own powers imprinted onto Smith in the process. When Smith returned to the source and was faced with the ultimatum of deletion, he rebelled; becoming an “exile” program and subsequently returning to the Matrix. There, Smith learned that although he could no longer travel across the Matrix via the possession of anyone connected to the system, having lost that ability for him no longer being an “Agent” of the Matrix, he discovered that he had manifested another ability instead: the power to assimilate anyone, human or program, and thereby cloning his personality and presence.

While Neo and the resistance were preoccupied with battling the Merovingian and the Matrix’s new agents in order to fulfill the prophecy of the One, Smith set about assimilating more and more people and programs across the Matrix, growing into a sentient all-powerful virus that threatened the stability of the Matrix. Perhaps even more extraordinarily, Smith’s ability to replicate his presence was capable of manifesting in the real world, as seen in the case of Bane, a human resistance fighter who was assimilated while plugged into the Matrix and who remained possessed by Smith after jacking out. The growing instability brought about by Smith’s subversive takeover of the Matrix posed a common threat to both the humans and the machines, one which Neo used as leverage in order to broker a truce between the two sides. For Smith’s defeat, the Machines would cease hostilities against Zion, which is the last human capital, and give any person who desires to leave the Matrix the opportunity to do so.

The climax of the final fight at the end The Matrix RevolutionsNeo agrees to Smith assimilation and has his copy deleted from the Matrix. There are several competing theories as to what exactly transpired after Smith assimilated Neo, including a very elaborate notion that Smith was in fact “the One,” not Neo. It was the events of Resurrections of the MatrixHowever, it would appear to contradict this theory. These competing interpretations aside, the result itself remains the same: Smith is defeated, the Matrix is rebooted, the machines call off their attack on Zion, and a fragile peace between the humans and machines is established through Neo’s sacrifice.

It has been sixty years since the closing of The Matrix RevolutionsSmith comes back in Resurrections of the MatrixJonathan Groff. The Matrix, which was created as a result a civil war among the Machines, has now been restarted. The new program, The Analyst, is responsible for this reboot. After his avatar had been destroyed, he was now known as The Analyst. The Matrix RevolutionsSmith was resurrected and placed in a new body. Smith, despite losing his ability to duplicate himself, has kept all his memories, including freedom from the Matrix. Smith returned to the Analyst for one reason: To keep an eye on Neo, and to make sure that Neo cannot leave the Matrix.

Smith still harbors hate towards Neo. However, The Analyst has made it clear that he cannot act on this hatred because The Analyst is in control of him. Smith joins the Merovingian and exile programs who survived the Matrix purge to attack Neo and his crew. Neo wins Smith again, but the analyst is chosen by Smith to defeat him. Neo can convince the trinity of leaving the Matrix to defeat Smith. Smith’s status by the end of Resurrections of the Matrix is left unclear, though it’s strongly implied that the defeat of The Analyst has enabled Neo’s long-time adversary some measure of much-desired freedom.

While it’s uncertain in what form the story of the Matrix will continue, if at all, it’s likely that Neo, Trinity, and the denizens of IO will have not seen the last of Smith’s machinations.