• Change Matrix access point (3:30)

  • The agents found and cut the hardline. Since Trinity’s old line out of the Matrix is cut, Morpheus has to route her way out of the Matrix to a new connection point: the phone booth at Wells and Lake. This event introduces the technology of phone lines to serve as a nexus between the simulated world and reality for Morpheus’ group. This event also is the first instance of people located outside the Matrix communicating with those inside the Matrix.

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• Messages sent to Neo via his computer screen (7:20)

  • Neo wakes up to his computer screen sending him instructions that flash across his screen. The instructions inform Neo that the “Matrix has [him]” and that he must find the white rabbit. This event displays that Morpheus is also able to communicate from the outside world into the Matrix through computer technology as well as through phone technology. This event is also the first time that Morpheus communicates with someone still unaware of the Matrix simulation system.

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• “Bugging” Neo (21:05)

  • The agents insert a device, depicted as a living bug, into Neo in order to wiretap him. This is the first instance of government technology being used to invade the privacy of the inhabitants of the Matrix. The ‘bug’ in The Matrix is reminiscent of computer viruses/bugs in the real world. It is inserted into a piece of code (in this case Neo’s simulated self) and can stay undetected while causing damage to a system. The ‘bug’ stays undetected by Neo until Trinity removes it.

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• Neo Takes Red Pill (29:05) 

  • Morpheus provides Neo with a red pill to take. This pill is a trace program that disrupts Neo’s input output carrier signal so Morpheus’ team can pinpoint his location within the Matrix. This pill (used alongside other pieces of technological equipment) serves as the technology to break people trapped inside the Matrix out of their simulated lives and into reality. After Neo takes the red pill, his mind is disconnected from the simulated Matrix.

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• Rebuilding Neo’s body (35:40)

  • After Neo exits the Matrix, Morpheus’ group has to help him adjust to reality. Because Neo has never used his muscles before, they have all atrophied and he is too weak to move or stand. The group uses an acupuncture-like machine with needles all over Neo’s body to rebuild Neo’s atrophied muscles.

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• Neo enters construct (39:20)

  • Morpheus plugs Neo’s mind into the construct, a loading program created by Morpheus’ group that they can use to create anything they need before going into the Matrix. The construct is also the place where Morpheus’ group conducts training simulations to develop combat skills. Within the construct, Morpheus introduces Neo to the concept of his own mental projection of his electronic self: his residual self image.

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• Humanity celebrated the creation of AI (41:35) 

  • Morpheus explains to Neo that in the early 21st century, humans created the first working AI. The AI was at first a singular consciousness that grew to spawn an entire race of machines which ran on solar energy. Because the AI grew too powerful, humanity tried to wipe the machines out by destroying their source of power - the Sun. This event reflects the idea of humanity creating their own destruction through too many technological advancements.

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• The Matrix system explained (42:20)

  • Morpheus explains that because the machines could no longer get their source of fusion energy from the Sun, they turned to a human source of energy. Since humans produce more bio-electricity than a 120V battery and 25,000 BTU of body heat, the machines created the Matrix simulation as a means to collect this energy. The machines use human batteries (for fusion reactions) to power themselves.

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• Tank trains Neo in the construct (48:05)

  • Tank plugs Neo into the ship’s system and uploads a combat training program into Neo’s mind. This data-transfer process allows Neo to instantly learn martial arts to use in the Matrix. This is a simulated skill that allows Neo to master martial arts with beyond-human precision. This aspect of The Matrix mirrors the skill-building algorithms that populate video games today.

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• Deja-vu is a glitch in the matrix (1:19:15)

  • Neo sees the same cat twice while in the Matrix. Trinity explains that this event of ‘deja-vu’ is actually a glitch in the Matrix system that occurs when the machines (agents) change something in the program. In this case, the machines cut the hardline so the characters cannot use it to travel back out of the Matrix.

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• Unplugging someone from the matrix destroys their mind (1:29:05)

  • Cypher betrays Morpheus and the rest of his group. Working alongside the agents, Cypher is pulled from the Matrix and attacks Tank and Dozer. He then unplugs Apoc’s cable and Apoc dies inside the Matrix. By unplugging Apoc, Cypher has killed Apoc’s mind in the Matrix, killing him in reality as well. This event demonstrates that the people inside the Matrix have to be at a hardline in order to travel out of the simulation safely, highlighting a risk in the telephone hardline system which Cypher has exploited. 

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• Neo dodges the bullets (1:46:30)

  • Neo demonstrates his beyond-human dodging skills while maneuvering to avoid an agent’s gunshots. This is the point where Neo takes full advantage of his awareness that the Matrix is a simulation, allowing him to be more than human. This event demonstrates that the Matrix, programmed to make humans obey the laws of physics, is not flawless. The Matrix rules can be bent by a human mind that recognizes it as a simulation.

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• Upload helicopter training into Trinity (1:47:25)

  • Tank uploads the pilot training program for a B-212 helicopter to Trinity’s mind while she is inside the Matrix. This event demonstrates that knowledge can be instantly uploaded even when characters are already in the Matrix. This event also reveals that Morpheus’ group has various chips with different specialized skills on them to upload as needed.

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• Neo defeats Smith and leaves the Matrix (2:05:10)

  • Neo sees through the Matrix to the lines of code executing the simulation, as shown through his perspective in the finale. At this point in the movie, having reduced the Matrix to its lines of code, Neo can do more than just bend the laws of physics; he can completely break the simulation and stop the agent’s bullets simply with his thoughts. Neo then destroys Agent Smith: the Matrix’s head of security/antivirus, and exits the Matrix. Neo has become a virus in the Matrix capable of bypassing its security and completely rewriting its code to his favor.

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• Squiddy infiltrates ship (2:07:05)

  • One of the AI machines detects Morpheus’ ship and begins to infiltrate the hull, getting into the control room and finding Morpheus, Trinity, Neo, and Tank. In order to stop the Squiddy machine, Morpheus activates an EMP blast, which shuts down the Squiddy before it can kill them. The audience also learns that an EMP blast would kill a human connected into the Matrix as Trinity does not want Morpheus to set off the EMP until Neo has been unplugged from the simulation.