How did Morpheus know that Thomas A. Anderson, aka Neo, was the One? What did Neo do that set him apart from any other potentials?
And how did the Agents in the beginning not know?
How did Morpheus know?
28 posts · 2007-01-06 22:21:32 to 2007-01-17 07:01:21
He didnt. In the early Zion missions it turns out Morpheus was playing Darts with names on the score board basicly. Anyone he thought that might have been the one, he stuck to them like a stawker, telling them they were the one, and when they died, he went on to the next one until he found Neo.
What set Neo apart from the others? Well he didnt die until he was supposed to.
And as for the Agents not knowing, chances are they were using Morpheus to weed out potental threats to the matrix. Why devote resources to looking for people who could threaten the system when you can get a fanatic to do it for free?
ARRG this is one of the thigns that I wish wasnt cut from the script. In the 1998 version of the shooting script (found in The Art of the Matrix book) they actully shed some light on this (as well as other things). It it Morpheus says
"I believed what the Oracle told me.... No, I misunderstood what she told me. I believed that it was all about me. I believed that all I had to do was point my finger and anoint whoever I chose. I was wrong, Neo. Terribly wrong. Not a day or night passes that I do not think of them. After the fifth, I lost my way. I doubted everthing the Oracle had said. I doubted myself. And then I saw you, Neo, and my world changed. You can call it an epiphany, you can call it whatever the hell you want. It doesn't matter. It's not about a word. It's about this. So I can't explain it to you. All I can do is believe, Neo, believe that one day you will feel what I felt and know what I know; you are the sixth and the last. You are the One. Untill that time all I am asking from you is for you to hold on to whatever respect you may have for me and trust me."
yeah, but that still doesn't say how he picked Neo. What do you think it was?
I think that Neo found Morpheus. When the film starts, Neo is already under surveillance and has been for a while. Later, Morpheus alludes to the fact that he knows Neo had been searching for him. I think that's how Morpheus knew it was Neo.
yeah I always just figured that Morpheus finaly realized that he was just the John the Baptist and wasnt the one that picked who their Jesus was gonna be. Insted Jesus had to go and find John to get baptised. Symbolism FTW!
But that little quoet eludes that what happend was Morpheus just felt really good about his next throw at the dart board. Maybe thats why it was cut =P
Shi+Xin+Feng wrote:
yeah, but that still doesn't say how he picked Neo. What do you think it was?
I think that Neo found Morpheus. When the film starts, Neo is already under surveillance and has been for a while. Later, Morpheus alludes to the fact that he knows Neo had been searching for him. I think that's how Morpheus knew it was Neo.
Honestly, I think its possible that at a certain point he thought it was "Okay, every redpill we free we will say hes the one. If he survives hes the one, if not, next name on the list." Obvously im trivalizing it but think about this for a few minutes.
The way Cypher says "So, did he tell you why he did it? Jeesus, so your'e here to save the world." It almost feels like hes saying "Geez, he told this guy the same line as the others?"
Another possibility is that Morpheus may have worked out a certain requirement list for potental Ones. Like if such and such did this and that then they might be The One. The missions shed alot of light on Morpheus. He wasnt the Heros Mentor thats portrayed in the movies, he was, really, a nutcase.
Nice guess with Cypher 
In that original script, he was, indeed, the one to tell Neo about his predecessors first, in that very conversation. On the way to the Oracle, in the elevator I think, Neo then pointed Morpheus to what Cypher told him, and Morpheus' response was what you see in GamiSB's quote.
I don't know why they cut it out - maybe, they didn't want to have the five predecessors concept twice in the series, or wanted to officially reveal this at a later point?
According to TMO, it was only one predecessor, though, not five.
Hmm.
In that original script, he was, indeed, the one to tell Neo about his predecessors first, in that very conversation. On the way to the Oracle, in the elevator I think, Neo then pointed Morpheus to what Cypher told him, and Morpheus' response was what you see in GamiSB's quote.
I don't know why they cut it out - maybe, they didn't want to have the five predecessors concept twice in the series, or wanted to officially reveal this at a later point?
According to TMO, it was only one predecessor, though, not five.
Hmm.
The answer if fundamentally simple. Morpheus didn't know, he believed.
Remember when Seraph asked the Oracle, "Did you always know [that things would turn out this way]?" She answered, "No. No, I didn't. But I belived. I believed."
Morpheus had spent his entire life searching the Matrix for the One. Each time a canditate turned out not to be the One, his belief grew that much stronger that the next one would be. After all, the Oracle had seen it.
There's nothing that indicates to us that Thomas Anderson objectively showed any special signs of being the One before he takes the pill, but I'm sure that someone who wanted to believe as much as Morpheus did could read signs between the lines of the text Thomas would type when he would stay up on those late, lonely nights seeking respite for that unrelenting splinter. In the Oracle's apartment, we see the very young potentials who seem to have very extraordinary abilites as a result of having freed their minds significantly. In the Animatrix, we get a glimpse at how different people free their minds and become aware of the illusions in different ways, some of them very extraordinary like Dan. Again, we have not even a hint of such a thing with Thomas Anderson, but also no direct statements that there weren't any special abilities. Maybe he was just a really good hacker, like Trinity...and yet he seems to look up to Trinity as a superior in that regard. We could guess that Morpheus' convictions about Thomas in particular stem from interactions he either had with him in chat rooms, or just from the answers he was able to find on his own. As we know from Smith's report, his RL outside the internet seems to be inconsequential. We have glimpses from Trinity's interaction with Neo, from detective Ash and from Neo's interaction with the Kid that the rebels seem to have a certain modus operandi when it comes to prospective redpills.
Remember though not to get mixed up between the previous Ones who were actually Ones of their time and of whom Morpheus had no awareness, and the ones Morpheus thought were Ones but turned out not to be. Five times before he was ever awakened, a One returned to the Source and reinserted the prime program at the end of that version, which was followed by the destruction of the Zion of that time. These are the predecessors the Merv refers too. Probably there were others like Morpheus, others who guided by the Oracle "knew" they too had found the One of their time. In a situation like that after years of searching and not having found the One, either you give up or you believe more fiercely than ever.
There are so many possible interpretations of these events though...I remember getting into long discussions about these kinds of things, trying to extrapolate and draw inferences from the canon.
Remember when Seraph asked the Oracle, "Did you always know [that things would turn out this way]?" She answered, "No. No, I didn't. But I belived. I believed."
Morpheus had spent his entire life searching the Matrix for the One. Each time a canditate turned out not to be the One, his belief grew that much stronger that the next one would be. After all, the Oracle had seen it.
There's nothing that indicates to us that Thomas Anderson objectively showed any special signs of being the One before he takes the pill, but I'm sure that someone who wanted to believe as much as Morpheus did could read signs between the lines of the text Thomas would type when he would stay up on those late, lonely nights seeking respite for that unrelenting splinter. In the Oracle's apartment, we see the very young potentials who seem to have very extraordinary abilites as a result of having freed their minds significantly. In the Animatrix, we get a glimpse at how different people free their minds and become aware of the illusions in different ways, some of them very extraordinary like Dan. Again, we have not even a hint of such a thing with Thomas Anderson, but also no direct statements that there weren't any special abilities. Maybe he was just a really good hacker, like Trinity...and yet he seems to look up to Trinity as a superior in that regard. We could guess that Morpheus' convictions about Thomas in particular stem from interactions he either had with him in chat rooms, or just from the answers he was able to find on his own. As we know from Smith's report, his RL outside the internet seems to be inconsequential. We have glimpses from Trinity's interaction with Neo, from detective Ash and from Neo's interaction with the Kid that the rebels seem to have a certain modus operandi when it comes to prospective redpills.
Remember though not to get mixed up between the previous Ones who were actually Ones of their time and of whom Morpheus had no awareness, and the ones Morpheus thought were Ones but turned out not to be. Five times before he was ever awakened, a One returned to the Source and reinserted the prime program at the end of that version, which was followed by the destruction of the Zion of that time. These are the predecessors the Merv refers too. Probably there were others like Morpheus, others who guided by the Oracle "knew" they too had found the One of their time. In a situation like that after years of searching and not having found the One, either you give up or you believe more fiercely than ever.
There are so many possible interpretations of these events though...I remember getting into long discussions about these kinds of things, trying to extrapolate and draw inferences from the canon.
Sent wrote:
Each time a canditate turned out not to be the One, his belief grew that much stronger that the next one would be. After all, the Oracle had seen it.
The Oracle would have seen that the latest cycle was nearing an end, and a new One *had* to appear so the cycle could start over.
Illyria
zeroone506 wrote:
I wish they didnt cut that out, it would have given Cyphers reasons for betraying the Nebb crew a deeper meaning and a sence that he lost his faith. I recall in "The Making Of" the actor who played him sayed something like "Cypher is like Judas for Morpheus in that hes lost his faith" and so forth. I dont remember the exact words so dont qoute me on them but it definitely would have made a deeper impact then, steak.
Nice guess with Cypher
In that original script, he was, indeed, the one to tell Neo about his predecessors first, in that very conversation. On the way to the Oracle, in the elevator I think, Neo then pointed Morpheus to what Cypher told him, and Morpheus' response was what you see in GamiSB's quote.
I don't know why they cut it out - maybe, they didn't want to have the five predecessors concept twice in the series, or wanted to officially reveal this at a later point?
According to TMO, it was only one predecessor, though, not five.
Hmm.
I wish they didnt cut that out, it would have given Cyphers reasons for betraying the Nebb crew a deeper meaning and a sence that he lost his faith. I recall in "The Making Of" the actor who played him sayed something like "Cypher is like Judas for Morpheus in that hes lost his faith" and so forth. I dont remember the exact words so dont qoute me on them but it definitely would have made a deeper impact then, steak.
Keep in mind that this involves Trinity as well. The Oracle told her that she would fall in love with the man who would be The One. This raises a few questions:
Did Trinity believe The Oracle's prediction?
If she didn't believe it, would she still have fallen in love with Neo?
If she did believe it, are her affections for Neo genuine?
Assuming people can fall in love with more than one person, how many potential "Ones" did Trinity have affections for after the prediction was made?
I think Morpheus was a very insignificant factor, compared to how Trinity impacted Neo's awakening. The Oracle told Morpheus that he would find The One, yet when examined, The Oracle determines that Neo was not The One. Morpheus didn't find The One, he found Neo. It wasn't until Trinity confessed her true feelings for Neo that he became The One.
Yeah, but that happened after they contacted Neo. At the beginning of the film, they were already observing him. What I would like to know is, when did they start watching Neo? More importantly, why?
ManicV wrote:
Keep in mind that this involves Trinity as well. The Oracle told her that she would fall in love with the man who would be The One. This raises a few questions:
Did Trinity believe The Oracle's prediction?
If she didn't believe it, would she still have fallen in love with Neo?
If she did believe it, are her affections for Neo genuine?
Assuming people can fall in love with more than one person, how many potential "Ones" did Trinity have affections for after the prediction was made?
I think Morpheus was a very insignificant factor, compared to how Trinity impacted Neo's awakening. The Oracle told Morpheus that he would find The One, yet when examined, The Oracle determines that Neo was not The One. Morpheus didn't find The One, he found Neo. It wasn't until Trinity confessed her true feelings for Neo that he became The One.
I think:
1. Its a self fullfilling prophecy.
2. Trinity falling in love with the one was most likely the reason that they cut out the fact that Morpheus had found 5 pervous people who could have been The One. It would have created alot of problems to try and explain why Neo was so special as compaired to the others. Questions like did Trinity fall in love with the other One would bes or what would have come up.
Personally, I think they should have just cut out the "Trinity will fall in love with the One" and left "Morpheus found 5 people he thought were the one before he found Neo".
that may be true about Trinity however they never say if Morpheus knew what Trinity was told. Morpheus never seems to ask others what the Oracle tells them (minus Niobe in the 3rd film). We see Neo try and tell him but he cuts him off saying "What was for you and you alone". Also Trinity always seems hesitent to even mention what she was told. And if she did tell Morpheus would just have the simple task of letting Trinity take over and watch to see who she fell in love with.
Lastly Trinity's belife in the One prophecy goes unknown untill Cypher betrays them and she says she does. But later Morpheus asks her "Do you believe it now Trinity?" sudgesting that she at first didnt believe it and may have never believed what the Oralce said untill they found Neo.
To ShiX
When is kinda answerd at the start Feb 18th 1998 I believe it says when the agents are traceing the line Trintiy uses which we hear that she is watching Neo.
Why is unknown. It could have just been a guess, it could have been that Neo just lived up to Morpheus "The One" chracteristic list he may have had. I believe as I said that at some point Morpheus realized that the One wouldn't just be whom ever he choose but that the One would make himself known to him by looking for him. So they kinda found each other.
I disagree Morpheus found them and he said to everyone: You are the one... oh, you died, oh well, now you are the one... mmm, dead too. Hey, little guy, you are the one now. mmm, dead. Who's next?
I think it was more strict to select who was the one.
Someone in here (forgot his name) replied that there were Ones in their times. I think this is true because when Neo meets the Architect discovers that there were 5 Chosen Ones before him, not 5 guys who Morpheus thought were the One. And the other Ones had all the power that Neo has, like flying and stop bullets and stuff. But, like the Architect said, the only thing that kept alive Neo unlike the other Ones is that he is in love.
How did Morpheus know? Because he has searching for him all his life, he cannot miss in so many years until make very, very sure.
Well I think because all the freed people in Zion where either Computer hackers or totally into computers in the matrix, that morpheus just picked the "one" that was the best at the moment I.e. Thomas Anderson and stuck with him. KLuckely he turned out to be the one, not saying there wern't missed tries before him, where Morpheus grabed somebody and they where like uhhh... dead. Yeah thats what I think.
Laters
Even a broken clock is right twice a day...I suppose Morpheus was bound to find the next One eventually.
Illyria
didnt the oracle tell him he was going to meet someone of great significance that would help him?
ManicV wrote:
As for Morpheus, he's just some crazy guy who desperately wanted a purpose, illustrated even more so in MxO. Hmm...there's a connection to Smith in that regard.
That really falls under the "Broken Vase" line of thought; if she didn't believe, would it have happened anyway? Wouldn't she have fallen in love with Neo anyway? She clearly had feelings before he showed any One-like powers. Or was her connection with the One more psychic than romantic? Perhaps she never really loved him, she just thought she did, because of what the Oracle said.Keep in mind that this involves Trinity as well. The Oracle told her that she would fall in love with the man who would be The One. This raises a few questions:
Did Trinity believe The Oracle's prediction?
If she didn't believe it, would she still have fallen in love with Neo?
If she did believe it, are her affections for Neo genuine?
Assuming people can fall in love with more than one person, how many potential "Ones" did Trinity have affections for after the prediction was made?
I think Morpheus was a very insignificant factor, compared to how Trinity impacted Neo's awakening. The Oracle told Morpheus that he would find The One, yet when examined, The Oracle determines that Neo was not The One. Morpheus didn't find The One, he found Neo. It wasn't until Trinity confessed her true feelings for Neo that he became The One.
As for Morpheus, he's just some crazy guy who desperately wanted a purpose, illustrated even more so in MxO. Hmm...there's a connection to Smith in that regard.
ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:
ManicV wrote:That really falls under the "Broken Vase" line of thought; if she didn't believe, would it have happened anyway? Wouldn't she have fallen in love with Neo anyway? She clearly had feelings before he showed any One-like powers. Or was her connection with the One more psychic than romantic? Perhaps she never really loved him, she just thought she did, because of what the Oracle said.Keep in mind that this involves Trinity as well. The Oracle told her that she would fall in love with the man who would be The One. This raises a few questions:
Did Trinity believe The Oracle's prediction?
If she didn't believe it, would she still have fallen in love with Neo?
If she did believe it, are her affections for Neo genuine?
Assuming people can fall in love with more than one person, how many potential "Ones" did Trinity have affections for after the prediction was made?
I think Morpheus was a very insignificant factor, compared to how Trinity impacted Neo's awakening. The Oracle told Morpheus that he would find The One, yet when examined, The Oracle determines that Neo was not The One. Morpheus didn't find The One, he found Neo. It wasn't until Trinity confessed her true feelings for Neo that he became The One.
As for Morpheus, he's just some crazy guy who desperately wanted a purpose, illustrated even more so in MxO. Hmm...there's a connection to Smith in that regard.
Well, when you put it like that, I think Trinity's love for Neo could have been another Machine control.
"Being the One is just like being in love.", "The Oracle told me that I would fall in love, and that man would be the One", "Save Trinity or save Zion" Go figure.
But, back on topic. At some point, Morpheus looked at Neo and said, "this is it; he's the One". What I want to know is, what made him decide/realize/etc? No one knows?
Shi+Xin+Feng wrote:
But, back on topic. At some point, Morpheus looked at Neo and said, "this is it; he's the One". What I want to know is, what made him decide/realize/etc? No one knows?
Cause Neo stopped a crap load of bullets in mid-air.
Laters
Fondo wrote:
Your words have a kind of ... poetic beauty to them
Shi+Xin+Feng wrote:But, back on topic. At some point, Morpheus looked at Neo and said, "this is it; he's the One". What I want to know is, what made him decide/realize/etc? No one knows?
Cause Neo stopped a crap load of bullets in mid-air.Laters
Your words have a kind of ... poetic beauty to them
Fondo wrote:
Shi+Xin+Feng wrote:I think he means before they awoke Neo.But, back on topic. At some point, Morpheus looked at Neo and said, "this is it; he's the One". What I want to know is, what made him decide/realize/etc? No one knows?
Cause Neo stopped a crap load of bullets in mid-air.
@ LostProphet: I try.
@ Zeroone: Well if he would clarify then I could also comment on the other situation... but if he would read my post from earlier then he would see that I already touched on that subject... that Morpheus always had the best hackers in his crew, and he might have thought that the best hacker in the matrix could become the one, because he had so much base understanding of cade and programming.
Better?
Laters
Morpheus Believed Neo was the One waaaaay before he knew who Neo was. I would suspect he looked at everyone at some point and thought, "You could be the One." He wasn't stupid, he must have had reasons to view a potential as such.
He actually Knew Neo was the One when Neo proved it, like whoever said.
These forums think Neo is spelled wrong. Ouch.
He actually Knew Neo was the One when Neo proved it, like whoever said.
These forums think Neo is spelled wrong. Ouch.
Fondo wrote:
@ LostProphet: I try.
@ Zeroone: Well if he would clarify then I could also comment on the other situation... but if he would read my post from earlier then he would see that I already touched on that subject... that Morpheus always had the best hackers in his crew, and he might have thought that the best hacker in the matrix could become the one, because he had so much base understanding of cade and programming.
Better?
Laters
We saw that Thomas Anderson was a hacker from his dealings with the guy who had the white rabbit girlfriend.
To paraphrase Fondo: Possibly Neo performed hacks that would have been impossible for those without an understanding of the matrix.
Sospechoso
I definitely see what the OP is trying to get at, but I don't think there's any way to know for sure. If there was a specific answer somewhere in the films, MxO, or The Animatrix, someone in this horde of fans would probably be able to quote it line, chapter, and verse.
My theory? I think that Neo did something to distinguish himself in terms of his understanding of computer systems - after all, being the One is really only a matter of having the capability to overpower the rules of the simulation by force of will. What that something was that caught Morpheus' attention is up in the air. Coming up with extremely powerful hacks for which people would pay a lot of money is a good candidate. I seem to recall a theory that Thomas Anderson may have been tinkering with artificial intelligence based upon the titles of the books on his bookshelf, so perhaps he was on the verge of "discovering" the key to artificial intelligence. Hard to say for sure.
On the other hand, the edited quote from Morpheus may mean that he literally just saw Thomas Anderson on the street, but had an overwhelming sense that this random guy was the One. Morpheus was a big proponent of trusting your intuition, so this seems almost as likely as there being a specific rational reason for his commitment to tracking Neo.
Shi+Xin+Feng wrote:
Nothing. People believed in him/her/it.
No one knew. BTW, you can't not know.
Morpheus didn't know. He was on a search mission, remember?How did Morpheus know that Thomas A. Anderson, aka Neo, was the One? What did Neo do that set him apart from any other potentials?
And how did the Agents in the beginning not know?
Nothing. People believed in him/her/it.
No one knew. BTW, you can't not know.