Did they ever expand on the notion that the machines built Zion?

the assistant art director for the matix (michael turner) stated that the machines actually built Zion, and the clues were all there (ie the walls full of pasted over bullet holes in reloaded that would be remnants from previous wars, or how the design of the sleeping quarters in zion are like an inverted, inside-out version of the rows of pods from the fields). if true then in effect Zion is a matrix, though not a digital one....its a real world prison as fake as anything else in the war of man v machine. I'm really intrigued by the whole idea of manipulating the humans to the extent that even the physical world and the history surrounding the Zionites is a complete phallacy. Any takers?

Zion is necessary for the cycles of the Matrix -- so even if the Machines didn't build the original Zion, they must have rebuilt it after each time it was destroyed, making it suitable for its role in the cycle.

Illyria

A long time ago on some other forum, I posted something along these lines:

the assistant art director for the matix (michael turner) stated that the machines actually built Zion, and the clues were all there (ie the walls full of pasted over bullet holes in reloaded that would be remnants from previous wars, or how the design of the sleeping quarters in zion are like an inverted, inside-out version of the rows of pods from the fields). if true then in effect Zion is a matrix, though not a digital one....its a real world prison as fake as anything else in the war of man v machine. I'm really intrigued by the whole idea of manipulating the humans to the extent that even the physical world and the history surrounding the Zionites is a complete phallacy. Any takers?

When the Architect gives Neo the choice to choose specimens from the Matrix to rebuild Zion, he also mentions that stepping through the door allows for the dissemination of the Source Code he carries. It's possible that going through the door allows Neo to actually enter the Source and from there he is no longer the same. No more 'One' as we know him; Neo would be totally stripped of his abilities and his uberness would no longer be relevant.

From the Source, it is possible that those who are selected are inserted with a code similar to the way that The One was initially inserted with a code. Only this code would be an artificial past/story to trigger their growing up within Zion, rebuilding it, etc.

The only flaw I ever saw in the storyline were the chronological facts. When Morpheus says "It's closer to 2099," I think that our True Believer is wrong. There's no way you could have six instances of fully-grown, flesh-based humans in the span of 100 years. Well, you COULD. That would mean every twenty years Zion is destroyed and that would put Tank at 20 years old in the first movie. So it sounds appropriate, but he would have had to be born directly after Zion was rebuilt. I guess I sort of answered my own question...