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The Oracle: Sorry, kid. You got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something.

Neo: What?

The Oracle: Your next life, maybe. Who knows? That's the way these things go.

Neo: (feeling relieved) Morpheus. He... he almost had me convinced.

I think the Oracle means it literally here. She suggests that Neo has to die so that he could really walk the path of the One.

Apparently Neo misunderstood her at the moment because he didn't know he would sacrifice himself to save Morpheous yet.

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  • Don't forget, the Oracle lied in whatever way would get people to do what she needed them to do. Told Trinity she'd fall in love with The One; told Morpheus he'd find him, told Neo Morpheus was The One. All the things needed to get Neo to become The One.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Aug 4, 2017 at 19:19
  • @ZeissIkon She never lies. But she is not about to give Neo critical information about the truth of the Matrix until he makes the irrational choice. So she tells him something that is literally true.
    – Kinzle B
    Aug 4, 2017 at 19:31

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It does not seem necessary for The One to undergo death and resurrection because all indications are that Neo has always been The One. The One is a designed function and carries Machine code which is used to reinsert the prime program, so the Machines play a role in determining who is The One.

The only requirement on the part of the human potential to function as The One is that he must be convinced that he is The One. As the Oracle put it: "Know Thyself". The Oracle told Neo that he would have to sacrifice himself for Morpheus so that Neo would convince himself that he was The One, but the sacrifice itself was not what made Neo The One. Neo's belief that he could rescue Morpheus from a military-controlled building that was also guarded by Agents was an indication that he was beginning to believe -- Morpheus said so himself after Neo saved Trinity from the helicopter (which was before his resurrection).

Trinity's kiss and revelation to Neo that the Oracle told her she would love The One constituted further confirmation to Neo that he was The One and made him believe it more strongly, but he was already The One by that point.

Neo's predecessors therefore only needed to be convinced that they were The One by any means -- whether that meant a death/resurrection, rescuing someone against all odds, etc.

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  • I edited my question and added some important evidence.
    – Kinzle B
    Aug 4, 2017 at 19:16
  • @KinzleB My answer remains fundamentally the same. Neo needed to sacrifice himself for Morpheus (die and be resurrected) only to convince himself that he was The One. Neo's predecessors did not necessarily need to undergo such an extreme event if they could be convinced that they were The One by some other means. Note that even the Architect says that Neo is special -- Neo is the first One to love a particular human rather than all mankind, and of course Trinity's love for Neo also played an important role in Neo's resurrection.
    – Null ♦
    Aug 4, 2017 at 19:44
  • Sorry I didn't make myself clear, so I'll have to edit my Q again. I wasn't disagreeing with you. I think sacrifice is a necessary part of walking the path of the One. Remember the Matrix is not real, so death and resurrection are not extreme at all. A bit like the path of Jesus, which I also think is intentional in the movie. :)
    – Kinzle B
    Aug 4, 2017 at 22:05

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