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The Oracle to Neo:

"Because you didn't come here to make the choice. You already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it."

Neo: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?

The Oracle: No, you've already made the choice. Now you have to understand it.

Neo: No. I can't do that. I won't.

The Oracle: Well, you have to.

Neo: Why?

The Oracle: Because you're the One.

At this point what choice is the Oracle referring to? I don't think she's referring to the choice between the left door and the right door. Does Neo finally understand his choice? When does he understand it?

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  • Not when, but what, surely?
    – Valorum
    Feb 12, 2016 at 22:32

2 Answers 2

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Although you say "I don't think she's referring to the choice between the left door and the right door", I think the context pretty clearly suggests she is talking about exactly that. In this scene, the Oracle and Neo are talking about his prophetic dreams in which he walks through "the door made of light" (which is later revealed to lead to the Architect's room), and then sees "something bad" happen to Trinity, and that "she starts to fall", but then he wakes up before he finds out what happens. The Oracle then says the reason he never sees what happens in these prophetic dreams is that "We can never see past the choices we don't understand", presumably referring to the choice the Architect gives him about saving Trinity or saving the Matrix from the danger of total destruction.

I suspect you may be taking her line "You've already made the choice, now you have to understand it" too literally, and thinking that rules out the choice about the doors since at that point in time he hasn't made such a choice yet. But I interpret this line to reflect her sort of timeless perspective on reality (compare with the real-life philosophical view known as eternalism), and that from this perspective all choices past, present, and future have "already" been made, and the moment of choice is just the moment we "understand" why we are going to make the choice that was "already" a fixed part of this timeless 4-dimensional reality. I think this interpretation is supported by the fact that immediately before the "You've already made the choice" line, she tells Neo "You have the sight now, Neo. You are looking at the world without time."

So, if we assume that the Oracle was indeed talking about the choice of which door to go through, he could only really "understand" the choice once he learned the full truth about the Matrix and the One's assigned role from the Architect (which apparently he didn't see in his prophetic dream), and realized his choice was between saving Trinity or saving everyone in the Matrix from near-certain death.

Here are the relevant lines, from part 4 of the Reloaded transcript here:

Neo: The machine mainframe?

The Oracle: Yes. Where you must go. Where the path of The One ends. You've seen it, in your dreams, haven't you? The door made of light?

Neo: [nods]

The Oracle: What happens when you go through the door?

Neo: I see Trinity, and something happens, something bad. She starts to fall, and then I wake up.

The Oracle: Do you see her die?

Neo: No.

The Oracle: You have the sight now, Neo. You are looking at the world without time.

Neo: Then why can't I see what happens to her?

The Oracle: We can never see past the choices we don't understand.

Neo: Are you saying I have to choose whether Trinity lives or dies?

The Oracle: No. You've already made the choice, now you have to understand it.

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  • He's trying to comprehend why he would choose an option that results in Trinity's death.
    – Valorum
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:04
  • ... So did Neo finally understand his choice??
    – Kinzle B
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:12
  • @Hypnosifl - I think it's deeper than that. He senses the wrongness of stepping off of the Path of the One but hasn't yet found out why it's the wrong choice.
    – Valorum
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:12
  • @Richard - When you say "found out why it's the wrong choice" do you mean the choice to save Trinity is wrong, or the choice to remain on the assigned Path of the One is wrong?
    – Hypnosifl
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:15
  • 1
    @Hypnosifl - The latest edit is very good. I like the added paragraph a lot.
    – Valorum
    Feb 12, 2016 at 23:20
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Neo is like all other humans deep down and pick what has entered his consciousness that is closer to his heart. He chooses the emotion of deeper love and that is more imminent (the death of Trinity) rather than the one that takes a little more time to take place (the take over of the machines). What can go wrong, If He cannot even save Trinity for whom he will move everything just to make her alive, how can he pull off saving mankind?

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