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If the Architect had called off the Agent from killing Trinity, it would have incentivized Neo to make the choice the Architect wanted, by returning to the source. That seemed to be his/the Machines' strategy, to hold a gun to the head of humanity, incentivizing the One to make the choice that continued the stalemate they had engineered. The situation with Trinity weakens their case.

In their conversation, the Architect emphasizes, "She is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it," while there seems to be something he can do to stop it. Did the Architect actually have the power to do this, or was he constrained to be only an observer, due to the inherent nature of the Matrix, and everything in it (humans and programs) having freedom to behave (or not) according to their programming? Perhaps he set up the AIs programming at their creation but let them be after that? This makes sense with programs like the Keymaker and Seraph and especially Smith rebelling against the mainframe and not being instantly deleted.

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  • The Architect of the matrix, not supreme commander of the machine city and its power sources. Architects can whine all they want but they don't get to say anything to my interior decorator, after their job is done. The One isn't the anomaly, she is. She's gotta go, one way or another, which is what [spoilers]. ... What do you think I am, in charge here? (Then you'd all be pigs or cows and everything would make sense and never need winding. Roll credits.)
    – Mazura
    Oct 15, 2022 at 21:29

2 Answers 2

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My interpretation of that scene has always been the opposite.

The one is supposed to:

The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion

Bold mine. The one, as explained by the Architect, has always had a strong connection to humanity by design, however Neo's case is different:

Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love.

This, is a problem. The previous incarnations of the one followed the logic of the architect, the only way out for the survival of the species was to follow suite. That would mean the destruction of Zion but the survival of everyone connected to the Matrix.

However, for Neo, his specific love for Trinity is an issue as she will be one of the casualties if Neo goes back to the source. The architect is trying to get rid of that variable in the equation, if she's alrady death, then there's nothing for Neo to go back to or prevent him from completing his mission. He goes extra lenght to assure Neo that she's going to die no matter what he does, therefore eliminating the hope and the love and, in his view, leaving only one option remaining... to go back to the source and restart the cycle.

The Architect - Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to the left leads back to the matrix, to her, and to the end of your species. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.

The architect sees the issue and tries (unsuccesfully) to convince Neo. In the end Neo's love for Trinity ends up being an unforseen event by the architect. This will lead (at least on my read of the movies) to the new "plan" forged by the Oracle with the approval of the architect and the machines.

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The Architect actually wanted Neo to leave and chase after Trinity, because Neo was useless to him. He was incomplete, part of The One code was inside Smith. Among other things he was unable to copy himself into The Source in the first place. The Architect correctly assumed that showing him falling Trinity will provoke him to quickly leave.

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  • That's an interesting argument and one I haven't heard before. I wonder if that doesn't contradict the Architect's character though. He is presented as a being of straightforward mathematical precision, and I'd be surprised if he is capable of subterfuge like that. In the scene he clearly preferred Neo to choose the Source, and was contemptuous that he did not. It's hard to see that being an act, given his characterization
    – RC_23
    Sep 15, 2022 at 13:23
  • I think this is wrong. It's that he expects Neo to leave and try to save Trinity, and in doing so, he fails to save the Matrix, necessitating the loss of a crop and a reboot of the Matrix with another set of humans. Catastrophic, but not an existential threat
    – Valorum
    Oct 15, 2022 at 9:33

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