Neo: I know you. Rama-Kandra: Yes, in the restaurant of the Frenchman. I am Rama-Kandra. This is my wife Kamala, my daughter Sati. We are most honored to meet you. |
Neo: I know you. Rama-Kandra: Yes, in the restaurant of the Frenchman. I am Rama-Kandra. This is my wife Kamala, my daughter Sati. We are most honored to meet you. |
For those who have only seen M2 once or twice, it is easy to miss the very brief shot of Neo and Rama-Kandra making eye contact in the Merovingian's restaurant in M2. Just as Morpheus, Trinity and Neo walk in to see the Merovingian, Neo sees Rama-Kandra being led away from the Merovingian after having a meeting.
Neo: You're programs. Rama-Kandra: Oh, yes. I'm the power plant systems manager for recycling operations. My wife is an interactive software programmer, she is highly creative. |
Just like in the park with the Oracle, Neo sees that Rama-Kandra and Kamala are made of gold code. Neo calls them "programs" instead of "machines," but Rama-Kandra himself confirms that they are indeed machines from the fact that he works in recycling operations (where dead humans are liquefied) at the power plant (where humans in pods provide power for machines). By calling them programs, Neo was probably just referring to the fact that Sati, Rama-Kandra and Kamala are not human like him.
Speculating what Kamala (the "interactive software programmer") does is not as easy, but one possibility is especially interesting. Kamala is probably the main machine responsible for creating her daughter's software. In the video game Enter the Matrix, the Oracle says, ."..I believe the child [Sati] is important. She will change both your world and our world forever." The Oracle wouldn't say this if Sati didn't present a possibility for further evolution of machines (and possibly humans). If Kamala could create Sati's software, it's possible that Kamala could have also created the Oracle's software. That would make Sati the Oracle's "little sister" and shed more light on the Oracle's willingness to sacrifice herself for Sati.
Kamala: What are you doing here? You do not belong here. Rama-Kandra: Kamala! Goodness, I apologize. My wife can be very direct. Neo: It's okay. I don't have an answer. I don't even know where 'here' is. Rama-Kandra: This place is nowhere. It is between your world and our world. |
When Rama-Kandra says that Mobil Avenue is "nowhere," he means that it is not located anywhere inside of the Matrix. Mobil Avenue is therefore immune to reboots of the Matrix system, enabling the Merovingian and his servant exiles to survive system reboots.
Neo: Who's the Trainman? Rama-Kandra: He works for the Frenchman. Neo: Why'd I know you were going to say that? Rama-Kandra: The Frenchman does not forget and he does not forgive. Neo: You know him? Rama-Kandra: I know only what I need to know. I know that if you want to take something from our world into your world that does not belong there, you must go to the Frenchman. |
To restate, this is where we learn that Mobil Avenue is used by the Merovingian to smuggle programs from Machine City into the Matrix.
Neo: Is that what you're doing here? Kamala: Rama, please! Rama-Kandra: I do not want to be cruel, Kamala. He may never see another face for the rest of his life. Neo: I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that question. Rama-Kandra: No. I don't mind. The answer is simple. I love my daughter very much. I find her to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But where we are from, that is not enough. Every program that is created must have a purpose; if it does not, it is deleted. I went to the Frenchman to save my daughter. |
Finally, we find out that Rama-Kandra and Kamala are actually smuggling their daughter Sati because Sati would have been deleted. But why was Sati created in the first place if she was just going to be deleted? She is obviously a very young program, possibly brand new. See Sati for my theory about her.
Rama-Kandra: You do not understand. Neo: I just have never... Rama-Kandra: ...heard a program speak of love? Neo: It's a... human emotion. Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection? Neo: Anything. Rama-Kandra: Then perhaps the reason you're here is not so different from the reason I'm here. |
What Rama-Kandra is suggesting here is that machines apparently understand the human brain well enough to be able to simulate (or duplicate) the "connection" of love with computer code. Given that machines understand love so well, it is no wonder that the Oracle was so easily able to manipulate Neo and Trinity so that they would fall in love.
More importantly, Neo learns something that is critical to understanding the full meaning of his sacrifice at the end of M3: machines are apparently worth saving too. Machines apparently aren't the cold, heartless non-lifeforms that Neo thought they were. The ending of M3 has a more powerful emotional impact when keeping this in mind, because when Matrix ver. 7.0 is shown at the end, you will no longer be thinking that nothing was accomplished (or that the "bad guys" won). The main enemy that was conquered (aside from the Smith virus) was war itself.
Neo: When is the train due? Rama-Kandra: It's already late. It's not like the Trainman to be late. Neo: You think it has something to do with me? Rama-Kandra: I cannot say. Who knows such things? Only the Oracle. Neo: You know the Oracle? Rama-Kandra: Everyone knows the Oracle. I consulted with her before I met with the Frenchman. She promised she would look after Sati after we said goodbye. |
The Oracle had to be sure that Neo was going to actually choose the left door, and she also needed Neo to eventually understand that choice (that it was a choice out of love for Trinity) so that she could see what would happen after that choice is made. Neo did not come to understand that choice while he was with the Oracle, but he made a believer out of the Oracle anyway. Those were the two purposes of the Oracle's meeting with Neo in the park in M2.
Once the Oracle was convinced that Neo was going to choose the left door, she left Neo in the park. I believe she immediately went to see Rama-Kandra to tell him that the One was not going to choose the right door, but that she believes there will still be another Matrix for Sati to hide out in.
The only way a program can be smuggled into the Matrix is through Mobil Ave., which is controlled by the Merovingian! That means that the only way the Oracle could get Sati from the Merovingian is to offer him something he wants. So, the Oracle (or Kamala, if she is the creator of the Oracle) gave Rama-Kandra the deletion codes to her outer shell. The Oracle probably gave Rama-Kandra her deletion codes, who in turn gave the codes to the Merovingian, allowing the Merovingian to believe that Rama-Kandra was betraying the Oracle (and her deletion codes would be more valuable to him coming from someone else - if they came straight from the Oracle, the Merovingian would be suspicious of her intentions and might not even want them).
Being envious of the Oracle (and angry about Seraph's loyalty to the Oracle instead of to him), the Merovingian jumped at the opportunity to put the Oracle through pain and cause the Oracle to lose a part of herself. But the Merovingian wasn't surprised to learn that the Oracle was able to find another shell.
It took about the same amount of time for the Oracle to meet with Rama-Kandra in the real world (and for Rama-Kandra to get Sati into Mobil Ave.) as it took for Neo to battle all the Smiths in the burly brawl and for Morpheus, Trinity and Neo to meet with the Merovingian (and go through the big chase in the Matrix to obtain the Keymaker). Remember, very shortly after they survived the big chase, they detected sentinels outside of their ship, Neo stopped the sentinels, and Neo's consciousness was instantly placed inside Mobil Avenue. That is why Neo and Sati just happened to be in Mobil Avenue at the same time.
Neo: Goodbye? You're not staying with her? Rama-Kandra: It is not possible. Our arrangement with the Frenchman was for our daughter only. My wife and I must return to our world. Neo: Why? Rama-Kandra: That is our karma. Neo: You believe in karma? Rama-Kandra: Karma's a word. Like 'love.' A way of saying 'what I am here to do.' I do not resent my karma - I'm grateful for it. Grateful for my wonderful wife, for my beautiful daughter. They are gifts. And so I do what I must do to honor them. Sati: Papa, the train! |
As Rama-Kandra defines karma to be "what I am here to do," we learn that his idea of "karma" is really nothing more than a Buddhism/Hinduism spin on the idea of purpose. Smith, even as an exile, cannot deny his purpose to continue fighting the biggest anomaly of the system, Neo. The Keymaker, also an exile, cannot deny his purpose to continue making keys and to enable the One to fulfill his ultimate purpose. Likewise, Rama-Kandra (who is definitely not an exile) cannot deny his main purpose of overseeing the liquefying of dead bodies at the human power plant. Besides, who wouldn't want to return to such a gratifying, uplifting job?
| Back to Conversations |
 Conversations: Neo & Architect |  Conversations: Neo & Oracle (M3) |