Debunked: Seraph is a Former One

When I originally put up this website (and for years after), I had thought Seraph was a former One. Thankfully, Nicolas Charara caught a critical contradiction in this theory and e-mailed me in April 2009:

You said in Matrix Resolutions that Seraph is a former One. However, you said that he used to be the Merovingian's protector when he was the Prime Program. If seraph existed when the Merovingian was the Prime Program, then he existed before the system of choice (proposed by the Oracle) was introduced and when a One was not needed. I agree that Seraph is a program who protects the Prime Program, but he can't be a former one since he existed in the two first versions of the matrix and became an exile at the end of the second version.

This caused me to move the Seraph: Former One page to the page you're reading (Debunked). Darn. I kind of liked that theory. The good news is, just because Seraph isn't a Former One doesn't mean that Neo can't be a future firewall, which is one possibile explanation of the similarities between Neo and Seraph (especially the wings). Regardless, I have kept my old "Seraph: Former One" page intact below. The clues that point toward similarities between Neo and Seraph are interesting to think about no matter where they point.

The Old "Seraph: Former One" Page

At the end of M3, Neo's body is taken away by the machines. When this happens, we see his body through the eyes of a machine. At one point, Neo's body clearly looks like an angel because of the arrangement of golden cables around his body. I do not believe this is a coincidence: Neo is going to become a "guardian angel" to protect something important within the system, just like Seraph. Who better to protect important parts of the system than former Ones?

Consider the following additional supporting points:

In M2, Seraph says to Neo, "You do not truly know someone until you fight them." This quote makes even more sense keeping in mind that Seraph is a former One: it takes One to know One.

If Neo has anomalous code that allows him to defeat any human, program or machine in the Matrix, and Seraph has no problem defending himself against Neo, then Seraph must have the anamalous code too. Seraph is the only one (person or machine) who fights on Neo's level.

In M3, Seraph says to Smith, "I have beaten you before." This would suggest one or more encounters with Agent Smith, just as Neo encounters and kills Agent Smith several times in M1. Seraph is a non-exile, so why would he have a history of fighting Agent Smith?

When the Oracle says she thinks they will see Neo again, she looks at Seraph and smiles. The Oracle is probably inferring that Neo will be reincarnated as a guardian angel just as Seraph was.

Neo appears to have "angel wings" at the end (graphic above), and Seraph is referred to as "wingless," apparently losing his ability to fly.

There is something that happens in the M2 Architect scene that seems like a thorn in this theory at first. When the Architect tells Neo that the current Matrix is the sixth version, the TV Neos respond, "Five 'Ones' before me? 4 3 2 What are you talking about?" These are apparently reactions of past Neos, who all look and sound like Neo. None of them look or sound like Seraph, so how could Seraph be a former One?

This would mean one of three things: 1) The Architect is fabricating the past Neos on the TV, 2) Seraph is not one of Neo's predecessors, or 3) Seraph didn't look and sound like he currently does. Option #1 makes no sense at all since the Architect has absolutely no reason to fabricate past Neos. And option #2 doesn't reconcile with the four points above.

Option #3 fits very nicely with this whole theory, and it isn't just because Seraphim (and Seraph) can change their appearance. It is because while Seraph would have been a human before, he is now just a program. Programs within the system can be given whatever appearance the system chooses. In MxO, we learn that a woman named Sarah Edmontons (anagram for Thomas Anderson) wakes up from a coma in a hospital and is able to evade security guards at the hospital, and Sarah is later given the protection of Seraph himself. If Thomas Anderson's AI is contained within a female, then it becomes much more likely that Seraph could have originally looked and sounded exactly like Neo - especially given that the system actually creates the One.

Debunked: Matrix Within Matrix

Debunked: Anomaly Self-Summation